Tag Archives: Adventure

Environment, Nature, Photo challenges, Photography, Wilderness

Danger, Thrill and Beauty. The Unique Blend in the Everglades.

May 7, 2017 Tiny 86 Comments

My orange-colored ear plug fell on the floor. Then it flew overboard and disappeared in water spray. The roar of the airboat engine grew exponentially as we flew over the sawgrass prairie at high speed.

When we slowed down and finally stopped altogether, the sky and land seemed to merge here, in the middle of this unique wilderness of 1.5 million acres. I took out the remaining ear plug. And listened.

The sawgrass prairie was beautiful and very peaceful. But danger was lurking in the shallow water, only 4-5 feet/1.2-1.5 meters deep on average. Over 200,000 alligators with a typical body length of 9-12 feet, a mouth equipped with 80 sharp teeth and over 1000 pounds of closing power in their jaws, call this swamp home.

They went about their daily life quietly in the water and on land. I was, without a doubt, a guest in their home.

Luckily humans are not on their menu unless we threaten their young. They observed me as I observed them, keenly, and I could see the skies reflected in their eyes. Mesmerizing.

I understood that in the Everglades, one of the world’s most diverse ecosystems, danger is married to beauty.

The sawgrass prairie bloomed with Spider Lily and other beautiful flowers.

And so did the hammocks.

I found the airplants most intriguing. A seed lands on a tree, then grows and blooms. Just like that. One of the thousands of small miracles in nature.

And crisscrossing the prairie I found many of my favorite marsh birds, like the Great Blue Heron, the Great Egret and the Snowy Egret.

A family of Wood Storks got disturbed by our noisy approach and took flight.

And I spotted impressive Osprey nests, several feet high. At one of them, a juvenile was considering the benefits and dangers of flying. Her mommy watched nearby. And waited.

I saw many other birds enjoy the peace of this wilderness, like this Red-Shouldered Hawk, but it was a challenge to ‘shoot’ them from a fast moving airboat.

Particularly if they were moving too, like this female Anhinga, who was trying to swallow her catch.

Coming back to the airboat station, I spotted two familiar handsome males. A Red-Winged Blackbird and a Boat-Tailed Grackle.

From here my journey continued through the Big Cypress National Preserve. I made some interesting discoveries, like the smallest federal building in the US, the Ochopee Post Office.

I also visited some wildlife centers on my way to Everglades City, which really was a small, idyllic village with a few roads and houses on stilts due to frequent flooding.

I also spotted both modern and older versions of swamp buggies parked in front of the houses.

And found a nice place for lunch. Alligator was on the menu, but I opted for a chicken sandwich.

Arriving to the western side of the Everglades, I visited the historic museum in Chokoloskee, an area inhabited for centuries by the Calusa people, and for thousands of years by their ancestors.

My last adventure was a boat cruise through the western Everglades mangrove estuary known as the 10,000 Islands.

After speeding past many islands, we suddenly got company. Two Bottlenose Dolphins followed our ‘sister boat’ and then kept diving back and forth under our boat. In addition to us humans, dolphins are the only other wild species that like to play and have fun 🙂 Unfortunately coming up for a photo-op was not included in their scheme of fun for the day.

After a while they decided the fun was over and headed for their own underwater explorations. We continued towards the ocean past lovely small islands until we reached the southern Gulf of Mexico.

On our way back, we got company again. A young West Indian Manatee stayed with us for quite a while. This ‘sea cow’ can stay under water up to 40 minutes at a time so it was a thrill to capture it coming up for a breath next to our boat a couple of times.

Close to the shore I spotted an Osprey in flight above a mangrove island. That was a great ending to my adventure in the Everglades.

It was an unforgettable trip from the eastern Everglades through the Big Cypress National Preserve to the western Everglades. And I am more determined than ever to do what I can to preserve this wonderful wilderness, and others, for the future generations.

Thank you for coming along. See you later alligator.

Nature, Photography

Mama Osprey’s Little Wingman. And Danger Lurking.

May 7, 2016 Tiny 68 Comments

Happy Mother’s Day to Mama Sandy! Being a mother is wonderful, but also exhausting and full of trials. Mama Sandy knows. She looks weary. I am not sure this picture shows two chicks, but this is the closest I’ve come this week to confirm that there still are two of them.

But that doesn’t mean that the younger chick didn’t survive. S/he could just be in the middle of the nest and not yet looking out much. And even in the next picture s/he could be right in front of Sandy’s head.

The bigger chick is certainly thriving. S/he is wingersizing already. That long, out-stretched wing belongs to him/her!

This morning I took a solo walk to check on them. See, Dylan is not allowed to take long walks until next Thursday. He had surgery to repair a Cherry Eye in his left eye, which is still red. He has a cone to protect his eye, and is on three medications. Needless to say he doesn’t appreciate his current restrictions.

Anyway, this morning I heard Mama Sandy give a sharp alarm call several times. I looked up in the sky, but couldn’t see anything flying overhead. At one time she was making herself ready to fly out, but changed her mind at the last moment. I was baffled. What was making her so upset?

I walked closer to the nest and discovered the reason she was on edge. The young Great Blue Heron was watching the nest intensively from the other side of the deep pond.

After being discovered, he flew across the pond landing almost below the nest. And Sandy gave another sharp warning.

Sandy was on her toes and ready to defend the nest. Because Papa Stanley didn’t fly in to assist her, I gathered he was out fishing. So I walked around the marsh to see who else was at home. The first one I spotted was the small Tri-colored Heron. She was hunting and didn’t pay much attention to me.

The tiny juvenile Little Blue Heron, whom I saw last week for the first time, was also there. I think she’s made the salt marsh her new home.

On the north side of the marsh, two baby Mottled Ducks were having breakfast. Diving so often that I had a difficulty in capturing both of them up on the surface at the same time.

Mr. Mallard was also visiting the marsh for the first time this year. He posed nicely for the camera.

Walking further towards the beach end of the marsh, I had to laugh at this Northern Mockingbird.

As soon as I walked by his tree, he started serenading me in advance of Mother’s Day. I took a 30 second video so he can serenade you too. The master of the songbird universe.

Reaching the end of the marsh, my attention was drawn to a Great Egret, who seemed very upset.

He was vocal too, and soon enough I saw why. The young Great Blue Heron was flying right towards him. I guess the GBH had decided he didn’t want to get his butt kicked by Sandy again, and wanted another piece of land to conquer.

The Great Egret flew away, and the young GBH soon was the King of the Hill at the west-end of the marsh.

I walked back towards the Osprey nest on the south side of the marsh. The only bird I saw there was a Blue Jay. He was moving all the time and gave me a hard time to get a shot.

While I was occupied with him, I saw Papa Stanley circle around the nest with a fish. Mama Sandy did not say anything so he flew away with the fish. After reaching the nest, I sat down on “my” bench to change the battery in my camera.

I could only see Sandy. Then I saw a dark shadow flying over my head. It was Stanley coming back with the fish.

He landed at the corner of nest. But nobody was hungry. This was around 10 a.m. and I guess Sandy and the chick(s) had just eaten. So he took the fish and flew away, presumably to eat it himself.

I’m sure he’ll need that extra energy as he’s fishing at least four times a day now, and probably eats less than any of them.

It was a gorgeous day and an eventful walk. Reaching our driveway a Mourning Dove was welcoming me home.

With that I wish all mothers and grandmothers a wonderful Mother’s Day tomorrow.

Travel

Throwback Thursday: Lions out of Focus

July 24, 2014 Tiny 23 Comments

Generally speaking, focus is the central point of attention or activity. We may agree that it’s important to focus on whatever we want to get done. I’d like to add that how we focus on something may actually determine whether or not we’ll live to tell the story. Seriously.

I learned this lesson many years ago in South Luangwa National Park in Zambia. Before dinner on our first day at the safari lodge we opted for a sunset game drive. We climbed into a typical “safari jeep” ready for an adventure. Our guide drove us around the park and we saw many different types of antelopes, zebras and water buffaloes. Very exciting! But more excitement was to come.

antelope in Zambia Luangwa National Park — A large antelope in South Luangwa National Park

About an hour into the drive, our guide told us that before we’d return to the lodge for dinner, he would drive us down to the Luangwa River to see the sunset. It was spectacular, he said, and we might spot animals who come there to drink in the early evening hours.

A few minutes later we approached the river banks. Already from afar, we could see a herd of elephants crossing the river. We stopped on the high river bank and the driver left the engine running (we were in the wild). My hubby, who sat in the front passenger seat, rigged his camcorder.

Elephants crossing Luangwa River Zambia safari — A herd of elephants crossing the Luangwa River (click to enlarge)

The view was magical. On the left side of the vehicle we could see elephants of all sizes: large adults, youngsters and adorable babies. And on the right side a gorgeous African sunset. My hubby was recording for dear life.

Luangwa river Zambia sunset — Sunset on Luangwa River

That’s when we spotted a group of female lions. They were basking themselves in the last rays of the setting sun, probably strategizing about the upcoming hunt. They were very close and very calm. We watched them breathlessly from the relative safety of our vehicle.

Suddenly my hubby moved. His eye still on the viewfinder he stepped down from the open jeep to get a better view. And landed right in front of the lions! He was so focused on capturing the sunset that he had not seen what all others saw, the lions. In an instant, he was the easy catch, a free meal, so to speak. I was about to scream, but the driver was faster. In a fraction of a second and without a word he grabbed my hubby’s arm and pulled him back into the vehicle. Then he backed out of there, slowly and calmly.

Luangwa River Zambia — Luangwa River at sunset

That was a close call. My tiny lesson was that how we focus on something matters. Of course we should focus on what needs to get done. But not so narrowly that we lose sight of what is going on around us. Things can change fast.

Dog Life, Just Life

Confessions of a Rescue Dog

February 20, 2014 Tiny 18 Comments

“I’ve learned to trust again. I’ve learned to play again. I’ve conquered my fears. But most importantly, I’ve learned never to lose hope.” That’s Bumble’s message to his readers on the back of his new book “Confessions of a Rescue Dog“. He generously shares what he has learned and let’s the reader peek into his world through touching and humorous observations.

Bumble hopes this book will be a heart-warming treat for pet lovers of ages 10-100, but more importantly, he hopes it will raise awareness and much needed funds to help more shelter animals find loving forever homes. He wanted to post an excerpt for you to read here. It’s about one of his favorite activities, visiting a small uninhabited island for a swim and a nice picnic:

“I love to go to this one particular island. It’s uninhabited and few people ever go there. It has shallow white beaches, and the sand is soft. My family likes the crystal clear water, and we spend hours snorkeling. This is where I also go into the water to swim and snorkel. It’s such a wonderful beach….Last time we were there we got a surprising visitor, completely unannounced. We were all swimming and suddenly mom was screaming. I thought she’d been bitten by a big fish, like a shark or something. I was ready to swim to her rescue!

Then I looked more carefully and saw a large dolphin. They are nice, intelligent animals and not fish. Mom had told me that earlier when we saw two of them swimming ahead of our boat. This one was swimming around mom, who was now standing waist deep in the water. She had been a bit scared when the dolphin first came to nudge her, but now she was delighted. The dolphin stayed with us for a while and then swam out to the ocean. The whole experience was very special.

Another thing that I love about these small outings is that we usually go out in the morning and return just before sundown. That means lunch on the beach somewhere, and I mean an excellent lunch on the beach. Mom never brings my bowl or my food, so I get what they get. Usually chargrilled chicken breasts or yummy sausages! I love the lunch time on these trips. I get pieces from everyone, and no one keeps a count. That’s what I call a picnic! I’m suggesting we make a small boating trip a regular feature in the weekend calendar, every week. No one would ever be bored.”

You can read another excerpt here. It is about the time when Bumble had just come from the shelter to his new home and was rediscovering how to play.

His book is finally available on Amazon US as a paperback and also on Kindle! In addition, it will be available on other on-line book sellers in the US and on Amazon’s sites world-wide in the next few days.

We both hope you’ll enjoy it!

Writing

OMG! He Did It!

February 9, 2014 Tiny 33 Comments

Finally we are up for air, my writing partner and I. You see, last November right around NaNoWriMo time, Mister Bumble insisted that he wanted to write his story. He would call it “Confessions of a Rescue Dog”. He asked me to type it since I’m a bit faster than him. When I hesitated, he went to his archives and brought me a quote. That did it.

The quote was written on a simple piece of white paper and it read: “Rescue animals aren’t broken. They’ve simply experienced more life than other animals. If they were human, we would call them wise. They would be the ones with tales to tell and stories to write… animals dealt a bad hand, but who responded with courage. Don’t pity a shelter animal. Adopt one! And be proud to have their greatness by your side.” -Anonymous

I thought his story was worth telling. In fact, it’s quite heart-warming and uplifting. So he started narrating and I started typing. And typing. For the whole month of November. Then came December and we both got busy with other things. I re-engaged in some income generating activities and Bumble concentrated on his work, namely protecting our home from shady characters. We made a few efforts towards editing the manuscript late at nights, but achieved little.

The holidays came and went. The manuscript was covered by soft cushions in a corner of the sofa in my office. Until one day, when Bumble was digging there to make a bed for himself, it fell down on the floor. And I knew we had to finish the book.

We got to work. Reviewing, editing, reviewing again. Then one day great illustrations appeared in my inbox. My son had finalized the cover and several other images for the book. Now we just had to get to the finish line.

So finally our joint labor is bearing fruit. 175 pages of treats for pet lovers. Just before midnight yesterday, the book was submitted for publishing. Bumble did it! He wants to help other animals find loving forever homes so he committed us to donate a portion of the sales to the Humane Society’s shelter here at home. We have been there, seen all the dogs, cats, rabbits and birds waiting for a new home. It’s a large and well run no-kill shelter.

We’ll let you know when and where Bumble’s story will be available. When you read it, please remember not to take all his observations about me literally. While I think that he’s a fairly accurate analyst of human behavior, I have noticed that he tends to exaggerate a bit when I’m concerned.

Have a wonderful weekend ♥ Tiny and Bumble

Travel

Why I Prefer an Elephant’s Butt to Her Belly

July 20, 2013 Tiny 23 Comments

For weekend reading I thought I would tell you a short story, just a bit longer than my usual seventeen syllables. This is a true story about elephants and how they taught me a “tiny lesson”.

It was a nice December morning in Africa, more exactly in Queen Elizabeth National Park in Uganda. A good friend from Sweden had come to visit us and we decided to go on a safari over the weekend to show her the beauty of the wild. We used to drive ourselves in our sturdy SUV and usually I would be the “safari driver” – so also this morning.

After an early breakfast at the lodge, we set out into the wild to spot some animals. Our friend was particularly interested in seeing elephants. We knew they were plentiful in this particular park because big herds had moved in from neighboring Rwanda where a conflict was raging at the time.

We drove quite a while, from the south to the north of the park, first on a narrow gravel road and then followed a small trail hardly distinguishable in the tall grass. Suddenly we saw elephants crossing the trail in a distance. We got a bit closer, then stopped and idled. We watched in awe as a huge herd, probably 50-60 elephants crossed our path from a sparsely wooded meadow on the right to a grassy opening on the left. Everybody was there, from the huge elders to the small cuties. We watched and filmed the rare sight at a safe distance. Needless to say our friend was excited!

After about half an hour, we could see the heard had settled to eat at the far end of the grassy area. Only two adults were still on the right of our trail, busy eating from trees at the far end of the meadow. I quickly scanned the situation and decided it was time for us to continue our journey. I shifted to the first gear and slowly, quietly started moving towards the point where they had crossed the trail. Everyone continued to film and observe the herd. We were doing fine, none of the elephants had taken notice of us. Or so we thought.

Suddenly we heard a high-pitched alarm. I turned my head to the right and saw a huge elephant belly right next to our truck! A belly, not a butt or a head! The trunk making the noise was high above our vehicle, the front legs right above our heads! The matriarch had been managing the herd’s crossing from behind some tall and dense shrubbery next to the trail. And she had remained behind… waiting for the two latecomers to get their act together. That made sense. But for us my hasty decision resulted in a surprise that could easily have turned deadly.

As I am telling this story now, you already know the outcome. Metal to the pedal, everyone tumbled around in the truck, we all screamed, the video camera hit the roof…but we made it. We now have a reminder of this adventure – with the alarm sound, elephant belly, our screams and all – on DVD. But the truth to be told, I rather watch the latter part of this DVD filmed back at the lodge, where we met this charming young man.

I have thought about this small incident afterwards. I now know why I definitely prefer to see an elephant’s butt rather than her belly. I also learned a lesson, ever so tiny: I’ve got to get my facts right before leaping into a decision. Shooting from the hip might sometimes prove deadly.

Have a great weekend everyone – may your adventures be just a shade safer.

Just Life, Poems

Tiny Business

January 9, 2013 Tiny 15 Comments

I hope you all had good holidays and that your new year has started well. And thanks to all my blogging friends for interesting and inspiring readings on a daily basis during my first six months of blogging! What a wonderful community! And thanks to all followers and visitors for stopping by from time to time.

For the next ten days or so I’ll be changing my Florida capris and sandals to a business suit, boots and an overcoat, my old Explorer to a variety of jets, and my calm ocean views to bustling city views with myriads of people, traffic jams and ancient buildings.

It’s time for me to open my window to the world again. That means it’s time for non-virtual work, face-to-face type of business elsewhere on this beautiful earth. This probably also means sporadic connectivity and much less time for blogging. I will try to post whenever I can, but will only be able to catch up on all my favorite blogs once back home again. I look forward to that. Be good.

travels

Running to catch flights

learning and teaching lessons

cultural workout.

Just Life

A Less Known Tropical Gem

January 4, 2013 Tiny 7 Comments

A few years ago, when we were still living the typical 24/7 life in the nation’s capital, we felt the need for some tropical “rejuvenation therapy”. Not having the time to travel very far and having already visited the western Caribbean several times, we looked for a bit more exotic destination. We settled on the tiny, lush island of St. Lucia, part of the Lesser Antilles in the eastern Caribbean. It is located between the Atlantic Ocean (eastern shore) and the Caribbean Sea (western side). We flew there via San Juan, Puerto Rico one beautiful day in late May.

St. Lucia is a very small sovereign island nation with a population of less that 200,000, rich culture and history. It’s only 27 miles long and 14 miles wide. One can drive around this beautiful island on a curvy and hilly (no kidding!) road that follows the coast line to experience its tropical beauty and spectacular views during frequent sightseeing stops or hikes.

The beaches are beautiful, of course, and the island’s inner landscape consists of several tropical rain forests and reserves, many with breathtaking waterfalls and rare spices of wild flowers and birds.

St lucia jungle waterfall

We drove from north to south on the west coast passing tiny fishing villages, banana plantations and fruit farms, the island’s “fruit basket”, and had an opportunity to visit several forests, gardens and waterfalls.

Reaching the south-western side of the island we stopped to admire the famous coastal twin peaks, the Pitons, Petit and Gros.

Another site worth visiting in the south is the Sulphur Springs, the “drive-in volcano” which forms the hottest and most active geothermal area in the Lesser Antilles. We walked through the crater, past pools and hot springs bubbling with sulphur-laden steam, but we declined a bath in the warm sulphuric pools despite their reputed soothing effects.

In addition to wonderful nature and sights, the island offers many other activities, ranging from cultural events, eco-adventures, horse-back riding and hiking (for example on the Pigeon Island) to all kinds of water sports, including wonderful waters for snorkeling and scuba diving.

A considerable part of our “tropical rejuvenation” program was of course relaxation and sun bathing on the beautiful beaches, eating authentic island fare accompanied with local music, and shopping for colorful souvenirs.

We came back to the hubbub of the big city happy and more relaxed. St. Lucia is a tropical gem well worth visiting! Hope you enjoyed the journey.

Just Life

Yet Another Forgotten Adventure

November 4, 2012 Tiny 14 Comments

Every time I do dusting in my library/office, I discover some travel adventures I have almost forgotten. Like yesterday. I lifted a huge blue photo album that sat next to almost thirty others in different colors but same huge format. One page had gotten half loose and stuck up so I took the album and opened it. I came right into the largest Roman amphitheatre in Northern Africa. But let me start from the beginning.

Many years ago, obviously before the modern times of digital photography and other more recent developments, we spent one very interesting week in Tunisia. Tunisia is the smallest country in Northern Africa with lots of interesting history and great environmental diversity, landscapes that shift from lush beaches at the Mediterranean coastline in the north and east to the Sahara desert in the south. We traveled from the north to the south and back, interested to learn about history and to experience the environmental shift from north to south.

The Capital city, Tunis, is situated on the Mediterranean coast behind the lake of Tunis and the hills surrounding it. The city center consist of the old medina, a dense cluster of narrow alleys full of intense colours, flourishing trade of all kinds of goods ranging from leather, colourful rugs, wall hangings to craft shops selling tourist souvenirs. These narrow streets are very busy and you can practice your negotiation skills on the price of anything you may be interested in. And its likely that the seller speaks just enough of your language, whatever it is, to manage this conversation to their advantage.

Beyond the medina, Tunis offers more modern architecture, including cathedrals and mosques, beaches and colorful markets.

Beyond the more modern surroundings there is the suburb of Carthage, remnants of what used to be one of the largest and most powerful cities in the ancient times. One can still feel the wings of history there amid the ruins of many interesting structures.

Traveling south from Tunis towards the central regions of Tunisia, we came to the small town of El Jem, which is the home of the impressive ruins of the largest Colosseum in North Africa, a huge amphitheatre which is estimated to have provided seating for up to 35,000 spectators. This 3rd-century monument truly illustrates the influence of Imperial Rome.

Its facade comprises three levels of arcades of mainly Corinthian style. The monument has conserved most of the supporting infrastructure for the tiered seating. The wall of the podium, the arena and the underground passages are practically intact, and restoration work was going on everywhere around the ruins.

Traveling south from there, the environment became more and more desert-like. Mountains, winding roads and lots of sand everywhere. We were approaching the Sahara desert.

And that road led us to one of the most intriguing places I’ve ever seen, the small town of Matmata in southern Tunisia. This is an ancient development whose origins are only known from tales and myths passed on from generation to generation and where some of the local residents still live in traditional underground structures.

These housing developments were discovered only relatively recently, in 1967. The structures are created by first digging a large pit in the ground and then digging caves around this pit as rooms for the house. Some homes comprised multiple pits, connected by underground passageways. It was like entering another world! Not surprisingly, Matmata provided the scene for one of the original Star Wars films in the late 1970s.

The residents live mostly of tourism and we could visit some of the homes. They were very simple but a few had modern equipment like a TV and cooking facilities. Some homes also had elaborate exhibitions and sales of local folklore and crafts. That visit was definitely the highlight of our adventures in Tunisia. And looking at the old photos, I relived the sense of amazement I felt in Matmata.

Hope you enjoyed the journey.

Travel

The Smoke That Thunders

October 25, 2012 Tiny 8 Comments

One beautiful December morning some 25 years ago, we stepped onboard a small and very old propeller plane in Lusaka, Zambia to fly south to the Zambia/Zimbabwe border. That was the first of many trips we would do over the years to experience one of the seven natural wonders of the world, Mosi-oa-Tunya. It means the smoke that thunders – a very descriptive indigenous name given by the Tonga tribe to the falls we now know as Victoria Falls.

This worlds largest waterfall stretches one mile (1.7 km) wide and 360 f (108 m) high, producing a huge continuing curtain of falling water during the rainy season. The main streams have also been named: Devil’s Cataract, Main Falls, Rainbow Falls and the Eastern Cataract. The wide basalt cliff over which the water falls into the ravine transforms the calm Zambezi river into a wild torrent with numerous dramatic gorges and true white water rapids.

We have come to visit these falls both from Zambia and Zimbabwe, both sides of the falls offer beautiful views and nice accommodations. Upon arrival, I’ve just liked to relax in the hotel gardens and listen to the ancient thunder of the falls and watch the mist raising towards the skies.

Then it’s been time to take a walk in the two national parks protecting the falls on both sides of the border. The vegetation in the parks is lush, rainforest-like, due to the continuous natural “irrigation”. But there are nice walking paths from which one can admire the wonderous beauty of the falls from many different angles. The thunder is on “high volume setting” when you walk close to the falls, you can really sense the enormous force of the water rushing down. And you get a natural shower completely free of charge!

Often we have also crossed the walking bridge from Zambia to Zimbabwe side of the falls (or vice versa) to see the falls from several different perspectives. It’s often a good time to get some lunch before walking back through the park.

The falls also change with the seasons, like everything else in nature. During the rainy season (November to April) when the Zambezi River swells, the falls are at their peak exhibiting the largest single sheet of falling water in the world. And an enormous spray display that can be seen for miles.

Gradually during the dry season, the river stands lower and lower. And consequently, at end of the dry season the falls have much less water. To the point that some people have tried to walk over the falls – with disastrous consequences. The power of water is enormous even during the dry season – and should not be underestimated. Such daredevil acts are of course strictly forbidden.

If you want to see the falls from above there are other safer options: air safaris by helicopter or small plane, and it is even possible to glide fly over the falls. For me it has always been enough to climb to a safe place and look down into the gorge…

For those of us who want to experience extreme thrills at Victoria Falls, there is also white water rafting or kayaking on Zambezi in category 5 rapids, with the added excitement of possibly meeting a few small crocodiles en route. Those not satisfied with the category 5 rapids can always add bungee-jumping to their itinerary!

We did not try the ultimate adventures but preferred more family oriented, safer activities, such as visiting the wildlife parks and craft shops in the vicinity.

After walking around the falls for hours and whatever else was on our program, we usually returned to the hotel to enjoy dinner, often served with traditional music outdoors. And after dark there was always something to look forward to: colorful traditional entertainment in the form of music, ancient dances and plays featuring dramatic masks. A little bit of mystique for dessert has always tasted good to me!

Victoria Falls is one of my favorite destinations and I hope to get an opportunity to visit there again. It is a must-see natural wonder for those traveling to Africa. I hope you enjoyed the journey and did not get too much of a soaking from the smoke that thunders.