May 24th, 2025

We got to sleep in a little today prior to our 10am pick-up to go to Victoria Falls. We had breakfast at the hotel, open restaurant with views of the river and then waited for our ride. We had a private guide to walk us around Victoria Falls today. Not really needed but nice to have someone explain everything to you. There are a million shops where the vans park for the falls and as soon as you park someone comes out and hands you rain coats with hoods and tells you to return them to a certain booth number which is their shop.

Our guide paid our entrance into the falls and we were told by the folks we met on the dinner cruise that no matter what you wore you were going to get wet. They actually said ‘soaked all over right down to your underwear’. We had both worn our rain jackets and we also had the rain coat they gave us in the parking lot. There are 16 view points for the falls and you don’t really need the coats until the 4th or 5th stop. After that, until the last stop, you are getting soaked. We call the falls Victoria Falls but locals call it Mosi-Oa-Tunya which means “the smoke that thunders”.

David Livingston is the one who discovered the falls and named them after the Queen. He died in Zambia in 1871 but is buried in Westminster Abby.

Our first glimpse of the falls.

This is the beginning of high season for the falls. Part of the falls (the highest points) actually dry up for 4 months of the year during the dry season. We are at the beginning of the wet season.

As you get closer to the large section of the falls the mist gets very heavy. Almost impossible to see the falls through the mist and you think it is pouring down and with the updrafts and swirling winds, “hurricane like”.

Occasionally the mist clears but by the time you get your camera out and wipe the lens it is covered in moisture again and the falls have disappeared. At first you try to avoid the water puddles to keep your feet dry but by the end of the walk you have given up and your shoes and socks and pants are soaked. We had put our packs inside plastic bags and those we had stored under the 2 rain jackets so they stayed pretty dry. The main part of the falls is hard to see due to the mist.

At the end of the falls you have the bridge which separates Zambia from Zimbabwe and you are far enough from the falls that you can start taking off layers.

There is a rainbow by the bridge lots of times and we were lucky to have 1 today. At times it was a double. You can see how soaked I am after the walk along the falls. This is the point they offer white water rafting, no thanks.

You take a different path back to get to the exit so you start to dry off some. There are baboons every where and the natives consider them a nuisance. They get into everything and they take anything they can so you have to protect whatever you are carrying. They’ re protected by the national park.

We returned our rain coats and of course you are expected to shop. Mostly they have thousands of carved animals in all different sizes. After the falls we had lunch reservations at a place called Look Out Cafe which is right on the top of the gorge overlooking the bridge and the fork in the river that separated Zambia and Zimbabwe. It was a beautiful setting and lunch was excellent.

Our table at Outlook Cafe and our view of the gorge. They have zip lining and a double/single swing/drop of the gorge. We did watch a couple do the drop and the screams were epic. We also saw a couple of zip liners.

We realized, after seeing how much mist obscures the falls, that the only way to truly see the falls was a helicopter ride. We have seen hundreds of helicopters going back and forth to the falls while we have been here. There are several different companies but they all have the same set price which is 150 for a 12 to 15 minute flight plus a 25 dollar per person park fee. By the way Zimbabwe uses American dollars as their currency. We are sure there is a story there but have not had time to look it up yet. Our driver had arranged a 2pm flight for us so he waited for the helicopter company to pick us up at the restaurant and then he left us and explained they would take us back to the hotel.

At the helicopter port you sign your life away and go through a safety briefing and since the flights are so quick and they have several helicopters it was not a long wait. We were matched up with another couple, so 4 of us in the helicopter plus a pilot and co-pilot. They give you headsets so you can talk to the pilot but he can also explain to you what you are seeing.

It is a short flight to the falls and the pilot goes back and forth turning so both sides get great views of the falls. He basically makes 3 passes and then back over the river to the port. The ride actually seemed longer than it was and so glad we did it.

You can see the mist for quite a ways.

Imagine being down there walking along all that mist. It was like being in a really heavy rain storm just no lightening but definitely thunder.

You can see how large the falls are but still can’t get a clear shot. They say the water that flows through the falls in 72 hours is how much New York City uses in 1 day. Victoria Falls has the biggest continuous curtain of falling water in the world. As such, it’s usually considered to be the biggest waterfall in the world, and is one of the seven natural wonders of the world. The falls are 5500 feet wide and 355 feet high. You really do need to see it from the air to experience it.

Our helicopter for 12 minutes.

We were then driven back to our hotel where we sat outside for a bit and dried our shoes and socks. We also made arrangements to go on a sunrise bird watching tour on Sunday morning before we fly to Kruger.

Our hotel and the wart hog “natural lawn mowers”.

At 6:30 we were picked up to go to our dinner reservations which is called a Boma drum and dinner show. It is a big deal and we had no idea what to expect. As you enter they give you a very colorful African cloth which acts as a wrap and they tie it for you. Then they put a small amount of tribal art on your face and Kathy and I got 4 small white dots by our left eye as our decoration.

Me in my colorful wrap and the colorful tablecloth and napkin. Yes it is cold enough for a light down jacket.

We were then taken to our table and the whole restaurant is in the round with elevated platforms and tables for different numbers of diners. We had a table for 2. The waiter comes over and explains everything to you and there are several different serving stations. They have an open fire in the middle with a large roasted pig and then several other pots warming up around the pig. They have 2 salad bars, a grill station with steak, chicken, pork, and eland steaks. You tell them what you want and how you want it grilled and they cook it right there and put it on a sizzling platter for you. They also have rice, potatoes, peanut butter rice (Brown rice with a nutty flavor) and chicken and impala stew. There is also a dessert table and a vegetarian section. I am sure I missed something but we had plenty. I actually loved the impala stew which surprised me.

One of the food stations with the whole pig and then several sides kept warm in pots over the coals.

After the dinner (drinks extra) they start with a dancing a drum show. They pass out large drums to everyone and they basically instruct you on how to beat the drum to their rhythm. It was much more enjoyable than I thought it would be and we had fun.

You can see people at their tables with their drums following along with the group.

The event ended at 9:30 and our driver was there to take us back to the hotel.

We have the alarm set for 6:15am to make our sunrise bird watching/breakfast cruise which luckily has the pier & boat dock at our resort.