Food Feature: Back in nature’s arms

Last summer, 24 years after my first truly foreign life experience as a Peace Corps volunteer in the Ivory Coast, I returned to the African continent and fell into an unexpected state of bushveld bliss.
On my first rendezvous with Africa, I’d sought only the thrill of the unknown. This time, as a freelance writer, I was bound for Zimbabwe with half a dozen writing assignments and a packed agenda. In Harare, I met artists, gallery owners and writers, visited exhibitions, hiked to Stone Age caves, intending to conclude my 10-day rocket trip with a jaunt to Victoria Falls. Though my time in the city was rushed, the thought of Victoria Falls shimmered in my mind.
Two centuries ago, the Makololo tribe christened the cascades Mosi oa Tunya, “The Smoke That Thunders,” when they saw the mist that rises a half-kilometer above its rushing waters. An awestruck David Livingstone discovered the chasm’s transcendence and wrote: “Scenes so lovely must have been gazed upon by angels in their flight.” The British explorer renamed the falls after Queen Victoria in 1855. Almost 150 years later, the stunning mile-wide fissure remains one of the world’s superlatives. Victoria Falls, the ultimate destination for adventurers everywhere, had become my own.
As it happened, I arrived there almost a full day late, ending a week’s tug-of-war between desire and reality. That was when the falls, and their irrepressible force, took over and washed my “schedule” right out the window. I found myself surrendering. I began to rediscover the importance of allowing some journeys to unfold at their own pace.
It felt good to let go; the drop into nature’s arms was easy. My landing was cushioned by luxury, a suite at the Victoria Falls Safari Lodge. The lodge is set in the Zambezi National Park, away from the buzz of the thriving tourist town. I spent my first afternoon on the balcony in grand repose eating fresh fruit and drinking champagne. How, I thought, could my return to Africa be more heavenly?
From the lodge, grasslands dotted with acacia trees swept out as far as the eye could see. A watering hole just a few hundred yards away guaranteed that just by taking time to sit still, you might see almost as much game as on a typical day’s safari in the park. That afternoon, the silence of the savanna was interrupted only by the calls of animals and birds. Oh yes, and a not-so-distant rumbling. The promised wonder of Victoria Falls hummed in the background like a dream just about to come true.
I had my first communion with the falls early the next morning when I walked along the path that edges the water on the Zimbabwean side. Dismissing my vertigo, I stopped every few moments to gaze down into the frothy ice cream foam atop the great falls and across to the equally dramatic chutes on the Zambian side. (The Zambezi River defines the Zambia-Zimbabwe border.) Impossible not to be mesmerized by the roaring water that plummets hundreds of meters into the fast-moving Zambezi River. First, I encountered the dizzying view of Devil’s Cataract, then Main, Horeshoe, Rainbow and the Eastern Cataract. More than once, I found myself inside a rainbow of mist or suddenly sprayed with water. My boldest move was to make my way through a cloud to the very slippery lip of the rock promontory near the Victoria Falls Bridge. From that angle, I had a thrilling look at the eastern falls and the Boiling Pot, a bubbling vortex where two branches of the river converge.
Later the same day, I was offered another exhilarating vista of the falls, this time from the air. Possibilities for a celestial view are diverse — ranging from the madness of a 111-meter bungee jump, to an ultra-light flight through the mist at dawn and skydiving from 3,000 meters. Then, there’s the less risky tour by prop plane or in a toy-like, window-lined helicopter. I chose a Del-Air helicopter ride known as the “Flight of Angels” that flew sheer circles around the smoking falls. We swooped and skimmed around the falls, cutting through rainbows and peering down into incredible curtains of water. Giddy with pleasure, I enjoyed every moment.
The Zambezi River offers endless adrenaline-pumping excursions. You can take white water raft trips through sensational rapids like Stairway-to-Heaven, Oblivion, Shower and Morning Shave. Then there’s boogie-boarding, tandem kayaking and natural whirlpool bathing in the Angel’s Armchair at the very cusp of the falls.
Loving water, but not too wet, I spent an evening on a Zambezi sundowner cruise. With Larry Makombe at the helm of our small jet boat, we followed the curving metallic blue river around several islands and into the swift waters just 80 meters from the falls. While delving into Zimbabwean wine, beer and hors d’oeuvres, we sighted crocodiles and hippos. Later, at the edge of darkness, my fellow river watchers and I surprised an elephant taking a dirt bath and came upon a bright flock of bee-eater birds flitting in and out of their hidden mud-wall nests.
The next day, I slowed down even more — long enough for the sensory experience of a bush walk. Darkness found me on a deck at the lodge drinking tea with Charles Brightman, a 13-year veteran guide and two other wide-eyed, shivery sleepwalkers. As we headed single file toward the watering hole below, the lodge was swallowed up by the shadowy expanse of trees and brush.
Properly armed, Charles took us deep into the bush, pointing out animal tracks in the earth, explaining nature’s signs of life and death. He showed us poachers’ and animal tracks, wet season mud-bathing holes and an enormous baobab tree. We got the inside story on birds, elephants, Cape buffaloes, banded mongooses and baboons, warthogs, hippos and monkeys. I learned that prevailing winds blow from the east and how white-striped bush sparrows provide a natural compass when they build their nests on the trees’ western branches. It was comforting to know that if I ever was out in the bush alone (not likely), I could follow the path of their nests to find the lodge.
It’s certain that no matter how deep you dive into Victoria Fall’s amazing nature, you will long remember the experience. Every dimension of my romance with those cascades was drenched in pleasure. All I had to do was let go.