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Offline Johnvr  
#1 Posted : 08 May 2015 23:16:42(UTC)
Johnvr

South Africa   
Joined: 03/10/2010(UTC)
Posts: 1,269
Location: Cape Town, South Africa
Hi all,

I have just returned from a holiday to one of the wonderful sites in Africa - the majestic and romantic Victoria Falls.

Discovered by Livingstone in 1855, the Victoria Falls became a tourist destination from about 1900. Cecil John Rhodes wanted to build a railway line from Cape Town to Cairo, and wanted a bridge across the mighty Zambesi River close to the falls, so that the passengers "could feel the spray in their faces". The Victoria Falls Bridge was completed in 1905, having been constructed in England and shipped out to South Africa/ Zimbabwe, and remains a wonderful sight today. It was breath-taking to see the huge gorge spanned by the bridge, and torrents of water pouring over the falls and passing underneath the bridge.

Adjacent to the Victoria Falls station remains the Garett Locomotive and passenger wagons used to transport visitors between towns of that bygone era. I was fortunate to meet the driver of the locomotive, who informed me that the Garett Locomotive was built in 1953, and was last operated in 2014 for a tour group.

I took time to ponder the magnificent engineers who designed and constructed the bridge and the locomotives 100 years ago, the workmen who built the railway line from Cape Town through dense bush and wild roaming animals to the falls, the drama of the "smoke that thunders" when the river is in flood, the beauty of the curtain of the falls as seen from the viewpoints, and the sights and smells of nature at this dramatic place on Earth.

Regards,BigGrin
John
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Offline Johnvr  
#2 Posted : 08 May 2015 23:22:07(UTC)
Johnvr

South Africa   
Joined: 03/10/2010(UTC)
Posts: 1,269
Location: Cape Town, South Africa
Some more pictures attached :
Johnvr attached the following image(s):
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Offline Johnvr  
#3 Posted : 08 May 2015 23:31:34(UTC)
Johnvr

South Africa   
Joined: 03/10/2010(UTC)
Posts: 1,269
Location: Cape Town, South Africa
And some scary moments too :
Johnvr attached the following image(s):
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Offline aos  
#4 Posted : 09 May 2015 21:48:12(UTC)
aos

Scotland   
Joined: 03/08/2008(UTC)
Posts: 524
Location: Livingston, Scotland
Hi Jon, What magnificent pictures. It brings back great memories for me. I worked in Kitwe on the Zambian Copperbelt from 1973 to 1975. That was when Ian Smith (then Prime Minister of Southern Rhodesia) had closed the border with Zambia. I used to drive down to Livingstone on occasions, both in the wet and the dry seasons. I cannot think of anything more inspiring than Victoria falls in full torrent.

Little do people know, but the border was really not "closed" at all. I used to watch trucks being shunted from the southern side into the middle of the bridge at about 12 noon. The loco would the uncouple the trucks and leave them there. About an hour later, railway staff from the Zambian side would bring a loco over to the trucks, couple them up and complete the journey into Zambia. This would happen regularly and in both directions.

I was unfortunate at the time in that I never went over to the Rhodesian side. Due to the political situation, the Zambian authorities were very touchy about anyone working on a contract with the mining companies going to either Southern Rhodesia or South Africa and then returning with a stamp in their passport. I did however return to South Africa ten years later for a three year stint. Alan
Offline Johnvr  
#5 Posted : 10 May 2015 07:57:24(UTC)
Johnvr

South Africa   
Joined: 03/10/2010(UTC)
Posts: 1,269
Location: Cape Town, South Africa
Alan,

Thanks for your comments !

I also visited "Rhodesia" during the early days, mainly the eastern side. The whole drama with Rhodesia / Zimbabwe / Smith / Mugabe is such an interesting story and continues to play out in the collapse of Zimbabwe. You probably know that the Zimbabwe Dollar has devalued so much that it is not longer worth anything, so all trades and prices are quoted in US$ these days.

You may also be interested to read that the Victoria Falls are steadily receding further upstream, and have been doing so for the last 100,000 years. The current Victoria Falls curtain is the 8th line of curtain, the previous 7 lines are visible in the gorges which are further downstream from the current location. Seems incredible, doesn't it ?

See here : Victoria Falls Receding

Regards,BigGrin
John
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