15 MARCH 2019

It is Thursday night, and we have shared a very satisfying pizza, some cider and the local beer – the Mosi, and retired to our room at Avani for a well-earned rest. It has been a very worthwhile few days here, though I think we would both conclude that we could well have spent more time here to soak up the culture and the variety of this vast landscape. We have barely scraped the surface and felt quite enriched, even with these few experiences.

We arrived here on Tuesday with uneventful experiences of airports and airlines for the 90-minute flight into Livingstone International, a modest but efficient and well laid out airport. We bought a Uni-Visa for US$50 which allows unlimited crossings between Zimbabwe and Zambia, an important consideration as Victoria Falls is right on the border. I had purchased a transfer ticket to take us to our hotel, the Avani Victoria Falls, but I was only vaguely confident that the purchase was successful. I had a confirmation email, but no actual ticket, and as you might expect, none of the names being held aloft by hopeful drivers, bore the names “William and Jennifer”. Fortunately, we found a helpful guide in Yvonnee, who offered to take us for considerably less than the already purchased ticket, and was also able to advise us and arrange some activities. It turned out that the original transfer did not operate between the airport and Zambian hotels – only Zimbabwean. We have already been refunded, so that was something positive.

The first activity was a sunset cruise up the Zambezi for a couple of hours aboard the African Queen. We motored along at a very sedate pace, tripping over from shore to shore in search of wildlife. I don’t think we found any, but as we were the only passengers on the bottom deck, apart from a lovely lady (Maggie) from Jersey, we found the time relaxing and restorative as we sipped some drinks and nibbled on the food provided. The seats were comfy and the time was just what we needed. With the sun setting among the clouds upstream, the boat turned and began the journey back, pausing for a while as the sunset burst into brilliant shades of pink and orange, until the sun dropped behind a cloud, seemingly into the river itself. I half expected the river to boil from the sun’s heat.

Our room here at Avani is very comfortable. The resort comprises a number of different buildings, including (of course) some for accommodation, a conference centre, dining room, a pavilion with bar, pizza oven and barbecues – and a couple of pools. There is a path to the Falls and it is only a short 5 minute walk to the first viewing platform. We were pleasantly surprised to be greeted by Zebra and Impala at the bottom of our stairs, wishing us a very good day. They like the lush, well-watered lawns of the resort. The lush and well-watered lawns also produce enormous amounts of animal droppings, presumably from the Zebra. We were fortunate not to step into any we stumbled over the dark lawns after dinner on Tuesday night. We have also seen a giraffe, meerkat and a crocodile in the grounds (which are quite large). The croc was on a little island, but they swim, don’t they?

Our lovely and generous children had conspired to buy us a helicopter flight over the Falls. We thought we were victimised in having to buy a $15 cab fare to the bridge, where we would meet our official transfer on the Zimbabwe side of the border. As it turned out, it was good value, as the driver was very helpful through the border crossing, and he agreed to meet us when we were finished and returned to the border.

At the briefing for the chopper ride, the guide showed us the route, a figure eight with two passes along the  mile-wide Falls, sweeping over the steep ravines that is the Zambezi downstream, as it drops away with white water and a quickly-flowing stream, then flying upstream and over the national park.

Jen was the co-pilot in the front seat, while I took up back-seat driving. From the air, the Falls are a magnificent spectacle, and with the river flowing well, there was a marvellous, mile-wide curtain of water roaring over the cliffs, clouds of spray drifting high in the sky, and fantastic views of the wide river and islands upstream. From the sky we got an excellent picture of our resort, perched along the edge of the river. One question that occurred to both of us was the disparity between the vast amounts of water, 1700 meters wide, that comes over the Falls, and the minuscule amount of water in the ravines downstream. At different places it looks like (apart from being a ravine) the Darling at Wilcannia – barely flowing. Yet the flow over the falls and the flow down river must be the same – it does not evaporate. Jen asked Francis, our driver today (Thursday) about this and he had a most novel conclusion. According to him, water is used on the Zambian side for hydro-electric power generation. I had always imagined that the water would be returned to the river once it did its work on the turbines. In any case I understand that the hydro plant uses water diverted before the Falls, so in reality there should be more water downstream than comes over the Falls. Anyway, that is a diversion (so to speak) that a geographer or other scientist may answer for us.

I am sure the pilot gave us much more that the 25 allotted minutes, and it was a marvellous experience. Jenny climbed from the cabin, beaming, and she is not one for flight of any kind.

Yvonnee had arranged for us to go on a Chobe Safari. We had an early start for a drive down to the Botswana border at Kazungula. When you get to Kazungula, you see a sign with the proud boast “you are entering a corruption-free zone.” This does not appear to have advantaged its citizens as the roads and streets are appalling! Maybe a bribe or two might help local infrastructure.

The border is an astonishing experience. The area is filled with people, trucks and cars all jostling for priority. Exiting through the Zambian border, we crossed the Zambezi in an aluminium skiff, while trucks and cars use a ferry which can take two trucks only. A major construction is the Kuzungula Bridge, a wonderful piece of engineering, that will link Botswana and Zambia. As it is, the ferry is not really coping with the semis and B-doubles queued for miles on the Botswana side. I am told the wait is up to 2 weeks for a turn to cross into Zambia.

As we stepped from our little craft into Botswana we were joined by our guide, and driven a few kilometres upstream on the Chobe River. (The Chobe joins the Zambezi at Kuzungula.) The Chobe is a vast waterway of wide streams, wetlands and islands, accommodating huge populations of animals. We were joined by three others in a flat-bottomed boat that took us up river and into the marshy reeds in search of Africa’s finest. The abundance of animals is astonishing, with elephants, cape buffalo, antelope, hippos all feeding off the lush grasses along the Chobe shores. There were a couple of apologetic crocodiles – babies only. Following the boat trip we went on a drive through the park and saw more elephant, a huge herd of buffalo, baboons, giraffes, antelope of many type, but no cats. It was a very hot day, so the cats were doing the smart thing of staying indoors – or at least sheltered from the sun.

All in all, our time here at Vic Falls and the region has been most rewarding. Of course, so much not seen. We would have loved to have had time for the Okavango Delta, and gone deeper into the Chobe Park. Perhaps another time…

We have enjoyed our short stay in Zambia. The city of Livingstone a few kilometres from the Falls is a nice looking city, well laid out, nicely paved streets and much better maintained than Arusha. So much more we could have done with a longer stay.We are off in the late morning. Jen has an appointment with one of the crafty purveyors of tourist goods. I am keeping well away. Jo’burg Friday night, thence on to Israel for a tour.