A Night To Remember

Take a full moon, a cloudless sky, Vic Falls and a sprinkling of stars, mix them all together and what do you get? Quite simply the single most amazing thing I have ever seen in my life - a lunar rainbow.

The Lunar Rainbow Crew

I had been to the falls a few days before full moon, and at first wasn't sure if I would venture back there again, and given I had the chance to watch my first game of rugby in a long while, I almost didn't go again. But thank god I did, as it was breath-taking, as you can see from the pictures - which I must point out were all taken at night, even though some appear to be during the day.

Where's The Pot Of Gold....

Armed with a picnic that could have fed the five thousand, seven of us arrived at the falls just in time for sunset, which in itself was a site to behold. The sky burning a crimson red over the falls, the sound of thunder reverberating deep below us, rising up through your feet into the pit of your stomach, whilst all around plumes of mist rise into the air.

Can You Spot The Rainbow

Having been told the rainbow first appears at the far end of the falls, where the water escapes into the boiling pot and onwards down the Zambezi, we set off for the furthest point one can walk to. In order to get there you have to be prepared to get wet, very, very wet - the kind of wetness one can only get from having a bath emptied over their head.

Lunar Rainbow From Behind The Falls

But once at the far end of the falls, wet and cold, we caught the first sighting of the rainbow. Suddenly all the talking stopped and thoughts of being cold evaporated as each and everyone of us was completely overcome with what we were seeing. It was a perfectly clear night, not a cloud to be seen, the stars shining proudly and there right in front of us the most perfect rainbow you will ever care to see.

First Sighting Of The Lunar Rainbow

The rainbow comes due to a combination of the endless mist that hangs in the air at the falls and the light of a full moon. Whilst you can't always see every layer of colour perfectly the arc of brilliant light never fades, and when the mist dies down slightly, as it does from time to time, the colours become more prominent. Standing there, with what is like torrential rain (but in fact is just the mist falling) relentlessly beating down on you, the roar of the falls and this mesmeric sight was worth every second of work I put in to save for this trip. These are the experiences you can't put a price on, that will stay with me forever.

With the moon getting higher in the night's sky the arc of the rainbow was constantly changing, and at one stage it was close to creating a full circle of colour. After a while we accepted it was either move and get dry or stay and get a nasty cold, so we moved to the banks of the river just at the edge of the falls. Here we were able to watch the rainbow slowly fade away, because of the angle of the light from the moon.

Eating a picnic on the banks of the Zambezi, whilst watching a lunar rainbow, has to rate as one of the finer dining experiences of my life - never before has a simple sandwich tasted so good as it did here. Sadly the rainbow eventually disappeared, but it will never disappear from my mind.

It was pure luck that I happened to be in Livingstone when there was a full moon, but a word of advice to anybody ever going there in the future, make sure you plan to be there for a full moon so that you can experience the lunar rainbow. It is one of the things you must see before your time in this world is up.

Lost In A Rainbow Dream

A Night To Remember

Livingstone, Zambia