Inspiration

Devil's Pool: Taking a Dip in Nature’s Ultimate Infinity Pool

A writer braves the Devil’s Pool at the top of Victoria Falls—and lives to tell the tale.
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It was the photos that did it. People grinned at me from Google search results, their arms spread wide as they leaned over the edge of Victoria Falls. I was on my way there to raft the mighty Zambezi, the river which separates Zimbabwe from Zambia and tumbles at one point into Africa’s most iconic waterfall. I had heard that in the dry season, a swimmable spot known as the Devil’s Pool forms at the brink of the cascade. After scrolling through several photos, I took the plunge, [booking a dip] (http://tongabezi.com/experience/livingstone-island) in nature’s ultimate infinity pool.

The day before my date with the devil, I stood in Victoria Falls National Park and stared across a spray-filled gorge. Facing me was the mile-wide cascade known as “the smoke that thunders,” and right at the top of the 350-foot chute, a guide was leading a couple along the lip of the falls. There was no safety barrier in sight. I watched for a few moments before turning away, worried I would lose my nerve (and, with it, my deposit).

The pool butts up against the edge of the waterfall and is perfect for rainbow-spotting.

Alamy

The next morning, after a short drive and an even shorter boat ride, I was in the exact spot I had been gawking at the day before. The river level was so low that a rocky pathway had been exposed, and two guides led our group of six towards a large, enclosed pool. As we lowered ourselves into the water, the current gently ushered us towards the precipice. Right at the brink, a five-foot-thick rock ledge caught us, holding us securely at the edge of one of the world’s seven natural wonders.

Lying face down on the rock, I stuck my head out over the ledge and looked down. A curtain of water dropped away into nothingness, sending up a fine mist that floated towards me through a cat’s cradle of rainbows. One of the guides, cameras dangling from him like tinsel on a Christmas tree, had taken up position further along the ledge. “Hold out your arms,” he instructed, demonstrating a flying position. I grinned at the pointed lens like a lunatic, which is exactly what I was.