Wednesday, June 29, 2016

Africa Trip Report: Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe

June 2, 2016, Thursday:


To Victoria Falls:


We had reached Johannesburg airport by 9.15 am for our 11.25 flight. We browsed around in the lovely Out of Africa show room admiring the craft pieces. Here's Mandela all in beads!



I lost track of time and we had to run to our boarding gate at 11.10 when an announcement came calling our names!

Our British airways flight from Johannesburg to Victoria falls (11.25 am –13.05) got us to our destination 20 minutes ahead of scheduled time. We had yummy vegetarian pasta too!


We saw the famous spray from the falls right from the air--  the pilot had assured us we won’t get a view of the falls, yes it was a side view of course as we were not flying over it.

Cresta Sprayview Hotel:



We queued up at passport control and got our visa stamped in our passport after showing our online application. We said no to a guy approaching us for taxi and asked the girl at the info counter for official taxi. She called the same guy and told us it’ll be $30 to the city. That’s the rate we had read about and we got into his taxi and reached our hotel Cresta Sprayview hotel in ½ hour. 


The driver Victor gave us his card and asked us to call him for our ride back to the airport on June 4—he’d give us a discount and fare will be $20! (yes, we did use him for our return transfer though umpteen other drivers offered the same rate)

Mosi-oa-Tunya/ Victoria Falls:


The Victoria Falls is ranked as one of the natural wonders of the world. It's particularly spectacular when the Zambezi river is in full flow and a great deluge of water thunders into the gorge below causing spray to fly up into the air that can be seen from many miles away.

It's situated in southern Africa on the Zambezi River on the border between Zimbabwe (north western corner) and Zambia (south western corner)



 The town on the Zimbabwe side is Victoria Falls, the town on the Zambian side is  Livingstone and the actual Falls themselves are called Victoria Falls or Mosi-oa-Tunya meaning the Smoke that Thunders!

Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe is not a very big town and most things are within walking distance of each other. The town center is only one kilometer from the Mighty Falls.

Cresta Sprayview hotel is lovely and reasonably priced for Victoria Falls



Great set of rules... brought a smile to our face and enhanced our good mood! No indemnity notices here as in obnoxious Airport Lodge, JNB !


The country is in economic trouble and the currency used in USD now. A while ago we had read of crime and complete drop in tourism on Zimbabwe side. Then we read about a special group of Tourist Police who escorted tourists to the Falls from the town, to ensure safety. Thankfully, now there are no safety concerns and we walked or took a local taxi without fear!

We checked in and called for a taxi at the hotel and went straight to the Falls. It’s just 2 km, priced at $3 but our hotel asked for $6 and we ended up paying 5. It was around 3 PM and when the driver offered to come and pick us up we told him to come at 6 at the car park. 

Victoria Falls National park is open 6 am-6 pm! We bought our tickets at the entrance $30 per person and went in.


Even the poles at the entrance have lovely carving... do notice it when entering!




There are very good info boards and directions right at the entrance but we just rushed on. 


When we reached the place where there is a fork saying to Livingstone statue and to the falls, we of course took the one to the falls. We were in view point no 3 and watching the full flow of Devil’s cataract. 


The other fork would have taken us to viewpoint no 1 with Livingstone statue where the river Zambezi is just starting to throw itself down the ravine… There is a statue of David Livingstone (Sculptured by Sir William Reid-Dick) on the western end of the chasm, overlooking the Devil’s Cataract.

Next is a set of stairs going down to view point no 2 called the “Chain Walk”– where we can see the Devil’s Cataract.

The full designated path takes us to 16 view points along the edge –as we come along to the main falls some of them are wetter than others. The main streams are named, in order from Zimbabwe (west) to Zambia (east): Devil's Cataract (called Leaping Water by some), Main FallsRainbow Falls (the highest) and the Eastern Cataract. We can see 2 islands… Cataract island between Devil’s Cataract and Main Falls and Livingstone island after Main Falls

We had skipped the 1st 2 viewpoints and gone straight to the 3rd. It was awesome to watch the gushing falls. We took several pics and videos and after a little while realized that what we had assumed were 5 rocks at the crest of Devil’s cataract were one rock and 4 elephants enjoying a dip! The elephants started getting up and moving out and it was an amazing sight!







 A little backstory may be of interest here regarding how the Falls became known to Europeans...

David Livingstone:


David Livingstone, the Scottish missionary and explorer, is popularly credited to have been the first European to view Victoria Falls on 16 November 1855 from what is now known as Livingstone Island, one of two land masses in the middle of the river, immediately upstream from the falls on the Zambian side. Livingstone named his discovery in honor of Queen Victoria of Britain, but the indigenous name, Mosi-oa-Tunya—"the smoke that thunders"—continues in common usage as well

The inhabitants of the Victoria Falls area have had contact with the outside world since at least the 17th century. The glass beads found at many of the early sites are believed to have been trade goods that came in from the Indian Ocean coastline over a thousand kilometers away. Many writers believe the Portuguese priest Gonçalo da Silveira was the first European to catch sight of the falls back in the seventeenth century

The colonial writer George Lacy wrote that Englishmen in South Africa first became aware of Mosivatuna, the "smoke that sounds" in 1840

The Falls were correctly located on the 1852 map in William Desborough Cooley's book, Inner Africa Laid Open, a good three years before Livingstone first set eyes on them. Cooley's map was, however, riddled with other errors, principally that the upper and lower Zambezi were reflected as separate rivers.

David Livingstone epitomised the spirit of colonial exploration and spent 33 years travelling through Africa... During his 1853 expedition to try to find a route across southern Africa from west to east, Livingstone decided to find the Falls he had earlier heard of. Two years later, in November 1855, he managed to get the chance.

 Along with Chief Sekeletu of the Mokololo and 200 of his supporters, Livingstone traveled down the Zambezi from what is now Sesheke in western Zambia. They were forced to abandon their canoes at Katambora rapids and decided to walk the rest of the way.

Two days after leaving Old Sesheke, Livingstone reached Kalai Island on which he saw Sekute buried in a grave surrounded with a fence of 70 large elephant tusks. After a night on the island, Livingstone set out to visit the Falls.

Sekeletu had intended to accompany him but, as only one canoe could be found, he had to stay behind. Livingstone reports that 20 minutes after leaving Kalai he first caught sight of the rising columns of spray, like the smoke from a large-scale bush fire.

About one kilometer upstream of the Falls he transferred into a smaller, lighter canoe and proceeded to the island between the Main and Rainbow Falls which is today called Livingstone Island.

He and his brother Charles made more accurate measurements and observations in 1860. Livingstone and his brother are believed to have explored the rain forest at that time, which may have been the only crossing Livingstone made on to the Zimbabwean side of the river. Indeed, some historians believe he never set foot on the southern banks of the Falls at all!

Statistics: 


The Falls were also measured later that year by the English hunter William Baldwin, who was surprisingly close to the mark in his assessment that the Falls were 2000 yd (more than 1800m) wide and 300 ft (91m) high.

It is neither the highest nor the widest waterfall in the world, it is classified as the largest, based on its combined width of 1,708 m (5,604 ft)  and height of 108 m (354 ft), resulting in the world's largest sheet of falling water.


The river's annual flood season is February to May with a peak in April. September-October is supposed to be low water season. We have to bear these in mind and analyze current conditions while planning a visit according to our priorities!

Statistics can present facts but impact is felt by the individual. We LOVED our visit to Victoria falls. The evening visit was great. After the 10th view point, we put our cameras in their water proof bag, wore our ponchos and enjoyed the heavy spray in the remaining view points. We wore our hiking sandals for safe tread on the slippery wet surfaces!

Saw the Zimbabwe-Zambia bridge and then retraced our way.


 We went toward the 1st 2 viewpoints we had missed, time was running out. We did not climb down the 38 steps in view point 2. We saw view point 1 with Livingstone statue and rushed back.


We came out couple of minutes before closing time, crossed over to the car park. Hotel driver was no where to be seen. After a little wait, we got into a taxi there and reached the hotel for $4.

In the evening, we took the hotel taxi to the market and bought some provisions for our meals. The driver said he had come and looked for us at the Falls car park after a little delay… we think he ditched us as he had got a longer ride!

We were very happy we had had a great visit to the magnificent Mosi-oa-Tunya right on the day we had landed.

June 3, 2016, Friday:


Activities:


We had this one full day for activities to enjoy the falls.

We were interested in a helicopter ride, a sunset cruise, ziplining, canopy, and jetboat.

Jetboats don’t ply till end of June.

Ziplining and canopy seemed to be from the Zambia side and we could not cross the bridge as we did not have the visa.

Microlight flight had been a huge attraction but that was also ruled out as that’s also from Zambia.

We wanted to go to Victoria falls again to enjoy the morning sunlight play on the falls. 6 am opening seemed awesome but we were out the hotel grounds only by 7.30. Their taxi is ready only after 9 am, so we walked to the town center….. just 1 km. Only issue is the monkeys near the train tracks, but they ignored us, thankfully.   

A tout approached us for activities and invited us into an office in the market. We looked at some souvenirs and then walked into the office Royal linkers and asked for rates for heli ride and cruise. When 2 activities are booked with the same company, we get better discounts as I had read in brochures!

Going rate for heli ride: $150 for 12 min ride; sunset cruise $50.

We asked for their best price and they quoted $120, $40. We said we’ll ask around other places and come back. We saw Shearwater office was also open just a couple of doors away. They are the main operators, we felt they’ll give the best prices. They did not budge from the rack rate. So we went back to Royal linkers and booked with them asking for immediate slot for heli ride and pickup from the office right there. They made their phone calls and said a vehicle was on the way to pick us up. We waited for 10 minutes and a van turned up and took us to the helipad.

Royal linkers had given us receipts for the full rate (though we paid a discounted rate!). We had learnt that agents can give better rates than the real operator!!

Helicopter ride over the falls:


We got a briefing at the helipad with our 4 co-passengers, and got weighed. 


The video guy got talking to us and said he loves yoga! Our family is very much into yoga, husband and son are excellent at all asanas, I’m not too bad either! Video guy was excited and was asking about awakening the 3rd eye. We told him about the meditation techniques we practise and he was very impressed. He told us “Go, stand near the gate at this fence, you’ll get good seats!”

The young couple was already at the gate filming the helicopter coming in, I approached the guy and asked for a little space for my photographs. He moved a bit and I started filming. Now our escort came up, opened the gate and asked us to follow in a single file. So by default, I was the 1st in line and son followed me ahead of the young couple.



The staff asked me to get in the front seat near the pilot! I wanted to step back and ask son to take the prime seat but did not want any reassignment which will make us both lose the seat. So I got in.



Son was asked to get in the back. He chose the corner seat near the big window! 


As you can see the front window is smaller and the seats face the rear. 

The back seat has the larger window but 3 were crammed there now!


I guess everyone does get a good viewing but there does seem to be some better seating. Things depend on the weight too and people might get assigned specific seats. Anyways it was GREAT to have the prime seat!

We saw great views as the pilot circled the falls again and again. Totally AWESOME!







Toward the end, the pilot said something to me and pointed. I tried to look in the direction pointing my camera randomly; the pilot pushed the camera in the right direction and I saw some 5 elephants near the water! WOW, Elephants! I exclaimed. I didn’t know if the camera had caught it but I had seen them very well! (they are in a blink and you’ll miss shot in the video!). Here they are in the picture at the right bottom corner!



We came back to the helipad after a 15 minute ride! OK, I must confess I wished I had remembered not to wear white! It reflects on the glass and ruins shots!!


They had mounted a camera in the helicopter which had clicked pics at regular intervals. Other than that they had taken a video of us in the beginning and they had attached it with their official video. They offered the pics and videos separately at $30 each or a package of both for $50. We took the package. Their official video has narration and visuals and has a mark in left bottom corner. A lot of propaganda at the end! There is no live video of what we get to see on the particular day. So I combined our live video with theirs after deleting the parts with other passengers and I’ve footage that’s relevant for us!

Falls visit again:


We got dropped back at the falls and enjoyed the falls for some 3 hours! This time we started from view point 1. The morning lighting created rainbows in different areas and it was again a GREAT experience!

This is view point 2 and the steps leading to it...




Both the times we were almost alone in the park, there were just a few others on the scene once in a while! Guess in peak season it’ll be very crowded! The choice of this particular season had paid off handsomely for us!

Our sunset cruise pickup was at 3.30 from our hotel. For this day’s outing we had not carried any food with us as we normally do… scared of the monkeys as we had read horror stories! We went back to our hotel around 2. 

On the way we stopped in the Casino hotel, The Kingdom, went in for a look-see. Lovely ethnic décor!





We had our food and relaxed till we got picked up for the cruise.

Zambezi sunset cruise:


We reached the pier. There was a nice ethnic dance/music welcome! I loved it and filmed it but the operator whispered it was not part of their cruise package, so we can walk on! We tipped the dancers and got on to the boat.



They gave drinks and snacks. Plenty of choices for the meat eaters. We just got 2 little vegetarian quiches and tiny spring rolls and a soft drink. Alcohol flowed freely. We did not even get a second helping of the snacks while co-passengers ate up whole platters and got high!



Zambezi river is lovely and we got to see pretty birds, not-so-pretty crocodiles and handsome hippos…




It was a very pleasant cruise! 


The falls were tumbling down just 2 km from us … there were jokes that if we want we can go down…but it’s going to be a one way trip! Lovely rainbow and spray!

Then of course the sun was starting to set! REALLY SPECTACULAR! 



My camera’s 32 GB memory card became full at the critical juncture when the round orb dipped into the water! So no pics, but it was a stunning sight! 

Now the small point and shoot camera stepped up for the next day’s little shots!

Mosquitos had started snapping at the feet, we had forgotten to take our repellant! We  hurried back to the van, enjoyed the long ride back to the hotel!

It had been a wonderful day!

We called Victor and asked him to pick us up for airport drop at 11am.

June 4, 2016, Saturday:


We had to check out at 10.30. We walked to the town at 9 and bought some souvenirs. Admired other great but overpriced stuff...


We enjoyed the many lovely street sculpture!





The tout who had directed us to our agent was there and he got me the flag patches I was looking for… South Africa, Zimbabwe and Victoria falls sew on patches for $10. We had earlier got a couple of Vic falls souvenirs…. Things are too expensive here. SA is the place to buy craft pieces!

We walked back, packed up and reached the airport.

We had just 3 hours gap between landing at Johannesburg and our international flight. Of course the BA flight got delayed…. by ½ hour. So instead of 3.30 pm we reached JNB at 4 pm. We walked on to international transfers by mistake and then realized there was no way to collect our checked bag from there. We went back, collected our bag and had to go through passport control re-entering the country. Then we stood in long checkin lines, and then went through passport control exiting the country again and security. Thankfully we made it in time for boarding.

So always try and get the last bunch of flights on one ticket!

Also, booking activities on the same day had worked because it's not high season!

Our videos:


Victoria falls evening visit… 2.25min to 3.25min timeline elephants getting out of the falls

Victoria falls morning visit… no music added in this video…. We can hear the thunder of the falls!

Our helicopter ride over the falls; ellis at 7.31min

our Zambezi sunset cruise… ethnic welcome dance for the 1st 11/2 min

It had been a FANTASTIC vacation. Love you, Africa! We hope to be back!

The next 2 posts are about our recent road trip in California
http://adventuretrav.blogspot.com/2016/07/california-road-trip-yosemite-sequoia.html

I'll return to Europe reports after that!

1 comment:

  1. wonder full blog that was so good very informative i am happy to read this blog but i want to inform you i have also similar blog like this want to read so click here Top 15 Things to Do in Victoria Falls

    ReplyDelete