Araw 3: Victoria Falls / Zimbabwe

June 30, 2019

Today we want to visit the Victoria Falls on the Zimbabwe side. Since there is a longer walk over the Victoria Falls Bridge / Border Bridge and the area (at least according to the map) is more extensive than on the Zambian side, we have planned a whole day for this.

The good news in the morning: we have no mosquito bites at all! And that, even though at least one of the unwanted bloodsuckers is under the mosquito net for each of us. Maybe they are not mosquitoes after all?

After breakfast, we take the hotel shuttle to the Victoria Falls. At the border post of Zambia, we are allowed to get off. In the morning it is very cool - not even 10 degrees at breakfast. By now the sun warms us and I am confident that we will soon be able to take off our fleece jackets.

While the other tourists storm the entrance building on the Zambian side without exception, we make our way to the footpath to the border bridge, where the border post of Zimbabwe is located - past at least 50 monkeys! They sit on the road, on the roadside, jump on passing trucks (like hitchhikers) or chase each other with loud roaring. These animals are not at all comfortable to me - quickly away!

After about 600m we reach the border bridge. In the middle of the bridge there is a bungee jump station, from which the adrenaline junkies plunge into the depths screaming. Of course, we have to watch this spectacle. After 2 jumpers, I turn my attention to the view on the other side. From the bridge, you can see a small part of the Victoria Falls on the Zambian side. The falls currently don't have much water, they are rather small streams in the distance. Let's see if it looks like that everywhere.

Below us to the right is the "Boiling Pot", the gorge at the falls where currents meet and rafting boats seem to have a lot of fun.

After another 1.1 km we reach the border post of Zimbabwe, show our visa obediently, get a stamp and are allowed to "enter".

There are a lot of big trucks and cars waiting here, loaded with all kinds of building materials to be allowed to enter Zambia. Here we also see quite curious "car transporters" and the African version of a "lowered" car.

A few steps away is the Victoria Falls Visitor Center. The entrance fee is 30 USD per person, payable by credit card. It's quite crowded here - we have to wait 15 minutes in line at the ticket counter (and the sun is warming up nicely by now).

Our path leads us first to the viewpoints towards Devils Cataract, where the David Livingstone statue is located.

On the way there, a warthog family crosses our path.

The view of the falls is amazing! There is significantly more water in play here than we saw from the bridge on the Zambian side. Very impressive!

The rainbow that is created by the fine water spray makes us take endless photos. So beautiful and colorful!

At the next viewpoint, we spot a small antelope. It grazes right by the roadside and is not bothered by the tourists in any way.

The footpath along the numerous viewpoints is great, sometimes you even get a shower included, as the fine water spray is carried by the wind over the paths. Fortunately, the Zambezi River doesn't have much water at the moment, otherwise we would probably only see the famous "spray" at the following viewpoints of the Horseshoe Falls.

In the distance, we see some people sitting in the 'Devils Pool', the infamous pool at the top of the falls, from which you have a direct view down into the gorge. Unfortunately, due to the spray and the long distance, I couldn't take a usable picture.

Firm shoes are highly recommended! Due to the constant spray, everything is very slippery and slippery everywhere, often field projections are not secured by fences or similar, so slipping would be fatal.

By now it is so warm that we are all wearing just a T-shirt and are delighted with every "spray".

The Horseshoe Falls give us a lot of spray and are very impressive. The path along the falls and viewpoints is getting wetter and slipperier here.

When we have visited all the viewpoints, it's already noon. We walk back towards the Visitor Center, where we have lunch at the "Sheawater Rainforest Cafe".

After lunch, we march back towards the bridge. A family of monkeys frolics in the trees next to the road.

On the way back towards the bridge, our feet are getting quite tired. Another bungee jumper is plunging into the depths just as we cross the Victoria Falls Bridge - with loud screaming, of course!

By taxi (Attention: negotiate!) we drive back to the hotel. On the way back, we see a zebra standing right in front of the Royal Livingstone Hotel. According to our taxi driver, quite a few zebras "come and go" there. How funny!

We spend the rest of the day at our favorite table on the restaurant terrace of our hotels. The kids work on their travel diary and we enjoy the sunset. In total, we have easily covered a 10km walk today.

A surprise awaits us when we return to the room:

We don't see a single mosquito!

Well then: Good night!