A tour guide offering her clients the chance to visit the world’s largest waterfall left viewers horrified by hanging over the 1,640ft drop – with nothing but a pair of hands around her ankles to keep her in place.
Kristin Torres fell past the Devil’s Pool on the edge of Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe, South Africa, with her husband, Ryan Torres, earlier this month.
Spectacular footage shows the ‘daredevil’ flinging her arms as she dangles over the edge as cascading water rushes over and past her before jutting out of the incredible drop.
Kristin can be seen smiling for the camera, seemingly unfazed by the colossal falls that span twice the height of Niagara Falls.
Travel guide Kristin Torres went on a trip to Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe, where she sat on top of the world’s tallest waterfall – held back only by her ankles
The 39-year-old admits the shots were ‘nerve-wracking’ due to the ‘extremely strong water pressure’ from the racing current.
Kristin runs Born To Dream Tours, a safari tour company, with Ryan, 40, and offers her guests the option of going on an ‘excursion’ to visit Victoria Falls through a partner tour company.
But while she has sent tourists to the giant waterfall in the past and had a group scheduled to do the Devil’s Pool recently, Kristin admits customers backed out when they got ‘too nervous’ when they saw the scale of the falls in person.
She said visiting the falls – one of the seven natural wonders of the world – was on her bucket list and said the site was ‘breathtaking’.
After sharing a post about her unique trip to Devil’s Pool on Facebook, others were quick to comment on her ‘risky’ stunt, questioning its safety.
While some people were quick to compliment Kristin’s courage, others said that just watching the video gave them ‘anxiety’ and a near ‘heart attack’.
Kristin, who is from Boston, Massachusetts but now lives in Zanzibar off the coast of Africa, said: ‘Me and Ryan thought the best way to experience Victoria Falls was to go up to the top of it.
‘It was very nerve-wracking. One of the scariest parts was going out (on the edge) as the water pressure is extremely strong.
Kristin can be seen smiling for the camera, seemingly unfazed by the colossal falls that span twice the height of Niagara Falls
The 39-year-old admits the shots were ‘nerve-wracking’ due to the ‘extremely strong water pressure’ from the racing current
“But once you get in the water, it’s like a jacuzzi and the water is very warm and relaxing.
‘One by one the guide took you over (to take your photos and videos).
‘When you first go out, they have you lying on your stomach while they hold your ankles.
‘There is a lot of water pressure, but it almost presses you down onto the rock like a natural suction cup.
‘Another scary part was when you have to lie on your back with your head in the water and you can’t hear anything so you can’t hear if the guide is giving you instructions or not and you can’t see anything.
‘Small fish also bit my legs and it scared me as no one had told me about this part.
‘I’ve never been afraid of heights, but walking out on those cliffs so close to the edge and looking over the falls, I felt my heart in my throat.
‘My husband is terribly afraid of heights. He wasn’t sure if he was going to make Devil’s Pool when he got up there, but he did.
‘I think he may have broken his fear of heights with that, but his hands were shaking.
“It was definitely worth taking the risk. I love adventure travel and when I saw Devil’s Pool a long time ago I knew I had to go with it as one of the Seven Wonders of the World.’
Kristin said each person on the trip had about 10 minutes to take pictures and videos of themselves lying on the edge of the sheer drop.
She said as she slid her way along the edge of the falls to the photo area, the tour guide held onto her feet.
Since visiting Devil’s Pool, Kristin now encourages other intrepid tourists to visit and promoted the trip as a bolt-on to their safari on her company’s Facebook and Instagram pages.
Despite some doubts about the safety of her Devil’s Pool photo shoot, Kristin shot back that everything in life involves risk and this risk was worth taking
Kristin said: ‘In the past we’ve put together itineraries for people and sent them to Victoria Falls, but none of them have done Devil’s Pool.
‘We’ve had a few groups ask about it and we had a group that was going to do it in August but they got too nervous. They went and saw it (Devil’s Pool) but they didn’t (the pictures on the edge).
“The company that we have a collaboration with down there invited us down at the beginning of February.
‘We went down to Zambia and Zimbabwe and did the several tourist attractions that bring tourists to Victoria Falls.
“Me and Ryan thought the best way to experience Victoria Falls was to go to the top of it. (The visit) was a kind of work benefit, you could say,” she explained.
‘I would definitely encourage everyone to go (and see the falls). The whole trip was very professionally done.’
Facebook users who have seen Kristin’s post about the experience have had mixed opinions about the stunt.
Despite some questioning the safety of her Devil’s Pool photo shoot, Kristin shot back that everything in life involves risk, and this risk was worth taking.
Kristin said: ‘The day before, as we were just walking towards the falls, it hit me that we would actually be walking on the edge to get up there and a split second or wrong footing, anything could go wrong.
“But when people commented negatively on the post, I just replied and said that everything in life has risks.
“There are people who bungee jump and there are people who go skydiving and getting into your car every day is a risk.
‘When I got in the pool, my nerves calmed down and I felt very safe.
‘There are people who travel who are history buffs or foodies and we personally like adventure travel and I’m a bit of a daredevil.’
Kristin runs Born To Dream Tours with her husband Ryan Torres. She said: ‘There are people who travel who are history buffs or foodies and we personally like adventure travel and I’m a bit of a daredevil’
Kristin’s Facebook post now has more than 1,300 likes and 100 comments where people were seen sharing their Devil’s Pool experiences.
One user said: ‘I’m scared of heights but loved the experience. It was amazing and I can’t wait to do it again.’
Another added: ‘I had a heart attack when I saw this and that’s when I assumed you were secured in a harness or rope. I then read that it’s just a guy holding your feet. The view is great though, but it’s scary.’
A third commented: “Victoria Falls are amazing but you couldn’t pay me to do this.”
Another said: ‘It looks dangerous, yet amazing.’
One commenter pointed out how quickly things can go wrong.
She said: ‘Not to be a downer, it’s absolutely beautiful, but after what happened to some young adults in Squamish BC who hiked close to the edge of Shannon Falls, I will forever be scared on the edge of something.
‘I saw the helicopters looking for them and it really affected me when I look back at all the times I was teetering on the edge of the cliffs. Things can go wrong in a split second.’
Another asked: ‘Are you promoting this stunt??? Is it safe to do that??? Beautiful view though.’
But some urged her to ignore the ‘negativity’ and praised the stunt.
One said: ‘Fantastic pictures. And (thumbs down) to those who leave negativity and bad attitudes on your photos/videos. They can keep it going’.
