Victoria Falls is worthy of a visit and has an amazing atmosphere in the nearby towns full of activities to do. We didn't budget enough time again and could've spent a few more days there easily. The native name of the Falls is 'the smoke that thunders' and although it is impressive with the amount of water the Zambezi River flows with, it was the dry season when we visited.
Because of the severe economic problems in Zimbabwe, we based ourselves on the Zambian side of the Zambezi River. Ryan visited Zimbabwe a few years ago and it remains the scariest place he's ever visited. We did however walk to the border post and bought some Zimbabwe dollars with the denomination of 100 Billion dollar notes which had a maximum value recently of about $1 US dollar.
The best view of the Falls is from the Zimbabwe side but we really enjoyed the view below from Zambia and didn't feel the need to cross the border.
After taking in the view on our first day, we signed up for an evening river (booze) cruise above the Falls.
We did see a lot of wildlife like hippos and crocodiles but the best photo we got was of some elephants crossing nearby our boat.
The following morning, we signed up for a rafting trip below the Falls on the Zambezi which is ranked as having some of the best rafting in the world. The River is full of class 3 to 5 rapids and even has a class 6 rapid (the highest level) which we had to walk around on shore as it's not commercially raft able. Ryan rafted it a few years ago so spent half the day riverboarding and the other half in the raft with Shauna. We both ended up swallowing a tremendous amount of water but so far have felt no ill effects.
After finishing rafting, we had a few hours to relax and then we went clay pigeon shooting. Both of us did well with the shotguns but it's not going to become our new hobby.
To cap off the full day, we finished up with a great dinner at the beautiful Royal Livingston hotel which is next to the hotel we stayed at. Fittingly, the band was playing 'What a Wonderful World' as soon as we were served our wine.
Both the Royal Livingstone and our hotel is located in Victoria Falls National Park and wildlife roams freely, including these zebras that Shauna made friends with.
Before flying to Johannesburg, we took a boat to Livingstone Island which is on the edge of the Falls. It's where Dr. Livingstone observed the Falls in full glory the first time and is a historical site. You can see in the below photo about why the natives referred to the Falls as 'the smoke that thunders.'
The best thing about visiting the island (which has a maximum of a dozen guests at a time) is that one can go swimming up to the edge of the Falls. It's entirely safe and it was nice to get that close to the edge in a safe manner.
Upon return to Johannesburg, we stocked up on books for our European leg and will be flying to Nairobi, Kenya in the morning. A bit of travel fatigue is setting in because we haven't spent more than three nights in one place over the last month and a half but we're looking forward to a few days at a safari lodge. 
3 comments:
Sitting at the edge of the falls is phenomenal. The animal pictures are fascinating. I enjoyed your description of the billion worthless Zimbabwe currency. The river rafting sounds thrilling. Do be careful in this part of the world.
Victoria Falls is a great adventure! Those are wonderful pictures, both of you are so brave going rafting and swimming near the edge of the falls! The booze cruise must have been fun and I like the pictures with the huge rainbow in the background.
What an adventureous couple y'all are! I would never picture Shauna in a raft or swimming at the edge of the falls. Ryan, thanks for making Shauna more daring. Loved all the pics and your narrative. Where are you headed next? Look forward to reading more of your blog. Safe and happy travels.
Post a Comment