Victoria Falls! Ive been so excited to visit this lovely place. I am happy to report that it’s just as beautiful as I’ve always read about, but also sad to see that the town here has really suffered under Covid 19. The residents have been hit especially hard given that 95% of its revenue comes from tourism. The main town is only about 3 blocks filled with travel guides and tourists shops. Whenever I walked near town, I was constantly approached by people trying to sell things or asking for money. Several people stopped in their cars while I was walking back to my lodge to ask if they could get my contact information so that I could send them money from home once I returned to the US. The town itself feels tired and weathered, though everyone is very friendly.

I was one of only two people staying at my lodge, and a day trip that I booked to go to Chobe National park in Botswana was canceled last minute because I was the only one who booked that day. Everyone I spoke to showed great hope that tourism would be picking up soon.

Sunset Dinner Cruise on the Zambezi River

On my first night here, I went on a sunset dinner cruise. There were only 6 of us on the boat and it felt very luxurious. There was a full place setting with candle and a soft blanket on the back of everyone’s chair. We had a delicious 4 course meal and unlimited drinks with excellent service.

We saw multiple pods of hippo while on the cruise! They are a bit difficult to see and my photos are somewhat blurry…it was tricky catching their heads above water. We were told that they can hold their breath for 5-7 minutes!

The Falls!!

I read a lot about the best time of day to visit the falls, but was so excited to see them that I went first thing in the morning 🙂 I was the only one in the park! It felt a little surreal to be exploring a national park completely by myself, but it was beautiful and peaceful and overwhelmingly grand. The falls are loud and misty, sometimes so much so that it was difficult to get clear pictures of the water…and I got drenched in several places along the walk! Happily though, I had a rain jacket 😉

There is a bridge at the end of the park that connects Zimbabwe and Zambia. It is not accessible from the park, but I walked to the border and was given a bridge pass so that I could walk into Zambia. If you stand on both sides, it is called ‘ZimZam’ because you’ll be standing in both countries.

I also decided to splurge on a helicopter ride over the falls! It felt very awe inspiring and we were lucky enough to see giraffe, elephants and buffalo in the park near the falls during the trip.