G A L L E R Y
Batoka Series  - Photographer's notes

The Victoria Falls.  Truly the Queen of all the World’s waterfalls and of course one of the 7 natural wonders of the World.   But there is so very much more to this Zambian natural spectacular than is usually seen by the hurried tourist.  It is an ecosystem in itself, full of dramatic contrasts.   The constant cooling clouds of spray from the Falls maintain luxuriant rain forest habitats; the Zambezi River above the Falls is wide and slow, but deceptively dangerous; the vegetation rich and verdant.   When the Zambezi reaches the chasm that is the Victoria Falls, and drops uninterrupted some 100m, in just a few seconds the width of this huge river changes from 1.7km (1 mile) to just 20m.   Then below the Falls, the river rips through its black basalt gorges, its new route contrasting sharply with its leisurely course above the Falls.  The habitat here is arid, treacherously steep, dramatic, and shoe-meltingly hot.   Within this major contrast, for the nature photographer, the river and Falls change not by the week or day, but by the minute.  The light; the rising clouds of wind-blown Falls spray; the almost ever-present rainbows; the dark drama of the Batoka Gorge; all every bit as spectacular as the Falls themselves.   The Spirit of the Land project is centred on the remote and unknown landscapes of Zambia and of course the Victoria Falls tourist site is hardly remote or unknown.  But beyond this, there are many views and scenes of the Falls, of this section of the Zambezi, and of the gorges and the Batoka Gorge below the Falls, that are most definitely remote and unknown.   It is the awe and wonder inspired by these constantly changing scenes that the work in the Spirit of the Land project tries to portray – hopefully in a way that does some justice to a very special place; in pictures that warrant a second look; and which give something of the feel, the ‘Spirit’, of this land.  And of the Queen in all her moods.   stephen robinson, 2005

Muchinga     Mutinondo     Luano     Nyika     Kafue     Zambezi      Luangwa        Batoka 1     Batoka 2     Batoka 3