August 2022
Table of Contents 1 Victoria Falls, One of the Seven Natural World 2.1kuDomboshawa.............................................................8271.2Falls...................................................................................61.1Wonders..........................................3MyActivitiesatVictoriaVictoriaFalls–WhataBeautifulExperience…………………………………………AnotherReality–kuMushaExperiencingRuralLifeinZimbabwe………………………………………………..13 Cover photo: Victoria Falls, viewpoint 5. Photo: The Mighty Zambezi River above Victoria Falls, river islands.
1 Victoria Falls, One of the Seven Natural World Wonders
The mighty Victoria Falls (in the Lozi language called “Mosi-oa Tunya”, meaning “The Smoke That Thunders”) is one of the seven natural world wonders. Do you know the other six? They are Northern Lights, the Grand Canyon, Paricutin, Mount Everest, Harbor of Rio de Janeiro, and the Great Barrier Reef. Victoria Falls is a natural waterfall of the Zambezi river located on the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe. It is the largest waterfall of the world due to its combination of 108m length and 1708m width. Victoria Falls is a UNESCO world heritage site.
Photo: The Mighty Victoria Falls, viewpoint 8, main falls.
Victoria Falls, a Sri Chinmoy Peace Falls
Photos: Victoria Falls at sunset. In the dry season this part of the falls shows rocks.
Victoria peerlessFalls,jewel
As this thundering cascade descends from the heights, rainbow-visions delight our eyes and uplift our spirit. Victoria Falls was commemorated as a Sri Chinmoy Peace Falls in 1996. It thus joins a family of over 800 significant landmarks around the globe that have been dedicated to peace. The Peace-Blossoms family takes its name from Sri Chinmoy, an international ambassador of peace who has dedicated his life to fostering peace within the aspiring heart of humanity.
May this stupendous grandeur and wonder of nature forever inundate each and every human heart with a fruitful and fulfilling sea of onenessDopeace.not stop dreaming!
of Africa! Soul-stirring Life-elevatingBreath-takingpower.beauty.majesty!
One day your world-peace-dream will inundate the entire world. - Sri Chinmoy -
1.1 My Activities at Victoria Falls 1.) Victoria Falls Park Tour, viewpoints 1-16 2.) Horse back safari 3.) Safari drive in the Zambezi National Park 4.) High water rafting on the lower Zambezi 5.) “Boma” dinner and drum show 6.) The Lookout Café 7.) Helicopter flight 8.) Sundown Cruiser, upper Zambezi River 9.) Canopy Tour, ziplining 10.) Victoria Falls Park No. 2, viewpoints 1-16, sunset Photo: Canopy Tour ziplining down the gorge. Photo: Helicopter flight. Photo: High water rafting on the Zambezi River, I also call it swimming with crocodiles, no mobile phones. Photo: Horse back safari. Photo: Hiking up the gorge. Photo: Down in the gorge.
Photo: Another Baobab tree (Muuyu in Shona) in Zambezi National Park. In winter (April to August) it sheds its leaves. In September it will grow leaves and flower in December/ January after the rainy season. It can take up to 20 years until a Baobab tree bears fruits. The bark is very popular among elephants, so today it must be protected with wire.
Photo: The Big Baobab Tree at Victoria Falls. It is between 1,000 and 1,500 years old and measures 23m hight and 18m girth.
Photos: Safari in the Zambezi National Park on horse back, drive and a cruise on the upper Zambezi River.
Helicopter flight, cockpit, 15 mins.
Photos: Birds eye view of Victoria Falls (Mosi-oa Tunya, Zambia (upper Zambezi River, falls) and Zimbabwe (Victoria Falls Park, viewpoints, gorges).
Photo:
Photo: The upper Zambezi River (Zambia) with ‘Livingstone’ Island upright, the mighty Victoria Falls, the first gorges, and the Victoria Falls Park (Zimbabwe) on the left with 16 viewpoints, water spray and rainforest.
Photo: Victoria Falls from the bridge (noones land) between Zimbabwe and Zambia. Here, bungee jumping is practiced. It looks very scary. Below you see the first gorge and the mighty Zambezi River. In the dry seasons, the high water rafting starts here. By the time I was there we still started further down the Zambezi River.
At all times, safety goes first. Consequently, I flew from Harare to Vic Falls and back. From the plane I could observe savannahs, rivers, lakes, mountains, and dry river beds. It was impressive. At arrival, “The Smoke That Thunders” (up to 400m high) welcomed me.
Due to some unfortunate situations, I didn’t find anyone with whom I could travel. In addition, Victoria Falls is overpriced. Also, very few local people can afford it. In the end, I planned the trip on my own. I made some friends at Vic Falls. This is speaking of personal experiences only. differently.experiencepeopleOthermay
Having said that, flying is bad for my carbon Ifootprint.hadbooked an affordable accommodation and all activities in advance with “Wild Horizons”. Everything worked out and I felt safe at all times. Only once I was in danger, because I wanted to walk to the big Baobab Tree. By foot, I was at risk of wild animals. All in all, everything worked out well and I had an amazing time. I could really enjoy nature and the activities. I was at on with nature. It was an absolute privilege. Next time, I would travel by bus or car (12 hours journey from Harare via Bulawayo to Vic Falls) and plan an affordable trip together with my Zimbabwean family and/or friends.
Photo: It gets wet between viewpoints 9 and 16 of Victoria Falls Park. Here I experienced the spray created by the waterfalls, the speed of the falling water and upward winds. The spray has created a rainforest around Victoria Falls, which is very unusual for its otherwise dry surroundings.
How did I travel to Victoria Falls?
1.2 Victoria Falls - What a Beautiful Experience
Despite my travel experiences, due to power imbalances, postcolonialism, the socio-economic situation, poor infrastructure and safety risks, I decided not to travel by myself in Zimbabwe at first.
When my Mama and her siblings got married and moved out, my Zimbabwean late grandparents lived kuMusha. When they passed away, the house was emply for 10 years. For the last three years, my elder aunty (Mai Guru which means Elder Sister or Big Mother) was sent to live kuMusha by another brother. Mai Guru now inhabits the house with her husband and her grandchildren.
2 Another Reality – kuMusha kuDomboshawa
Experiencing rural Zimbabwe – the „real“howZimbabwe,wesay.
kuMusha means at the home stand in the village where my Zimbabwean Mama was born and raised. kuDomboshawa is at the village Domboshawa, which is located in a rural area approximately 1.5 hours drive away in the north of Harare, Zimbabwe. The prefix “ku” refers to a place or location in Shona.
Photo: Home stand kuMusha in the rural area Domboshawa, Zimbabwe.
Main house with natural stone yard: three rooms, there is one bed, the children sleep on the floor between blankets.
Sink: this is where we wash the dishes with a bucket of water.
Garden: vegetable garden for self-sufficiency and for sale. The garden is fenced with a handmade wickerwork of long grass and branches.
Kitchen: house with fireplace. It is carbon black inside. We collect dry wood and cook on wood fire. The fire stings in the eyes.
Toilets: an earth closet with an oval hole in the stone. It is clean, but a bit scary due to cracks in the stone ground.
I remember the smoke in the kitchen stang my eyes so much I had to go outside where I could observe a beautiful starry sky. We ate Sadza with reddish (Kovu in Shona) and beef for supper in the sitting room. After some social time, Mama and I slept between blankets on the floor with the female grandchildren.
2.1
We went kuMusha very spontaneously on a Sunday surprisingly, since we couldn’t reach our relatives, there was no signal. When we arrived, Mai Guru was at church. I got to know her four grandchildren. The three roomed house is very simple. There is one bed in the sleeping room and an armchair and some cupboards in the sitting room. I didn’t see the boys room. Meanwhile, we drove to see Mama’s old garden and her Primary School “Chinamhora” on dusty roads with big potholes. On our return, Mai Guru and the eldest female grandchild had started cooking on wood fire with the groceries we had brought. The smallest grandchild was sitting right next to the fire, she was hungry. We sat on a bench and ate small fried homemade peanuts. Experiencing Rural Life in Zimbabwe
In most traditional villages in the rural Zimbabwe, there is no ZESA (Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority), meaning that there is no electricity and no running water. For bathing we use the bucket system. We are lucky to have a well right behind kuMusha, where other neighbours also come to fetch water.
Photo: Kitchen kuMusha.
Waking up kuMusha felt amazing. We had breakfast cooked by Mai Guru (bread, baked beans, mice meet, and Tanganda tea). Then my Zimbabwean brother, our nephews, a neigbour and I set off to climb the nearby mountain. Our neighbour guided us on small paths that led through savannah (grassland), we climbed rocks and walked on solid stone. We passed by a set of balancing rocks, which is a common landmark in Zimbabwe’s landscape. In this area there are no dangerous wild animals. We hiked up Mawanga Mountain until we reached the cross. It is solid rock with water basins. In the rainy season we would have seen waterfalls. On our way down the other side of the mountain, we saw a cave as black as our kitchen. People come to pray and camp on these mountains. We slid down the other side of the mountain and circumvented it on dusty roads (the way our nephews take to school) until we reached kuMusha. In total, we walked about 16km.
Photos: Mawanga Mountain between Domboshawa and Chinamhora.
2.2 Hiking up Mawanga Mountain
Photo: Dusty foot path through savannah.
Photo: My Zimbabwean family, while the parents and grandparents stood kuMusha. We, tired as we were, were welcomed with a big portion of rice. Then we returned home to Harare.
Thank you for your time and interest! Highly appreciated. Do you have any questions? This time I could inot nclude everything. Did you enjoy readingthe report? Do you want tto ravel to Zimbabwe now? Photo: African sunsets, Zambezi National Park, Zimbabwe. © by Katalin Steiner.
