We landed at the new Victoria falls international airport that was only completed last year, immigration took 55 minutes and cost us 55 US dollars. We were collected and taken to our accommodation, the Pamusha lodge, we had a quick drink, unpacked and prepared for our first excursion.
At around 4pm we were driven down to a jetty on the banks of the mighty Zambezi River. We boarded a boat and set sail for our sunset cruise, it was so relaxing just drifting down the river with a nice glass of white wine on a lovely, sunny evening. We were soon alerted to a group of Hippopotamus close to the bank and got some good shots of them opening those huge jaws of they have.
We spent a couple of hours cruising up river while the captain gave us some very interesting information about the river as we turned for home we could see in the distance the huge clouds of spray that are caused by Victoria falls, but that’s for another day.
Day 2.
We made an early start and made our way down to Victoria falls National park, from the entrance you walk down a tree lined path towards the Falls, you actually hear the thunder of the water before you can see them and then you come into a clearing a see this almighty sight of this deluge of water falling nearly 100 meters to the bottom.
The awesome power of this wall of water is a sight to behold, words are not enough, it’s truly breathtaking and it continues for nearly a mile as you follow it along the path that runs parallel to the falls. Yes, we got completely soaked, but you do not even think about it, you just want to take it all in. We spent just over an hour and half at the falls, which was plenty of time to take in this natural Wonder.
To dry off we took a walk over the famous railway bridge that separates Zimbabwe from Zambia, the views from the bridge are so impressive and there are lots of colourful characters crossing the border. From the bridge we walked about 400 meters to the Outlook cafe which is perched on the walls of the gorge down river from the falls, here we stopped for lunch and a couple of drinks.
To dry off we took a walk over the famous railway bridge that separates Zimbabwe from Zambia, the views from the bridge are so impressive and there are lots of colourful characters crossing the border. From the bridge we walked about 400 meters to the Outlook cafe which is perched on the walls of the gorge down river from the falls, here we stopped for lunch and a couple of drinks.
From the cafe it was a 10 minute walk to the impressive Victoria Falls river hotel, Mandy had visited the hotel some 40 years ago and it was an emotional return. We sat on the hotel's terrace and enjoyed a cocktail and the superb views across the manicured lawns Before exploring the interior of the hotel with its old colonial decor. I was impressed how welcoming the staff were to us as we were only day visitors.
In the evening we drove over to the Victoria falls Safari lodge hotel, a beautiful place with a fine restaurant , before dinner we sat on the deck of the “Buffalo bar” that overlooks a water hole in the bush, we saw a number of animals around the water.
One of the most impressive sights was the huge sky line, beautiful sunset and cloud formations in the distance, its true, Africa does have huge skies. We had a delicious meal and a front row table overlooking the bush. Rob plumped for the roast Warthog, it was excellent.
Day 3.
Another early morning start as we took an early morning game drive in the Zambezi National park, we were joined by our guide “Eddie” and we had the Jeep to ourselves. This drive was never going to live up to our drives in Kruger but we did manage to see plenty of game including Giraffe, Zebra, Wilderbeast, Warthog, Baboons, Impala and mongoose.
We then popped into the town of Victoria Falls to have a mooch around, there was not a great deal to see and with the hot African sun we soon made our way back to the lodge.
In the evening we made our way down to the Zambezi river for a dinner cruise, we boarded a beautiful three tiered boat, The Zambezi Explorer. We set sail at 4.30 and cruised within one kilometer of the Falls, once again there was plenty of wildlife to be see including crocodiles and Hippos.
In the evening we made our way down to the Zambezi river for a dinner cruise, we boarded a beautiful three tiered boat, The Zambezi Explorer. We set sail at 4.30 and cruised within one kilometer of the Falls, once again there was plenty of wildlife to be see including crocodiles and Hippos.
We were joined by four people from New York city who turned out to be delightful company. We docked at around 6.45 and stayed on board for a delicious dinner at sunset.
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