David Livingstone, a Scottish missionary and physician, was the first European to see the waterfalls of the Zambezi River in what is now Zambia and Zimbabwe in 1855. He named the falls for Queen Victoria. The local tribes called the falls Mosi oa tunya meaning ‘the smoke that thunders’.

Our guide Hastings picked us up at our hotel and drove the short distance to the park. Outfitted with rain ponchos we walked the trail along the Zimbabwe side of the Zambezi River gorge. Heavy mist from the falls creates a rainforest environment with lush foliage. Similar to Niagara Falls there are multiple cataracts with different names, including the Devil’s Falls, the Main Falls and the Rainbow Falls.

Upon returning from our short hike and viewing of the falls there was, of course, a gift shop. But this was not your typical gift shop, it was an open air market, with the hawkers asking outrageous prices for their tchotchkes and then expecting you to bargain with them.

We did some haggling, probably not very well, and bought a few souvenirs. We then headed back to the hotel for lunch.

In the evening we’ve scheduled a sunset cocktail cruise on the Zambezi River gorge, so we enjoy the hotel grounds and have a rest.

The cruise is for cocktails and appetizers. Other cruises include dinner. After boarding we join a long line of boats headed onto the river above the falls. We can see the mists rising from the gorge. The weather is warm and pleasant. As we move upriver we can see zebras and elephants on the shore. Crocodiles hide in the reeds. Birds fly above.

The cocktails are watered down and overly sweet. The appetizers are plentiful and quite good, including prawns and crocodile bites. As we float along a group of musicians and dancers perform on the shore, and we pull close to toss them tips.

As the sun sets we get another beautiful African sunset, then head back to the dock.