Trip Report: Zambia
Visited in September 2021
This trip report is part of a three-part series. This is the second part and for a better understanding it is worth reading the Zimbabwe report first.
Animal encounters have become an essential part of my travels. Whether it’s a classic big5 safari, walking next to gorillas, watching sloths in the trees, or seeing dolphins jumping out of the ocean, such animal experiences simply make travel more beautiful.
There is only one place where I don’t want to encounter animals: in my hotel. The hotel should be the oasis of calm on the trip, where you can recharge your batteries. Wild monkeys are just as inappropriate as a rooster that wakes up the neighborhood at five o’clock in the morning. While monkeys and roosters are annoying, at least they are not life-threatening, unlike what awaited me at my hotel in Zambia. That’s because the first thing I saw at my hotel property was a sign warning of hippos and crocodiles.
Hippos. The most dangerous of the larger animals, killing more people in Africa each year than lions. I didn’t really want to meet a hippo. Or rather not again, after I had already slept in a hotel in Malawi that attracted hippos to graze at night. And I was just as keen on a crocodile as I was on colon cancer.
But that was the situation. My hotel was right in the Mosi-oa-Tunya National Park on the banks of the Zambezi River, and there wasn’t really a dividing line between the living space of humans and animals. My chalet was only about three meters away from a side stream of the Zambezi and the hotel employee who brought me to my room told me that sometimes crocodiles come out of the water. However, all the hotel staff never got tired of emphasizing that it was completely safe and the crocodile would not do anything. To be continued.
After I drove in the morning from Zimbabwe to Livingstone, virtually the counterpart to the Zimbabwean city of Victoria Falls on the Zambian side, I wanted to keep myself busy in the afternoon. The problem in the Victoria Falls region at the moment is that many tours don’t take place because there are too few tourists. If you are traveling alone, this is a problem because most tours start a minimum of two tourists.
The solution to the problem is to book at very short notice. In my case, I contacted three or four tour operators just before noon and asked if they had any afternoon activities that I could join. I also stressed that I would be most interested in a Rhino Walk, as I had already done one in Eswatini and loved it.
A tour operator then offered to do the tour for me alone for $55, while the price with other operators was more like $100-120. Although surprised by this bargain, I didn’t want to look a gift horse in the mouth, so I agreed. About two to three hours later I was picked up and we drove about 25 minutes to the interior of Mosi-oa-Tunya National Park.
Zambia was once a land of tens of thousands of rhinos. However, poachers caused the rhinos to be considered extinct in Zambia after the turn of the millennium. It is only through relocation that the population of white rhinos is now back at 10. What a shame to think that the reason for the poaching is that people in East Asia believe that rhino horn increases their potency. They could as well eat their fingernails. It would have the same effect.
Are Rhino Walks dangerous? Not really. You can get within about ten meters of the rhinos without anything happening. Rhinos have a very good sense of smell as well as excellent hearing, but they have a severely limited vision. As a result, rhinos know that someone is there, but they do not know where.
Compared to the Rhino Walk I did in Swaziland, this one in Zambia was rather meh. In fact, we only spent about five minutes next to the rhinos, whereas back in Eswatini it was about two hours. I knew that the low price had to have some kind of catch. But hey, all in all, I was still happy with the tour at this price. I mean, I could see the rhinos, and that’s all that matters.
After I returned to my hotel, I met the owner of the hotel. He asked me how I liked the hotel and I answered that everything was fine, but the hippos and crocodiles were starting to worry me a bit. His answer was not the one I wanted to hear. He had been bitten by a crocodile today. For the first time ever. He had been near the water and had not seen the crocodile, which then snapped and caught him on the leg.
For me it was clear, after dark I wouldn’t set a foot outside. Not even on the beautiful veranda overlooking the creek. I wondered if the crocodiles could climb the three steps to my porch. Probably not. Still, I didn’t want to take any chances.
The next day, an activity was on the agenda that is not for the faint of heart: the Devil’s Pool. In the dry season, you can go swimming in a natural pool on the edge of Victoria Falls, while three meters next to you the masses of water fall 140 meters with a thundering sound.
I must honestly admit that I have rarely been so nervous before a tourist activity. The reason for this is a) that several people have written to me from home that I should definitely not do this and b) because there have actually been several deaths here. And I’m not talking about 1-2 accidents here, there were significantly more. The Devil’s Pool is therefore sometimes labeled as the most dangerous tourist attraction in the world.
The tour, called Livingstone Island Morning Breezer, takes about two hours. First you take a boat to Livingstone Island. From there you swim through the current to the Devil’s Pool. I found this part alone quite nerve-racking, because you have to fight against the current.
After arriving at another island, you step into the Devil’s Pool. The participants are then led one by one to the edge, where a guide stands and positions you. Following this, the guide holds your legs while you lie on your stomach at the edge of the falls. In our case, the view offered both a rainbow and the rushing waters that hit below. A beautiful and frightening image at the same time.
Not all of my group dared to go all the way to the edge. I also had a pretty uncomfortable feeling lying there on the edge with my life literally in the hands of a stranger. I was definitely glad when it was over because it was really scary. The Devil’s Pool is an incredible attraction and test of courage that was probably the highlight of my entire trip. Can I recommend it? Yes, absolutely. Would I do it again? No, absolutely not.
I got back to my hotel in the early afternoon and the activities were already over for the day. I would have still had the option to do a game drive. After all, Zambia is a classic safari country. But since I was supposed to go to Chobe National Park the next day and had already done the Rhino Walk, that would have been too much for me in the end.
As if the Devil’s Pool was not thrilling enough, there was another scary moment in my hotel. Namely, I had a nice visit when I was back at my chalet.
When the crocodile was still there after two hours, I took a chance and went to the veranda. The crocodile didn’t seem to care, because it just ignored me.
For the afternoon I had arranged the next PCR test, which I would need for the entry into the Comoros. It was agreed that the doctor would come to my hotel at 6 pm outside his working hours for an additional fee to perform the test. The cost was therefore $145. Time passed and when no one was there at 6:30 pm, I started to get nervous, so I asked the hotel owner to call the doctor.
If the test had not been done that evening, I would have had to cancel the Chobe day-trip the next day and my country #120 would have been lost. To travel extra to Botswana again would have entailed an additional cost of $1500-2000, which I would have gladly avoided. Fortunately, someone finally did come by at 7:30 pm and took my sample. TiA.
When I later wanted to go to the room, I asked one of the guards if he could quickly look at my room if the crocodile is somewhere. “Oh that, I saw it a while ago by the parking lot,” he said, as if it didn’t matter at all where this beast was at the moment.
Anyway. The next day the trip to Botswana took place. I arrived back in Zambia in the evening, and the border crossing offered another nice anecdote. Namely, the woman at immigration told me that she would only give me a passport stamp if I connected with her on a social media platform. Also a novelty after 119 countries.
I got back to my hotel around 7pm and it came as it had to. “Sir, you can’t go to your room at the moment, the hippo is there right now.” Sure enough, there it was, just a few meters from my entrance, grazing. Unlike the day before when it was about the crocodile, this time the Guard seemed genuinely concerned.
Thank goodness the hippo left shortly after, so I was able to return to my room safe and sound. It was the end of my stay in Zambia, because the next day I went back to Victoria Falls, where it all started.
So, what can I say about Zambia? I would not have thought that my three nights in Livingstone would be so action-packed, but the Devil’s Pool and the somewhat unusual hotel made it possible. For this reason, Zambia will be a country that I will never forget.
Which side of Victoria Falls is better, Zimbabwe or Zambia? Difficult to say. In September in the dry season, Victoria Falls looks better from the Zimbabwe side. However, in terms of activities, the Zambian side would triumph as it has the Devil’s Pool. Helicopter flights can be made from both sides. Nevertheless, in my opinion, you should visit both sides.
Also not to be missed is Chobe National Park, which can be reached in about 90 minutes from Livingstone or Victoria Falls. Click here to read the last part of this trilogy and to find out why the visit to Botswana was so short.
