We had a long travel day beginning with a 4:45am flight out of Kilimanjaro Airport in Tanzania. We landed in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia at 7:25am and after clearing immigration caught the 8:30am flight to Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe arriving at noon. Our immigration experience did not go smoothly ☹️ The Zimbabwe visa website clearly indicates that as Canadians we could ask for a KAZA Uni-Visa upon arrival, this would give us unlimited entries into Zimbabwe, costs USD $50 each and is good for 30 days. This visa was also suggested by our booking agent at the lodge we stayed at. However, the immigration officer refused to issue us that visa, either pretending not to know about it or just flat out refusing to give it to us. We all know it’s never a good idea to argue with an immigration official so we said fine, just give us the single entry visa, at a cost of USD $75 each. It was not a great first impression of Zimbabwe!
Because our flights got shuffled around we ended up in Victoria Falls one day earlier than planned so we booked a hotel in town for one night before being picked up and taken to a safari lodge about 5km up the Zambezi River from town. We booked 3 nights at The Old Drift Lodge, a luxury, all inclusive, tented camp on the rivers edge, we even have a/c in our tent. Our ‘tent’ was incredible with a lovely little pool out front, which turned out to be a drinking pool for the elephants, but more on that later.
The lodge included a variety of activities each day that you can mix and match depending on what you feel like doing. After getting settled in our tent on the first day we decided to go on the sunset river safari. We saw hippos, crocodiles and elephants and when I saw all the river hippos I thought back to the sludge pond that we saw in Tanzania full of hippos and thought, these Zimbabwe hippos have a much nicer life. After the cruise we had an incredible dinner at the lodge, the food here is spectacular.
The next morning we were up at 5am to grab a quick snack before driving into Victoria Falls for a 90 minute walk around the Victoria Falls National Park, which surrounds the falls. Quite honestly, you can barely see the falls from the ground because there is so much spray coming up, and then falling back down as rain. Our USD $50 each entrance fee thankfully included long hooded raincoats, but we were still drenched even with the coats on. Despite not having great views of the falls, we got some good glimpses between the mists and it was a fun experience. Early on our walk Blair spotted a leopard running across the pathway, well that got a few of the guides excited and our guide was quite insistent that we all stay together during our walkabout.
After our Victoria Falls tour we were taken to the Lookout Cafe for breakfast. The cafe has a nice view over the Zambezi River and the canyon below the falls.
Unfortunately I am still really unwell so when we got back to the camp I slept for the afternoon while Blair went out on a safari game drive. It was while I was alone in the tent that an elephant decided to visit and drink/play in our little pool. She had a great time spraying the water all over the place. We had been told that if this happened we should remain very still and just let the elephant go about it’s business. I did move around a little to get the camera and at one point I swear she was looking right at me through a window and testing the window with her trunk. I made myself scarce 😂 Blair did not see very much on his game drive so I think I had the more interesting afternoon.
The next morning we decided that I needed to see a Dr because I have been sick for way too long. The lodge was able to arrange this for us and drive us into town for the appointment. The Dr was great and said I have a lung infection which he is going to treat like pneumonia. The bottom of my lungs are full of mucus, my heart rate is elevated and my O2 levels are low because my lungs are not getting oxygen into my bloodstream. He called the pharmacy next door, ordered antibiotics, a steroid puffer, 2 kinds of cough medicine and Vitamin C tablets, the fellow from the pharmacy turned up 10 min later, explained how to use everything and we were out the door. Total cost for the Dr and all the medications USD $225, of which our Genki health insurance policy refunded USD $167 👍
After the Dr visit we returned to the camp, had a lazy afternoon and then went on another sunset river cruise. It’s a relaxing experience, and they provide snacks and drinks.
At the end of our stay Old Drift Lodge drove us into the town of Victoria Falls where we stayed at Pioneers Lodge for 4 nights. Unfortunately Blair is now sick so we had a very quiet few days in Victoria Falls. During our time there we took a helicopter tour over Victoria Falls, this is pretty much the only way you can get a really good idea of what the falls look like. We booked a 15 min tour at a cost of USD $175 each with Zambezi Helicopter Company and we thought it was well worth it to get a good view of the falls. Before boarding the helicopter everyone is weighed and they arrange seating based on weight distribution, I was the lucky one and was given the seat next to the pilot, I had the most incredible views during our flight. All the helicopters, and there are many, follow a set figure 8 pattern over the falls so all passengers get a good view. If you are coming to Victoria Falls, take the helicopter tour, it’s well worth it to truly see the falls.
We have enjoyed our time in Victoria Falls and are glad we split our time between an all inclusive lodge and a hotel in town. We got to see Victoria Falls from the ground and the air and are happy with both experiences.
Now we are off to Cape Town, South Africa for two weeks…..