It's no secret that waterfalls are awesome. We've seen quite a few impressive cascades - from Hanakapi'ai falls and Wailua falls in Hawaii, to the underground Ruby falls on the Tennessee/Georgia border and Hwanseongul cave falls in South Korea, La Mina falls in Puerto Rico, and the massive Niagara Falls, we've always enjoyed marveling at these wonders of nature. So when we were planning a trip to Southern Africa, we knew the Victoria falls (a UNESCO site) had to be on the list. While it's not the tallest waterfall, and also not the widest waterfall, it is classified as having the largest sheet of falling water on earth.
We were initially disappointed when we saw that autumn is the dry and hot season, and the Zambezi river loses a huge amount of its flow. But then we read that this is actually the best time of the year to go. During the rainy season, the river is so torrential that the falls produce huge curtains of mist and spray that rise above the gorge - making it almost impossible to actually see the falls themselves. Because of this spray, in the local language the falls are know as Mosi-oa-Tunya - "the Smoke that Thunders." The dry season is also the only time of year when you can visit the mind-blowing devil's pool. So we booked a few nights in Livingstone, Zambia and planned our visit to the falls!
Getting off the plane from Cape Town you immediately notice it's much hotter in Livingstone! Temperatures during our visit were around 100F in the afternoons (but hey! It's a dry heat). How better to cool off than to head straight for the devil's pool! This was a really awesome experience! It runs about $130 per person and includes a boat ride to Livingstone Island where you take a short swim to a rock outcrop near the actual pool. After hanging out in the pool for a few minutes you're treated to drinks and snacks before being returned to the hotel.
Hanging out at the Green Tree Lodge in Livingstone, prepping for the Devil's Pool.
Sleeping at the Green Tree Lodge was...fun? Zambia has for-real malaria...cue the mosquito nets!
This sign helps to show the vast difference in water flow depending on the season.
It's very apparent that it's the dry season - this would normally be a river bed.
Even in the dry season, you can see the mist rising from the chasm.
Hmm, the falls are just a trickle from here.
We took a boat out to Livingstone Island for our trip to the devil's pool.
From here the water flow starts to look more impressive - and with a double rainbow!
The devil's pool is right on the edge of the falls!
Not for the faint of heart.
The three of us hanging out in a little nook of the devil's pool.
Here's a video our guide took of us. We truly were on the edge of the abyss! Paul doesn't hesitate to lean over the edge, much to David's dismay.
After drying off, we were treated to drinks on Livingstone Island. Local beer (Mosi lager) and gin and tonic.
The mist of the falls rises over the river.
After an overnight camping trip to Chobe National Park in Botswana, we returned to Livingstone for another half day of sight-seeing before spending a day on the Zimbabwe side of the border for some more direct views of the waterfall and shopping in the town of Victoria Falls.
Livingstone is a pleasant town of around 100,000 people. It's driven mostly by tourism, but it's still a real city with plenty of everyday activity. It's a nice place to hang out and relax for a bit. An added perk is that this city is pretty safe, we felt ok walking around by ourselves, even at night. Take care though as sidewalks aren't always present and it can be dark with no streetlights. The downtown has restaurants, shops and grocery stores and is very lively.
When we went out to restaurants or shops in Livingstone the availability of electricity was always iffy. Zambia receives most of its power from hydroelectric sources and is currently having supply issues. The power in Livingstone was out most days from 2pm - 10 pm. This was an issue when we visited Lusaka as well. Our hotel in Livingstone had a generator, so we weren't too troubled by the lack of power overall...but it did prevent Paul from getting some draft beer one evening!
The Livingstone Museum is quite good, with exhibits about the history of the area and the country.
Nope! That's Paul! Most illustrations were roughly drawn here. It was old-timey.
Paul on the bridge to the "knife's edge" on the Zambia side of the falls. This part of the river is mostly dry in their spring season.
We could see the main part of the falls in the distance, but we'd have to go to Zimbabwe to get a closer look.
We hiked down to the "boiling pot" in the Zambezi river for a great view of the bridge between Zambia and Zimbabwe, built in 1905!
Dinner in Livingstone at Cafe Zambezi. The local beer was not the best, but hey, it's waterfall themed!
One of David's favorite meals of the trip; peanut curry chicken with greens.
Roasted chicken, green, and nshima (thick corn porridge - the big white lump behind the plate).
Yet another weird African soda. This was called Hubbly Bubbly and tasted like bubblegum.
Our last full day in the Victoria Falls area we crossed from Zambia into Zimbabwe to view the falls from the other side. This time of year the waterfall is best viewed from the Zimbabwe side; so despite our mixed feelings on the Zimbabwean dictator Mugabe, we decided to cross over and check it out for ourselves.
Zimbabwe used to be a relatively stable country, but a few years ago their economy completely collapsed, inflation was something insane like 1000% per day and overnight the nation converted to the US dollar. Note that we do not mean that they pegged their dollar to the US dollar...they literally use the US dollar now. It comes out of their ATMs. People tried to sell us souvenir $1 billion notes all over the place. In the process anyone who had worked their whole life and established pensions or trusts in the Zimbabwe currency were outta luck. There's more to say about this, but we'll leave it here and invite you to read up on it online.
That said, we did have a lovely 6 hour visit to Zimbabwe, where we visited the Zim side of the falls and the super touristy town of Victoria Falls. Specifically, we really loved the Elephant Walk shops and artist village and made out with some nice souvenirs.
Crossing the bridge into Zimbabwe, this is the view down to the boiling pot. The previous day we were standing near the bottom right of this picture.
Crossing over from Zambia, a relatively stable democracy, to Zimbabwe, which essentially has a dictator.
David and Christina at the entrance to the falls on the Zimbabwe side.
You get a good view of most parts of the main falls, from directly across the canyon.
Ahh! A hungry hungry hippo!
A panoramic view of the main portion of the falls.
Even in the dry season, it's a huge amount of water!
Obligatory Victoria Falls jumping photo! David's making a weird face...
They let you get right up to the edge at the "danger point" viewing area.
Paul standing on the edge.
And Christina standing on the edge. Don't look down!
There's the devils pool!
That was us just a few days earlier.
See the tiny people perched on the edge in the upper right? Terrifying!
We don't usually give too much logistical travel advice on this blog, but since things can be a little tricky here (wi-fi is unreliable and the internet doesn't have a lot of information anyway), the following information may be helpful. Victoria Falls should be a must-see for anyone visiting Southern Africa. It's a site of a lifetime, and we guarantee you will be in awe. When you visit, make sure you go to both sides of the falls to get the complete picture. Even though there wasn't much water on the Zambia side, you can get a sense for how huge this waterfall is (1.7 km wide in the wet season and 100m deep) and you can only visit the devil's pool from this side. Make sure you book the devil's pool in advance! Spaces fill up and you can't guarantee you'll get to go when you want. Your accommodation should be able to do this for you.
As for visas, we did have some issues with Zambian immigration (we passed into Zambia three times due to border crossing into Botswana and Zimbabwe). We'd recommend that you carry enough US dollars to pay all visa fees. Some stations don't have credit card machines, and those that did weren't reliable. Save yourself the hassle and bring some dollars. Sometime soon overnight stays in Botswana will be added to the Kaza Visa (which allows access to Zambia and Zimbabwe). Either way, you should get a Kaza Visa to see both sides of the falls for a slightly cheaper fee. Since we stayed overnight in Botswana, we had to buy two separate Zambia visas which was frustrating.
As for currency, Victoria Falls is on the border of three countries with three different currencies. Some people prefer payment in one type or another, which can be logistically difficult, but generally multiple currencies are accepted. ATMs aren't hard to find so don't worry about changing money ahead of time.
Finally, do be prepared to deal with aggressive street vendors, some of the worst we've seen. Several times we approached some tourist shops to just turn around and leave after we were accosted by 20 different men trying to get us to come into their shop. Even walking across the Victoria Falls bridge someone tried to get David to trade his shoes for a pile of wooden animal carvings.
