Friday 1st April 2016...Rabbits, rabbits, rabbits!!!

Well where do I start..first of all my last post was meant to be an April fool's joke but after ten years most of my readers are onto my tricks but I did manage to catch a certain blonde Texan lady yet again!!!
Really the post was like a can you believe it.... well it was true!!!
I had booked a micro flight for 6.30am this morning and as per normal now the driver was here to meet me right on time and transport me to the airfield where I paid and signed the always useless waiver...but it was all very professionally done.....you are not allowed to take a camera or anything on the flight even took off my crocs.....I met my pilot Heiko and too funny they issue you with a boarding pass and I asked him where the washrooms and exits signs were.....because you are not allowed a camera they have a Go Pro camera mounted on the wing so all these photos Heiko took......so I think no commentary is needed just sit back fasten your seat belt and share the trip of a lifetime!!!!!

The mist towards the left is the from the falls!!

My first view of these magnificent falls just took my breath away!!

You cannot see from the photos but there was a huge rainbow along the base and Heiko told me that if you see a rainbow here it follows you for the rest of your life!!!

Going through the spray was bumpy!!
Folk lore states that if you fly through the mist you have been kissed by an angel!!!
Heiko then took me over a game reserve where we saw many zebra, hippos, water beasts and a giraffe with a baby by her side....I loved seeing all the animals grazing in the wild...

30 minutes later a very smooth landing!!!

I know this is a pun but I really have not come to earth yet on my feelings for this flight..magical, once in a life time, out of this world...you pick!!!!!
After the flight I went into the office waited about 5 minutes and then was handed a flash stick with over 200 photos on what a remembrance.....they drove me back to the hotel where I had breakfast and then got ready for my day....packed up and took a taxi to the border gate for Zambia and Zimbabwe...
I got out of the cab and I saw many baboons on the side of the road and not scared of humans and this is where I very quickly learned my first lesson

I forgot that I had two bananas in the side outside pocket of my back pack and they were coming for them some guys shouted at me to put them inside my bag and I did very quickly!!!
I like this one

The area here was a little unsavory with many pedestrians wanting to cross the bridge in between the two countries and it was my intention to do the same but I re-evaluated the situation and it did not feel comfortable for me so I just got a gate pass and walked onto the bridge a few steps inside the Zimbabwe border took a couple of shots.

I came back to the gate retrieved my passport and then went into the office and paid to enter the falls National park.
This was interesting for me this sign at the office

This made me smile

because I have been to this volcano about 5 hours from San Miguel and that was another unbelievable day seeing the partly buried church in the black lava!!
There are about five trails to take and I took the hardest one first..

Only passed a couple of other hikers on the trail!!!!

On the hike down you can hear the thundering roar of the falls and see and walk through their mist!!!

At last the bottom of the canyon

That is the bridge I was just on!!
This next paragraph is for my Brother but you all can read it too....
I was sitting on the rocks taking all this power of nature in and I was wearing a South African local soccer shirt which is bright orange..this couple came down and she walked past me and said hello and we chatted and she said to me I thought it was a Hull City soccer shirt so I said you mean you support those Tigers and she said she was an avid fan..so I told her about my Brother he lives in the same city and also is a bit, I mean a lot, of a fan..I told her that he often plans his holidays and other activities around the schedule of the games and she smiled and looked at me and said and what is wrong with that......I thought you tell that to Janet, my SIL...too funny and a small world!!
Below is some info taken off the Internet!!

The Formation of the Victoria Falls About 150 to 200 million years ago large amounts of volcanic magma were extruded in the Victoria Falls area. This magma (Basalt Rock) cooled quickly developing enormous cracks or faults as it met with the cooler air and water. Then due to shifts of the earth's plates and much higher rainfall, the whole area became submerged under a huge freshwater lake. During this period these large fault lines were filled with mainly sand deposits, time and pressure hardened the sand to form sandstone. Later Tectonic movements (earthquakes) caused the lake to drain and the Zambezi River changed its course and found its present day route to the Indian Ocean. The strong erosive action of the river found the first of these sandstone fault lines some 150 000 years ago. The water eroded through the softer sandstone quicker than through the hard basalt rock therefore forming the first waterfall. Over the next 150 000 years the river slowly eroded 7 of these fault lines and each one would have been a different waterfall from the one we know today. The current day waterfall is on the 8th fault line. The ninth waterfall has already started cutting back through the next fault line. This can be seen to the side of the Devil’s Cataract through Cataract Island. This large east-north-east fault line across the river is where the next full width falls will form. What’s amazing is that archaeological diggings have shown that early man lived in this region some 200 000 years ago, meaning that they would have seen the very first set of Falls that were formed. Therefore man has witnessed over time this extraordinary change in the landscape. Size and flow rate chart of Victoria Falls compared to Niagara and Iguazu Parameters Victoria Falls Niagara Falls Iguaza Falls Height in metres/feet: 108m 360ft 51m 167ft 64-82m 210-269ft Width in metres/feet: 1 708m 5 603ft 1 203m 3 947ft 2 700m 8 858ft Flow rate units (vol/sec): m3/s cu ft/s m3/s cu ft/s m3/s cu ft/s Mean annual flow rate: 1 088 38 422 2 406 85 000 1 745 61 659 Highest recorded flow: 12 600 444 965 8 264 292 000 12 792 452 000 Victoria Falls Bridge Cecil John Rhodes had a vision of a railway line stretching from Cape Town to Cairo. The Zambezi River was just one of the huge obstacles that would have to be overcome to accomplish this feat. He initiated plans for the first bridge across the mighty Zambezi River at Victoria Falls and was insistent that the bridge should be built in a place that the spray from the Falls would be felt by passengers on the passing trains. The Victoria Falls bridge was completed in April 1905, and although this was the brainchild of Cecil John Rhodes he died in 1902 before its completion.


So for the next trails this boy had done his homework and came prepared with his swim suit and crocks!!!!!
The trails go right through the mists of the falls and there is a shop where you rent ponchos and water shoes so I just rented a poncho stripped down to my crocs and swim shorts, calm down ladies!!!!!!!
I did not want to risk getting my camera damaged again with the water so there are no photos until the end but just believe me there are no words to describe what I saw and heard and went through!!!
The poncho I used to cover my back pack and off I went with in seconds I was drenched and I mean shower like wet.......I still cannot believe the power of the water surging over.... the mist and the noise!!!!!
I walked through all the look out points some were completely covered in mist and then I decided it was time to take all this in so I found a rock and sat down it was still like being in a roaring shower and I just sat got out my water bottle a sandwich which was soaked within seconds and had lunch and this as the back drop...

Many of you have being reading this blog since the inception 10 years ago and have followed me through many countries and vistas that have blown me away but never have I ever witnessed anything quite like this...I marvel at the power of this universe and it's beauty!!!
I came back to the shop and returned my poncho and got dried and these shots were taken on the way out..

I got a taxi back home jumped in the pool and then had a shower some tea and fell asleep ..too much excitement.....
Around 5pm I walked into town picked something up to eat and now just enjoying reliving this day with you all.
I still marvel at how this town is so much like a typical Mexican town and I do not mean just a little...close you eyes and open them and see Mexicans here and you would never know the only differences are in Mexico everywhere is music and in Mexico you do not get all the men approaching you trying to sell you stuff it is getting annoying I have learned a few local words so now when they come all I say is no zikomo ,,that means no thank you and keep on walking!!!
Sorry if I went on a bit but I feel so small and insignificant after what I experienced today!!!
Tomorrow is an animal day so check me out manana!!
Yashi Kochi!!!