Farewell, Zimbabwe, farewell...

It is with sadness that I note my time in Zimbabwe has come to an end and this will be my last post on the beautiful country.  In honor of the wonderful experience I've had living in Harare, this post is a collection of my favorite photos from my time wandering Harare and beyond.

Curious what my favorite photographs from living in Senegal were? Go here!

Curious what my favorite animal photographs were? Go here!!

In no particular order, my favorite photographs of Zimbabwe, chosen from well over 10,000 photographs (wow!):

Hwange National Park in the rainy season - Adios, Hwange!

A hippopotamus yawns at sunset over the Zambezi River in Mana Pools National Park - A Mana Pools Smorgasbord

As dusk approaches over Lake Kariba, fishermen take to the water - Sunset over a drowned forest

Victoria Falls at Christmas time, the height of the rainy season - A Victoria Falls Christmas (Part Deux)

Sunset in Hwange National Park - The Return to Hwange

I originally captioned this photo: "After seeing this view in Chimanimani, I knew I had fallen in love with Zimbabwe." - Au Revoir, Chimanimani, I will return...

Harare's jacarandas in bloom at sunrise - Harare in the bloom of the jacarandas

An elephant at sunset, Lake Kariba - Take my breath away: Drowned forest sunset

Sunrise over the pan in Hwange National Park - The Hwange smorgasbord

Victoria Falls at sunrise. Beyond amazing. - Take my breath away: The Victoria Falls sunrise and lunar rainbow edition

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Harare in the beautiful bloom of the Jacarandas

Soon the first blossoms begin to appear

some where in the Fourth Street* though it's not really clear

(*this photograph is actually Prince Edward St--not too far from Harare's Fourth St.--at sunrise.)

Then tree after tree in the Avenues so neat

Burst into flower in the hot October heat....

(This is the Avenues in Harare, Colquhoun St to be exact.)

...Purple blossoms flutter in glorious array

on the corner close by bunches of colourful flowers...

a sight to remember for everywhere

purple Jacarandas coloured the Summer air.

(Every summer, Harare bursts into a symphony of Jacaranda trees. Absolutely beautiful.

This is also the Avenues area of Harare.)

Tree after tree in the avenue and street

show their deepest purple where white clouds and blossoms meet

(This is Lomagundi Rd. in the Avondale neighborhood.)

The purple blossoms with flats and houses blend

a feast of beauty so colourful and rare

filled with wonder at the City so fair.

(The Avenues neighborhood.)

A high wind and a shower of rain

produce a purple carpet once again

as the blossoms fall to clothe the damp earth...

Oh lovers of beauty raise up your banners

in tribute to the City's early planners

for to them and to nature we are ever in debt

for as magnificent a picture as the gods ever set.

Like the poetry?

It's from a poem called Jacaranda Time by Robert Cornell

written specifically about Harare's Jacaranda trees. The full poem can be found here.

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Mosi-oa-Tunya: The Smoke That Thunders

After an exhilarating helicopter flight over Victoria Falls, we visited the Falls at sunrise.

Every trip to the Falls has been so unique for how it looks, how it feels, how it awes.

But sunrise, oh sunrise, by far is my favorite time to visit.  I fell in love with it at sunrise on this trip.

In all my visits, I'm surprised I've never showed you this in its both amazes and terrifies:
the fence that keeps you from going over the edge into the Falls at certain vantage points.

These thorns won't stop anything if you're really heading over.

This trip was blessed by so many rainbows. Stunning.

Be still my heart!

The sunrise.

Oh, Victoria Falls, you never disappoint.

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Take My Breath Away: The Victoria Falls Sun Rise and Lunar Rainbow Edition

Recently I visited Victoria Falls to watch the sun rise.

Zimbabwe's Natural Wonder of the world did not disappoint.
It always leaves me in awe.

The sun rose slowly behind the water, changing the mist from a deep, dark black,

to a cloud of white mist

that began to light up the sky in shades of pink, white, orange, and black.

At 0600, there is no one in the park. It's amazing to have one of the world's most beautiful places to yourself.

The mist from the Falls.

The sun trying to emerge.

Then BAM! It's like a blast of colors that are stunning from the sun rising on the Zambian side,
enveloped in mist when viewed from Zimbabwe.

Amazing, just amazing.  No photo I've seen ever captures the wonder of the Falls.
See that? That's the sun.  That's right, a huge massive African sun and that's all you see through a wall of mist.

One of the few places in the world where lunar rainbows exist: Victoria Falls at full moon.
Here's a photo of the 'super moon'...all I have is my memory of the lunar rainbow (no photos!):
one of the most stunning experiences of my life, to see double rainbows at night, illuminated by the moon,
falling gracefully over the falls while the water seemed to glow.

Here's an idea of what the lunar rainbow looks like:

Photo credit.

Go, go, go, if you ever have the chance.  Go at dawn; go at a full moon. Just go.

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Take my Breath Away: An Indian Ocean Sunrise

During a stay at the Archipelago Resort, we got up at 0430 to watch the sunrise over the Indian Ocean.

We weren't the only ones up as some Mozambicans began their day very early.

Vilanculos, Mozambique, continued to take my breath away for its beauty.

So, so, so beautiful.

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Blowing Rock

While traveling recently in the United States, I visited Blowing Rock, North Carolina.

The view of my beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains was breathtaking.

I remembered what it was like to have a proper Autumn, something I miss dearly while in Africa.

Blowing Rock is both a wonderful, little mountain town and an actual rock.

I want this house.  Seriously.

The Blowing Rock.  Apparently North Carolina's oldest traveling attraction...

Sunrise over the mountains.

Such a different sunrise from the last time I watched it in the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Sublime.

From Blowing Rock, I followed this lovely country road....

...to the wonderful Blue Ridge Parkway.  

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