There’s something about going on a brief, action-packed adventure that makes you feel invigorated, replenishing emotional supplies that have run empty with unforgettable experiences. It’s the power nap of holidays and should be a mandatory thing. With this in mind, we snuck off on a short, exhilarating escape to Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe a few months ago and came back feeling energised and accomplished in the travel bucket list department. As would anyone, with the amount of memorable experiences to be had there. Doing at least three days at Victoria Falls needs to be a priority on any traveller’s list. And to make sure you get as much out of it as we did, if not more, here’s what we did, and a few things we wish we had done that can definitely be squeezed in.
Day 1
2pm: Arrival
We landed at the newly refurbished Victoria Falls International Airport, after a pleasant and quick 1.5hr flight from Johannesburg, and waited for our transfer to the hotel. There was a delay in the driver arriving due to an elephant interrupting traffic. Reasonable.
3pm: Check In
We arrived at and checked into our hotel, the Victoria Falls Safari Lodge. It’s an expansive and beautiful property that is home to three other sister hotels and lodges in the same venue. It’s perched on an elevation that, once you get through the reception doors and out onto any of the decks of the hotel or balconies of the rooms, the uninterrupted view of the Zambezi National Park unfolds in front of you like a gold carpet to welcome visitors. We admired the view from our balcony, pausing for just a moment to appreciate what an incredible place we had just arrived in.
3:30pm: Zambezi River Sunset Cruise
Freshened up, we returned to reception to catch our ride to the banks of the Zambezi River for a 2.5 hour sunset cruise on the Zambezi Explorer. It’s a luxury cruising vessel, with the Signature Deck, the one right at the top, being by far the best to experience. It’s pricier to go to the top, but it includes food and beverages, the best view, and has elegant couches and loungers to really relax and take it all in. Having comfortably settled ourselves, platters of nibbles and bites came out unabated, with a non-stop flow of cocktails. The team behind the bar know their cocktails better than most places back home in South Africa. Their negroni and whisky sours game is strong. And what an incredible introduction to such a magical place, floating on the Zambezi, with the Victoria Falls plume of mist seen on the horizon, as the sun slowly dips to meet the river. The occasional hippo or crocodile takes their stage cues and makes an appearance, as if part of a well coordinated show.
6:30pm: Back to the Hotel
Arrive back at the hotel, having been delayed on our return by a stubborn juvenile bull elephant who refused to move aside for the bus when we departed the Zambezi river shores. The traffic jams here are different to back home. Just make sure you go to the bathroom before boarding the bus!
7pm: Dinner at the Boma Restaurant Dinner & Drum Show
A quick shower and change of clothes and we headed off to the Boma Restaurant, on the same property as the Victoria Falls Safari Lodge. Traditional dancers welcomed us at the door, as we and other guests were dressed in a chitenge, a local sarong-like garment. Dinner itself was a (very) generous four course meal, with the main course being a braai (barbecue) buffet of wild game meats, salads and local sides like sadsa and other hearty dishes. The food was abundant. And for the adventurous foodie, it’s a prerequisite to enjoy a fried or stewed mopani worm. They taste a little like bacon. As the meal wound down, the drumming and dancing began, with entertainers moving through the throng of guests, inviting people to join in beating the djembe drums. The best thing to accompany dinner here is a side not often served anywhere else: fun. This was really fun. We left at about 10pm, fed, watered and thoroughly entertained. It was time for bed.
Day 2
But First, Coffee
6:30am: Woke up to shower and make a cup of morning ambrosia, to sit on the balcony and just enjoy the quiet of the morning, while watching a small herd of buffalo ambling past. We slept with the balcony doors open, to get a breeze (there is aircon) and to hear the sounds of the wild.
Breakfast at Makuwakuwa
7:30am: Make sure you book a spot right by the window. The view from this vantage point is fantastic and faces the watering hole. We broke our fast with piles of food, feasting enough for a two week vacation, nevermind an extended weekend. And, at Makuwakuwa, other than the view, there’s something else that’s special: the Bloody Mary bar! I indulged in a (virgin) cocktail to accompany my pile of breakfast, but would have added the vodka for fun if it wasn’t such a busy day ahead.
The Victoria Falls
8:30am: ‘Are you ready to be baptised?’ Zulu, our passionate local guide appointed by the hotel, greeted us with this dramatic opener, teasing us with a taste of the awe-inspiring natural wonder we were about to witness and get showered by. It was time! Our primary reason for visiting, to view one of the greatest curtains of falling water on this planet. We headed off to the Victoria Falls Rainforest Park. No elephant impeded our schedule this time.
After paying the entrance fee (it was around $20 with the SADC discount) donning raincoats (you can hire or bring your own, but bring a real raincoat, not the cheap disposable ones, we learned the hard way how useless they are), we started the 1.7km sojourn, from Devil’s Cataract on one side to Danger Point, facing the Victoria Falls Bridge on the other. It was more incredible than we imagined. And unlike other famous landmarks on earth, this one wasn’t overrun by thick mobs of tourists. There’s space to just enjoy the majesty of it all. To literally drink it in, as the mist and rain formed by it drizzles around you, without interrupting the incredible view.
Zulu was born and raised right by the falls, his father helped build the pathways we walked on, and it was a privilege to have him accompany us from one end of the falls to the other. We ended off with the perpetual rainbow, arcing over the iconic eponymous bridge. Every vantage point we stopped at we thought, it can’t get any more beautiful. And we were wrong each time.
Vulture Culture
12pm: We reluctantly left the falls, soggy, awed and amazed. But it was time for lunch. Not just for us, but for a certain species of incredibly endangered birds that are intrinsic to the entire wildlife ecosystem on this continent: vultures. We headed back to Victoria Falls Safari Lodge to spy on diners at what was affectionately referred to as the vulture restaurant. The Victoria Falls Safari Lodge became aware of the diminishing numbers of these precious birds and started a supplementary feeding initiative in an effort to preserve their numbers.
By noon, a cloud of vultures started to appear as they settled in for their extra meal of the day. The vulture restaurant approach doesn’t create a dependency, because it’s just a small portion of their required daily intake. But it does give them enough sustenance to provide energy to look for more food elsewhere. Hundreds arrived and descended, as cooler boxes filled with meat were brought down and thrown out to the hungry birds. It’s an incredible and unique experience to watch from the specially-built hide as these creatures fed, and how their behaviours are informed by the food – changing their colour, as they became flushed from the heat of their stomachs as it almost literally cooks the food they consume in order to eradicate lethal bacteria. They may not be the prettiest of animals, but it’s not just cute things that deserve preservation. Their importance ecologically transcends their appearance and they are extraordinary to witness.
Lunch
1:30pm: When the vultures finished their meal, we went upstairs and tucked into ours. A pan-fried Zambezi river bream in a lemon-butter sauce, with lentil relish was as delicious as it sounds. Head Chef Jacob at Makuwakuwa knows his way around a fish.
Flying Fox Zipline
3pm: Victoria Falls also happens to be known as the adrenaline capital of Africa, and with the wide array of crazy things you can do to yourself on, in and around the falls, it would be crazy not to try some of these activities. So we did. The Flying Fox zipline is one such activity, of the very many, that Wild Horizons offers. One of us, the braver one, got strapped up, clipped in and pushed off a platform while suspended 120m in the air on a steel rope anchored on both sides of the gorge bracketing the Zambezi river. Apparently, the speed at its fastest hits 106km on the zipline. For those really bent on bucket list ticking, you can jump off the Victoria Falls bridge and call it a day. But I still get butterflies thinking about that wide, open abyss one dangles precariously over for a prolonged period of time and that’s quite enough for me.
Sunset Drinks at the Buffalo Bar
5:30pm: Back at the hotel, we needed a stiff drink to celebrate surviving the activities, and to relish the awesome events that happened throughout the day. It was perfect timing, as the sun started to set and the hotel faces the west. We went out onto the large open air veranda of the Buffalo Bar, and it was immediately apparent why it has been described as one of the best places for a sun-downer at Victoria Falls. You are surrounded by the bushveld. Nothing else mars the view, just miles of open plain and the nearby watering hole that, at dusk, is filled with thirsty wildlife. We watched the same buffalo herd from that morning drinking up for the evening, as were we.
Day 3
Flight of Angels
11am: After another indulgent breakfast, we headed off to one of the best experiences on earth, the helicopter flight over Victoria Falls. It’s a short flip, 15 minutes, but it’s one thing to see the Falls from on the ground, and quite another from the clouds. You don’t fully appreciate the magnitude of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World until you see it from that height. It cost $150 each plus $15 park fees but was worth every cent. The only regret though, if there was any to be had on such an adventure, was not booking the flight at dawn. If you can, book for as early as possible, or at dusk, to get the full spectacle in the rich hues of twilight.
See the Town or the Bush
12pm: We headed back to the hotel and had lunch and took it easy for a bit. This was a mistake. We should have taken advantage of the hotel’s complimentary transfers to Victoria Falls town centre and explored there, followed by a game drive or nature walk. I strongly recommend doing this. If you are feeling sleepy, knock back an espresso and get yourself on the transfer shuttle or game drive vehicle. The hotel has an activity desk and there’s so many things to do. Game drives, nature walks, picnis, swimming, rafting, bungee jumping, anything.
Victoria Falls Safari Club Cocktails & Dinner
5:30pm: Right next door to the Victoria Falls Safari Lodge is the Victoria Falls Safari Club. Its more boutique-style sibling, appointed with a lavish deck and intimate feel.We wondered over there for drinks, to enjoy a different view of the same beautiful scenery. The evening drinks were accompanied by sensational canapés and it was quite difficult to move away from this to eat dinner. But with enormous inner strength, we pulled ourselves off the soft couches and made our way to the Safari Club Restaurant in the same spot. We basically just changed our seating from couch to chair. Dinner had a more gourmet feel this side of the watering hole. A quiet, romantic venue that offered a pleasing contrast to the exuberance of dinner at the Boma on the first night. It’s definitely ideal to enjoy it in this order, as a more relaxed meal after two very energetic days proved a welcome way to enjoy our final night at the Falls.
Departure
6am: We caught the redeye back home, the first flight out. If you leave on a Sunday, like we did, be aware that most of the airport shops are closed, with only about one restaurant open during this time at the international departures lounge.
We were sad to leave, but absolutely exhilarated by how much we got to see and experience in such a short time. Something everyone needs to do at least once in their lifetime.
Tips for travelling to Victoria Falls:
- SADC countries do not require a visa, most other countries are eligible for visa on arrival, including EU citizens
- The currency used is US Dollars. Take cash in small denominations.
- Even if you think it’s going to be steaming hot the whole time, take a jersey
- If you rent a raincoat at the Falls, check that all the buttons are intact, or you will get soggy quickly
- Bring sunblock, binoculars, a hat, ziploc bags to keep things dry, bathing suit and an empty stomach.
