A New York City teacher had a breathtaking—and slightly nerve-wracking—encounter with nature while swimming at the edge of Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe, capturing a rare double rainbow in the process.
The moment was documented by 30-year-old infant and toddler teacher Jennifer, who posts as @budgettravel.teacher on TikTok. Her video, filmed at Devil’s Pool, a natural rock pool at the brink of the nearly 320-foot-high waterfall, has amassed more than 775,000 views since being posted on May 25.
Text overlaid on the video reads: “pov [point of view]: you go swimming at the top of a 100 meter waterfall.” The clip shows Jennifer being guided to the edge of the falls by a local tour guide before being left to float near the edge, where she is greeted by a vivid double rainbow spanning across the spray-filled gorge.
“The sun hits the falls a certain way at particular times of day to create the rainbow effect, so I knew it was a matter of timing,” Jennifer told Newsweek. “I was thrilled that we got a double rainbow though and that they were so clear and bright. I took the 9 a.m. tour and the rainbows were in full force the entire time we were there, and they started to fade just as we were leaving, so it really was perfect timing. I might have also just gotten lucky that day though.”
@budgettravel.teacher on TikTok
A rainbow occurs when the sunlight and atmospheric conditions as well as the viewer’s positions are “just right to see it,” explains the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
Light bends as it enters the droplet, reflects inside, and separates into colors as it exits. Double rainbows occur when light is reflected twice inside a droplet, resulting in a secondary arc above the primary one, with the color order reversed.
This “re-reflected” light leaves the water drop at a different angle, exiting at “50 degrees instead of 42 degrees for the red primary bow,” according to the NOAA.
“This is why the secondary rainbow appears above the primary rainbow. The secondary rainbow will have the order of the colors reversed, too, with red on the bottom and violet on the top,” the NOAA explains.
‘Unreal’ Experience
Jennifer said she had long dreamed of visiting the iconic waterfall. “I had been seeing pictures and videos of Victoria Falls for years and it had always been high on my list of places to visit,” she said. “So, when I started planning a trip to South Africa and Botswana last year, I jumped at the chance to include Victoria Falls. I’d seen people in the news and on social media swimming in Devil’s Pool, and it seemed like such a unique once-in-a-lifetime experience that I knew I had to do it.”
While the experience looks peaceful on video, Jennifer said the moment was packed with emotion and intensity. “Swimming at the top of the waterfall was incredible but it also goes by very fast. Between the adrenaline and then trying to smile for photos, there was so much happening at once that it felt like it was over in the blink of an eye,” she said.
She added: “It was incredible, though, to see the views and to hear the water rushing over the edge and especially seeing the rainbows. Victoria Falls is such an incredibly special and beautiful place, so to be so completely surrounded by and immersed in the falls was unreal.”
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She emphasized the role of the tour guides in ensuring safety. “The tour guides are there every step of the way and they are never far, they are even holding your feet when you lean over the edge,” Jennifer explained. “There is a natural little chair at about the midpoint near the edge, and they do leave you on your own there for a minute, but they make sure you’re settled and in the correct position first.”
Jennifer praised the guides not only for their professionalism but for their ability to document the experience.
“I truly cannot say enough positive things about the team of guides who brought us there—they made sure everyone was safe and comfortable the entire time, and they take the most unreal photos while literally standing on the edge of the falls,” she said. “What they do is way scarier than just swimming in the pool. So, even though it was definitely scary, I would recommend it.”
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