Flying Adventure: Victoria Falls – Day 6 (FVKB – FVFA):
Today we head to Victoria Falls, the destination which inspired this tour.
From Kariba this is a relatively short flight of just under two hours along Lake Kariba. A pretty relaxed and amazingly beautiful journey.
Visibility has not improved though as it was a calm and hot night. But this is nature, and it would be rather absurd to get upset or otherwise let your inner peace and excitement be disturbed about something that cannot be changed. That is at least his opinion.
Flight along Lake Kariba
We head out to the airport after breakfast, do our pre-flight inspection and are then soon airborne. To enjoy the scenery we remain low level at just over 1000 feet above the ground and fly along the lake’s shoreline towards Victoria Falls. This is a conservation area and flights below 1000 feet are not permitted.
He has mentioned Lake Kariba in earlier blog posts already. But there is another fascinating story to share.
When the lake was filled up after the dam’s completion in 1959, the rising water over this vast area displaced an abundance of wildlife. Many creatures retreated onto land masses which would eventually be submerged entirely.
The authorities of the then Rhodesia therefore launched ‘Operation Noah’, the largest wildlife rescue operation in history.
During this operation a female black rhino drowned after being sedated. The head veterinarian of the operation, Dr. John Condy, discovered that she had a baby of just a few weeks. That little Rhino would not have survived in the wild, and therefore Dr. Condy took him home. That became the famous Rupert the Rhinoceros, named after Rupert Fothergill, the head ranger of ‘Operation Noah’.
Along the Zambezi to Victoria Falls
As we pass the Zambezi’s mouth into the lake, we fly along the river up to the Victoria Falls before descending to Victoria Falls airport.
Airspace over the falls is strictly separated, with microlight aircraft on the lower level, helicopters in the medium level and aircraft like us above at 6000 feet altitude, which is about 2500 feet above ground.
The water level of the Zambezi is substantially lower this time around then it was back in April of this year, when he was flying over here the last time on route to the Okavango Delta.
As we are in the traffic pattern for our approach into Victoria Falls Ethiopian Airlines flight ET829 is on a long final approach. Air Traffic Control therefore instructs us to do an orbit for spacing and then line up back into the traffic pattern for our landing.
As we are flying into the approach path of that far heavier Boeing B738, it is important to be aware of the wake turbulence, or vortex, behind and below that aircraft’s flight path. Wake turbulence is to be taken very seriously in a light aircraft like ours, or in fact in any aircraft. Getting caught up in them on a final approach low to the ground can be terminal.
We therefore fly a slightly higher final approach path to remain clear of the vortex and touch down after the touch down point of the B738. That is a safe procedure, and as regular readers know, he does not compromise on safety and proper risk management.
We arrive at Victoria Falls airport at just about lunch time, and head to Victoria Falls town, where we check in at Ilala Lodge.
Ilala Lodge has a beautiful setup and is very centrally located. The falls and all other attractions of Vic Falls town are within easy walking distances.
For the rest of the day we enjoy the relaxed charm of Vic Falls town.
Victoria Falls Town
Day 7 is of course also spent in Victoria Falls to take a walk through the Vic Falls National Park and check out the attractions in town.
With the water level being so low, some people on the Zambia side are enjoying a swim in Devil’s pool, a rock pool right on the edge of the falls.
The Zambians call the falls Mosi-oa-Tunya, which means ‘The smoke that thunders’. This smoke, or more accurately moisture, nurtures a natural rainforest in an otherwise fairly dry region.
