Small Holiday Big Dream

A new day and a change of gear? Fat chance.

For a break from the long-distance driving in our own rented 4×4, we’d arranged a day transfer to/from Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe through Kalahari Tours. Conveniently their office was located next door to our accommodation in Kasane. We popped in the night before to confirm our departure time for the morning, only to find the manager had been trying to phone us all day to organise pickup. She was delighted when I confirmed we’d made it unscathed, despite the lack of mobile signal. And so at 7am we were collected from the Old House.

The Kazungula bridge runs south to north connecting Botswana to Zambia as it crosses the mighty Zambezi river at its confluence with the Chobe river. To the immediate west is the northeastern tip of Namibia at Impalila island. To the east is Zimbabwe. This border crossing is the one an only quadripoint between nations.

The Kazungula Bridge is an impressive new structure – having only opened in 2021 and replacing the long established ferry. Sadly we weren’t to cross the bridge today as we remained south of the Zambezi and headed straight to Zimbabwe.

Leaving Botswana was an easy affair. A quick stamp of the passport at the relatively smart offices took less than a minute. On the Zimbabwe side things were scruffier, the border guards more interested in watching videos on their mobile phones than in attending to the growing queues. Several cars with UK number plates were dotted around the car park, almost all of them un-roadworthy. Interesting, but with no relevance to my story whatsoever.

List price for a single-entry visa for Zimbabwe was $55 US. Given our intention to visit Zambia as well, we’d need at least double entry. (Zambia is now visa-free for UK passport holders). Our prior research turned up the KAZA Univisa priced at a more reasonable $50 was a cheaper option as it offers unlimited entries within a 30 day period. This option is only cheaper for certain nationalities, of which British is one. Of course the Zimbabwe border officials will liberate you of more cash than necessary if you give them the option, so read up before reaching the border post.

Zimbabwe was much more unkempt than Botswana, the border post could have done with a lick of paint, and the main road was full of potholes. Upon reaching the town the lampposts were littered with the grinning faces of politicians. It was “election season” and the result had been declared just weeks before. Despite being deep in North Matabeleland, the only recognisable mug we saw was the crocodile’s.

A good starting point for a day at Vic Falls is to make a lunch reservation at the Lookout Cafe for after visiting the falls. It also served as our pick-up and drop-off point for the day. The view down the gorge is fantastic, and the food is reasonably good and only quite pricy rather than extortionate.

The same can’t be said for the falls themselves. At $50 US entry per person the park ranks up there with the most outrageously priced experiences on the planet.

The waterfalls themselves are undoubtedly impressive. Being mid-September we were well into dry-season, and so the falls themselves were broken into several discrete sections, rather than being the 1.5km long curtain of water you might expect. Each of the sections is slightly different, and has its own unique name, but the experience is all broadly the same.

If you visit during the wet season, apparently the chasm is filled with mist, and the noise is so deafening that it’s impossible to get much out of your visit. By contrast, we had a great view at almost every viewpoint along the ridge.

Starting at Devil’s falls at the western end, the part of the falls with the lowest vertical drop, we made our way steadily along the edge stopping at the various viewpoints.

The main falls were up next. We could see guests on the Zambia side queueing up to get their selfie at the devil’s pool. It looked very precarious perched atop the 100m drop into the gorge below.

Further along there’s the prime viewpoint of the Rainbow Falls at the aptly named Danger Point. Although there is a relatively new fence to stop you falling in. Just around the corner there is a small viewpoint looking over the Victoria Falls bridge which connects the Zimbabwe and Zambia

Leaving the Zimbabwe park we headed straight for the border and into Zambia. The walk is much longer than expected, roughly 2km from the Zim exit, and the entrance to the falls on the Zambia side.

Walking past an endless queue of giant lorries waiting to enter is made longer and more uncomfortable by a few opportunistic locals hawking their handcrafted chinese jewelery, the midday sun compounds the tedium.

The Zambia border was a breeze thanks to our KAZA univisa, and entry to the falls was a snip at a mere 20 dollars.

Zambia’s falls see much less water than the Zim side, and the park is around half the size, which makes visiting a quicker affair. On the positive side, the view down the gorge into the Zimbabwe falls is perhaps even more impressive, and the view of the bridge certainly is.

After 4 hours of visiting the falls we were done, and we made it back to the Lookout Cafe only 30 minutes late for our lunch reservation. Our reward was a table overlooking the gorge, and watching the occasional adrenaline seeker plunge off the edge on a giant swing. There are endless “extreme” activities to partake in if you wish, but of them all the swing seemed to be the most contrived.

Back in Kasane we visited Choppies for some groceries (not really recommended), and Shell for some diesel (recommended). We quickly dashed across the Chobe transit route towards Ngoma before sunset. We arrived at our evening campsite at Muchenje just after the sun had gone down.

Muchenje Campsite and Cottages was a brilliant place to stay. A small fenced camp with a riverside viewing deck, we’d have seen a great sunset if we had the chance. We should have stayed for much longer. The 21 pula (£1.30) Sirloin steak perhaps swaying my opinion.

Hayden, the owner, was super helpful. In particular his guidance for our next day’s drive was invaluable. We spent 20 minutes in his office going over the route to Savuti and beyond on his big wall-mounted map. By then end of it we had been warned of all the places to expect deep sand, and had solid ideas about the length of time it should take to get there.

All that was left to do was to begin the adventure.

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