The Legend of Victoria Falls
A long time ago in Zimbabwe, there was an orphan named Victoria. She was left to die on a dirt path when she was six months old. But somehow, she survived.
Victoria lived all by herself near the Zambezi River for a long time. She received all her food and water from the river.
She had no money, but she was always busy and always happy. One day, Victoria was walking along the banks of the river when she saw something glowing in the water.
“The Zambezi River has given me light!” she yelled to Mother Earth, who lived in the sky.
“Yes,” Mother Earth replied. “But look closer.”
Victoria pulled the strange ball of light towards her face. She quickly recognized that it was actually an African bullfrog.
“Why have you given this to me, Mother Earth?” Victoria asked.
“You will need it one day. Maybe soon, maybe later,” replied Mother Earth.
Victoria ran into her hut and wrote this down. She kept the frog as a pet and a friend. Thinking about what Mother Earth had told her, she decided to name it Alama, which means “sign” or “symbol” in her language of Swahili.
Many years passed, and by the time she was 29 Victoria was married and had two daughters, Aleah and Alivia.
One day she and her husband Etana were taking a stroll with their daughters, when the two girls ran up ahead and noticed something strange.
“Mommy, Daddy! Come quickly!” the girls said. Victoria and Etana caught up with them.
“What is it, my flowers?” Victoria asked.
“Don’t you see? The river looks smaller than usual,” cried Aleah.
“And you can see that the water has dried up a little now,” added Alivia.
“I do not see anything different with the river. It looks exactly the same as it did yesterday and the day before,” Victoria said. “In fact, it has looked the same way since the beginning of time.”
“The tide has gone out children, nothing more,” said Etana in the calmest way possible.
The girls let it go for the time being, but it was always in the back of their minds.
About a month later, the family took another walk along the banks of the Zambezi River when Aleah and Alivia noticed something again.
“Daddy, mommy! The river is drying up faster than we can tell you!” cried the sisters.
“Nothing is wrong, the tide just went out some more,” said Victoria.
“Maybe we should get them checked out by the local nurse,” said Etana. “I think we have some money to spare for them to be looked at.”
The next day, the family walked 20 miles to the nearest clinic. It was long for all of them, but for Victoria and Etana it was worth it to make sure their children were all right.
After doing several tests on Alivia and Aleah, the nurse said, “They will be just fine. There is nothing wrong with them, they are perfectly healthy. For the visit, it will be 100 Zimbabwean Dollars.”
“That is much more than we expected for a simple checkup,” sighed Victoria.
“I am sorry miss, but with the price of money rising we have to charge more for our services,” the nurse replied.
Victoria hesitantly handed the money to the nurse, and the family stumbled back to their humble home.
Soon after, Victoria and Etana started to see changes in the way creatures and plants lived. Most plants were either dead or dying. Most animals were nowhere to be seen.
The family said a prayer each night for the rainy season to come. They tried asking Alama, but he just glowed brighter each time they asked. No matter how hard they tried, nothing would work.
Another month had passed since Alivia and Aleah had gotten their checkup. The sisters were trying to catch fish on a dark and cloudy day. It was harder to catch anything since the river had dried up.
“Why do you think that the rainy season has not come yet?” Alivia asked Aleah.
Just as these words left her mouth, a huge storm broke out. The girls ran back to their house, where their parents were already bolting the back door and covering up all their dry food. Alivia noticed that Alama was glowing brighter than ever!
“Look mommy, Alama is giving us a sign! The rainy season has finally come!” Alivia yelled over the storm. Victoria glared at Alivia and told her to go help her father.
An hour into the storm, the family felt water rushing into their home and collecting in pools around their feet.
“The Zambezi River has flooded, the Zambezi River has flooded!” Victoria yelled.
Water cascaded down their little hill until it fell over the edge of the cliff that the family lived on. The drop at the end of the cliff was so high that it formed a water fall. As soon as this happened, the water slowly but surely drained from their house. Since the next day was Victoria’s birthday, Etana named this new waterfall Victoria Falls.
From then on, whenever Alama became very bright, the family knew the rainy season was upon them.
“This is why Mother Earth is the ultimate force,” Victoria said with a laugh.
The day Victoria found Alama, she was very confused. Now, she knew that Mother Earth was only trying to help her.
And all these years later, Victoria Falls is still there on the border of Zimbabwe and Zambia.
Victoria lived all by herself near the Zambezi River for a long time. She received all her food and water from the river.
She had no money, but she was always busy and always happy. One day, Victoria was walking along the banks of the river when she saw something glowing in the water.
“The Zambezi River has given me light!” she yelled to Mother Earth, who lived in the sky.
“Yes,” Mother Earth replied. “But look closer.”
Victoria pulled the strange ball of light towards her face. She quickly recognized that it was actually an African bullfrog.
“Why have you given this to me, Mother Earth?” Victoria asked.
“You will need it one day. Maybe soon, maybe later,” replied Mother Earth.
Victoria ran into her hut and wrote this down. She kept the frog as a pet and a friend. Thinking about what Mother Earth had told her, she decided to name it Alama, which means “sign” or “symbol” in her language of Swahili.
Many years passed, and by the time she was 29 Victoria was married and had two daughters, Aleah and Alivia.
One day she and her husband Etana were taking a stroll with their daughters, when the two girls ran up ahead and noticed something strange.
“Mommy, Daddy! Come quickly!” the girls said. Victoria and Etana caught up with them.
“What is it, my flowers?” Victoria asked.
“Don’t you see? The river looks smaller than usual,” cried Aleah.
“And you can see that the water has dried up a little now,” added Alivia.
“I do not see anything different with the river. It looks exactly the same as it did yesterday and the day before,” Victoria said. “In fact, it has looked the same way since the beginning of time.”
“The tide has gone out children, nothing more,” said Etana in the calmest way possible.
The girls let it go for the time being, but it was always in the back of their minds.
About a month later, the family took another walk along the banks of the Zambezi River when Aleah and Alivia noticed something again.
“Daddy, mommy! The river is drying up faster than we can tell you!” cried the sisters.
“Nothing is wrong, the tide just went out some more,” said Victoria.
“Maybe we should get them checked out by the local nurse,” said Etana. “I think we have some money to spare for them to be looked at.”
The next day, the family walked 20 miles to the nearest clinic. It was long for all of them, but for Victoria and Etana it was worth it to make sure their children were all right.
After doing several tests on Alivia and Aleah, the nurse said, “They will be just fine. There is nothing wrong with them, they are perfectly healthy. For the visit, it will be 100 Zimbabwean Dollars.”
“That is much more than we expected for a simple checkup,” sighed Victoria.
“I am sorry miss, but with the price of money rising we have to charge more for our services,” the nurse replied.
Victoria hesitantly handed the money to the nurse, and the family stumbled back to their humble home.
Soon after, Victoria and Etana started to see changes in the way creatures and plants lived. Most plants were either dead or dying. Most animals were nowhere to be seen.
The family said a prayer each night for the rainy season to come. They tried asking Alama, but he just glowed brighter each time they asked. No matter how hard they tried, nothing would work.
Another month had passed since Alivia and Aleah had gotten their checkup. The sisters were trying to catch fish on a dark and cloudy day. It was harder to catch anything since the river had dried up.
“Why do you think that the rainy season has not come yet?” Alivia asked Aleah.
Just as these words left her mouth, a huge storm broke out. The girls ran back to their house, where their parents were already bolting the back door and covering up all their dry food. Alivia noticed that Alama was glowing brighter than ever!
“Look mommy, Alama is giving us a sign! The rainy season has finally come!” Alivia yelled over the storm. Victoria glared at Alivia and told her to go help her father.
An hour into the storm, the family felt water rushing into their home and collecting in pools around their feet.
“The Zambezi River has flooded, the Zambezi River has flooded!” Victoria yelled.
Water cascaded down their little hill until it fell over the edge of the cliff that the family lived on. The drop at the end of the cliff was so high that it formed a water fall. As soon as this happened, the water slowly but surely drained from their house. Since the next day was Victoria’s birthday, Etana named this new waterfall Victoria Falls.
From then on, whenever Alama became very bright, the family knew the rainy season was upon them.
“This is why Mother Earth is the ultimate force,” Victoria said with a laugh.
The day Victoria found Alama, she was very confused. Now, she knew that Mother Earth was only trying to help her.
And all these years later, Victoria Falls is still there on the border of Zimbabwe and Zambia.