And why you need to see both sides of the Falls.
Mosi-oa-Tunya – The Smoke that Thunders or better known as the Victoria Falls. The greatest curtain of falling water and one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World.
Visiting the Falls has been on ‘the’ list for a long time and I finally made it happen.
After a very short flight from Johannesburg with British Airways (thank you for the gluten free meal), we landed safely at Livingstone, Zambia.
Depending on which nationality you have you get in-line at immigration to get the appropriate stamps or VISA. Having a Belgian passport we had to get the Kaza Uni-visa. This VISA allows you to travel between Zambia and Zimbabwe for 30 days, as many times as you wish. Be patient, you can be in the queue for about half an hour.
The hotel where we were staying, Avani at Victoria Falls, has direct access to the Falls. So once we got our room assigned, we dropped off our bags and headed straight to the Falls.
Wauw! I think I said that at least a million times. When you see something on pictures you kinda have an idea what to expect. But it was soooo much better than what I had imagined it would be.
Seeing the Zambezi River, that forms the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe, coming down is a spectacular sight. That’s the least you can say from the falls.
It is the grandeur, the change that you can see a rainbow forming in the mist, the beauty of the rainforest and the water you feel on your face that makes it complete.
Because of the free and direct access to the falls, we visited them every single day. And every time, they looked a bit different.
We also decided to see the falls from the Zimbabwe side. Since we had our VISA in place we just had to cross the border, get it stamped and walk across the Victoria Falls bridge to the other side. Crossing the border is exciting by itself.
The falls on the other side are equally stunning but totally different. So if you got the time, see them from both countries. You wont regret the trip, I promise you.
Besides visiting the falls we also embarked on a River Safari. A smaller boat that could easily acces the banks. We were treated with a really nice sighting of a couple of hippos and a very small elephant herd that came to drink. But besides seeing these animals, being on the Zambezi was a treat by itself. If you want to stay away from the big sunset cruises, this is a great alternative. We booked the activity via Wilderness Horizons.
High Tea in the Victoria Falls hotel was of course also on the agenda of things to do. They were very accommodating to cater for gluten free alternatives and they were really nice as well! You do want to book beforehand and asked for the gluten free options just to make sure.
What else… we visited the Livingstone Museum and went to some local craft markets. There is also the popular Devils pools but that’s not really my cup of tea (any more), you could take a day trip to Botswana or go wild water rafting. With other words, a trip to Victoria Falls is for everyone!
