13 March 2011

Victoria Falls Rain Forest



A rain forest stretches from the Devil's Cataract to the Main Falls.



Heavy spray from the falls makes possible the lush vegetation of the rain forest.



The rain forest scenes in the 1985 version of the movie King Solomon's Mines staring Richard Chamberlain and Sharon Stone were filmed in the rain forest at Victoria Falls.

The 1985 version of King Solomon's Mines is probably the worst movie adaptation of the book ever made. When driving down Enterprise Road in Harare one day my family and I saw what appeared to be a huge clay pot on the back of a lorry in front of us. It turned out to be a prop from the movie. In the movie Richard Chamberlain and Sharon Stone are tossed into a pot full of plastic vegetables, presumably to make some sort of unappetizing soup. (Typical of the silliness of this movie.)

The set for the exotic town scene in the movie was constructed beside the main highway from Harare to Kadoma near the cut-offs for the Larvon Bird Garden and the Lion and Cheetah Park. Plans were for it to be developed as a tourist attraction. It mysteriously burned without ever being exploited for tourism.



A visit to Victoria Falls and a stroll through the rain forest is highly recommended. Only watch the 1985 version of King Solomon's Mines if you need a few laughs. (The 1950 version of the movie staring Stewart Granger and Deborah Kerr filmed in East Africa is the best version. An earlier version with Paul Robeson is interesting as well.)



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