Trip Report: Zimbabwe
Visited in September 2021
Believe it or not, although I’ve been to 117 countries, I haven’t seen any of the world’s giant waterfalls yet. No Iguazu, no Niagara Falls and no Angel Falls so far. To my shame, I have to admit that I didn’t even make it to the Rhine Falls, which are one of Europe’s largest waterfalls. And that even though they are only an hour away from my home.
Nevertheless, in my country number 118, I was able to close this “waterfall education gap” by visiting Victoria Falls, one of the seven so-called natural world wonders. Victoria Falls marks the border between Zimbabwe and Zambia and is the biggest tourist attraction of these two countries. In most cases, tourists visit the falls as an add-on to a trip through Namibia and/or Botswana. During my Namibia trip in May, however, the land border between Zimbabwe and Zambia was not yet open, so I postponed Victoria Falls for another trip.
At that time, I would not have thought that this would take place only four months later. But it is still the case that I don’t choose my destinations, but the destinations choose me. I book whatever is the best option at the given time in terms of the Covid situation, the season, and the airfares. In most cases, I don’t even have to use the airfares as a criteria, since the Covid situation plus the season give me one option only.
Therefore, another trip to Southern Africa took place in September 2021 with two nights in Zimbabwe and three nights in Zambia. In Zambia, I would also take a day-trip to the Chobe National Park of Botswana. So, lots of passport stamps and, unfortunately, lots of PCR tests in five days.
With a PCR test from Switzerland (must not be older than 48h) I landed on a Saturday noon in Victoria Falls, the city named after the falls. Victoria Falls has an international airport, including four direct flights from Addis Ababa, where I came from. Immigration passed relatively quickly, so shortly thereafter I was on Shearwater’s airport shuttle, which transfer guests into town for $14.
The main priority, of course, was Victoria Falls, though I had to wait until my second day before I could see it, as I had another activity booked for my first afternoon. Besides the Victoria Falls, the area offers a lot more. Often Victoria Falls is called the adrenaline or action capital of Southern Africa, because tourists can do a lot of extreme activities here like bungee jumping, river rafting or zip-lining.
My first activity, however, was rather more relaxed than extreme. It was a Zambezi River Cruise. The Zambezi is the fourth longest river in Africa, running through five countries. So cruising up and down the river on a boat for two to three hours seemed like a pleasant way to start my Victoria Falls trip.
These cruises cost between $50-60, which includes snacks and drinks. There is a bar on the boat that serves as much cheap booze as you can drink. So a booze-up on the Zambezi if you will. However, the 20-30 people on the boat were rather restrained. The guests were mainly local tourists, of which I have seen many in all three countries I have visited.
The cruise itself was not bad. We saw an elephant, a crocodile and several hippos. Not a real safari experience of course, but floating down the river with a drink and nice conversation with other guests was a good and easy opener to this trip.
The next morning I was again picked up by Shearwater (the biggest tour operator in the area besides Wild Horizons). “Hi Peter, are you ready for your helicopter ride?” was the first question. “Thank you, yes. My name is Nicolai.” – “Oh sorry, Nicolai.” We drove to another lodge where four Russians boarded the minibus. None of this group paid me a glance as they walked past me. Before we went to the helicopter flight, the driver greeted all the guests again and kindly introduced me to the Russians, who ignored me until now. “So guys, this is Peter!” The Russians looked up briefly and nodded at me. The only interaction between us on this tour.
Fortunately, at the helicopter I was assigned to another group and got to fly with four English-speaking tourists. After a short briefing and after all the passengers were weighed (fuck, I’m over 90kg right now) we headed to the helicopter.
The flight takes 12-13 minutes and costs $150. If you do it from Zambia, it costs $170-190. However, there is another variant that goes 25 minutes and costs $284. I wonder if it’s worth the double flight time. You might see a bit wildlife, as the helicopter spends a bit more time over the Zambezi National Park. But honestly, I doubt that this is worth the higher price. Besides, I think 12-13 minutes are enough to get great pictures of the Victoria Falls from different perspectives.
Each passenger has a window seat by the way and the pilot flies an 8-shape over the falls twice. So everyone has the opportunity to take photos from the best perspective. Or in other words, there are no good and bad seats in the helicopter. All are good.
Afterwards, I went directly to the Victoria Falls. Entry fee is a steep $30. It takes about one to two hours to walk the path along the falls from one end to the other. The pure walking time should take about 15 to 20 minutes. The rest of the time is for admiring the Victoria Falls and taking pictures.
What’s a bit annoying is that you can only use the entrance ticket once. So seeing the falls at noon and then going again just before sunset is not possible, unless you pay an additional $30. However, Victoria Falls was so spectacular that I actually toyed with the idea of going a second time that same day to see the falls in different sunlight. In the end, however, I did not do it.
A small drawback was the water volume of the Victoria Falls. September is already dry season and the water volume is not as huge as in the months before. I obviously knew that before, but it still would have been better to see Victoria Falls one or two months earlier. Needless to say, the falls were still impressive and I would love to go back someday during rainy season.
So was I there at the wrong time? No, because Victoria Falls is a year-round destination and each month offers advantages and disadvantages. The dry season has the advantage that you can do certain activities like the Devil’s Pool or rafting in Zambia. That would not be possible during rainy season.
Likewise, the dry season is better if you also want to experience wildlife. As a result, September was a pretty good month for my trip to this region. The falls were still great, various dry season activities were possible, and wildlife was plentiful.
In the evening I did the second PCR test for this trip, which I needed for the entry to Zambia. The test was done right at my lodge, cost $65 and the results were there in just a few hours. Unfortunately, my date of birth was wrong on the result, although the doctor took a photo of my passport. So the manager of my lodge called, whereupon the lab said to stop by on my way to Zambia and pick up the corrected results. When I did and got my new hardcopy, I noticed that the date of birth was still wrong. TiA! Thank God it worked on the third attempt and some minutes later I had a corrected copy in my hand.
I left Zimbabwe shortly thereafter by taking a $5 cab to the border, going through Zimbabwean customs, and then walking for ten minutes through the no man’s land between the two countries. Unlike the civilized Victoria Falls (and also later Livingstone), this no man’s land was the Wild West with rather aggressive touts/taxi drivers and wild monkeys roaming along the road. All pretty harmless, but if you want to avoid it, you can take a cab for the 700-800 meters.
With two days I certainly did not do justice to Zimbabwe. Of course, I saw the main attraction of the country. However, Zimbabwe would be a country where I would even consider a longer trip. Besides Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe has a lot of safari parks, plus the Eastern Highlands, which look simply stunning. So a 10-14 day trip in Zimbabwe would actually offer a lot of variety. Of the three countries I visited on this trip in Southern Africa, Zimbabwe would be the one I would most like to revisit.
I can still come back someday, though. For now, Zimbabwe remains very positive in my memory. Not only because of the Victoria Falls. I also found the people to be very open-minded and friendly. I met many nice locals on the Zambezi Cruise, at the Victoria Falls and in my hotel, with whom I chatted and spent time. Based on my experiences, I think Zimbabwe is an excellent country for solo travelers, as it is very easy to make new contacts and meet locals.
Maybe a few words about the prices in Victoria Falls. Basically the area, and I include the Zambian side, is rather expensive. Not Switzerland-expensive, but certainly not a cheap destination. Accommodation is available for every budget, but the activities are pricey. Most of them cost more than $100, even if they last only two hours. So if you’re there for several days like I was and want to do something every day, you’re leaving quite a bit of money behind.
Food prices are similar to those in say Germany or slightly cheaper. A main course in a good restaurant ranges from $10-15 and in rare cases $20. Also expensive is transportation, especially on the Zambian side where a cab ride seems to cost a flat $10 for a 10-minute ride, while in Zimbabwe it is $5.
In summary, I had two super cool activities in Zimbabwe with the helicopter flight and Victoria Falls, and one passable activity with the Zambezi Cruise. Still, it was a rather slow trip as the activities were over relatively quickly and I had nothing else to do, so I just relaxed at my lodge. Also okay. Other people pay a lot of money to spend their vacations like that.
In Zambia, however, I got more action than in Zimbabwe. And to my surprise, Zambia even become an all-time favorite travel story. Click here to read more.
