zambia and zimbabwe: livingstone and victoria falls

In another post I briefly mentioned my arrival in Livingstone, but I made it a bit more adventurous than it needed to be. When the bus got to the Namibia/Zambia border everyone piled out. We all had to go through the exit side of the Namibian border control, then to a health tent where they took our temperatures and gave us some sort of a card. My card was actually a piece of cardboard, they obviously didn't have enough of the 'real' cards, which were just slips of paper.

I got all the way to the front of the line at the entry to Zambia, filled out a piece of paper, reached for my wallet, and realized I didn't have any US dollars. (I'd put them away in another part of my luggage.)

Since the visa for Zambia has to be purchased with US dollars, I had to race back to the bus and explain that I needed to get into my pack, which was under the bus. Fortunately, it wasn't too buried in all the luggage. I got my money, and went back to the border control counter. Since I was flying out of Livingstone to Lusaka, (after spent one of those entries by going to the Zimbabwe side of the falls,) I knew I needed a double entry visa to Zambia. $80 lighter, I had a full page sticker visa in my passport. I can't help it, I like these things.

From there the bus continued to Livingstone. I knew where I wanted to go, sortof. I had an address for my accomodation, but I wasn't exactly sure where the bus droppoff was located. While I was at the dropoff, I saw a stall selling Zambian SIM cards, so I got one of those. It was an adventure to get it to fit my phone, the guy was actually using fingernail clippers to do the cutting! I don't even have the latest iphone, I can't be the only visitor who has come throuh this area needing a SIM card in that particular shape. Anywho, it fit.

A taxi took me to my accomodation, which let me check in immediately. I wasn't exactly sure what I had booked, but I was thrilled to find out I'd have a two bedroom suite. I didn't need all that space, but it felt luxurious anywho. he manager gave me answers to my questions about what there was to see in town, and how to get to Victoria Falls, which is the main reason visitors come to this town.
He also booked a taxi to come pick me up an hour later. Normally I'd be all about walking (10km each way doesn't bother me, I like walking,) but everything I read and heard said the walk was unsafe.

Apparently its common for attacks to happen on people silly enough to try to walk. This was one time I decided to heed all the warnings, especially because I wouldn't be in a city during that walk, I'd be out kindof in the middle of nowhere.

The taxi arrived exactly an hour later. The first time I experienced promptness in Africa, yahoo!! The taxi driver explained where I was going, how much the entry fee would be, and the best areas for walking and photos. He also told me about other options in the area.

Victoria Falls, also known as Mosi-oa-tunya (the smoke which thunders in the local language,) is a UNESCO designated area. It's gorgous. The falls are in a deep gorge, and stretch for almost two kilometers. The amount of water coming over the falls depends (a lot) on the season. There wasn't as much water during my visit, but there was still plenty of beauty.

The entry fee to the Zambian side of the falls is $20USD or 200KWN. I entered, and walked up a path that kindof took me behind the upper area of the falls. I had a couple views of the river flowing down, and when you see that it's almost surprising that the water continues onto such a huge waterfall. I realized immediately that I would need help crossing those waters, as it's easy to fall, and also easy to get completely lost.

I walked back toward where I'd entered, then followed another path down toward an area called the boiling point. It's a curve in the river where water swirls around, and really does look like it's boiling. The sign at the top of the path tells you how far down you'll be going, and says it isn't an easy path.

It wasn't easy exactly, but it also wasn't as challenging as I expected after reading the sign. I had plenty of water with me (thank you camelbak) so I wasn't worried about dehydration. The boiling point was pretty, and it was nice to sit on the rocks in the area and just take in the beauty of nature. Getting back up the trail was harder than going down, go figure. As I was going up I was going the opposite way as a group carrying kayaks. Just down from the boiling point is the put in area for kayaks and whitewater rafting.

My last trail of the day was the so called Photography Trail. It didn't end up being very photogenic, but I think that's because the sun wasn't at the angle I would've liked. It is a trail crawling with babboons, and they will take your stuff. I was a few meters behind a girl and saw it happen to her. A monkey came and grabbed her backpack, and scampered off with it. We watched as the monkey emptied the backpack, then tried to open many of the items inside. She was most concerned about getting her passport, camera, and phone back. Eventually she did, thanks to a couple random men in the area.

After watching that happen, I was a bit nervous about holding up my camera to take photos. I most certainly did not get my snacks out of my bag either.

Beforehand Eric had chosen a time at which he would be waiting at the entry gate, and again he was there on time. I wish all tours, taxis, events were on time like him!! On the way back to town I arranged the next day with him, as I wanted to come back to the falls and follow a local guide to a natural swimming pool. Might as well take advantage of what is there, right?

There is a better known natural swimming pool called Devil's Pool, which is right on the edge of the gorge. Getting out to see that is $100, and involves lunch. I was happy to stick with my choice of Angel's Pool, which is smaller, not as far, and also on the edge. Angel's Pool only costs $15 to get to.

After Eric brought my back to my hotel, I walked into town. I found a supermarket which had hot food ready to eat. I got a pile of roasted veggies and yogurt.

The next morning I got to have another hot breakfast, which I loved even though I felt like I was missing bacon. Booo. There was plenty of other food available though.

I walked to the Livingstone Museum in town, which wasn't far away. The entry fee was 50KWN, the lady didn't have any change. The museum isn't big, but I enjoyed wandering through.

There were areas describing the geology of the area, the flora and fauna of the area, and the human history of the area. There was also a room dedicated entirely to David Livingstone, who was the first European to document the area.

Eric picked me up again at noon, taking me back to Victoria Falls. He introduced me to Nicholas, the guy who would take me to Angel's Pool. Following Nicholas through the water was like creek stomping. It was so much fun. I slipped a couple times, but was generally okay. The water runs fast in some places, and hardly moves in others.

Without Nicholas there is no way I would've found Angel's Pool, as it would be impossible to walk straight along the edge of the falls.

Angel's Pool was amazing. I was able to jump off the surrounding rocks into the water, as it was quite deep. The water felt good, and I loved swimming around. Even better was standing on a ledge on the edge of the gorge. Nicholas didn't really understand what I wanted in a photo, so none of those turned out the way I wanted, oh well. I have a fantastic memory of standing on the edge and looking down. AMAZING.

Since my bikini was still wet, I wore only it and my shoes (my clothes were in my camelbak,) on the way back to the entrance area. On the way I took a photo with random local women who wanted the photo. Good fun.

My dinner that night was more ready to eat food from the ready to eat counter at the supermarket.

The next day was the day trip to Botswana, read about that in another post. When I got back to town I had to switch hotels, as my first one didn't have room for me that night, and I'd only booked for two nights when I first arrived, not three. The new place was okay, but not as spacious, ha ha.

The next morning the breakfast cook was late, argh. This was even though I'd specifically arranged what time I would be having breakfast, much to my annoyance. Eventually the cook arrived, and I ate.

The food wasn't nearly as good, nor was there a buffet. (On the other hand, the room was half the price, soooooo.) Thankfully, Eric waited for me while I scarfed down the food. Instead of leaving at 8, we left at 0830.

He drove me to the border and told me what to do. I got myself stamped out of Zambia, then walked across the bridge. In the middle of the bridge was a sign saying welcome to Zimbabwe. Of course I took a selfie. There was an opportunity to go bungee jumping off the bridge, I had no interest in doing that.

Entering Zimbabwe was a $30USD (the official currency of Zimbabwe is the US dollar for the time being,) visa, another full page visa in my passport. I continued walking and got to the entrance of the park, and paid even more dollars to enter.

I started at the statue of David Livingstone, which wasn't all that interesting. Then I followed the path to a staircase that brings you a whole lot closer to some of the water coming over the falls. There was a whole lot of water spraying everywhere, but it was really neat to see.

I followed the path along the falls, getting a kick out of knowing that I was looking across to another country. I got to see different parts of the falls, as each little area has it's own name. Looking down in a few places was rather scary, but awesome at the same time. At one area I found an American who took a photo of me sitting on a cliff the way I wanted it. Yay!! She liked it so much she asked me to take one of her doing the same thing, hahahahaha.

After soaking up as much of the beauty as I could handle, I walked into the town of Victoria Falls. It was basically built for the waterfall and its' visitors. The town was full of people trying to sell me something, even though all I wanted to do was walk. I found the same postcards I'd seen on the Zam side, and they were more expensive. I was not impressed with the town. At all.

I walked back toward border control, and got myself stamped out of Zimbabwe. When I got to the Zambian side, I expected to have to buy another visa, as I'd already used my two entries to the country. The lady told me that since I'd only gone to Zimbabwe for the day, and hadn't spent the night, I only needed what they called a day visa. I asked questions to make sure it would be enough, since I'd be spending another night in Zambia before flying to the capital, she said I would be fine.

Eric picked me up again, and on the way back to town we stopped at a giant baobab tree. HUGE! There was even a ladder to use to climb up, and I could see the steam from the falls off in the distance. Awesome.

From there Eric took me to the local market. I'd told him I wanted to buy some of the cloth for which Zambia is known, and he knew a good stall for me to go to. They let me look at everything without pressuring me to buy anything, which I really appreciated.

I ended up buying a couple different patterns, and loving them both. I might've been able to negotiate the price, but I was totally okay with what they suggested, so I didn't.

Eric dropped me off at the hotel, then I walked to the supermarket to get more food for lunch. I also took the time to pack everything and check out. Eric came back a couple hours later and drove me to the airport, which was practically empty. I arrived a couple hours before my flight, and the check in area wasn't anywhere close to open.

They made me gate check my bag because I was over the allowable weight, but I wasn't as concerned since it was a direct flight.

It was a short flight, but I got a snack on the way, yay!

Will I come back to Livingstone? I'm not sure, but I did love my visit. I loved the natural beauty of the area.