Victoria Falls

Cruise on the Zambezi

After the brief customs formalities at the small airport located about twenty minutes from Victoria Falls, we were welcomed by a taxi driver complete with a sign with our names. We transferred to The Villa Victoria, a bed and breakfast where we booked four nights, transfers to and from the airport and tours in the surroundings. The room is located in a small villa surrounded by a garden where we have at our disposal a fully equipped kitchen (refrigerator, toaster, microwave oven, etc.), a living room where we can eat and watch satellite television, and a safe. Outside there are a small pool, a gazebo and the barbecue that we will not use. The owners, of European origin, are kind and hospitable even though they are only present during office hours.

The accommodation is located on a side street not far from the center, which can be reached with a 10-minute walk or with a three USD taxi ride. At The Villa Victoria the only other guests are a couple from Livorno who in the evening join us for a short cruise on the Zambezi, one of the longest and most famous African rivers. A taxi takes us to the pier where we board a motorized barge. They first take us near the start of the rapids that precede the Victoria Falls, whose spray can be clearly seen, then in the opposite direction we ply the calm waters awaiting sunset. We spot a small group of hippos that we observe up close while, comfortably seated at a table, we are offered drinks, popcorn and a series of appetizers. After sunset on the Zambezi we return to the pier and have the taxi take us to the small center of Victoria Falls.

At one time there were many more tourists here, but the unrest and economic crisis of recent years have meant that travelers heading to the Falls preferred to stay in nearby Livingstone on the Zambia side. The small center is dark and bare; you find several tour operators, a supermarket, the taxi parking, a fast food place and an Internet Point that with its modernity almost clashes with the rest of the country's structures. At the supermarket we buy bread to toast and jam for tomorrow's breakfast, then with a taxi we return to The Villa Victoria for the night.

Victoria Falls

The next day, in the company of the Livornese couple, after a fair walk we reached Victoria Falls National Park to finally see the famous Falls. We are in the period of greatest water flow of the Zambezi, a million litres per second plunge into the gorge below after a drop of about a hundred metres, atomising a large cloud into the air. Walking the trails in the Park we get soaked as if under a deluge; the spray rain is so strong that it manages to penetrate despite the raincoats we have put on. We are drenched and can only see the falls intermittently; the spray is thicker than a bank of fog in the Po Valley and on top of that it is pouring down on us. Despite the discomfort and the poor visibility, after a first failed attempt we reach Danger Point where, however, you really can't see a thing.

We also go near the Victoria Falls Bridge, which from here, however, can only be observed without reaching it. Back at the Park entrance we take off our wet clothes and put them to dry on the branches of a tree. Here we learn from a warden that it is possible to cross the bridge with a special permit issued at the border to reach the Zambian side. Having left the Park, we go through the Zimbabwe border post where we are issued a slip that will allow us to cross the Victoria Falls Bridge, at the middle of which is the sign welcoming you to Zambia (see the relevant itinerary). On our return from Zambia we are given an exit slip. With a walk we go to the famous Victoria Falls Hotel, a luxurious Victorian-style establishment whose terrace overlooks a very well-kept English lawn, beyond which you can see the outline of the bridge and the mighty cloud of the falls.

In the hotel garden two warthogs wander about undisturbed. Having crossed the railway line near the old train station, we go into the centre to buy something at the supermarket for the following morning. Here our friends from Livorno leave us to return to The Villa Victoria while we have dinner at the Fast Food place with pizza and fried chicken. After dinner we take a taxi back to our accommodation for the night.

Dinner at the Boma

We wake up early, have a quick breakfast and begin the Chobe Day Trip, an all-inclusive tour purchased on our arrival from the owners of the accommodation. In an elegant taxi we reach the border post at Kazungula, a place where four States meet: Zimbabwe, Botswana, Zambia and Namibia. Here is also the confluence of the Chobe River into the Zambezi. At customs they have us fill out an exit form for the country, and we meet the Botswana Tour Operator who will take us to Kasane (see the relevant itinerary). After the visit to Chobe National Park in the late afternoon, having filled out a further form, we re-enter Zimbabwe. At the border post the same taxi driver from this morning is waiting for us, and in about an hour he takes us back to our accommodation. In the evening we walk into the centre of Victoria Falls and from there take a taxi to the Boma Restaurant at the Victoria Falls Lodge.

The Boma, like the Carnivore in Nairobi, is famous among travellers for the exotic meat offered buffet-style, as much as you like. The setting is typically African, or at least as Westerners imagine or idealise Africa. At the entrance they have us put on a kind of colourful tunic and one of our cheeks is painted with blue marks. In the large wooden tukul where we dine, a folklore group dances to the rhythm of drums. We taste crocodile tail, warthog meat and numerous other specialities. The evening ends with an impromptu percussion concert in which all the diners provided with a drum are invited to take part. At the end of dinner, with the Boma's minibus we cover the few hundred metres separating us from the actual Lodge, where we go in to take a look. Here too everything is in African safari style.

With the Lodge's minibus we return to the centre of Victoria Falls and from there take a taxi to our accommodation for the night.

Relaxing day.

The following day we have no commitments, so we try to spend it in a fairly relaxed way. We wake up late, have breakfast and on foot cross the Victoria Falls Bridge, going into Zambia but without crossing the Zambian border post (see the relevant itinerary). Back in Zimbabwe we take a taxi near the border and have ourselves taken first to the Big Tree, an enormous baobab, then to the riverside near the rapids that precede the falls. On the way we spot a group of large elephants. In the centre of Victoria Falls we have dinner at the Fast Food place, then take a taxi back to our accommodation. Since the Livornese left, the room next to ours has been occupied by an Anglo-Saxon traveller. We watch a bit of television, then turn in to sleep.

Leaving Zimbabwe.

On waking we pack our bags, have breakfast with toast and jam bought at the supermarket, and go to reception to settle the bill. By taxi we reach the small airport and, after completing the customs procedures, we take the South Africa Airlines flight to Johannesburg (Republic of South Africa).