Victoria Falls Souvenir Guide (1969) Booklet
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| Front Cover |
THE VICTORIA FALLS
Souvenir guide in pictures and story
Souvenir guide in pictures and story
A Roundabout Publication from by Daphne Harris with additional Fact and incident for which we are mainly indebted to Livingstone's Diaries (J. M. Dent and Sons) and the definitive handbook of the Northern Rhodesia Government Commission for the preservation of Natural and Historical Monuments (J. Desmond Clark, 1952) on the Victoria Falls. Designed, edited and published by Sarum Imprint (Pvt.) Ltd. with the support of the Victoria Falls and Wankie Publicity Association and printed by Mardon Printers. MCMLXIX
Nature's mightiest wonder
I have lived near the Victoria Falls for most of my life, within sight of
their spray and within hearing of their thunder and it is now my greatest joy,
as a Courier, to show these marvels of nature to all who come here. This is not
a history hook but an informal guide and souvenir designed to answer the
questions of the many tourists who come here to gaze upon the splendour of the
Falls and their matchless surroundings. I hope it will help yon, too, to
remember their unique magnificence.DAPHNE HARRIS.
Zambesi River
Length - 1,750 miles
From Source to Falls - 800 miles
From Falls to Kariba - 220 miles
From Kariba to Cabora Basa - 280 miles
From Cabora Basa to sea - 450 miles
The Zambezi is one of Africa's mightiest rivers, the only really
great river to flow down to the east coast of the African continent.
Its source was traced by Major Colin Harding (Commandant of the Barotse Native Police in the early nineteen-hundreds) to a well-watered plateau in the farthest north-western corner of Zambia at 5,200 feet above sea-level, a spot now called Kalene Hill, near one of the sources of the Congo river.
Its source was traced by Major Colin Harding (Commandant of the Barotse Native Police in the early nineteen-hundreds) to a well-watered plateau in the farthest north-western corner of Zambia at 5,200 feet above sea-level, a spot now called Kalene Hill, near one of the sources of the Congo river.
On this Barotseland tour of routine inspection and exploration he carried with him a "phonograph" which delivered spoken messages from the Administrator and Paramount Chief of the Matabele to chiefs of this remote area who returned the compliment by recording messages of allegiance for transmission through this astonishing "magic box".
The course of the river runs 1,750 miles from its source to its
delta, 3-4 miles wide, near Chinde and Quelemanc, north of Beira on
the Mozambique coast. On its way the Zambezi leaves Zambia, passes
through Angola, re-enters Zambia then, forming the border between
Rhodesia and Zambia, plunges over the Victoria Falls. It winds its
way through the Batoka Gorge into Lake Kariba (when completed in
1959, the largest man-made lake in the world) then, 500 miles on, it
surges through the narrow confines of the Kebrabassa Gorge, eroded
4,000 feet below the summit of the barrier hills (site of the
projected Cabora Basa Dam in Mozambique) and down to the Indian
Ocean 860 miles from the Victoria Falls.
The Victoria Falls and zig-zag gorges pose the biggest natural
barrier to the Zambezi River in its struggle to reach the coast.
They also present an incomparable and unique drama. Over a 350-foot
drop of sheer black basalt cliff, 1¼ miles wide, surges 47 million
gallons of water every minute of time, into the boiling chasms
below. Nature, too, has arranged a front-row view of this astounding
feature from the great natural grandstand of the Rain Forest on the
tongue of land immediately facing the Falls, once part of the
river-bed.
Above: The Victoria Fall Motel - RHODESIA Within sight and sound of the mighty Victoria Falls, and known to travellers of the world, this spacious Hotel has 126 bedrooms (all with telephones) and 72 private bathrooms. Every need is catered for, even to the extent of providing banking facilities, a shop and a hairdressing salon within the Hotel.
There is a swimming pool in a delightful setting, a putting course, and The Victoria Falls Casino nearby where, in the evenings, you can experience the thrill of roulette, baccarat and chemin-de-fer.
Make your reservations through your Travel Agent or write direct to:
THE MANAGER, THE VICTORIA FALLS HOTEL,P.O. VICTORIA FALLS. RHODESIA.
The spray
HIGH above the Falls, the perpetual plunge and churn of water
produces a stupendous, cloud of mist, driving spray and "comets'
tails" of vapour which constantly fluctuate and sway up to 200 feet
into the sky. Thomas Baines, the painter and surveyor, assessed the
spray column above the Falls at 1,194 feet above the boiling
cauldron at the foot of the gorge. Livingstone reported the spray to
be visible from the Tonga plateau, 20 miles away (1855). Today, from
the air, you can see the spray from up to 100 miles away depending
on visibility conditions and the height of your aircraft.
It is from this fluctuating cloud of spray that the Falls derive
their indigenous Makalolo title of Mosi-oa-tunya ("the smoke that
thunders") and the Rain Forest (so christened by Edward Mohr in
1870) its appropriate name descriptive of the spray "so overpowering
that it drips in torrents from every branch and leaf".
Nature carved the zig-zag gorges in the dawn of time
THE Victoria Falls—the largest curtain of falling water in the
world—have a strange geological history. Livingstone concluded that
the earth here had been split by sonic shattering cataclysm but more
recent geology traces a story which began 150 million years ago.
The sheer sides of the zig-zag gorges present in section, to a depth
of about 300 feet, a solid wall of one single type (if rock—black
basalt—a rock which derives from age-old volcanic lava. From this
natural display geologists confirm their conclusion that millions of
years ago lava oozed from the still-molten shells of the earth's
crusts, through clefts rather than through craters, and spread over
vast areas of Central Africa, from east to west coasts, right down
to Basutoland.
This lava cooled and hardened into basalts which split up
progressively into isolated patches by erosion.
The next million years are a closed book but it was during this
period that an unconsolidated overlay of
Kalahari
sand covered much of the basalt and this, in turn, was worn and
washed away by the mighty volume of Zambezi waters, seeking out the
cracks and fissures in the basalt, scooping away the soft material
on their long journey to the sea.
The zig-zag traced by the gorges we see today represents the
retreating fall-line of the water. Successively the outer lips of
the Third Gorge, the Second Gorge and the First Gorge have in turn
formed the fall-lines for the mighty mass of the Zambezi.
At the Devil's. Cataract a huge cleft in the lip, running roughly
east and west, is taken to indicate the angle and position of the
next gorge when it develops. But this will not be for many thousands
of years—no change has been noted since accurate records were kept.
The Niagara Falls, by comparison, arc on softer limestone cliffs and
are gradually being washed away.
SOME STATISTICS
Height: 355 feet
Width: miles 1¼ miles
WATER-FLOW OVER FALLS
Annual average: 47 million gallons per minute
Flood season: 120 million gallons per minute
Highest known: 158 million gallons per minute
Lowest known: 2½ million gallons per minute (1919)
Highest known Zambezi rise: 16 feet (1958)
THE VICTORIA FALLS ARE TWICE AS HIGH AND 1½ TIMES AS WIDE AS NIAGARA
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Above: Reid Dick's statue of Livingstone gazes along the Falls he first saw in 1855.
Photo: Rhodesia National Tourist Board.
THE Zambezi River was known to Arab traders for hundreds of years
before the Portuguese began their exploration of the river in the
sixteenth century. They navigated the river up to the Kebrabassa
Gorge which proved an insuperable barrier and built protective forts
in the hinterland several of which survive in good repair.
Though Boer farmers probably visited the area on their annual ivory
hunt and may well have seen the Falls before the 1850's, it was
David Livingstone who, for the first time, charted the actual course
of the Zambezi River and was the first recorded white man to gaze
upon the majesty of Mosi-oa-Tunya.
David Livingstone was born in Blantyre, Scotland, on 19th March,
1813. At the age of 10' he started work as a cotton spinner to pay
for an education which would qualify him to become a medical
missionary. He studied theology and medicine at Glasgow University
and Charing Cross Hospital and was accepted into the London
Missionary Society in 1838. He gained his degree and was ordained in
1840.
Livingstone sailed for South Africa from Scotland early, in 1841.
For some four years Kuruman was his missionary base for short
"prentice trips" to the north in search of a site for a new mission
station. In 1843 he was joined by the Moffats then, in 1845, he
married
Mary, daughter of Rhodesian pioneer,
Robert Moffat. In 1849 Livingstone set off on the first of his
major missionary journeys and in 1851 reached the Zambezi River for
the first time but fever forced him back without seeing the Falls.
Above: One of the few surviving photographs of Livingstone.
By courtesy of the National Archives of Rhodesia
Mary accompanied her husband on his 1850 journey north through the
Kalahari Desert but the hazards of pioneer travel and the ravages of
fever decided Mary, with their four children, to return to England
where they spent four anxious years (1852- 56) waiting for news of
Livingstone while he accomplished die further gruelling journeys of
1852 and 1853 reaching Luanda, on the west coast of Africa, in 1854.
David Livingstone continued his explorations of the course of the
Zambezi and, on 16th November, 1855, he was taken by dugout to
Kaseruka Island (now Livingstone Island) oil the very brink of the
Falls which he now saw for the first time. He named the Falls "Victoria" for the Queen of England.
Livingstone's Diary records in detail his observations of the Falls and his reactions to these ' Scenes so lovely they must have been gazed upon by angels in their flight". It was now that lie "planted a lot of peach and apricot stones and coffee seeds on the island which being already covered with trees seemed well adapted to a nursery. The spot selected for experiment was one which is visited with a fine sprinkling of condensed vapour many times a day .. . We gave instructions for the construction of a fence to prevent hippopotomi from treading the seedlings." His hope that Mosi-oa-tunya would prove "a more careful nurseryman" than the local Makalolo proved vain for when Sir Richard Glyn visited the island eight years later he found "only the stump of one peach tree" and the fence "breached in many places by sea-cow".
Glyn and his party also found Livingstone's initials, which he had carved on a large tree on the island, "nearly grown out", so re-cut them-with his own. This section of the tree-trunk is now preserved in the Rhodes-Livingstone Museum, on the north bank.
Mary Livingstone later rejoined her husband and accompanied him on
more of his exploratory journeys. Another daughter was born to them
before Mary died of fever in 1862. She was buried on the banks of
the Zambezi at
Shupanga and Livingstone remembered her thus: "I loved her when
1 married her and the longer I lived with her I loved her the more."
David Livingstone, though elated by his discovery of the Falls, was thereby disappointed in his hope of finding a navigable outlet to the east coast. He was in the lower Zambezi in 1858 and revisited the Falls in 1860 with his brother Charles and spent several weeks recording their size and volume.
David Livingstone, though elated by his discovery of the Falls, was thereby disappointed in his hope of finding a navigable outlet to the east coast. He was in the lower Zambezi in 1858 and revisited the Falls in 1860 with his brother Charles and spent several weeks recording their size and volume.
In 1869 David Livingstone disappeared.
Henry
Morton Stanley, a correspondent for the New York Herald, was
sent with a £4,000 "expenses" subscription to Africa to search for
the famous explorer. His comparatively humdrum' past had scarcely
equipped him for the arduous adventures he was to face as he
laboriously traced Livingstone's steps through Central Africa. But
this determined and intrepid man finally found Livingstone ill and
tired at Ujiji on Lake Tanganyika on the 28th October, 1871. His
phlegmatic greeting "Dr. Livingstone, 1 presume" has passed into history.
David Livingstone contracted fever in
Chief Chitambo's village, Ilala, on the south-east corner of
Lake Bangweulu and died a lonely death on 1st May, 1873. His heart
was removed and buried at the kraal of Chief Chitambo who had long
befriended him. His body was embalmed and carried 1,500 miles to the
coast, and across to Zanzibar, by his devoted friends
Susi and Chuma
{a slave whom Livingstone had freed). In itself this last journey
was an epic in fortitude and devotion. Livingstone's body was
shipped to England and now rests in Westminster Abbey in the heart
of London.
Coillard, who followed up Livingstone's work, had this to say: "People admire the intrepid traveller, but one must come to Sesheke where he lived to admire the man. He has engraved his name in the very hearts of the heathen people of Central Africa."
Coillard, who followed up Livingstone's work, had this to say: "People admire the intrepid traveller, but one must come to Sesheke where he lived to admire the man. He has engraved his name in the very hearts of the heathen people of Central Africa."
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After Livingstone
THE last half of the nineteenth century saw an astonishingly
numerous traffic of intrepid explorers and missionaries who met or
narrowly missed each other in their comings and goings in the
area—Glyn, Leask, Downey, Selous, Oates,
Francois
Coillard, Serpa Pinto and many others including
William Baldwin of Natal who succeeded in reaching the Falls in
I860 guided only by a pocket compass. In assessing their
achievements one should remember that they travelled many months on
foot, horse or Cape wagon to reach their goal.
At Logier Hill, on the north bank between the Falls and the Batoka
Gorge, Thomas Baines and Henry Chapman assembled their copper boats
to explore the Zambezi in 1862. They camped near the spot where
Livingstone's statue now stands and visited the old boatman, Zangurella, who had ferried Livingstone to his "garden island" seven years before.
By the end of the century a trading settlement of pole and mud huts, known as "The Old Drift", was established at the narrowest and deepest section of the Zambezi River between the Falls and the First Rapids. Here all supplies for the north bank were unloaded and ferried across the river; cattle swam across. One of the first settlers, "Mopani" (carpenter) Clark came across from Rhodesia in 1898 and established a store and hotel at The Old Drift. Miss Mackintosh, niece of Francois Coillard, visiting the Falls in 1903, said of Clark:
"He is the most important personage and seems to act as a kind of
honorary Lord Mayor, exercising hospitality to strangers and
organising festivals."
Henry Rangeley, first magistrate of North-western Rhodesia, says of
The Old Drift at this time: "the pub kept open all night if there
was custom and an American gambler ran a roulette table in the bar,
with a very monotonous 'Round and round the little ball goes and
where she'll stop there's nobody knows. Now gentlemen make your
stakes, if you don't speculate you can't accumulate ...' " So the
present luxury Falls Casino had a humble fore-runner!
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Compare this view of the Cataracts with Baines' portrayal on the earlier in the story. Baines' careful references were remarkably faithful. Photo: Rhodesia National Tourist Board.
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Bridging the Falls
Above: In 1903, while the bridge was under construction, this swaying cable offered the only means of crossing the gorge. The length of the road/rail bridge is 657 feet. The road level is 310 feet above the water in the gorge at high-water and 364 feel at low water.
Above: By Rhodes' choice the bridge was built within sight, sound and spray of the Falls. Throughout construction operations only two people lost their lives, in spite of the safety net illustrated above.
AT the turn of the century progress in Africa was measured by the railway line. So it was obvious that, once the railway reached the banks of the Zambezi, a bridge would have to be built to span the river.
AT the turn of the century progress in Africa was measured by the railway line. So it was obvious that, once the railway reached the banks of the Zambezi, a bridge would have to be built to span the river.
Rhodes
himself ordered a survey to be made for a railway bridge as close as
possible to the Falls so that "passengers would feel the spray". He
approved the site and Imbault's preliminary design in 1901 but died
two years before the railway line pushed through to the Victoria
Falls.
In 1904, amid great excitement, the railway reached the Falls. And, astonishing as it may seem, the engine which followed the plate layers completing the line was driven by a Miss Paulling, sister of one of the contractors.
The Cleveland Bridge Co. of Darlington, England, began preparations in 1903 for the bridge to be built from both sides at once. By September of that year wires spanned the gorge and the north and south banks were linked by telephone.
The actual erection took only nine months and by April 1905 the two arms were ready for the central link to complete the span. Calculations had been so exact that it was only necessary to await an overnight drop in temperature for the last piece of bottom boom to fall precisely into place.
Fifty years after Livingstone first saw the Falls the bridge was officially opened in 1905 by Professor Darwin, President of the British Association, the event commemorated by a special issue of Southern Rhodesian postage stamps. Throughout the construction of the bridge, old Chief Mukuni camped near the site. He could not believe that the bridge would hold up without a centre support and daily invited his friends to "come and see the white man's bridge fall into the tumbling waters—I am sorry, for these white men work for no profit." As the first mail train crossed safely old Mukoni stood alone and amazed upon his rock.
Originally a toll fee of 1s. return was charged to passengers until the bridge was widened and reinforced in 1930 to accommodate road traffic. Now car travellers and pedestrians can look down from the centre of the bridge into the Boiling Pot where the whole mass of the Zambezi water is compressed into a 100-yard channel. The Victoria Falls Hotel can be seen on the right and the Armchair on the left.Today a line drawn half-way across the bridge marks the Rhodesia-Zambia border. Visas are needed to cross into Zambia and these can be obtained from the Zambian Immigration Post by overseas visitors in transit. South Africans must apply beforehand from their home country. The border is open 24 hours a day.
In 1904, amid great excitement, the railway reached the Falls. And, astonishing as it may seem, the engine which followed the plate layers completing the line was driven by a Miss Paulling, sister of one of the contractors.
The Cleveland Bridge Co. of Darlington, England, began preparations in 1903 for the bridge to be built from both sides at once. By September of that year wires spanned the gorge and the north and south banks were linked by telephone.
The actual erection took only nine months and by April 1905 the two arms were ready for the central link to complete the span. Calculations had been so exact that it was only necessary to await an overnight drop in temperature for the last piece of bottom boom to fall precisely into place.
Fifty years after Livingstone first saw the Falls the bridge was officially opened in 1905 by Professor Darwin, President of the British Association, the event commemorated by a special issue of Southern Rhodesian postage stamps. Throughout the construction of the bridge, old Chief Mukuni camped near the site. He could not believe that the bridge would hold up without a centre support and daily invited his friends to "come and see the white man's bridge fall into the tumbling waters—I am sorry, for these white men work for no profit." As the first mail train crossed safely old Mukoni stood alone and amazed upon his rock.
Originally a toll fee of 1s. return was charged to passengers until the bridge was widened and reinforced in 1930 to accommodate road traffic. Now car travellers and pedestrians can look down from the centre of the bridge into the Boiling Pot where the whole mass of the Zambezi water is compressed into a 100-yard channel. The Victoria Falls Hotel can be seen on the right and the Armchair on the left.Today a line drawn half-way across the bridge marks the Rhodesia-Zambia border. Visas are needed to cross into Zambia and these can be obtained from the Zambian Immigration Post by overseas visitors in transit. South Africans must apply beforehand from their home country. The border is open 24 hours a day.
Above: On the bank near the Devils Cataract the statue of David Livingstone stands, looking out over the falls. It is the work' of W. Reid Dick, A.R.A., and was unveiled in 1934 by the Hon. H. U. Moffat, Prime Minister of Rhodesia 1927-33 and nephew o f Mary Livingstone, David's wife. Here too, on 16th November, 1955, a ceremony was held to mark the 100th anniversary of David Livingstone's first sight of the Falls.
Around the Falls
DURING the dry season visitors can sometimes cross to tile central
island, seemingly perched on the very edge of the Falls, now known
as Living- stone Island. West of I ivingstone Island are the Main
Falls, 573 yards wide. West of Main Falls is Cataract Island (also
accessible in the dry season). West of Cataract Island is The
Devil's Cataract, eroded some 30 feet below the Main Falls to a
width of some 36 yards. The Devil's Cataract is an awesome sight,
with a drop of 230 feet, best viewed from the Rain Forest. East of
Livingstone Island lie the Rainbow Falls, so called because the
sunlight playing on the perpetual spray produces a "glorious
double-rainbow in the rich prismatic colours of day time or muted
tints of moonlight" (Molyneus) —a fairyland picture in surprising
contrast with the tumbling, thundering mass of water below.
Above: The tamed water flows on from the Falls through the gorges until, 200 miles further on it reaches Kariba and, finally, the sea.
Photo: Rhodesia National Tourist Board.
East of the Rainbow hills is the Eastern Cataract, divided from the Rain- how Falls by a depression in the lip known as the Armchair. Beside the Eastern Cataract steps have been made in the cliff-side leading almost to the base of the Falls at a point, now only accessible from Zambia, where you can look up at the mass of water crashing down into the pool a few feet away—an awesome experience.
Above: These scarlet pin-cushion lilies (Haemanthus
Multiflora) flower in profusion in the rain forest from November
to December. Photo: Rhodesia National Tourist Board.
The Rain Forest
Running roughly west to east and flanking the First Gorge, runs the
Rain Forest, clothed by dense tropical jungle and watered by
ceaseless spray which, in peak flood periods, intensifies into
torrential downpour.
Whatever the season the Rain Forest is a source of
fascination—rainbows seem to dance before your eyes wherever you
walk. During October and November the entire forest is dotted with
pin-cushion lilies (Haemanthus inullifiorus) even in dry areas
untouched by spray.
In June 1968 the forest trees were hung with icicles surviving until
9 in the morning. The lush grass was sugared white with frost and
ice, a rare and ethereal phenomenon at the Victoria Falls.
At night the Rain Forest is enchanting—especially at full moon. The
dancing gleam of the water, the thunderous roar of the Falls and the
peaceful silver of the river beyond, arc unforgettable.
Photo: Rhodesia National Tourist Board.
Rainbow Falls
East of Livingstone Island arc the Horseshoe Falls which form part of the Rainbow Falls, so called because the sunlight playing on the driving spray and mist creates perpetual double-rainbows spanning the gorge.
From one vantage point (September-November) you can watch African fishermen operating fearlessly on the very brink of the precipice. Here too the driving spray necessitates a raincoat and neck-towel.
Above: From a hunched standpoints, at a dozen different times of day, the
Victoria Falls are always breathtakingly magnificent.
This photograph of the Devil's Cataract and the Main Falls beyond
was taken at sunset during the dry season. It is fascinating to remember that this was a vie w Livingstone himself
must have seen in 1855—the same rich colours, the same thundering
waters, the same dry-season volume when the spray is less
overpowering than earlier in the year.
Your journey to the falls was probably less arduous than
Livingstone's though the hardy explorer writes of his pattern of
travel: "It is a prolonged system of picnicking, excellent for
health and agreeable to those who are not over-fastidious about
trifles and who delight in fresh air.
Photo: Rhodesia Nations! Tourist Board.
Above: Danger Point, at the very tip of the tongue of land clothed by the Rain Forest, guards the entrance to the swirling Boiling Pot. The Knife Edge is off-right of this picture.
Danger Point
The eastern tip of the tongue of land occupied by the Rain Forest is
cloaked by swirling mists at peak flood times (March and early
April). But from August to September the jutting headland called
Danger Point offers marvellous views along the gorge, with a fine
aspect of the Eastern Cataract and a glimpse of the Falls Bridge.
Here a "footprint" in the rock has been dubbed "Eve's Footprint". It
is a natural phenomenon in the volcanic basalt.
LUNAR RAINBOWS
Lunar rainbows can be seen at the following times:
Over the Devils Cataract seen from the Rain Forest: approx. 7 p.m.
Over the Main Falls: approx. 11.30 p.m.
Over the Devils Cataract seen from Livingstone's Statue: approx. 4 a.m.
Above: At the toot of the gorge beside the furious Boiling Pot,
approached only from the North Bank.
From Danger Point, too, you can gaze across to the Armchair, a
depression in the lip of the Falls which was formed in 1926 when an
enormous chunk dislodged rock fell into the gorge below with a
thunderous crash which was heard above the misty roar of the Falls
themselves. By repute, the Armchair depression is bottomless.
A path from Danger Point takes you to an impressive view of the
bridge from the underside.
Danger Point is no empty title for the ground here is treacherous. In 1930 a farmer's wife venturing too close to the edge slipped and fell into the swirling waters below and was carried away to the Boiling Pot. She was never seen again, nor was her body recovered.
Danger Point is no empty title for the ground here is treacherous. In 1930 a farmer's wife venturing too close to the edge slipped and fell into the swirling waters below and was carried away to the Boiling Pot. She was never seen again, nor was her body recovered.
This again is only accessible from the Zambian side, as is the Knife
Edge, parallel with Danger Point, and now bridged for pedestrians.
Above: A long the banks of the Zambezi fishermen catch tiger, bream and
barbel (catfish) of excellent size.
They should keep a wary eye open for the crocodiles which bask in
the sun on the sandy banks but are never quite as sleepy as they
look!
The Devil's Cataract
At the Devil's Cataract, above, the lip has been eroded to some 30
feet below the level of the Main Falls. Here the water rushes
steeply s down a sloping bed to a width of 36 feet to fall 230 feet
to the gorge below. At peak flood the water here reaches an.
estimated 30 miles per hour as it plunges over the edge. In the
afternoons a spectacular rainbow crosses the gorge at this point, best seen from the Rain Forest.
In 1905 a large black serpent-like creature was seen by several
residents and this was linked to the traditional monster which
Africans have always feared as lurking in the depths of the gorge.
Above: An awe-inspiring display of foaming, rushing torrent as the Devil's Cataract hurls itself into the gorge 230 feet below.
Photo: Rhodesia National Tourist Board
Beside the Devil's Cataract you can descend one-third of the way
down the gorge by rocky seeps made safer by a chain-hold. Thus you
can sec the final plunge of the Devil's Cataract from below. Looking
up in the dry season you can clearly see the cleft in the lip of the
Falls which geologists believe may indicate the next line of fall
when, aeons hence, the mass of water may cat its way north, forming
another gorge by further massive rock-fall.
Above: This panorama shows Cataract Island in the foregound and, on the
very brink of the Falls, the larger Livingstone Island,centre left.
Livingstone's statue can be seen in the foreground clearing.
Livingstone Island
It was from here that David- Livingstone gained his first close-up
view of the Falls in 1855 when "balanced as it were on the quivering
precipice, the foam dashing on either side of him, the grey depths
of the chasm beneath and with the sunshine and rainbow and mist
overhead, the view must have been infinitely weird and impressive" (Molyneux).
It was here that Livingstone planted his garden, fencing it against
the ravages of the "sea-cows" and on a tree-trunk carved his
initials now preserved in the Rhodes Livingstone Museum. The
Batonka name for this island was Kaseruka Island.
Cataract Island
Cataract Island lies between the Main Falls and the Devil's
Cataract. It is approximately two hundred yards wide. By the Batonka
people it was named Boaruka Island ("divider of the waters") and was
believed to be haunted by malevolent spirits who must be pacified
with gifts of beads or bracelets. During the summer months the
elephant swim across to feed on the island or, on rare occasions,
actually walk across the lip of the Falls, forming an unbelievably
dexterous freize.
To Kandahar Island
The island marks the boundary of navigable water above the Victoria
Falls and is a calling-point for conducted morning, afternoon or
sunset launch trips. (Book at the Victoria Falls Hotel.) The island
is inhabited by a well-fed tribe of
vervet monkeys
who delight visitors at impromptu "Monkey's Tea-parties" where no
biscuit or peanut is safe from their probing fingers. Earl Roberts'
visit to the island was the occasion for naming it Kandahar, the
East India Company station he relieved.
Above: Your launch trip to Kandahar Island includes a detour to a favourite wallow of the hippo who jostle and snort as the launch mores near for a close-up view of these grey-and-pink monsters. Have your camera at the ready! 'Photo: Rhodesia National Tourist Board
Along the riverside
ABOVE The Falls the banks of the Zambezi offer untold interest.
Regular launch trips arc run at set times throughout the day
offering a delightful viewpoint of the river-side and islands with
occasional bonus glimpses of game drinking or bathing at the water's
edge.
The journey starts opposite Kalai Island, a favourite haunt of
elephant and a paradise for crocodile dozing but alert on the
sandbanks.
Turning up stream, leaving Long Island on the right, you head
towards the site of "The Old Drift" and here you will sometimes see
elephant on the bank or a family of warthog running "in line-astern"
from the sound of the launch. Refreshments arc served on Kandahar
Island
The BOAC flying boats used this stretch of river until 1949 and you
can see the old landing stage and offices on the Rhodesian bank.
Further downstream are the Zambezi Cottages (seepage 39) which arc
extremely well equipped and ideal for fishermen and families.
Through the grounds of this camp the animals walk down to the river
to drink.
By private cars, the embarkation point for launch trips is reached
by driving some two miles along the Parkway and turning right at the
signpost.
Text reads:-
SEE THE WHEELS THAT GIVE AWAY FORTUNES
Want to see a fortune won?
Be a spectator at a draw of the world-famous Rhodesia State Lottery
on your visit to Salisbury. Or, if no draw is scheduled, ask for a
demonstration at the city's impressive State Lotteries Hall. Every
month, from these spinning wheels of fortune, are drawn the digits
making up the lucky number that wins a first prize of up to $80,000.
The lottery helps a variety of charities, and the public draw is
held under direction from the Minister of Finance in Salisbury or at
other larger centres in Rhodesia. Have a holiday flutter that could
win you a fortune, and see the draw of the safest lottery in the
world at the Rhodesia State Lotteries Hall, corner of Kingsway and
Speke Avenue. Salisbury. For draw dates and any other information on
the lotteries, phone 22684 or 23817.
RHODESIA STATE LOTTERIES
RUAC - BIRDS EYE VIEW
This is the way to see Rhodesia's great natural attractions. Fly
from Salisbury or Bulawayo with Rhodesia's most experienced charter
operators. Highly-skilled, experiences pilots take you or your
business guests on unforgettable sky safaris over the Victoria Falls
and Zambesi, Lake Kariba, the Zimbabwe Ruins and Lake Kyle for
game-viewing and photography as spectacular as you'll ever
experience
.
Book through your Travel Agent.
RHODESIA UNITED AIR CARRIERS
Salisbury Airport Phone 50505, Telegrams: 'Aircar'.
Branches in Bulawayo and Victoria Falls.
See Ruac, Air Rhodesia or your Travel Agent
HIGHLIGHT ot your stay is your flight over the Victoria Falls and
surrounding countryside in search of the untamed game which
roams this still primitive part of Africa. Not only do these dawn
and sunset patrols offer glorious birds-eye views of the great
Zambezi river, its zig-zag gorges and the mighty Falls themselves
but, even more thrilling, your low flights over the broad savannah
grasslands bordering Botswana and Zambia reveal great herds of
stately sable antelope,
zebra,
tsessebe,
waterbuck and many other types of antelope. As the vegetation
patterns change below you, herds of buffalo arc seen in the dense
bush, giraffe wander browsing in the sparsely-treed lands and along
the luxuriant river banks the elephant, giant of them all, drink and
cool themselves in the sluggish water. Nearby the hippo wallow and
crocodile bask. Throughout your 200 mile air safari you swoop low,
seeming to pirouette on one wing, for a closer view of these rare
and magnificent beasts, at home in their natural habitat but
undismayed by the low-flying aircraft. For amateur photographers
this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for dramatic shots both of
the Falls themselves and of the wild game populating the area.
These Sky Safari flights take off" from the Spray View airstrip,
about five minutes by car from your hotel. You take off here, too,
for the fifteen-minutes Flight of the Angels" aerial tour of the
gorges and Falls themselves, spectacular and unforgettable.
Above: The Zebra thunder across the plain below yon, more, for the fun of it than from alarm.
Photos: Rhodesia National Tourist Board
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Meikles - Africa's leading hotel (Large)
Situated in the heart of Salisbury, Meikles is known to tourists and business men around the world. The luxurious East Wing meets the highest international standards, while the West Wing offers real comfort at a more modest figure. With modern cocktail bars, restaurant and dining room, and superb cuisine, you'll be made to feel at home at Meikles.
Also in Umtali (Cecil and Royal), Gwelo (Midlands), Fort Victoria (Hotel Victoria), Hartley and Belingwe.
Meikles Associated Hotels, P.O. Box 594, Salisbury, Rhodesia.
Power from the Falls
The right to use the entire power of the Zambezi in the vicinity of the Victoria Falls was signed in 1906 but not used until 1934 in return for an annual rent of £500 and small royalties.
The Power Station was erected at the Silent Pool in the Third Gorge,
the first turbine being set in motion in 1938.
In 1949 the then Northern Rhodesian Government acquired all
interests in the Company, including the hydro-electric undertaking,
for the sum of £104,000. Power is transmitted to Livingstone in Zambia by
underground
cable.
The years 1957 and 1958 were years of outstanding Zambezi flood when
the "River God" wreaked his anger on man made installations both at
Kariba and the Victoria Falls. In March 1957 the invading waters
lifted the entire floor of an office at the Power Station which was,
of necessity, closed for some days. A protecting wall, constructed
against a possible repetition of such an over powering volume of
water, was not yet completed when the 1958 floods came and the
station was again seriously flooded.
Either the "River God" has now been tamed or he is biding his time
for a future onslaught!
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Souvenir Hunting?
A Dennis Thomson Original copper screen
your best choice is always a
"DENNIS THOMSON ORIGINAL"
by H. T. Enterprises (Pvt.) Ltd.
P. Bag 15, Kopje. Phone 661139.
196, HATFIELD ROAD, SALISBURY
AFRICA'S LARGEST PRODUCERS OF HANDMADE COPPER
AND GAME SKIN PLAQUES, FIRE SCREENS, ETC.
Where to stay
VICTORIA FALLS NATIONAL PARK chalets, lodges, caravan and
camping sites. There arc three .camps in the National Park.
Main Camp is right in the Victoria Falls Township, about a
mile from the Falls. It provides accommodation in one and two-bedroomed chalets or luxury tents, equipped with electric light,
refrigerator, beds and all bedding, cooking utensils but no cutlery
or crockery.
There are ablution blocks, with steaming hot water, fire-grids and
plentiful wood. Alongside the camp there is a fully licenced
restaurant, a take-away food shop, general provision shop, a butcher
and a garage.
Charges: R$I.50 a night per adult or R$ 9 per week. Children over 3
and under 16 half price.
There is a fully illuminated caravan site, and a camping site with
all facilities. Camping and caravan charges are 25 cents per adult
per night.
Zambezi Camp provides 20 lodges on the river bank 4 miles
upstream from the Falls. The lodges provide ,all bedding,
refrigerator, cutlery, crockery and cooking utensils, excellent
fishing and game viewing facilities.
The cost is R$2.50 per night per person or R$15 per week. Children
over 3 and under 16 half price. The services of a servant are
included as is the wood for cooking and braais (barbeque). The camp is reached
along Parkway and is situated just before the Game Park.
At the launch jetty you will find the Caravan site now enhanced by
new ablution blocks and other installations in very lovely
surroundings.
Kandahar Fishing Camp is inside the Game Park, and reached by the
Parkway. It has camping facilities only inside a fenced half acre.
There are cold water showers, toilets, cooking grids and firewood.
Camping charges arc 25 cents per adult per night.
All National Park bookings should be made at the Central
Booking Office, Department of National Parks and Wild Life
Management, Third Street, Salisbury. Tel. 26087 8 or write to P.O.
Box 8151, Causeway.
PETERS MOTEL provides accommodation in airconditioncd bedrooms with private bath and shower. They have an excellent dining room with first class service and beautiful swimming pool where all are welcome. It is on the main Bulawayo Road and very near the Sprayview Airstrip.
The VICTORIA FALLS HOTEL provides exceptionally comfortable, cool accommodation, and excellent food. The hotel overlooks the Falls spray, bridge and gorges. (The view from the terrace is illustrated above.) There is a cocktail lounge, swimming pool, chapel, and very beautiful shady gardens: all are welcome at the swimming pool where reasonably priced meals and drinks are readily available. It is within walking distance of the railway station.
Pool-side lunch. Even if you arc not staying at the Victoria Falls
Hotel you are welcome to swim and lunch, for a very reasonable sum,
beside the Hotel's lovely pool. You will be joined by the ubiquitous
vervet monkeys around the
trees and pergolas.
THE VICTORIA FALLS CASINO HOTEL provides a glamorous element
in a part of Africa richly endowed with natural wonders. In the
elegant modern casino the roulette wheels spin; playing cards bedeck
the green baize of baccarat, chemin de fer and black-jack tables;
even the more prosaic "fruit machines" have their p[lace. The hotel
offers single and double accommodation with bathrooms, excellent
food, a swimming pool and cocktail lounge.
Game viewing in the National Park - BOLD
THE Victoria Falls National Park covers some 230 square miles of which about 220 square miles are designated Game Reserve stretching some 40 miles upstream from Victoria Falls township.
This natural Game Park is open to visitors from May to November and offers many delightful numbered braaivleis or picnic sites with a plentiful supply of wood for those who want to cook.
You have a choice of two roads tor game viewing.
ABOVE: Antelope, including tabic, impala and tsessebe, abound in their natural habitat.
BELOW: African elephant are remarkable for their enormous ears: Indian elephant's ears are comparatively small.
Photos: Rhodesia National Tourist Board.
Above: Creatures of habit, elephant still use the trails established
thousands of years ago as they travel from one feeding ground to
another.
Photo: Rhodesia National Tourist Board.
The Zambezi Drive, reached by driving along the Parkway. It
extends along the river bank and here elephant, kudu, buffalo,
waterbuck, impala, bushbuck, sable, tsesscbe, warthog, hippo and
crocodile can often be seen.
Entrance along this road is R$I per car. The Park is open from 6.30
a.m. to 6.30 p.m. daily from May to November.
The Chamabonda Game Park is entered from the Bulawayo Road,
miles from Victoria Falls where there is a large, distinctive sign
at the turn-oft'The Park stretches for some 20 miles inland and
offers excellent game-viewing,
particularly of
eland, giraffe,
zebra and superb herds of
sable
antelope. Entryis R$1 per car. The Park is open from May to
November from 6.30 a.m. to 6.30 p.m. daily.
Eventually Zambezi Drive and Chamabonda Drive will link up, thus
forming a circular drive of matchless viewing opportunity. Rhino are
only rarely seen in this area and lion virtually never. Leopards,
though quite common in the gorge areas, are seldom seen though your
car lights may occasionally pick up a leopard's eyes. Cheetahs too,
traditionally the fleetest of the big cats, are occasionally seen.
Baboon and vervet monkeys are often seen and have become very tame
from their familiarity with tourists.
Above: Local legend has it that one day the Devil, in a fury, uprooted all the Baobab trees. He then regretted what he had done and replanted them with the roofs upwards—hence their grotesque appearance! This giant specimen on the banks of the Zambezi is 150 feet high and 67 feet, round and may be as much as 2,000 years old. During October and November ir has beautiful large white flowers about 6 inches across, resembling a single rose. Each only lasts one day. The fruit is in an oval pod containing acid-tasting cream-of- tartar. This big tree was the place of "outspan' for early pioneers on their way to Livingstone across the river.
Above: Magnificent sable antelope graze beside a waterhole on Chamabonda drive, seen on a conducted game-viewing bus tour. Private cars can, of course, enter the park for a small fee.
Information Desk
WHEN ARE THEY OPEN
Restaurants : 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Take-away foods : 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. 4 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Boutiques, general stores etc.
Weekdays: 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.
Saturdays: 8 a.m. to 12 noon.
Grocers, butchers 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.
One or other is open Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning and all
public holidays.
Post Office :
Weekdays: 8.30 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. 2 p.m. to 4.30 p.m. Saturdays:
8.30 to 12.30 p.m.
Closed Saturday afternoons, Sundays and Public Holidays. (Postal
rates vary with destination and should be checked.)
Art Studio with paintings for exhibition and sale by world-
famous artist Joan Jocelyn is open daily from 8 a.m. to 12.30 p.m.
2.00 p.m. to 5 p.m., including Saturdays and Sundays.
Banking hours : Mon., Tues., Thurs., Friday. 8.30 to 12.30 p.m. 2
p.m. to 3.30 p.m.
Wednesday: 8.30 a.m. to 12.30 p.m.
Saturday: 8.30 a.m. to 11 a.m.
Air Rhodesia Terminal :
Weekdays: 8 a.m. to 4.30 p.m.
Saturdays: 8 a.m. to 1.30 p.m.
Sundays and Public Holidays: 9 a.m. to 1.30 p.m.
Border Post: Open 24 hours a day, throughout the year.
Comparative times: Midday Victoria Falls; 5 a.m. New York; 8 p.m.
Sydney; 10 a.m. London.
SKY SAFARIS : Bookings in hotel foyers.
LAUNCH TRIPS : United Touring Co. and Zambesi Safaris: Morning, afternoon and sunset cruises. Bookings at office in village or in hotel foyers.
GAME TOURS: Unitec Touring Co., Zambesi Safaris, Salisbury Safaris.
GARAGE FACILITIES : Petrol and oil sales 24 hours daily.
HOW TO GET TO THE VICTORIA FALLS
By car: Through Bulawayo by fully tarred road (278 miles).
By air: Daily flights from Bulawayo, Salisbury and Johannesburg, via Bulawayo. Saturday and Sunday direct from Johannesburg. Charter flights.
By rail: From Bulawayo with connections from Salisbury and Johannesburg.
All water from taps is perfectly safe.
Anti-malarial tablets are advisable and can be purchased locally.
The sun is strong, particularly in September to December and hats, sunglasses, tanning cream are advisable.
Where tips are not included in the bill 10% is a fair amount.
Sport: Miniature golf, all welcome, at Victoria Falls Hotel. Tennis, bowls, snooker at Victoria Falls Club (open to temporary residents for 10s. fee.)
Cinema : Tuesday and Friday (Victoria Falls Club.)
Churches : Chapel in Victoria Falls Hotel. Catholic Church.
Publicity Association : Victoria Falls and Wankie Publicity Association at National Parks Information Office.
End of Pg 36 and 37
Text Reads
CHOBE SAFARI LODGE
Magnificent wild life— elephant—lion—buck—game viewing in Landrovers. Extended photographic and hunting safaris arranged. Superb tiger and
bream fishing. Excellent accommodation, swimming pool, bar and
dining room overlooking the colourful Chobe River.
BOOKINGS: AIR RHODESIA
or S.A.A. Booking Offices.
OR DIRECT TO
CHOBE SAFARI LODGE
P.O. Kazungula (via Victoria
Falls), Botswana.
Tel.: Kasane 6.
FALLS SUPPLY STORE
We are pleased to welcome you to Victoria Falls and supply you with
all your holiday requirements
FRESH BREAD - HARDWARE - COLD BEER MILK - WINE - SPIRITS
FRUIT and VEGETABLE - GROCERIES - SWEETS - MINERALS
Above: The Craft Village ifs open daily from 8,30am to 5.30 p.m.
a corner of THE REAL AFRICA
THE Falls Craft Village, established in 1967, is a fascinating
replica of a nineteenth-century Matabele kraal. Here you can see how
life was lived by an ordinary Matabele man and his three wives in a
complex of thatched pole-and-daga huts representing his living
quarters. You visit his sleeping quarters and those of his wives,
their kitchens their thatched grain-storage bins where the piccanins
(youngster) hop In and out for the family's daily supplies, the
children's sleeping huts, the chicken coops, the cattle and sheep
kraals and much more besides. The witch-doctor is in daily
attendance, dressed in his skirt of jennet tails and
python-vertebrae necklaces, with all his primitive paraphernalia
including the bones he throws to make his predictions and tell
fortunes.
A guided tour of the village with experienced guides, versed in the
tribal customs and beliefs of the time, takes approximately 30-40
minutes though you may well linger longer over the fascinating and
unfamiliar activities displayed for your interest. Here,, indeed, is
a little corner of the "real" Africa which, in the remoter areas, has changed little since Llvingstone's
day.
SEE THE CRAFTSMEN AT WORK
Established in the village, too, are workshops where you can watch
many traditional hand-crafts actually in progress. For instance, you
can see the weaving of cord and sisal into handbags, the making of
llala palm hats and bags, masterly carving in wood and soapstone,
wood-turning and the fashioning of drums and tribal masks.
Above: Some of the soapstone carvers at the Village.
The intricate carving of elephant bone into individual ornaments
is believed to be unique to this village. From all over Southern
Africa these craftsmen have come to produce some of the finest work
of its kind in the entire continent.
The products of these multifarious workshops are on display and for
sale to visitors. Many of the finer articles are one-only originals
and thus make particularly precious souvenirs.
The End
Above: The reconstructed 19 th century Matabele village at the Victoria Falls.
THE African Craft Village is unique in its conception. It is an
exact replica of a nineteenth-century Matabele kraal, representing
the home of one Matabele man and his three wives. A guided tour
takes about 40 minutes and is a "must" for every visitor to the
Victoria Falls.
End
Special thanks to Shelley Chipchase
(Luanshya
in Northern Rhodesia) who made the booklet available to Rob Picton (Intaf)
who did the scanning and sending it to ORAFs. Thank you both
Please note that ORAFs (Eddy Norris) added the hyper-links in this article, hopefully it will assist our non Rhodesian readers.
Comments are always welcome, please mail them to Eddy Norris at orafs11@gmail.com
Please note that ORAFs (Eddy Norris) added the hyper-links in this article, hopefully it will assist our non Rhodesian readers.
Comments are always welcome, please mail them to Eddy Norris at orafs11@gmail.com
Labels: 1969, picton, Shelley Chipchase, Victoria Falls
posted by Rhodesia Remembered @ 10:52
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