Ruacana VS Victoria

This weekend, Hannah, Bret, and I visited Ruacana Falls in northwest Namibia. First long hike! First time seeing a really huge waterfall! First campout in Namibia! First night in my new tent!

My trusty Lonely Planet: Namibia guide told me, “it’s no exaggeration to say it rivals Victoria Falls.” I haven’t been to Vic Falls yet, but Ruacana was AWESOME.

Ruacana Falls is part of the Kunene River. At the top of the falls, the river “splits into several channels before plunging 85m over a dramatic escarpment and through a 2km-long gorge of its own making.” In former years, it was apparently even more glorious...before Angola’s Calueque Dam was build and NamPower built its Ruacana power plant. In addition, you can explore the ruins of the old power station which were “destroyed by Namibian liberation forces” and “are pockmarked with scars from mortar rounds and gunfire,” as well as “bombed by a Cuban airstrike in 1988 during the Angolan civil war” (according to the Footprint guide).

All that to say...Ruacana Falls surpassed all my expectations. I did not look at any photographs of it beforehand and, having never seen any substantial waterfalls, I really had no expectations to begin with. Plus, we got to cross over into Angola to go there! No passport stamp, but at least I can say I’ve been to Angola.

This will surely be a place to revisit!

crossing the border!

glorious Ruacana Falls

the falls, the gorge, and the Kunene River

ravages of war

"Life is your ability to breathe out every time you breathe in" - African proverb