Victoria Falls

 "Scenes so lovely must have been gazed upon by angels in their flight." - David Livingstone (explorer)

David Livingstone

Arriving at Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe:

From the airport, it's about a 30 minute drive to Victoria Falls town, which is right next to the falls. There are taxis and shuttles, we took a shuttle associated with our hotel for 4 people for $30 (Sheppy Shuttles, he was great). We had initially wanted to stay at the A'Zambezi Hotel, which was right next to the Zambezi River, but my mother had mistakenly booked a hotel room that was too small to fit the 4 of use, so we ended up switching to Rainbow hotel, which in the grand scheme of things, worked out even better because it was within walking distance to the Victoria Falls Park entrance (30 min) and town (5 min). In general, it's not necessary to rent a car because everything is pretty close especially on the Zimbabwe side, and there are either hotel shuttles or cheap taxi's. 

Pumba!

Baby vervet monkey getting some milk

The first day my family was really jet lagged, but I dragged my brother out to Victoria Falls park anyways. We walked to the Gorge Restaurant just to check it out and there we found the location for gorge swing and swing & slide. We were pretty amazed by the gorge, but unfortunately, you can't view the actual falls unless you pay to go inside the park.

You can see the string hanging down on the left for the gorge swing.

The next day we took the hotel shuttle to Victoria Falls Park ($30/adult, $15/child, $25 for SADC).  The park was very well organized and touristy, so there was a specific cement path that you take with about 20 viewpoints. The whole thing took us about 2 hrs to go from one end to the other including stopping to take pictures and mess around. But be warned, at various viewpoints, the water was sooooooo misty that it was like taking a shower. By the end we were all soaked. Some people had poncho's, but since it was a hot summer day (February), we enjoyed the shower.

First scenic view: Cataract Falls

Cataract Falls

 The first viewpoint on the west was Cataract Viewpoint, that was so named for one particular fall on the west. It was also the first place David Livingstone saw Victoria Falls and couldn't believe his eyes. Unfortunately, because we went when the water was super high, it was very misty and you can only see part of the falls from any one viewpoint.

Brother trying to take in some mist

At some points it was so misty you can't see anything

The rest is obscured by the mist. At some areas it was difficult even to see the falls on the very opposite side just because of how misty it was. One tourist even said we came on a good  day when it wasn't so misty. Yikes!

Open pasture view of falls

Rainbow falls area of Victoria Falls

Zambia side of Vic Falls

Danger Point view point

There were so many activities we could have done, but my family decided on some of the tamer things: Lion Walk/Encounter and Livingstone Island/Angel's Pool. Here's a more comprehensive list of activities: Shearwater Victoria Falls. Unfortunately a few companies dominate here so the activities are pretty pricey.


Livingstone Island/Angel's Pool:
During the high water season, access to Devil's pool is flooded and the current is too high, so the typical Livingstone Island visit is transferred to Angel's Pool, which is pretty much the same concept of getting into a pool right at the edge of the falls, but maybe two feet back.

Can you spot the hippo? Hope it doesn't go farther or else it's certain doom down Vic Falls!

The tour started at the Avani Hotel on the Zambia side (our tour included transport from our hotel), and we took a boat to Livingstone Island. After passing a hippo, we came to the island where we had a chance to change, and then the guide took us to the pool. We were amazed that he was hopping along the rocks on the very edge of the falls! It was a rather quick dip in the pool, but the guide took a lot of pictures and a video of our dip.

Then to our horror, he jumped off the edge! But then a few seconds later, we see his head pop back up, and we realize there is actually another pool a few feet down that we can't see unless we are standing closer. Wow, what a crazy guy!

We then walked along the edge of the pool (farther back) to another view point where guide pointed towards Devil's pool and showed us how it was completely flooded. We then took a few more pictures of the beautiful rainbow created by the falls. 

Zimbabwe Side Vs. Zambia Side:
We mostly spent our time on the Zimbabwe side because we heard it was where you can view most of the falls, whereas the Zambia side was where the water came down (so you were on top of the falls). It's not entirely correct, because the Zambia side you can actually see 1/3 (almost 1/2) of the falls if the water is high. So it's all season dependent:

Zambia side: just crossed Knife-Edge Bridge, so I was SUPER soaked.

View of Danger Point on Zimbabwe side.

High water season: I'd recommend going to the Zambia side because you can have a good view of the falls without as much mist obscuring your view (not as much water here), and you can experience knife-edge bridge, boiling pot hike down to the gorge, and Livingstone Island/Angel pool (Devil's pool equivalent for high water time).

Panaroma of the Zambia side. You can see the Zimbabwe side on the left.

Beautiful yellow flowers in the summer (February).

Low water season: I'd recommend going to Zimbabwe side because otherwise a lot of the waterfall that you can see from the Zambia side is dried off, and it's difficult to appreciate the grandeur of it without seeing the fall from the opposite side of the gorge from where the water falls down.

On the way down to the boiling point, we encountered some road blockage.

The bridge connecting Zambia and Zimbabwe

The Boiling Point - so named because the water here swirls like a boiling pot. Bridge connecting Zambia and Zimbabwe on left and you can barely see Vic Falls on the right.

On the Zambia side you can also do a short 1hr round trip hike down to the gorge called the Boiling Point (see pics).  There's another hike down to the bottom of Vic Falls, but in high water season (about Feb-July), the water is too high to safely go on that guided tour.