Splurging myself at Vic Falls

Only two more weeks of the trip and time to spend the rest of my savings before going back to work. Turns out Victoria Falls is an excellent place for just that. So many activities, and we did most of them.

But first, one more safari! This time two days in Chobe National Park in Botswana. Chobe is one of the most animal-dense game reserves in the world and we really got to see a lot of animals! The safari started with a few hours on the river with loads of hippos and crocodiles, as well as elephants, antelopes, and buffaloes.

The rest of the time in the park was spent driving around. The goal quickly changed from just seeing animals to spotting the rarer ones. We got to see a few different shy antelopes including sable antelope and roan antelope, and several lions. Eventually we also spotted the animal I was hoping for the most, the leopard. A really amazing cat and also the last one I needed for my Big 5. Big 5 - Check!

The night was spent camping in the park. It is an amazing experience to sleep in a tent hearing lions roar all around.

Of course the main attraction in Victoria Falls is the fall itself. The falls are the largest in the world if accounting for height and width combined and is considered one of the seven natural wonders of the world. They are a part of the Zambezi river which divides Zambia and Zimbabwe and which side being the best is just a matter of opinion. We tried both sides.

Both sides had a really great view of the falls but I definitely preferred the Zambia side. Firstly it’s less touristic and cheaper. Secondly it’s much more adventurous, especially as it’s dry season as that makes it possible to walk at the top of the falls. The baboons were much nicer on the Zimbabwe side though…

But we weren’t content with just seeing the falls from the two sides. How about swimming in them? Luckily the water level was just low enough for Devil’s Pool to be open. Devil’s Pool is an infinity pool, a small pool of calm water slowly falling over the edge of the waterfall. A nice swim and another angle of the falls.

But we still hadn’t had enough. Next view of the falls was from above. I’ve wanted to try microlight flights for quite a while so this was a great opportunity. It was pretty much a hang-glider with a propeller. Only a short ride (about 15 min) but still plenty of time to get a great view of the falls, the river, and some wildlife.

Only one more side of the falls to see now; from below. Time for some rafting! The rafting was pretty much a full day including 19 rapids with several being grade 4 or 5. The raft only flipped over once! A great day with some more or less voluntary swims and really sore muscles afterwards. Unfortunately no pictures from the rafting. Not really the best time to play around with a camera when you’re busy trying to avoid rocks and not fall into the water…

That was as many sides of the falls as we could possibly do. But one of these days happened to be my birthday so I decided on giving myself an extra treat: the Victoria Falls Bridge Big Air Experience, a combination of a bungy jump, a giant swing, and a zipline across the canyon just down from the falls. Since I’d already done one bungy this trip it was time to try something new. Backwards bungy! A little scarier than a normal dive but still just as amazing.

The big surprise was the swing. I’ve tried one giant swing before and that was just a swing. This swing included a 4 second free fall before the actual swing took over. Even better than the bungy! The zipline was much calmer but still had some great views of the canyon with a part of the falls in the background. Happy birthday to me!

It was some intense 10 days in Zambia, Zimbabwe, and Botswana. Definitely the most expensive part of the trip but really worth it. Only a few more nights in Cape Town and a long flight until I’m back in Sweden again.