Many people visit the Victoria Falls as a day trip from Kasane. As we had time, we decided to spend two nights there to enjoy it a bit longer. We could not cross the Zimbabwe border with our vehicle, so we organised a taxi to go and come back. It is only an hour away from Kasane.

The taxi picked us up early to be at the border for the opening of the immigration post. There was already a quite long queue at the counter. Exiting from Botswana was easy, entering in Zimbabwe a bit longer as the immigration officer was busier chatting with his colleagues rather than focusing on his work. At some point another counter opened for South African passport holders. A huge crowd shifted to it, leaving the foreigner queue with a handful of people. Yet, our line was the slowest. But never mind, we finally got our combined Zimbabwe and Zambia visa, and headed to Vic Falls.

The taxi dropped us at the hotel where we managed to check in early, and start our discovery. The village was fifteen minutes walk from the hotel. There was nothing fancy on the way, but the city centre is quite charming. Buildings remind of the colonial past, and we could tell straight away that tourism was the only activity. Cafes, curios shops and travel agencies lined up the streets. We had a nice breakfast in one the cafe but realized that prices were tourist-oriented too, and that our stock of US dollars was likely to shrink in no time.

We headed to the National Park to see the famous falls. The are the biggest in the world. We spent few hours there, walking on the edge and stopping at every view point. As we arrived at midday we had lunch and waited for a better light. The park is tucked in lushed trees on a plateau facing the falls. It was nice to stroll around, a light mist refreshing us at times when the wind was blowing our direction. But it was the peak of dry season in a year of drought, so the falls were far from being impressive. The flow lacked power, and there was even no water at all in some areas. In addition, the setting is such that you are almost too close from the falls, so you lack perspective to fully appreciate their height and size. Nevertheless we stayed for a while to enjoy the changing light of the afternoon, and we were glad we did because a large rainbow showcased its colours above the falls. It was quite spectacular.Friends had recommended us to go and have a drink at one of the major hotels of the town to enjoy sunset. Their terrasse has an unblocked view on the surrounding Zambezi National Park. There was no view on the falls but on a waterhole. It was soothing and relaxing to watch the sun set and  wildlife coming and going. Well… Putting aside few Australians commenting very loudly everything that was happening. “Oh my gooooood it’s better than National Geographic”, “she’s spreading her legs, she’s spreading her legs” talking about a giraffe drinking. “She’s spreading her legs”. Yup, we got it, she’s spreading her legs… Enthusiasm is sometimes contagious, but it can also be annoying! Having said that, we realized we were spoiled. It is true that when you have seen giraffes drinking only few metres away from you, you are less enthusiastic about seeing the same hundreds of metres away. But most of all, coming back to civilization and noise and loud people was probably the biggest struggle. All of sudden I was missing the noise of hippos, lions and even elephants. We still had a lovely evening and decided to have dinner there before going back to the hotel.The second day we crossed the bridge over the Zambezi river and the border to Zambia to see the falls from the other side. Given what we had seen from the falls the day before, we hesitated a lot but finally decided to go because we had paid for the visa. Eventually, it felt like we had ticked a box but nothing else. The falls were inexistant on that side, and we only saw bare rocky cliffs. It was a relatively short trip, the main adventure being trying to navigate and escape from the numerous touts on the bridge between Zambia and Zimbabwe.

We had lunch in a local brewery, wandered around a bit and walked back to the hotel. It took ages. I was tired of walking under the heat, and even thought at some point that Eff had lost us. We had a well deserved nap, went out again for dinner, by taxi this time, and got ready to go back to Botswana the morning after.

Our experience of the Victoria falls has been definitely disappointing. Firstly you are considered as a walking wallet. This is true in many places, but we felt it even more strongly there. And the site itself hasn’t delivered. If you consider going, pay attention to the season. Going after rainy season would definitely be a must to see the falls in their full potential. Nevertheless, Eff went to Iguazu falls many years ago, and thinks the view and perspective on Iguazu were way more impressive. And few people we met afterwards told us the same.

So in conclusion, if you plan a trip in Africa and happen to be able to add a leg to the falls, do it. If you want to do a trip only because of the falls, be aware and pick the right time, or you might be disappointed. For us, it was a transition after Botswana. Namibia was calling us again.

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