After getting off the Victoria Falls Bridge, I went next door to visit the Zambian Victoria Falls. It’s a good idea to do them both at the same time, as the sites are a good 10 km outside Livingstone. The Victoria Falls site is partly fenced in, which means if you are doing both the bridge and the Photographic Trail, you’ll be walking the same distance 4(!) times. A second entrance, at the bridge, would have made life easier 🙂 There are 4 trails in total to choose from, I, of course, had to do them all, can’t miss out 🙂 Staff said it would take 2 hours to cover all of them. I spent almost 3 hours, but then again I went on a detour into the river 🙂
- Photographic Trail – Don’t know why it’s called that. Not much to see. Can be skipped.
- Boiling Point Trail – Boiling Point is where they river raft, at the bottom of the canyon. They say you use 15 min down, and due to the steep climb going back, 25 min up. Turned out I did the climb in 15 min. I was totally exhausted… The sign said bring plenty of drinking water, I didn’t… Boiling Point itself is not much to see. You can also see it from the cliffs. The walk down and up is a good work-out 🙂
- The trail taking you out to Danger Point is the best. Here you get to see the fall from a certain distance, being on the opposite side, and walk parallell to the fall, with plenty of viewpoints. But here was where I started doubting the choice I had made. It’s dry season, meaning that most of the fall has dried up… So what usually is a 1.75 km long waterfall (1.7 km on the Zam side and 500 meters on the Zim side) is now more of a drizzle on the Zam side… In other words you don’t get to see the huge waterfall that you’ve been picturing… On the other hand, this means you are able to get a lot more out of the trail going upstream, which I enjoyed immensely.
- The last trail is the one that takes you upstream, usually on the Zambezi river bank, which doesn’t sound too exciting. But with it being the dry season, and the river in huge parts dried up, you are able to walk into the river, somewhere on dry land, other places you have to wade a little bit, taking you into the middle of the wide river. You can walk as far as Livingstone Island, which is private property. You can also walk all the way up to the edge, no fences, and, as I ended up doing, encouraged by the guide I somehow involuntarily picked up, sit on the edge – never in my wildest dream had I thought I’d every be doing that, and it wasn’t as scary as I had imagined. One of the activities I was looking into before coming here, was Devil’s Pool, where you swim to the edge of the fall. If you want a cheaper option, also called free, there is a very small pool that you can get to during the dry season. Unfortunately I didn’t know this so I had no bikini on. Otherwise I would definitely had gotten in. All this I wouldn’t have been able to discover hadn’t it been for the guide who decided to tag along. He ended up taking me all the way. Even though they offer at the entrance, and say it is free, it never is 🙂 But this was so cool that I didn’t mind paying a tip. If you’re going to do this, remember good shoes, it’s slippery in places, and hadn’t I been with one who has done this plenty of times, I would have taken a dive plenty of times 🙂
Hi there,
I read your story with alot of interest, I was wandering if you are for example in Zambia and you cross into Zimbabwe, can you return back to Zambia easily ? Or do you need a double entry visa ? I heard there is a 2 country visa but don’t know how many times you can cross back and forth, if you have any info on that would be great to know
cheers,
Pol
With a KAZA visa you should be able to cross as much as you like between Zambia and Zimbabwe, but when I arrived in Livingstone (airport) (Zam) I was told by the immigration officer that they didn’t issue KAZA visas at that entry point. I found it very peculiar, but I wasn’t about to start an argument with an official 🙂 I got a double entry visa for Zam, so when I crossed into Zim I got a single entry visa for Zim. However at the Zim border post there were posters about KAZA visas, so maybe you are able to get it there… Anyways, for the Zim visa there are two queues you have to line up in, so be prepared to spend a good amount of time in line. Going back into Zam was a breeze. If you want to do the bridge only, you don’t need a Zim visa or a Zam double entry visa, as you are not passing the Zim border post. You just leave your passport at the Zam border post, and pick it up on returning from the bridge.
We lived in Zambia for four years – so when I saw your post I saw excited to the Victoria Falls again! I think you did much better than us for exploring all the trails! Oh and if you ever get the time, do pop over to Livingstone – it is a fun little town to explore and dinner on the steam train there is a real treat. #farawayfiles
How cool that you did! I had a great time in Zambia, popped over to the Zimbabwean side as well. Stayed in Livingstone, loved it!
My heart skipped a beat when I saw the photo of the Devil’s Pool swimmer. There is no chance you would get me doing that but I’m sure it’s incredible if you are brave. Magnificent waterfall. Thanks for sharing on #FarawayFiles
That’s actually not the Devil’s Pool. This one is free of charge, and only possible during the dry season. You would! I never thought I’d ever sit on the edge, but it was not as bad as I had imagined. And getting into the pool looked less terrifying from where you got in than from afar 🙂
Oh yeah… devil’s pool… that’s the place to swim in and look over
Yes, and pretty expensive, it’s like 100 USD, like every other activity here, starting at 100 USD and up. So this free pool is a good alternative, at least during the dry season.