We had arranged to have a guided tour to Victoria Falls and then a short helicopter ride over the top. Lawrence was our guide and he drove us back to Livingstone and then about 10km further to the Falls. You stop on the way and can see the spray rising. 

We were so lucky as there is still full water flowing over the Falls. They are 1.6km long with over a kilometre of that on the Zambian side. However, Zambia diverts some of the water into a hydro scheme so that in the dry season the water completely dries up on much of the Zambian side so that you can walk across the rocks at the top to this part which is normally an island (Livingstone Island) outside the wet season.  

In the rainy season there is heaps more water but that causes so much spray that it is difficult to see anything clearly. It was a cloudless, sunny day so our views were amazing. 

First we went to a model that shows where you walk and gives a birds eye view of the geography.

On the way we passed this amazing bird perched on a tree. It was some sort of hornbill with a double bill – the male attempt at attracting females. It’s certainly unusual. 

Then you go along to a lookout where there are great views of rainbows in the spray.

Then you walk right along opposite the Falls and it is like walking through steady rain. The lodge supplied excellent full length coats which were very necessary. Some people didn’t bother with coats and they were absolutely drenched. 

At one point you walk across this small footbridge between the Falls and a gorge. You get a great view of the Victoria Falls bridge with people bungee jumping and doing the gorge swing.

You also get a wonderful viewof a rainbow that is a complete circle down in the gorge. You look down on it from above. 

After the Falls trip we were taken to the helicopter where we joined the New York couple for a 12 minute flight over the Falls and gorges and then over part of the national park. It was short but a well worthwhile trip and you get a real feel for the geology of the area. 

We had a late lunch of some gourmet soup and pasta/burger and then some time to relax in the afternoon.
We had organised to do the lunar rainbow tour and that was fab. We were collected at 7.30pm and were taken to the lookout at the Falls. The lunar rainbow only happens for a couple of months when there is just the right amount of water to produce spray and also a full moon. They only really get the benefit on the Zambian side as the moon rises on that side. For the other side they would need to view much later when the moon has risen enough to be behind the viewers. It was a spectacular thing to see but not nearly bright enough for us to photograph so we need to rely on our memories. Again our guides had carried a small bar to the lookout point so the 4 of us (Sukira, Wish, Mike and I) could have any choice of drink and then cheese and crackers. Quite surreal really. 

We had booked a late dinner which meant we were eating our meal at 10.15pm when we got back. We were in the lookout again and had another delicious meal. On the way back to our room our valet stopped and pointed his torch in every direction. You could smell and hear hippos and there was hippo poo on the path. We didn’t see one though so made it to our cottage ok. If they can get onto the path then they can get onto our deck so was not about to go outside and check the hippo noises that night.