In the evening of our first night at Victoria Falls we had dinner at the camp. Our guide and driver, David confirmed that he is also a really good cook.
An Upsetting Song
After the meal a group of blokes in ‘native garb’ appeared. They danced and sang some songs – some in the local language and some in English. The last song was “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot”. I know that this is an American negro spiritual song, but it is also sung by English Rugby supporters. This can be very upsetting for a Wallabies supporter.
Wake up for the Helicopter Ride
One of the activities that had booked to do in Victoria Falls was a helicopter ride. My cousin Julie had sent me an email telling me that is a ‘must do’.
A mini bus picked me up at the camp gate we headed to the heliport.
Remembering a previous ride
This was to be my second ride in helicopter. The first was when I was working for Caltex. The company operates a pipeline that runs from the Kurnell Refinery through Silverwater and up to Newcastle. Part the environmental conditions for the operation of the pipeline is that it has to be subject to periodic visual checks. This done from the air. I had opportunity to take a ride in the helicopter than performs the checks.
We flew from Bankstown airport across the harbour and up the coast to Newcastle. I can recall that the helicopter we incredibly noisy. I also remember that it was quite a different experience to flying in light plane.
Buying an Upgrade
The mini bus arrived at the heliport and we taken into a building. The other passengers, and Swiss couple and French man and woman, had arranged to have ‘up-grades’. It was explained that this involved an extended flight that would include flying over the gorge downstream from the falls and a trip up the river.
It decided to take the upgrade.
The flight
Once the payments we made for the up grade were made, we were off.
We headed straight to the falls. It was an amazing experience. You really get to see the falls in a different perspective than you experience on the ground. You see the wide river leading to the falls, the spray billowing into the sky, and rapid flow of the water through the tight gorge zig zagging downstream.
We made a couple of passes over the falls before following the path of the river down the gorge.
The last part of the flight involved flying up the river. We then headed slightly away from the river to see some herds of Zebra and elephant. At various times the pilot made some very sharp turns and swooped down so we could get a better view.
Unfortunately, my photos and videos probably don’t do this part of the trip justice.
Good Tip Julie
To sum up: cousin Julie was right. The helicopter ride was great.
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