Travel to Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe and Zambia - Simply Wonderful.

We departed Johannesburg on and Airlink Embraer jet aircraft with 94 other passengers and were excited to again be visiting the wonderful Victoria Falls. The challenge of completing the paperwork and then paying for an entry Visa for a one off stay raised everyone’s temperature but after some 35 minutes were were eventually processed and paid approximately Rand 1570 for the privilege. We exited, collected our luggage and progressed through another check via X Ray machines.

It had been an excellent flight and we land already ahead of scheduled time.

We were greeted outside by a driver from Horizon Travel and tours and taken with another pair of young girls from Australia, to their overnight hotel . Then we were driven to the unusual and exquisite Victoria Falls Safari lodge, with its simply amazing with its Club house and lodge overlooking the weather hole used regularly by all sorts of animals. We check in after a visit to the Horizon Office and the opportunity to be sold and then purchase excursions for tomorrow our only full day. We do book a morning tour of Victoria Falls with an early pick up of 8.00am.

Ken is also keen to do a helicopter ride over the falls, but they suggest the only time tomorrow is a late afternoon and that is provisional at this time. Ken will be advised tomorrow, late morning as to conformation and pick up time.

We unpack, then go for a walk then have a drink at the bar overlooking the water hole. Then back to room 2 for a rest and shower before dinner at 19.70 pm.

We enjoy dinner , but are a little disappointed with the steak. But the setting with a singing group of 8 males with extraordinary voices is memorable. We remain excited as to the venue. Our room #2 is beautifully furnished and is located overlooking the water hole.

Jeanette and Ken retire to bed at 9.30pm and sleep reasonably well. An early morning phone call at 6.15am is received but not for us. However, we do rise and dress and enjoy an early continental breakfast, there are warthogs, impala and several other animals including antelope but alas no elephants.

We are picked up with a bus and a small group of 8 from other lodges for our trip to Victoria Falls, but beforehand stop at the “Big Tree” which is over 1500 years old and is massive with a big diameter . We hear from PUM , our driver, as to the use of the seeds and the pods . Nothing is wasted. The tress sits with many sellers of every tourist item imaginable, but we decide not to purchase.

The Bus is then travelling to the falls through a back road and we come across several elephants on the road. We take photos and wait for them to move.

The next stop is the Falls car/ bus park again with much activity and payment of another licence fee. From here we then enter the Victoria Falls Nature Park , and are excited to visit the falls, see the immense power of the Water flow and the noise and power of the waterfalls . We are provided with rain coats. But we fail to realise that with this much water they will provide little cover. Ken is concerned as to whether Jeanette can complete the 3.4 kilometre walk. She does very well and manages about 2.6 km but doesn’t do the last sighting points and the walk down to take in the bridge.

The falls are in Winter flood with some 560,000/ 700,000 litres per minute, just amazing and unbelievable. The first 3-4 viewing points provide wonderful views with only light mist, but we then move on to cover several of the other vantage points and despite the weather jackets and rain coats we are drowned and the guide describes it as going through several storms. The whole Victoria Falls area creates its own weather close the the thousand feet drop and the noise and thje immense power remains amazing..

Ken walked through the whole storm area to take photos of the bridge, which links Zimbabwe and Zambia . This amazing construction was completed in 1904 and today remains an essential ingredient in the rail infrastructure of Zimbabwe and Zambia. It was built by the same company, who constructed the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Both share similar significant long term roles.

The return takes us away from the storm and heavy rainfall, but it remains hard to describe the falls and the noise and the immense stream and flow of water. Simply unbelievable.

From here we return, wet through , to our lodges.

We change, clear up and then await the feeding of the vultures, which is a daily conservation ritual here at Victoria Falls Safari Lodge as an important conservation exercise to preserve, grow and look after the various categories of vultures which have been and remain threatened with extinction. Daily at 13.00pm there is a ceremony where the head guide explains the process to us visitors whilst the Vultures ( roughly 200 birds ) fly above and land on neighbouring trees some 15 minutes before the feed which takes place at 13.15pm.

This requires sensitivity and patience from all involved. The Vultures know the process and await with a desire and sense of expectation, which explains that the feeding has occurred (even over the period of the pandemic when the lodge was closed). This time there are hundreds of Vultures and about 10-15 cranes all in nearby trees awaiting the action.

He then brings out a car fridge full of food and meat, but nothing happens until he explains the balance of his story. Then there is a serious fight amongst the 100-150 birds. It is asssertive, aggressive and full of intimidation. They compete, yell and push but after 3 minutes it is over and a sense of quietness returns and the Vultures fly away. This all happened inside 10 minutes from the commencement of his explanation and the conservative approach.

We enjoy a Caesar salad for lunch retire to our suites. Ken had earlier booked a helicopter flight over falls at a cost of US$150 plus the fee to enter them park (US$25). We are then weighed , given a short training session and await our 16.15pm flight.

The experience of the 12 minute flight over the falls initially from Zimbabwe, then via a figure 8 through the Zambian side is simply fantastic.

The photos don’t do it justice. Nature at her very best. Massive torrents of water cascading down almost a 1,000-1,400 meter straight drop. The flow rate is stunning, the volume of water is simply amazing.

The flight has 5 of us on board with Ken sitting in front with pilot. The whole adrenaline surge is over after 13 minutes ,just as you begin to relax.

Words are difficult to find to adequately summarise the flight and the uncompromising brutal force of the mammoth level of water. The moment and scale are just unique.

The pilot flew us back to the Lodge and Ken had a smile from ear to ear. Yes a once in a life experience.

Dinner is in the restaurant, we had previously seen elephants come to the waterhole and several reappeared, but with the recent rainfall everything is ideal for the animals. Tonight we enjoy a quiet dinner and reflect upon a wonderful day.

Tomorrow we check out and travel by vehicle to Kissane, where we proceed through the border to Botswana,. Join the Chobe Princess for 3 days on the Chobe River seeiing Elephants, Rhinnos and a variety of other animals and birds.