Zimbabwe is beautiful enough to belong on the cover of a magazine. With
breathtaking waterfalls, ancient ruins and incredible wildlife
preserves, Zimbabwe has much to offer travelers. As Zimbabwe's capital,
Harare buzzes with activity. Like other cities around the world, it
features high rises, traffic jams and lots of people. Harare is also
home to African art, cultural attractions, parks and entertainment
venues. The city offers a selection of cheap accommodations for the
traveler on a budget.
Instructions
Know Your Destination
1. You'll need a passport to visit Harare, Zimbabwe. Make sure it's valid for 6 months beyond your date of travel.
2. You will most likely need a visa. However, some countries are exempt from this requirement.
3. The official language in Harare, Zimbabwe is English. However, most of
the natives also speak one or more of the Bantu languages.
4. Expect temperatures in the mid to upper 70s; temperatures are
higher from November to April—Zimbabwe's summer. August, the peak of
the dry season, features abundant sunshine and mild temperatures.
Organize Transportation
1. Get to Harare by air via the city's international airport. Fly into
this airport from overseas, as well as from other parts of Southern
Africa.
2. Travel to Harare, Zimbabwe by car via Johannesburg. Be aware that the national road is a toll road.
3. Get around in Harare by car, bus or bicycle. There is also rather slow
train service to Bulawayo and Mutare, as well as Victoria Falls.
Find Cheap Accommodations
1. To book accommodations, contact Zimbabwe Tourism Authority at 011 (+263) 4 758730 or visit their Web site (see Resources below).
2. Choose a mid-range hotel in the city center to be close to businesses,
Mukuvisi Woodlands, Snake Park and Lion and Cheetah Park. Hotels
located in the city center feature modern amenities.
3. Stay in a backpacker's lodge for cheap accommodations. You'll find such
lodges in residential areas, within walking distance of commercial
districts.
4. Select a budget hotel in Harare for more cozy surroundings. You are
likely to find budget hotels a bit removed from the city's commercial
district.
Article Source: http://www.ehow.com
About Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe has many attractions to offer and to visit them all in just
one visit could be impossible. Following are just a few of the great
places to visit whilst in Zimbabwe. Victoria Falls is Zimbabwe’s number
one attraction. The falls measure a huge 1.7km wide and drop between
90m and 107m into the Zambezi Gorge. With the size and sound of the
magnificent waterfall, it is hard to think that anything else exists in
the surrounding jungle. Zambezi is, however, packed with wildlife. You
may spot warthog, crocodile, hippo, or even elephant, buffalo and lion.
Hwange National Park is the easiest to reach out of all of Zimbabwe’s game parks and offers the biggest variety and concentration of game.
The Great Zimbabwe Ruins is sub-Saharan Africa’s
greatest archaeological site. It’s also an astonishingly peaceful place
to relax for a couple of days of camping and exploring.
Chimanimani National Park is home to Zimbabwe’s
wildest and most rugged mountain wilderness. There are no roads in the
park, however, there are many hiking tracks that offer the best
bushwalking in Zimbabwe.
Matobo National Park is the best place in the world to see white rhino. The Matobo Hills
near Bulawayo also shelter hundreds of amazing caves and rock paintings.
Mana Pools National Park is one of the only parks
where visitors are alowed to venture out alone on foot. Access to Mana
Pools is difficult, the best way to arrive here is by canoe safari
along the Zambezi River.
Lake Kariba is a favourite amongst Zimbabweans. Around the lake you can find great fishing, boating, game viewing and camping.
Vumba National Park is famous for the beautiful
forests and botanical gardens. Vumba offers excellent walking
opportunities and expansive views across nearby Mozambique.
Domboshawa and Ngomakurira are located just 30km
from Harare. They offer brilliant hiking over stunning lichen-covered
domes, you can also see as well as the opportunity to see lots of rock
paintings.
Bulawayo Museum of Natural History includes
information on the geology, palacontology, anthropology, zoology and
history of Zimbabwe. This is a must see and is definitely Zimbabwe’s
best museum.
Mzilikazi Arts & Crafts Centre is located just outside Bulawayo. It displays the amount of artistic talent to be found in Zimbabwe.
Article Source:http://www.cheapflightstozimbabwe.co.uk
Zimbabwe Eastern Highlands
The 300km (186mile) mountain range that makes
up the Eastern Highlands defines Zimbabwe's eastern border with
Mozambique. From the pine forests and trout lakes of Nyanga National
Park at the north end of the range to the yellowwood trees, protea
shrubs and mountain pools of Chimanimani in the south, these cool
heights lend themselves to gentler pursuits than the big game tracking
of the hot Lowveld or the Zambezi Valley.
Golfing, horse-riding, trout-fishing and
tea-sipping are the order of the day in summer while the winter months
of May to September encourage fireside pursuits. Manicaland was hard
hit during the war of independence and these pleasant hills were strewn with landmines. While today, the Eastern Highlands offer some of the best hiking in the country, don't stray too far off the beaten track.
Mutare and the Bvumba:
Mutare is the capital of the border province of Manicaland, midway
between Nyanga in the north and Chimanimani in the south. Although it
is the country's fourth largest city, Mutare remains a frontier
town and for tourists is mainly a departure point; either for
neighbouring Mozambique or for the surrounding Bvumba mountains.
Mutare Activities:
Main Park and Aloe Gardens:
The extensive collection of aloes from Zimbabwe and Madagascar are at their best in winter. If you find your way to the Manicaland Publicity Association in the centre of town, you can't miss the park.
Cross Kopje:
The distinctive cross that pierces Mutare's skyscape is a memorial to black Zimbabweans
and Mozambicans who died in East Africa during World War 2. It's a
short but energetic walk to the summit. Murawha's Hill is another
granite kopje good for walks and views.
Cecil Kop Nature Reserve
This reserve is a wilderness less than wild on the Mozambican-border-side of town. The viewing watering hole
at Tiger's Kloof Dam is particularly crowded at evening feeding time,
but then you're all but assured of seeing the resident zebras,
buffaloes, antelope, giraffe and elephant.
La Rochelle:
These botanical gardens are out of town on the Penhalonga road. They are a good venue for tea and scones of an afternoon.
Lake Alexander:
Forty kilometres outside on Mutare on the Penhalonga road, is another
dam and watersport playground.
Bvumba Mountains:
The Bvumba mountains that
encircle Mutare overlook the Mozambican flood plains but the misty
weather, indigenous rain forest and country inns resemble a little piece of rural England rather than a slice of southern Africa.
Bvumba Mountains:
The Bvumba mountains that
encircle Mutare overlook the Mozambican flood plains but the misty
weather, indigenous rain forest and country inns resemble a little piece of rural England rather than a slice of southern Africa
There is an arts and crafts route that meanders down the farm roads
offering an opportunity to taste cheese, buy hand-crafted wood and
leather and enjoy the leafy scenery.
The Bvumba National Botanical Gardens, sculpted from indigenous forest, has one of the best views in Africa. Once the private estate of a former Mutare mayor, these 200 hectares of manicured lawns and indigenous bush offers fine views over Mozambique, a tea-garden and ornamental lake, scenic strolls and a chance to glimpse small antelope, monkeys and tropical birds.
Article Source: http://zimbabwe.safari.co.za
Zimbabwe Safari Lodge: http://www.thehide.com/
National Parks of Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe's Game Reserves were initially founded as a means of using unproductive land. Little regard was given to modern conservation values, but once these evolved, the country became a world leader in wildlife management.
The first proclaimed Game Reserve was Wankie (now Hwange NP), formed in 1928 and upgraded in the 1949 National Parks Act. The then-Rhodesia's Game section was originally formed in 1952 as a subsidiary of the Department of Mines, Lands and Surveys. This was the nucleus that became the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Management in 1964.
One beneficial legacy of colonialism was the Parks and Wildlife Act of 1975, a quintessential breakthrough for conservation. The core philosophy of how people perceived wildlife was changed. Under the Act, ownership of wildlife passed from the State to whoever owned the land the animal lived on.
When the landowners (both communal and private) became custodians of the wildlife, a change in mindset occurred. People began to see their wildlife resources as an asset to be nurtured, ensuring their benefits continued into the future. Gradually, fence-breaking elephant and zebra were not viewed as nuisances to be eradicated; herds of impala were no longer a quick, easy meal.
Within the Parks and Wildlife Act, various levels were defined at which state-owned land was to be protected and utilized. Gone was the old Game Department that issued hunting licences which, for a nominal fee, allowed settlers to hunt wildlife in all areas but a few Game Reserves. A system of National Parks, Botanical Reserves and Gardens, Sanctuaries, recreational Parks and Safari Areas was set firmly in place. Since 1975, the Act has been amended and refined, allowing the evolution of a dynamic wildlife-protection process.
Many African countries have since adopted this philosophy. So far-reaching was the concept of the original Act that it now enshrines many aspects of grass-roots conservation being implemented worldwide. Communal or traditional tribal areas and privately-owned land were also categorized for different levels of utilization.
Communal areas harbouring significant wildlife resources or bordering National Parks were given Rural Council status and as a result CAMPFIRE (Communal Areas Management Programme for Indigenous Resources) was born. CAMPFIRE has developed into an important conservation strategy, ensuring that significant financial earnings revert to rural communities for their benefit. This philosophy has been adopted on a Pan-African basis and is slowly being implemented in Asia and South America too.
Many of Zimbabwe's National Parks, such as Victoria Falls, Mana Pools and Hwange, are renowned worldwide, though the country also has lesser-known gems such as Chizarira and Gonarezhou. Parts of the Rhodes Estate, established in Rhodes' will of 1902, were bequeathed to the nation for farming, forestry and agricultural research. This land later became part of the rocky Matobo and mountainous Nyanga National Parks.
Zimbabwe's Parks offer a wide variety of accommodation, and it is best to check availability with the Parks Department Reservations Office in Harare (popular parks, such as Mana Pools, get booked up). Accommodation varies from fully equipped lodges, cottages and chalets, to camping and caravan facilities.
The 1975 Act not only nurtured a change in attitudes to wildlife but also fostered the development of one of Africa's best tourism infrastructures. It saw the need for experienced and trained professional guides and hunters (another much-copied initiative), the establishment of long-term leases for operators in both National Parks and Safari Areas, the development of conservancies on private land and co-operation with rural communities. It was the precursor for eco-tourism in the truest sense.
However, the Department of National Parks has always been a 'Cinderella' branch of government and has had to contend with under-funding - a grave error of judgment when one considers the Parks' earning capacity. In recent years the Department has been granted parastatal status whereby it is able to retain a significant proportion of the revenues it generates, in theory at least.
The current volatile situation within Zimbabwe and the resultant reduction in tourism will have serious consequences for the running and maintenance of the National Parks and the wildlife they are supposed to protect. One immediate result of the past year's turmoil has been a harrowing increase in poaching in many NPs. Unless this stops soon, the NPs may not be the backbone of the country's economic recovery.
Crocodile Dundee in Zimbabwe
Carrie Hampton bumped in to Zimbabwe's version of Crocodile Dundee on Lake Kariba in Zimbabwe. She tagged along with the handsome hero for a few days and had some rather close encounters with very large crocodiles. Read on……..
During the first two weeks of October every year small groups of men spill silently out of ski-boats moored in thick reeds and scramble up crocodile-infested sandbanks. They walk along the shores of Lake Kariba in north-western Zimbabwe, prodding the soft soil frequently with metre-long metal spikes.
Worn Leather Hat Adorned With Animal Claws
In the lead is a man who could have stepped from the pages of a Wilbur Smith novel: Darryl Edwards is tall, dark, handsome and exceptionally smart. His well-developed five o'clock shadow is shaded by a worn leather hat adorned with animal claws.
He is a man of no unnecessary words or smiles who, behind his undisclosing face, holds a deep understanding of nature and a Masters degree in Animal Science. His rugged colleague, Garry Sutton, would look quite at ease in a Camel safari advertisement. Unaware of their hero-like appeal they exchange glances and walk in opposite directions.
Out of the heart of Africa, these two mysterious men are real-life Crocodile Dundees. They are hired by a Harare crocodile farm to collect as many eggs during the short laying season as possible, and are actively encouraged by the National Parks Board.
Finding a Croc's Nest is not that Easy
Nile crocodiles inhabit Lake Kariba in their thousands and are breeding too successfully and pose a real threat to village life on the banks of this enormous lake. Accompanied by a National Parks Board officer, we cruised along a designated 65km concession of Kariba shore during the brief laying season at the beginning of October, looking for nests.
The nests proved extremely hard to find as the eggs are laid about half a metre under the surface in a pit which the female crocodile fastidiously covers with sand. She conceals it further with gravel, leaves or dry grass so that even a seasoned crocodile egg-hunting expert finds them hard to spot.
Spoor indicating a nest, such as the drag mark of a heavy tail from the water's edge or a test hole that the female has previously dug to check the suitability of her site, are often the only indications of a nest. Sam Chiningo is a long-standing egg collector and needs no such obvious clues.
He possesses an uncanny instinct, which enables him to find more nests than any of his colleagues. A sprinkling of sand on a rock may be the only sign he needs to locate the hidden eggs. The rest of the crew prod deeply into the soft sand at every suitable spot while Sam strides towards an unlikely patch in the bushes.
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Zimbabwe Safari Lodge
Eco-Tourism in Zimbabwe - A Certain Style
If you care about eco-issues, Zimbabwe’s Pamushana Lodge sounds alarmingly opulent. In each of its six villas, sliding glass walls open onto a private swimming pool with panoramic hilltop views. Every villa has an outdoor shower and its own telescope. Interiors feature fireplaces, vast bathrooms and sumptuous African artwork. Yet the Malilangwe Reserve (of which Pamushana is part) has regenerated a 400km2 area of Zimbabwe’s lowveld, while contributing substantially to the development of surrounding communities. So you can recline in the sauna free of guilt.
Since its foundation by local conservationists in 1994 over 1300 animals (including Black and White rhino, eland and sable) have been relocated into Malilangwe, at a cost of US$4.2m, to counter game depletion caused by competition with cattle and agriculture. Zimbabwe’s largest private nature sanctuary now contains the country’s widest variety of wildlife, including over 400 bird species. The Big Five are regularly spotted among the hills, woodlands and savannahs, interspersed with gems including Wild dog and oribi. Game-monitoring and anti-poaching systems are, naturally, comprehensive.
Funds were initially raised from a conservation organisation, but now the reserve earns income from Pamushana and its slightly humbler sister lodge, Nduna. For all its glamour, Pamushana was built from indigenous materials, with traditional thatching and stonework reminiscent of Great Zimbabwe.
Malilangwe’s Neighbour Outreach Programme is also impressive. Spending on community projects totals over Z$31m. Pages long, the list of concrete achievements includes the construction of clinics and classrooms, the provision of bursaries to over 280 primary, secondary and tertiary students, and the donation of textbooks worth Z$450,000 to schools. The trust has also provided cash and assistance worth more than Z$500,000 to neighbouring Gonarezhou NP, while promoting sustainable land use and nurturing local businesses.
Among the beneficiaries is the Hluvuko Theatre Group, which Malilangwe is supporting during Zimbabwean tourism’s current crisis. Elsewhere, local enterprises are less fortunate. Over 30 communities in Zimbabwe rely on income from tourism under CAMPFIRE (Communal Areas Management Programme for Indigenous Resources), a widely admired, pioneering venture aimed at resolving the conflict over land between wildlife and people. Since its inception in 1989 over 250,000 rural Zimbabweans have taken control of their natural resources. Wildlife is now respected as a breadwinner.
Many trustee organisations are behind CAMPFIRE, including the Wildlife Department, to which hopeful district councils must apply. Some CAMPFIRE communities raise income by leasing land to tour operators such as the horseback safari company in Mavuradona. Others offer cultural and wildlife tourism themselves. In Mazoe, Sunungukai Camp is run by a locally elected committee and offers hiking, fishing and guided small game and birding walks. Guests can camp or stay in traditional huts, eat with villagers and enjoy storytelling and dancing.
Let it Rain Down: Zimbabwe
It seems that the average Zimbabwean had apparently not read those press reports. Or perhaps it is simply that the famous Zimbabwean friendliness is too deeply rooted to be wrenched out by power-crazed propaganda
Alistair Coulson, his wife and a handful of frightened workers had been surrounded by war vets for three days when I arrived on their Esigodini farm, near Bulawayo. The vets had been brought in and re-supplied with government vehicles and though the police agreed that the invasion was illegal they admitted that they were powerless. “We’ve been given three days to take everything we can and get off,” the 51 year-old farmer said. “We’ll move to a neighbouring plot that’s not been ‘designated,’ build another house and try to get things going again.
“This is nothing new. What’s happening to us has happened to hundreds of others…and will happen to many more before this is over.” In fact The World Food Program estimates that 800,000 black workers on the white-owned farms could lose their jobs through land occupation and, while the regime claims to have successfully resettled 350,000 people, the opposition says that fewer than 40,000 are actually battling the drought in ill-prepared and unsanitary squatter communities.
The ideals of social reform and equality that once gave birth to the land-redistribution programmes have now been swallowed up by a hunger for racial vengeance and have cost the country more than 40% of its agricultural production within the last year alone. In what was once considered ‘the bread-basket of Southern Africa’ millions of people now face starvation, and this is just the centre of a web of misery that the Mugabe regime has spawned throughout all sectors of the economy. You don’t have to look far beyond Zimbabwe’s borders to see what affect a hungry population can have on wildlife.
The walls of Guy Hilton-Barber’s office are covered with painstakingly accurate wildlife paintings by his artist son. They are the sort of portraits that could only have been done by someone with a profound love and understanding for Africa’s animals. But many of the animals in the paintings are now rare sightings at Barberton Lodge and within a short time their kind could become almost extinct throughout the entire 160,000 hectare Bubiana Conservancy area in Southern Zimbabwe.
In stark contrast to the noble heads and alert postures in the paintings were the heart-breaking photos that Mr Hilton-Barber had fanned out across his desk: a zebra carcass left to rot with just one miserable shoulder steak removed; a black rhino that died of thirst with its leg mangled by a wire snare; a baby rhino incinerated in deliberately-set bushfires. The figures on Barberton’s yearly ‘death list’ (inconceivable even when backed up by the vivid snapshots) only represent carcasses discovered by rangers who are finding it increasingly dangerous to patrol due to encroaching ‘war vet’ settlements. The Wildlife Producers Association doggedly mails out monthly updates of these figures to people who it considers are ‘in a position to influence the situation’…to little avail.
Within the course of the last dramatic year I had visited Zimbabwe three times and, arriving just after the farcical elections (which might have spawned a revolution in many more volatile countries) I was struck anew by the unbelievable tolerance of the majority of Zimbabweans, of all races. The very fact that things had deteriorated so quickly through the increasingly desperate tactics of the Mugabe regime had bred a sort of fatalistic optimism all of its own: “Let it rain down,” Zimbabweans seemed to say, “this can only last so long.”
As one lodge owner pointed out: “It’s a sure sign of how rich the country is when you look around after a prolonged period of such frantic plundering and realise that, despite the best efforts of our corrupt politicians, there is still so much here.”
One day I drove out of Bulawayo with David Waddy, whose family has lived in Matabeleland longer than anyone can remember and started one of the area’s first tourism operations at Big Cave Camp. As we approached Matobo Hills we drove into an un-seasonal drizzle – the first rain in four months of drought – and saw a cyclist pedalling stoically towards us with an umbrella over his shoulder. The cyclist’s smile widened as he saw who was driving the bakkie and he clamped the umbrella tentatively into his neck in order to make a salutary wave. “That’s my old builder from Big Cave,” said Dave, “– he’s now the leader of the war vets in this area.”
Having fuelled my anticipation for this trip on a diet of increasingly sensational press-reports describing Mugabe’s misguided hate-campaign against whites, I was not prepared for this cheerful greeting. The Minister of Information, Jonathon Moyo, had recently stated that independent journalists ‘would take a long, long time to go back to their countries’ and Mugabe himself had condoned the torture of journalists who reported ‘falsehoods.’ As I travelled ‘as a backpacker’ across much of the country – usually on local transport, staying often in downtown hostels and visiting areas that were not usually frequented by tourists - I never once encountered even the slightest sign of hostility.
It seems that the average Zimbabwean had apparently not read those press reports. Or perhaps it is simply that the famous Zimbabwean friendliness is too deeply rooted to be wrenched out by power-crazed propaganda.
I met with several lodge owners in western Zimbabwe and it was typical of the unpredictability of the situation that each was convinced that his was the only sensible way of outlasting the threats: “Stay politically neutral but step up community works,” said one; “Batten hatches and wait out the storm”; “Get the hell out and come back when it’s over”; one, from Lake Kariba, had actually made a conscious decision to step-up their marketing drive. “Now’s the time to push,” he said. “Anyone who sticks it out will be sitting-pretty when this is over.”
And the only thing that they all agree on is that the nightmare will be over one day and that Zimbabwe will work its way back to the celebrated position that it once had when people were lining up to get in, rather than scouting for a way out. There are some who say that tourists should boycott Zimbabwe because visitors are lining the pockets of the Mugabe regime but many others (especially from the Southern African region) are deliberately returning in a conscious effort to do what they can to ease the country through.
While there are still a few clients to go around there is still a possibility of riding out the storm, and the tourists I met shared the same opinion on the current benefits of holidaying in Zimbabwe. One man, who had spent three weeks visiting a chain of lodges down the western border with his family, summed it up: “If I hadn’t picked up the newspapers or listened to the radio I might never have realised that there’s a problem in Zimbabwe. Prices are highly competitive now and we’ve had lodges and often even game reserves almost to ourselves. It’s tough for the owners but, in effect, exclusivity has become affordable here.”
There are signs that even the ruling party has began to realise that it needs to get the tourists back, but the announcement that they budgeted £1.4 million for advertising (while millions face starvation because of un-harvested crops) serves only to illustrate how far out of touch they are. Tourists already want to come to Zimbabwe; they don’t need to be convinced of its attractions but they do require reassurance that the plundering, poaching and hatred is under control.
In the meantime the MDC preach non-violence and wait as Zanu PF dig their own grave: “Let it rain down…this can only go on for so long.”
Esigodini farmer Alistair Coulson’s final words - as we stood beside the family home from which he was being evicted – seemed to symbolise the unshakeable Zimbabwean faith in the country. “Though I’m leaving under protest, I’m a farmer and I’ve offered to act as an adviser when the new owner arrives. This is good, rich land. It can feed people.” They are words that are being echoed with growing frustration all over Zimbabwe.
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Zimbabwe Safari Lodge
Victoria Falls - The Adventure Capital of Africa
“Scenes so lovely must have been gazed upon by angels in their flight” – quote by David Livingstone
Victoria Falls, known by the locals as ‘Mosi-oa-Tunya’ which means ‘the Smoke that Thunders’, is regarded as one of the Seven Wonders of the World. The Victoria Falls span some 1700 m across making it the largest curtain of water in the world during high water. It drops about 100m over a sheet of basalt rock rumbling and crashing like thunder into the Zambezi Gorge below. The vast cloud of mist that it creates can reach 400m high and be seen from 40 km away.
Remarkably preserved in its natural state, Victoria Falls inspires visitors as much today as it did David Livingstone in 1855. The Victoria Falls and the surrounding area have been declared National Parks and a World Heritage Site, thus preserving the area from excessive commercialisation. The continuous spray creates a rainforest ecosystem, a nature sanctuary rich in fauna and flora.
You may ask what the best time of the year is to see Victoria Falls. The Victoria Falls and its spectacular flow of water can be enjoyed throughout most of the year. The volume of water cascading over the falls is entirely dependent on the rainfall in the catchment area of the Zambezi River.
High water is from February to mid July:
The Victoria Falls is at its highest and most spectacular, thundering over the edge and creating its thick cloud of mist. Prepare to be drenched when viewing the falls! River rafting and river boarding down the Zambezi River is sometimes closed between mid March and early May because the river becomes unsafe. I believe this is the best time to enjoy a scenic helicopter and microlight flight over the falls to get the full appreciation of the Zambezi’s immense power.
Low water is from July to end January:
Low water season has its advantages too as visitors are able to fully appreciate the geological formation of the falls as visibility will be clear. This is also of course when river rafting and river boarding is at its most adventurous, rushing adrenalin through your body like no other activity has ever done or will ever do! Regarded as the world's greatest white water rafting adventure, rafting down the mighty Zambezi is an experience like none other.
Victoria Falls is not renowned as Africa’s Adventure Capital for nothing! The adventure activities available to you here are endless. We’ve mentioned white water rafting and river boarding down the mighty Zambezi and helicopter and microlight flights over the Victoria Falls, but there is plenty more such as canoeing safaris on the Zambezi, kayaking, walking with lions, horse-back and elephant-back safaris, game drives into Zambezi National Park, gorge swing, bunji jumping (111m drop!), sunset cruises, jet boating, abseiling and fishing. There are also guided tours of Livingstone and Victoria Falls town as well as day safaris to Chobe National Park in Botswana and Hwange National Park in Zimbabwe. So I would recommend a minimum of 3 nights in Victoria Falls to experience what it’s all about.
Some of the best African arts and crafts can be found at the local arts and crafts markets in both Livingstone and Victoria Falls. The vendors are often pushy so be prepared to stand your ground, but they are happy to bargain with you and often you are able to exchange a t-shirt or some piece of clothing for the African art.
‘Money matters’ is quite an important topic to understand before visiting Zimbabwe. The Zimbabwean economy is in turmoil. The best is to take US dollars, British Pounds, Euros or South African Rand cash with you. These are accepted everywhere. Many of the major hotels will take visa and master credit cards and some will take American Express but some take none at all. Many of the restaurants do not take credit cards and payment must be in cash. Preferably take smaller denominations with you to pay for things like tips, drinks, visas at the border post, as you may get change in Zimbabwe dollars and this currency completely worthless even in Zimbabwe because it depreciates daily.
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Flights to Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe is in Southern Africa and has a border with South Africa in the south, Botswana in the south west, Zambia in the north west and Mozambique to the north and the east. It’s a landlocked country, but has several important rivers.
All flights from South Africa to Zimbabwe will need to be via Johannesburg, where you can board a connecting flight and then get a direct flight from Johannesburg’s O R Tambo International Airport to Zimbabwe’s capital, Harare.
Although some airlines have ceased their Zimbabwe flights, you still have a very good choice of airlines when flying from South Africa; you can choose a flight with Zimbabwe’s national carrier, Air Zimbabwe, South African Airways (SAA), British Airways (BA), Kenya Airways and Nationwide Airlines as well as the budget carrier Kulula.com
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26: Walking Victoria Falls - Diary of a Single Girl - Zambia and Zimbabwe
The guidebook said the Zambian side of Victoria Falls offered a better view and cheaper admission. Hmm, cheaper and better. It didn't take long for Raylene and I to decide to stroll over the Zambian border to view mighty Victoria Falls. But like everything else in Africa, all was not what it appeared to be. The "short walk" described in the book became a 30-minute trek in the 100-degree African sun, and the cheaper entrance fee must have been before the Zambians got wise to charging in US dollars.
We finally arrived at the Zambian entrance to the Victoria Falls park and found that we had to pay $10 US on top of the extra $10 for a one-day visa Americans were also required to pay. Already this had become more expensive than visiting the Zimbabwean side, where you could pay in local currency, making entry a measly $2-3.
But we were here now and determined to experience what has been described as one of the most magnificent falls in the world. But where were they? We walked past large groups of local vendors peddling their wares and families of monkeys trying to steal our chips and could hear the distant freight train roar of the Falls, but we still couldn't see them.
When we finally spotted Victoria Falls, my first reaction was "is this it?" I'd been told the spray from the Falls is so strong that visitors get soaked from 500 yards away and that the mist is so thick you can barely see the Falls themselves; but I was very dry and looking right at them... or at least at all the rocks were the water was supposed to be. We'd come to Victoria Falls in the dry season, but it never occurred to us that that meant the falls could dry out! While there were still some sections flowing, at least 50 percent was currently nothing more then a rocky precipice.
Disappointed, we wandered around the bit, trying to get closer to the wet areas when we did a double take – we spotted people walking along the top of the dried falls! These weren't locals, these were other tourists. Somehow they'd managed to cross a water barrier to the dry sections and were picking their way to the flowing portions. This gave Raylene and I renewed purpose: we were going to walk the top of Victoria Falls. After all, how many people in the world can say they've done that?
Quickly, local boys appeared, who for a few dollars would be our "guides," walking us along the Falls until we reached a portion where there was actually water flowing. But first we had to cross a small concrete band about six inches in width, over which flowed rapidly running water.
We smirked at a sign warning us of water bursts and crocodiles, until we stepped in the ankle-deep water and realized the water's force combined with the narrow ledge could lead to a potentially dangerous fall into the inhabited waters. But we uneventfully reached a dry patch and began to stumble our way over the jagged and jumbled rocks. It was hard to imagine that this barren land was inundated with hundreds of millions of gallons of rushing whitewater most of the year. Along our hike, the boys got word of an errant and hungry elephant also trudging along the top of the Falls, so we veered closer to the Falls' edge to make sure we gave the unseen animal a wide berth.
Occasionally there would be a patch of still water we had to circumvent. At one point, Raylene beckoned me to follow her as she figured out yet another water detour. I looked at the scene behind her and silently shook my head "no" as I made my own way. After she finished crossing she asked me why wouldn't follow her. I replied, "look over your shoulder. It was then she realized she was within five feet of the edge of Falls, just steps away from a 1000+-foot drop into the gorge.
Eventually, we came upon a group of boys jumping into a water hole located precariously close to the white water hurtling over the edge of the Falls. Our guides invited us to join in for a swim. We were definitely in need of a cooling-off period after our trek, but even being able to have bragging rights to swimming in Victoria Falls wasn't going to convince us to get an arm's length away from instant death.
Soon after taking pictures of ourselves leaning over the Falls, we realized the sun was starting to set and we had at least a 40-minute hike back to our starting point. At the risk of turning an ankle on the twisted rocks, we tried to quicken our pace. With roaming elephants, lurking crocodiles and no flashlight, the prospect of being out on the Falls after dark was quickly making us uncomfortable. But about halfway back we had to stop at a curious sight.
There were white table clothed tables being set up on a stretch of elevated grassy knoll in the middle of the dried up Falls. I asked a tuxedoed man who was setting up the tables what it was about. He commented that this stretch of land was an island normally only accessible by boat. Guests at a nearby resort are ferried over by speedboat to have dinner in the middle of the Falls. I couldn't imagine dinner during full faucet mode could be all that pleasant, with guests having to struggle over the roar of the water to ask their fellow diners to pass the salt, while using their fancy dinner napkins to continually wipe the spray from their faces.
I asked the man if there was any way Raylene and I could pay for a boat ride back so we didn't have to walk another 20 minutes in the rapidly failing light. Since just about everything in Africa is for sale for a price, I was surprised we couldn't sway him. We didn't say much after that, keeping our focus on our goal and hoping our second crossing over the water ledge wasn't in the dark.
As we finally plodded wearily back to Zimbabwe and our adrenalin started to wane, we began to realize the risks we'd taken. We finally admitted to each other that this wasn't the smartest thing we had ever done. But, like everything we'd experienced together thus far, it would make a helluva great story when we got home.
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