"Doctor Livingstone, I presume?"

Dr. David Livingstone was the first white person to see the spectacular waterfalls situated at the border of today 's Zambia and Zimbabwe. Considered one of the seven natural wonders of the world, Livingstone named them after Queen Victoria in 1855. The falls were created by a volcanic explosion more than 150 million years ago. They stretch for a mile and are 93 meters (300 feet) deep at their highest point.

The statue of Dr. Livingstone is
always covered with a spray from the falls

Today Livingstone's statue has a commanding place overlooking the falls. Born in 1813 in Glasgow, Scotland, to a poor family, he became a physician in 1838, then came to Africa to do missionary work. He married in 1845 and became a widower 15 years later when his wife Mary, trailing him to Africa, contracted malaria in 1860. After her death, Livingstone roamed around southwest Africa, and no one knew where he was until the early 1870s when Sir Henry Morton Stanley found him and uttered the famous phrase, "Doctor Livingstone, I presume?"  By then, Livingstone, also succumbed to malaria and had lost most of his faculties. He died in 1873.

Zimbabwe has 14 million people. It was called Rhodesia until 1965, when it got its independence.  It was once among the richest countries in Africa, with gold and diamond mines and plenty of agricultural crops. Now it is one of the poorest. Unemployment is 70 percent. Life expectancy for women is 45, for men it is 41.

Robert Mugabe has been president for more than 30 years. "The first 10 years as president were pretty good," said our guide Douglas. However, during the last two decades, the economy tanked. One reason was the so-called land reform where Mugabe gave people their own plots, even though these people had no experience in farming. The other reason is widespread corruption. (Mugabe became one of the richest man in Africa.)  He is now 89, and many people say it is time he stepped down.

English is the official language even though many natives speak their tribal dialect. Harare is the capital with 4 million residents. Zimbabweans have little education and no healthcare. The HIV pandemic is one of the worst in Africa. Mugabe claimed the HIV threat was a myth, a conspiracy put forth by the West. 

Zimbabwe tries to survive through its mining industry and tourism. Thousands of visitors flock to Victoria Falls each year. The village there has 50,000 friendly residents, a small airport and a few nice hotels. We stayed at the Kingdom resort, five minutes from the falls.