Victoria Falls
& Border Crossing
We arrived on-time to Johannesburg for our connecting flight
to Victoria Falls (VF), but when we looked at the monitor, it listed two VF
flights, and one was canceled. We were
very confused and made our way to the gate.
We got there and it was a zoo. Long
story short, British Airways combined two separate flights (VF-to-Zimbabwe
& VF-to-Zambia) into one flight (VF-to-Zimbabwe-to Zambia). Luckily they kept the original we were one,
but the other flight got to the point where attendants were hand-writing paper
boarding passes at the gate. In 2018,
pencil and paper boarding flights were being used Africa! Luckily they issued the normal ticketed
people on first (which was us) and then the others filled in. We took off several hours late, which would
eat into our time at VF.
We arrived safely in Victoria Falls airport in Zimbabwe (but
in hindsight we should have flown into Livingstone airport in Zambia…more on
that later). We were excited to
finally be in the interior of Africa and closer to our safari!
We got to the immigration/visa part of the airport, and the
second zoo began. We were waiting in
long line, while older middle eastern people were trying to just scoot by. Luckily we formed a barrier with another
Australian girl and tried to stop the non-sense!
We got up to the line and realized how complicated our Visa
would be because we were going to cross so many borders
(Zimbabwe-to-Zambia-to-Botswania-to-Zambia-to-Zimbabwe) across so many
days. It was hard to explain to the
immigration agent, so we picked what we thought was right, paid the money in US
Cash, and off we went. We were being
picked up by pre-booked taxi to drive us the 30 minutes from the airport to the
Falls.
We found our driver and saw an atm nearby. We said “let’s get some local currency” and
the taxi driver laughed and said “there won’t be any cash in there”
(what?). Then he said “currency in
Zimbabwe is US Dollar anyway, so we should be okay” (wait, Zimbabwe uses the US
Dollar, that’s crazy!). Not to mention
Zimbabwe was undergoing a military coup and a new president was sworn into
office the day before.
Okay, off we went with our bags and no local currency. Our group taking the taxi walked outside, and
we were immediately met by local African dancing group. Very neat!
We paused for a second, but kept moving as were already behind schedule.
Our driver was nice, the van was new, and we drove safely to
the Falls. We were joined by an
Australian girl and we chatted about our travels the whole way there. We first arrived to the taxi company location
in town and walked inside to pay for this taxi, and our next booking at 6pm to
drive us from VF into Livingstone. We
didn’t have cell phone service, but the company assured us taxi would be on
waiting for us after our border crossing. (foreshadowing!)
We entered the park and first went by a large, old Zimbabwe
Baobab tree (neat!) Then we were dropped off just outside the park, kept our
bags on our back, and got ready to see the falls. We had about 3-4 hours to see the falls, walk
across the border-crossing, and meet our taxi.
Off we went, and the Falls were beautiful! It was the dry season, so the Falls weren’t
roaring to capacity, but that was okay, because that meant we could see
them! We started by Cataract Falls and
stared down the 1+ mile shelf, gorgeous!
We made our way across to each of the viewing sights, and when we got to
the Main Falls, we even saw a group entering Devils Pool. Only photos can truly show the craziness.
We continued on to where the falls finally ran dry. It was neat to see the shear cliffs, and
compare it to the raging falls. We both
imagined what it must be like to see the full line of falls! We got to the end of the Zimbabwe side and
looked back at the crack in the earth that formed the falls. So awesome :). We looked at our watches and it was already
time to cross the border. We knew it
take a while to get all the way there.
We left the park before we wanted, but still satisfied. We then started our trek down the busy road
that all the truckers used to the cross at the single border crossing. In we walked to the office, got our stamp to
leave the country (more detail? We were
offered one million dollars by a guy) and continued on to cross the bridge
across the Zambezi, where you can also bungee jump. We snapped a few photos from the center of
the bridge, and then officially crossed into Zambia.
As we neared the office to enter Zambia, we passed a
semi-truck with a monkey sitting on the back eating a banana. Wow, so different! We walked into the office and it was just
us. A local woman walked up us with a
deep-eyed look, she grabbed our passports, looked at us, and stamped them. Then she pointed to the door. We were in!
We exited the office and were immediately hassled by a
local. He wouldn’t leave us alone,
asking if we needed a taxi, but it was obvious as were the only white people in
sight. We ignored him and walked briskly
to where the VF entrance was on the Zambia side. We looked for our taxi and didn’t see
it. It was a little after 6, where was
our driver? There was an odd feeling in
the air, and the sun was within 1 hour of setting.
We looked around and saw lots of different taxi company
vans, other people were being picked up.
We decided to back-track a bit, as maybe our taxi was parked closer to
the border-crossing office. We got there
and no luck. We also got hassled by the
same guy again. People could tell we looked
lost. It was now 6:15-6:20.
We walked back to the first location, and still no
taxi. We down the road towards town, no
sign of anything. There was a group of
local drivers starting to collect near us.
They weren’t threatening, but they could tell things weren’t going
right. I got our reservation paper and
noticed they all had phones, I found the number, and asked the nicest looking
gentleman if he could quick call this number for us. He replied with “how much will you pay for
the phone call?”. Bastards, they were
using their phones with no problems, so it was obvious they could make a call,
even at the border.
I looked up and saw what I thought was our taxi driving the
wrong direction. I stopped the driver
and he was nice, I asked if he had seen our Taxi company and he thought a car
should be driving our direction soon (into Livingstone), but didn’t say much more
than that.
It was now after 6:30 and shadows were getting long. We huddled and Nadine said we should just go
ahead and pay to get a taxi. Dave
couldn’t disagree, it was getting dark, the sharks were starting to circle, and
we just needed to drive the 30 minutes to check-into our hostel. No need to dig this hole deeper. But where was this damn taxi we paid for?
We standing there looking at each other about the start the
negotiation, when our taxi van appeared and was headed on our direction. I raised my arms & started waving, the
taxi didn’t stop. I scurred out into the
street with my bag on, kept waving my arms, and starting yelling. I looked at Nadine and said “drop your bag
and run after the taxi, GO! NOW!” She
did just that, dropped it at my feet and sprinted like a track star. (In that instance I knew I should stay with
two bags among the sharks, and not her…but then again splitting up in any way
risky).
With Nadine sprinting and me waving yelling and waving my
arms at a Taxi van driving away must have been quite a sight for the
locals. Then our prayers were answered (!)
and the red brake lights appeared on the van.
Nadine ran that SOB down, and the van stopped, about 100+ meters from
where we were standing. Delighted &
relieved, I grabbed both bags and started to quick walk towards her.
Nadine asked the driver to go back and get her husband, and
the nice man replied “no ma’am, I am sorry.
I am afraid of those taxi drivers.
They will harass me, I will not drive back.” What the?
What place is this? Nadine then
jogged back to Dave to help him with her bag.
We linked arms and scurried into the van. Let’s just get outta here! The taxi driver said he was not our driver,
but happily called in our reservation number to confirm us (good thing I had
that damn paper!). Everything checked
out, and we headed into town.
The man again apologized about what happened to us. We got super lucky and there was not another
taxi to drive that road for hours. When
our nerves calmed, he asked Nadine how she learned to run so fast. He was impressed and said she had
professional form (ha!). We started
talking and he started that he ran a little bit for fun and his favorite race was
the 400 meters, but he was not as fast as Nadine.
We drove into town and to our hostel. What a relief. We hopped out and it was already dark. We were greeted with a totally different,
welcoming vibe at Jolly Boys, thank goodness!
We got our to room (the Cheetah Room, Nadine’s spirit animal!) and
dumped our stuff. We exhausted but also
starving and thirsty. We were safe and
it was time for some beers!
We headed out to the common area, and ordered some grub and
beers.
So delicious!
We of course had to avoid to the water, and
stuck to highly cooked food.
We noticed
a friendly group chatting together, so we sat down and said hello, true hostel
style!
We chatted with one guy who had
been for 6+ weeks, and a Brit was living elsewhere in Zambia, but visiting the
area for the week.
We had a few extra
beers, felt relaxed, and then decided it was time to head to sleep.
We were headed off to our Safari into
Botswana tomorrow!
Flights are a mess to Vic Falls
Outside Zimbabwe Airport (African dancers)
Driving to Falls, Oldest tree in Zimbabwe
Entrance to Vic Falls Park
Vic Falls Map
Dry Season vs Rainy Season
At Devils Cataract, looking down the Falls
Main Falls
Devils Pool at Main Falls (look at the people!)
Horshoe Falls were dry!
Dry Zambia Falls
Looking back at Zimbabwe Falls
Vic Falls from Airplane
Time to cross Zimbabwe-Zambia border
Bridge to walk over to Zambia
Monkey on the truck bed...just a sign of things to come!
Best beer of the trip! (Vic Falls Beer)
