Victoria Falls

[Kris]

My wife and I fly to Victoria Falls from CAP for 4 days in late April and we would very much appreciate some practical information:
1) should we get a taxi at the airport or pre-book ?
2) hints about local tours (book in advance or when we get there?)
3) hints about day tours to Chobe NP

 

[knick1959]

Are you actually flying into VFA in Zimbabwe? Or LVI in Zambia? My wife and I just did this in late Sept flying into LVI. I can offer some suggestions but again, we were Zambia-centric.

NOTE that a majority of the falls are in Zambia. However, this means you have to be in Zimbabwe to see them better . At the time we were there (again, a month ago, admittedly in low season) the view from Zambia was a single (healthy) trickle. The view from the park in Zimbabwe was still spectacular. We did see guides with small groups of people in the falls park on the ZIM side, and it seems they did offer some history and pointers, but it's a park with a dozen overlook points (might only be 11?) and it's easy to navigate yourself. $30 each for an entrance fee.

The ZAM side was mostly ignored by us based on what other said and showed us as recent pictures. If you want to do the adventurous Devil's Pool thing, that's on the ZAM side.

PM coming ...

 

[knick1959]

Ah, yes, and as I mentioned in the PM, we took a guided tour into Chobe using Kalahari Tours:

http://www.kalaharichobe.com/

They were well organized and efficient. We actually did an overnight trip, which in hindsight was a bit expensive as an additional cost over the reasonable day trip, but we'd do it again (perhaps staying even longer).

They arrange pick up from hotels in Livingstone and Victoria Falls and organize all the logistics (shuttle from hotel to Chobe River, ferry across the river to the Botswana side, shuttle to their office/boat dock).

Three hour tour on the Chobe River where you see TONS of animals. Lunch, then an afternoon game drive into Chobe on sandy, bumpy roads. Tons more animals and the opportunity for some very up close experiences.

 

[Kris]

Thanks for all the info; we will study it carefully! We fly to VFA and stay in a VF hotel in Zimbabwe. We take a 4 month around the world trip (traveling west to avoid jet lag) mostly on miles and points but one segment from Hong Kong to Cape Town we take on a cruise ship. The cruise ship will offer tours in CT but we want to investigate other options. It seems that you were happy with your guide/driver in Cape Town; do you have his contact info? what was the cost?
What is your next trip? ;-)

 

[knick1959]

Thanks for all the info; we will study it carefully! We fly to VFA and stay in a VF hotel in Zimbabwe. We take a 4 month around the world trip (traveling west to avoid jet lag) mostly on miles and points but one segment from Hong Kong to Cape Town we take on a cruise ship. The cruise ship will offer tours in CT but we want to investigate other options. It seems that you were happy with your guide/driver in Cape Town; do you have his contact info? what was the cost?
What is your next trip? ;-)

For our Capetown Peninsula tour we went through Viator.com (this is a TripAdvisor offshoot). However, they are just the matchmakers. Our driver was very good. He gave us his card for direct contact. I will dig it up and shoot it your way this evening. Through Viator.com we paid $189 for the 2 of us and he drove us around for 7 hours. You can probably find a better price (not sure what he would charge privately but again, I'll find his info).

We're done for the year although 4 remaining PTO days this year are bugging me (plus we have the SW companion pass through next year) so we COULD do something domestically. Belize in January and then a US-centric 2018 (because of the SW CP). SE Asia in early 2019.

 

[knick1959]

As for taxis, they are pretty easy to find, even if you don't want one. We found taxi drivers aggressive (at least around the border areas). Taxis are relatively "cheap" as in $5-10 for most of the short trips we took. However, we did pre-arrange drivers from the airport to the hotel and back at $30 both ways via Wild Side Tours, which may be a Zambia-only side thing. It was nice to have a driver waiting at the airport, and we got the same friendly driver to drive us back 3 days later. We could have done it more cheaply, but I'm glad we did it this way. I'm sure the same types of outfits are around in Zimbabwe.

A side note: While in Zimbabwe for a long afternoon, we ate at the Lookout Cafe (recommended - great food and wicked open-air views into the gorge). We asked when done for them to call a taxi for us, but they insisted their own shuttle would take us where we wanted. Nice! As it turns out, this is owned or partnered with Wild Horizons, a tour operator on the ZIM side).

http://www.wildhorizons.co.za/the-lookout-cafe/

 

[knick1959]

If you end up in the Victoria Falls National Park gift shop (ZIM side), you could do me a huge favor! There is a predominately displayed book entitled simply "Elephant" or maybe "Elephants" that my wife failed to take a picture of. We didn't buy it there and now can't find it anywhere. But she didn't remember enough info to do a real search. The author or ISBN, and even the actual complete title would be helpful. From memory, it's brown-ish, hardcover with a single elephant on the cover. I think . If you happen to see it? Thanks.

 

[Kris]

If you end up in the Victoria Falls National Park gift shop (ZIM side), you could do me a huge favor! There is a predominately displayed book entitled simply "Elephant" or maybe "Elephants" that my wife failed to take a picture of. We didn't buy it there and now can't find it anywhere. But she didn't remember enough info to do a real search. The author or ISBN, and even the actual complete title would be helpful. From memory, it's brown-ish, hardcover with a single elephant on the cover. I think . If you happen to see it? Thanks.

I added this to my itinerary, but it will several months before we get there.

 

[bayguy]

I went Vic Falls 2 years back in June and stayed on Zimbabwe side. Looks like you are getting good tips from others but if you need any info, ask here(ex: we were vegetarians and it was tough to find good veg options).

 

[Kris]

Thanks. Basically I want to decide if to book tours online or after we get there. I found that quite often (but not always) you get a better selection and a much better price locally but then you may need to waste a lot of time to find it after you arrive.

 

[bayguy]

I would advice you to book tours beforehand as there are two main operators in VFA area. You need a ride even from the airport to the hotels which will be arranged by your tour operator.

I went with Rhino tours(had a safari booked with them) and they gave the VF portion to wild horizons.

 

[knick1959]

Thanks for all the info; we will study it carefully! We fly to VFA and stay in a VF hotel in Zimbabwe. We take a 4 month around the world trip (traveling west to avoid jet lag) mostly on miles and points but one segment from Hong Kong to Cape Town we take on a cruise ship. The cruise ship will offer tours in CT but we want to investigate other options. It seems that you were happy with your guide/driver in Cape Town; do you have his contact info? what was the cost?
What is your next trip? ;-)

We finally found his card. My wife had to pack for the next significant trip in order to find it.

Here's David's web site ... I'll put it in a code block even though I'm sure it isn't really required:

http://www.borninafricatours.co.za/

Was going to PM you all of his personal data, but everything I have is listed on the web site except for his last name, which doesn't seem very important. I can fill in any blanks if needed. Hopefully this isn't too late to be helpful. Again, he took us on the day long peninsula tour as booked via Viator.com. Very good and I would recommend him for any tour or airport transport.

REMINDER/UPDATE: He does the Cape Town area and I think that is it.

 

[Kris]

We finally found his card. My wife had to pack for the next significant trip in order to find it.

Here's David's web site ... I'll put it in a code block even though I'm sure it isn't really required:

http://www.borninafricatours.co.za/

Was going to PM you all of his personal data, but everything I have is listed on the web site except for his last name, which doesn't seem very important. I can fill in any blanks if needed. Hopefully this isn't too late to be helpful. Again, he took us on the day long peninsula tour as booked via Viator.com. Very good and I would recommend him for any tour or airport transport.

REMINDER/UPDATE: He does the Cape Town area and I think that is it.

Thanks!

 

[SanDiego1K]

We're headed to the Zambian side of the falls later this year. There is a Protea hotel that is just 7,500 points per night, level one in the Marriott program. It gets positive reviews on FlyerTalk and on TripAdvisor. I know the OP didn't ask about hotels but I mention it for others planning a similar trip.

 

[knick1959]

We're headed to the Zambian side of the falls later this year. There is a Protea hotel that is just 7,500 points per night, level one in the Marriott program. It gets positive reviews on FlyerTalk and on TripAdvisor. I know the OP didn't ask about hotels but I mention it for others planning a similar trip.

Stayed there just a couple of months ago. The outside of the place is pretty nondescript, but the inside is really nice and the staff very attentive. The restaurant and bar area were excellent. We stayed 3 nights @7.5k each night (for which one night we actually slept in a tent in Botswana, but we kept the room booked). Great value.

 

[Kris]

We will be there late April and we are still undecided between Protera and a hotel in Victoria Falls Town. Protera seems like really great deal for 7,500 points with very good reviews and free breakfast due to our Marriott status. The hotels in VF are much more basic or much more expensive. On the other hand we fly into VFA, in VF we could easily visit the town and walk to the falls, not in Protea. Botswana tours are also cheaper and more convenient from VF.
knick1959: were you happy with your hotel choice overall?

 

[knick1959]

knick1959: were you happy with your hotel choice overall?

Very happy. It was a great choice. The open-air feel of the inside was great and you can't beat the point price. That said, getting ourselves to the ZIM side wasn't a great experience. ZIM immigration at the bridge was slow and inefficient both ways; in and out. The ZAM side was pretty easy.

 

[Kris]

If we decide on Protera we will perhaps rent a car at the VFA since we would cross the ZAM/ZIM boarder several times. What was your impression of the driving conditions there?

 

[knick1959]

If we decide on Protera we will perhaps rent a car at the VFA since we would cross the ZAM/ZIM boarder several times. What was your impression of the driving conditions there?

Didn't seem to be too bad. However, I've read that getting a car (particularly a rental) across the border was still troublesome. I HAVE NO EXPERIENCE, but it seemed to me that I didn't need that kind of stress. And it was still stressful . If it wouldn't have been 100 degrees that day, and we didn't decide to walk so far and at peak tourist time of day, it might have been better and easier.

 

[Kris]

If you end up in the Victoria Falls National Park gift shop (ZIM side), you could do me a huge favor! There is a predominately displayed book entitled simply "Elephant" or maybe "Elephants" that my wife failed to take a picture of. We didn't buy it there and now can't find it anywhere. But she didn't remember enough info to do a real search. The author or ISBN, and even the actual complete title would be helpful. From memory, it's brown-ish, hardcover with a single elephant on the cover. I think . If you happen to see it? Thanks.

The book is by Ralph Stutchbury; isbn 978-0-7974-5109-4; http://www.ralphstutchbury.com/books.php

 

[knick1959]

The book is by Ralph Stutchbury; isbn 978-0-7974-5109-4; http://www.ralphstutchbury.com/books.php

Thank you so much! I'll go check it out and my wife will be thrilled.

Appreciate you remembering this over such a long stretch. I trust you enjoyed (or are still enjoying) your trip?

 

[Refirybo]

Also planning trip there, would appreciate some tips

 

[jerryjerry]

That sounds like an amazing trip! For your visit to Victoria Falls, it's generally best to pre-book your airport transfer to ensure a reliable service, especially if you’re arriving late. Local tours are also better booked in advance to secure your spots, though you can sometimes arrange them upon arrival if you prefer spontaneity. For day tours to Chobe National Park, advance booking is recommended as these tours are popular and can fill up quickly. Checking CLC Lodging reviews might provide useful insights into various tour operators and help you choose a reputable service. Enjoy your adventure at Victoria Falls!