Tourists visit precipice of Victoria Falls
23 April 2008Tourists have been pictured seemingly putting their lives at risk by swimming in a small pool inches away from the 110-metre drop of the Victoria Falls.
Visits to the location, known ominously as the Devil's Pool, have become something of a daredevil craze in southern Africa, but is not as dangerous as it first seems.
During the dry season the waters of the Zambezi river flow slowly enough for people to swim in the pool and a small rock wall on the edge of the falls stops swimmers from being swept off the edge.
Visitors reach the top of the Victoria Falls with the help of local guides, who lead groups on a three-hour walk that is perilous in itself, crossing slippery surfaces and fast-flowing water.
The trip is worth it, according to American tourist Francisc Stugren, who said: "Being in the Devil's Pool is a serious adrenaline rush.
"The thought that you may get sucked away from the relatively calm waters of the pool and down the foamy hell into the pit makes you giddy with apprehension, although you have to stray out quite a bit for that to happen."
Victoria Falls stretches for a mile along the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe in southern Africa and is known as Mosioa-Tunya, or 'the smoke that thunders', in the local language.