Last week I blogged about Imprint Tours' first visit to mighty Victoria Falls. On the third Southern Safaris tour, my 16-year old daughter Maia got to see them as well. As a guest-blogger, I've asked her to share her experiences of the great falls. All pictures taken by Maia.
So far I have seen two of the seven natural wonders of the world. One was the Grand Canyon and the second was Victoria Falls. On my way to see the falls I could hear the water roaring and I swear it was the most powerful sound I’ve ever heard. It made me revel in the moment. I was about to see the most magnificent waterfall in the world. When we came around the last corner and I finally saw the falls I simply stopped and starred for a moment. Most people around me immediately took out their cameras and started snapping away in the hopes that they would be able to remember what it looked like once the moment had passed.
I took photos of course, but not immediately I let the wonder of it all sink in first. It’s difficult to describe how wonderful it was. It’s the kind of thing that makes you forget about the problems of our society for a moment and just marvel at the earth for what it created. The waterfall formed a giant chasm in the earth and water poured out of it with a sound like thunder. As I watched the water flow I doubted how there could ever be a shortage of water in our future. There was so much of it I could not imagine it ever running out.
As we walked along the pathway and made our way along the famous waterfall it got progressively mistier. Each viewpoint was as spectacular as the last. If there’s one thing I remember most it is the rainbows. I’ve seen rainbows in my life but never so many. Everywhere I looked there was another, each brighter and more amazing than the one before.
Toward the end was a place I remember as particularly special. We walked out to the edge of a cliff where the spray was the most intense. I stepped out onto a rock and looked at it all. I could see so much of the falls from that one spot. I stopped trying to keep the water out, pulled my hood back, and let it soak my face. I should have put my arms out and smiled at the sky but I didn’t. I just stared, unable to think of any better thing to do.
I’ll never forget the feeling I experienced when I first saw the falls. It was truly beautiful and made me thankful for everything the earth has given us. The truth is I won’t remember because of the pictures I took, I will remember because it was beautiful and it was important. I hope to remember because it had an impact on me. People often build things up in their head, they make something to be more than it is. I do this like everyone else. But when I saw Victoria Falls it was better than I could have imagined. My advice would be to try and not imagine what something will look like. People are too often disappointed when it doesn’t live up to their impossible expectations. Live in the moment, take it for what it is and be happy that you’re experiencing it. Nothing is ever exactly how we imagine it will be. But sometimes it turns out to be better.
-Maia Coen
