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Victoria Falls, Zambezi River,

Zambia - August 2016

Victoria Falls are simply incredible.....

The whole experience was awesome, we walked from our hotel to the falls, and as we approached the noise became louder and louder but nothing had prepared us for the incredible sight as we walked around the corner and saw the falls for the first time. In August the river is pretty low compared to after the summer rains in Feb-May, but the volume of water, the mist and especially the sound really was breathtaking, and no photo or film could ever do it justice. We have been told that when the river is in full flood the spray can be so great that the falls themselves cannot be seen due to the mist, so maybe we were lucky to go at the time we did?

The Victoria Falls bridge over the the Zambezi River connects Zambia on the right with Zimbabwe on the left.

We took a helicopter ride which gave us an exceptional view of the falls and is something we would highly recommend, as it's difficult to fully appreciate the phenomenal quantity of water and width of the Zambezi River from the ground.

One evening we had sundowners on the riverbank overlooking the waterfalls to watch the sun setting over what the locals call the "Most Oa Tumya" or "Smoke Which Thunders".

We also rode elephants at an elephant conservation camp which was a fabulous experience although it is something that needs great care when organising to ensure the elephants are treated kindly and are well looked after. I love elephants and it was something I had always dreamed of doing..

The younger elephants were happy to go for a wander in the Zambezi River, but being mid-winter in Zambia, the older ones refused to go in as the water was too cold for them, so they just had a drink and moved away! It was an incredible once in a lifetime experience for all of us and especially for our sons, Callum and Nick who were lucky enough to be riding the two younger elephants who seemed to enjoy taking a dip in the river!! The photo below is one of my favourites from this trip.

When we arrived at our hotel near Livingstone, we were so excited to see the giraffe and impalas roaming free in the grounds (below) and also we saw our first zebras, warthogs and baboons whilst out riding the elephants.

We were driven from our hotel in Livingstone along the Zambezi River to Kazungula where a private boat crossing to Botswana had been arranged for us.The Kazungula bridge has been under construction since 2014 and had been due to be completed in Dec 2020. It has been built to relieve the bottleneck of queues of lorries that have previously had to wait for up to a week in order to cross the river by ferry and should .be open soon.

Kazungula is the quadripoint where 4 countries meet (Zambia, Botswana, Zimbabwe and Namibia). We were picked up on the far side of the river and were driven to our camp on the edge of the Chobe National Park in Botswana.