Victoria Falls (Zimbabwe): 2 Full Days

June 2022

We flew from Johannesburg to the city of Victoria Falls on a Zimbabwe based airline called Fastjet, and the 90 minute flight cost $220 R/T. The airport was only about 15-20 minutes drive from the city center in Victoria Falls (population: 33,600). Our lodging ($74/night) was located slightly away from downtown in a residential area filled with old colonial era big mansions. We arrived there in the early afternoon, but we were all too tired from a week of intense safari-ing, thus we stayed in the rest of the day and ate at the restaurant on site.

Fully rested, we were ready to conquer the world after a satisfying breakfast at the lodging. The going rate for a taxi to downtown was $5, and the US Dollar was happily accepted by all the merchants in town including the cab drivers. The lodging office arranged a mini bus for our group of 12 whenever we wanted to go places for $2/person. First destination: Victoria Falls National Park. Some guys were selling rain poncho rentals at the parking lot area, and we all got one ($3), which turned out to be a smart move.

There were monkeys greeting us as we were getting our entrance tickets ($30). Once inside, the trail was clearly marked by numbers. You turn left from the entrance till you find number 1 and start from there. It is about a mile from #1 to #16 mostly straight paved way along the water with turn-outs for viewing.

If you find Mr. Livingstone, you are at #1. He was the first white man to see the Falls on November 17, 1855. By #3 on the trail, you will start to feel fortunate about having bought the rain poncho rental. When we were there in early June, which was at the tail end of the best season to visit, there was still so much water that it felt like walking in a rainstorm.

I love to say if the great water falls of the world were Beethoven’s symphonies, Victoria Falls would be #5 while Iguzu Falls would be #9. The biggest (length x depth) water fall in the world, Victoria is basically one giant sheet of water wall. Camera lenses fogged over so much that we stopped taking pictures after a while. Rainbows were formed over the walkway because of the spray of water coming from the Fall. Invigorating would be the best word for me to describe the experience. It took us about 90 minutes to do the walk & we rested at a cafe restaurant inside the park by the entrance.

Some people visit the Zambia side of the Fall, but we thought we had seen enough & chose to stay in Zimbabwe. You can read our friend Bill’s experience in Livingstone, Zambia.

After returning the rain ponchos, we walked 10-15 minutes on a dirt road to our lunch spot recommended by our host at the lodging. “I don’t see any restaurant!,” Pat was saying, then we suddenly came to a parking lot.

OMG! The view from the Lookout Cafe warranted the name perfectly. Under $20/person for a nice meal with drinks.

A quick cab ride ($1) brought us to an artisans market located behind the elegant shopping center called Elephant’s Walk. It was a paradise if you loved bargaining. Very friendly and persistent merchants surrounded you to lure you into his/her store. The stuff they sold there were much better made than the ones sold on the streets, later I found out by comparing.

After a rather animated shopping experience, we were ready for a nice break. We walked slowly to the next stop, a place with good desserts recommended by a cafe owner (he could nor serve us because his cafe was to have an opening the next day), 3 Monkeys. It was an artistically decorated space with indoor and outdoor seating and great food and drinks. We liked it so much – so comfortable and relaxing and great service – that we stayed on for dinner!

Wait a minute. Are those birds on the tree? Sure they are. This will lead us to the second full day in Victoria Falls. I came across an article about a unique experience to have at a fancy hotel in town, so we took a cab to Victoria Falls Safari Lodge. Everyday at 1 PM, they have a free event called the ‘Vulture Culture experience‘ which is a feeding of vultures. They explain why they do it, then, you see hundreds of birds descend upon the meat scraps thrown on the ground.

Food and drinks at the bar in the hotel were first class and a bit pricey for Zimbabwe, but they were worth every penny. The little platform to watch the vulture experience was under this bar, so we didn’t even have to leave our own seats to see the whole thing.

A few birds started arriving around 12:30 PM. Then more. Then more.

They waited in anticipation.

Ready? He emptied the cooler on the ground.

Hundreds of vultures jumped in all at once to get a piece of the action. Why feed vultures? We typically think vultures are bad, but they are a necessary and important part in the natural cycle of life in the African landscape. However, their numbers are dwindling due to poisoning and electrocution by power lines. Poachers poison them because gathering vultures over their illegally hunted animals reveal their position to authorities.

This was quite a spectacle and a learning experience. There was a waterhole on the Safari Lodge ground where elephants and other animals came to quench the thirst. The gift shops were quite nice at the lodge as well.

Later in the day We were picked up at the lodge by the Zambezi River Sunset Cruise people & driven to a boat dock on the river. We had arranged a river cruise through our lodging and received c 10% discount (final price: $36 + $10 park fee per person.) This included bottomless drinks and snacks on the boat for 2 hours. Beyond the rainbow in the picture is the drop of the Victotia Falls.

Hippos were playing near our boat. I learned for the first time that hippos walked not swam in the water. That felt like cheating to me.

It was great to see people having a good time. They were all very friendly.

Verdict: Totally worth it!

The boat people took us to the dinner restaurant we chose, Shearwater Cafe, and we had a great meal there. “Can we come back here for breakfast?” someone asked. Nope, we had to fly back to Johhanesburg the next morning.

Victoria Falls was the most expensive over all – lodging, meals, flights – during this trip. It was also quite memorable and enjoyable. We are talking about $37 per person a night and $15-20/meal here compared to $30/night and $10-15/meal in South Africa. Considering Zimbabwe has the average wage of $253/month, the lowest in the world, we can tell how important the tourist dollars might be in their economy. For the level of comfort and quality we got in Victoria Falls, we got a bargain.

itinerary: Johannesburg -> Safari -> J-Burg -> Victoria Falls -> J-Burg -> Cape Town