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Victoria Falls

Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe

By Jon Mountjoy

January 21^st, 2023

The Victoria Falls National Park

While staying at the fabulous Old Drift Lodge and The Elephant Camp, I had two opportunities to visit the Victoria Falls and the surrounding national park.

There's something incredibly mesmerising by the falls itself, that makes me just want to stare at it. It really is a visceral experience—it's not just the continuous stream of water, the sheer volume, but also the thunderous sound that accompanies the water.

I also wanted to visit the falls in order to track down the Schawlow's turaco - a rather flamboyant bird found in the area. The surrounding forests held many more surprises, including a copper sunbird.

Many thanks to Wonder Siandongwe and Jabulani Made for helping me track down these lovely creatures.

The Falls

Yours truly, and Wonder, who helped me find the elusive turaco

Schalow’s turaco

I'd seen a Schalow's turaco from a distance, at Elephant Camp, and heard it, but never quite got close enough to get a good shot, despite following its call all around camp. On my first visit to Vic Falls, I saw a bedraggled turaco (wet from the falls, and the rain), in the distance, silhouetted. Sometimes, that's all you get. A second visit, however, yielded success. It took about an hour of tracking, from one side of the park to the other, but eventually we found two stunning Schalow's turaco. On one occasion, I was right underneath one of them - having spent 10 minutes inching my way forward. What you can't see, unfortunately, is that behind these turaco was the Victoria Falls, thundering away. It really was something special.

Robin-chat, barbet, boubou, cisticola, wagtail & prinia

I think this is a beautiful copper sunbird. It may be some other species of sunbird, but I'll stick by my guns. There was a lot of debate in the camp after I showed everyone the shot, as apparently copper sunbirds aren't usually found in the area around the falls...

The first bird I ever saw in the Victoria Falls National Park was a white-browed robin-chat (aka Heuglin's robin), and I've seen them every time I visit. Also spotted, black-collared barbet, tropical boubou, red-faced cisticola, tawny-flanked prinia, Southern black tit and a green wood hoopoe. Unfortunately, while I have shots of the hoopoe, they're terrible as they were against a bright backlit grey sky just before a downpour. The mountain wagtail was, I recall, a little controversial, as our guide book said it shouldn't be in this area. We couldn't find a better name for it though.

Victoria Falls Bridge

I got a lovely snap of this bridge from inside the Victoria Falls National Park. It spans across the Zambezi, joining Zimbabwe and Zambia. It forms part of what Cecil Rhodes hoped would be a railway from Cairo to the Cape.

Hornbill, mousebird, sunbirds & rollers

Hornbills are such strange looking birds, and these trumpeter hornbills do the species proud. Just look at that dent in the "horn"! Also spotted, a dark-capped bulbul, a lovely scarlet-chested sunbird (not in full colour yet), a collared sunbird (overlooking the Victoria Falls Bridge), a lovely broad-billed roller, and a shy red-faced mousebird.

Scarlet-chested sunbird (not full colour)

Footnotes

Thanks again to Wonder Siandongwe, Jabulani Made and all the staff and management of Old Drift Lodge, Elephant Camp & Wild Horizons for helping me during this trip.

Button Label

FootNotes

Thanks again to Wonder Siandongwe, Jabulani Made and all the staff and management of Old Drift Lodge, Elephant Camp & Wild Horizons for helping me during this trip.

Victoria Falls

Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe

FootNotes

Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe

Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe

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FootNotes

Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe

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