Zambia

A short walk from our hotel - Victoria Falls

After a quick flight from our last camp on safari, Splash Camp, to Kasane International Airport we were met by the pilot of our next small flight to Livingstone Airport. Danny had been to Victoria Falls before but on the Zimbabwe side so Zambia was a new experience for the both of us! After we made it through customs and immigration, we were met by the guy taking us to our hotel who showed us to our ride, a very large bus. Just for the two of us. And the guy stored our two duffel bags in the attached trailer for the ride as well although there was plenty of room in the giant bus we were in. We thought that was kind of funny. Below is a map of where we stayed, the Royal Livingstone Hotel.

During the short 20 minute ride to our hotel, we rode through the proper town of Livingstone. Our driver told us random facts about Zambia along the way. A few examples: they call stop lights “robots” and he said when they first got them there would be a lot of accidents because no one really knew what the different colors meant. Their main export is copper. Tourism is in the top three for economic growth in Zambia. Lots of facts on the drive in!! Also during the drive we ran into a herd of elephants trying to cross the road. It’s always funny noticing how in the US we have issues with running into deer and what not while in Africa it’s elephants and zebra.

We finally arrived at the Royal Livingstone Hotel and were greeted by a flamboyant welcoming squad of Zambian people singing and dancing all around us as we checked in. The hotel was just lovely and it was so nice to relax and unwind after nine nights in the Botswana bush. It was located right above Victoria Falls on the Zambezi River while Zimbabwe was just right across the river.

We only stayed in Zambia for two nights but decided to make the most of it. As soon as we got to our room, we threw our swimsuits on and decided to lounge by the most beautiful pool! It was cool to see zebra hanging out by the hotel. We then decided to get ready to have drinks by the river. It was super warm in Zambia compared to the cold weather we experience in Botswana. So I decided to put on a dress which was a BIG MISTAKE. I ended the night with around 20 new mosquito bites which made it look like I had chicken pox on my legs. I have a picture but I’ll spare your eyes. Finger’s crossed it’s not malaria!! Anyways, we enjoyed dinner at the hotel that night and went to bed early.

The next morning, we had breakfast and then decided to head over to the Falls. It was just a quick 10 minute walk from the hotel. Our hotel key granted us access into the park so that saved us about $20 USD. We had our rain jackets on but decided to add another layer of protection by renting a $2 poncho from one of the shops right outside the park. And I think we are both super glad we did that! Danny’s was more like a large plastic bag but mine was a proper rain poncho.

We walked all along the pathways that would dip in and out onto different views of Victoria Falls. It was such a neat experience as the Falls stretch to be a mile long, separating two countries (Zambia and Zimbabwe). How heavy the falls are depends on the rainfall from Angola. When we visited, the falls were at flood level meaning the river was running pretty fast and was really full. There’s a little natural swimming pool not far from the top of the falls called “Devil’s Pool” that you can actually swim in but we couldn’t do that because the water level was too high.

Danny and I also decided to do a little hike down to the “Boiling Pot” which took us down to the bottom of the falls right below the Victoria Fall’s Bridge. The boiling pot is a spot where the water swirls due to the resistance of rock to the power of water coming down from the falls causing a back flow and upsurge of water like when boiling a pot of water. The hike was super easy down and quite the sweat coming back up. But well worth it!

Fun (?) Fact: In 2013, a man from China fell into Victoria Falls from the Knife Edge Bridge (the one we actually walked over) and survived the 25 meter drop! Apparently, one of the guard rails was broken and he slipped and fell. It is known that every year, at least one tourist dies at Victoria Falls due to stupidity.

That night we did a sunset river cruise on the African Queen down the Zambezi River. This might’ve been my favorite part as I am a sucker for a good sunset!! We were picked up by a shuttle to take us to where the boat was docked. We ended up loading onto the African Princess (their smaller boat) instead because there was probably only 10 people to go on the cruise that night. It was unlimited drinks (Danny was thrilled) and unlimited food (I was thrilled) so we were well taken care of! We had a beautiful spot at a table and were able to see plenty of hippos right from the boat. We watched a beautiful sunset and then retreated back to the hotel, ordered room service, and then we were off to sleep.