Border crossing and the Victoria falls

It rained the entire night, from 8pm until 6am this morning. We are damp, and I thank my bladder that, for once,  it didn't make me go in the middle of the night. The ablutions are very far from our campsite, I would have been drenched.

Our transfer to Victoria falls is at 10am this morning, that gives us plenty of time to get ready. And we actually needed the time because we had multiple visits of a family of warthog on our site: one mom and her 4 babies. So we packed camp while always minding where they were so as to keep a safe distance. They didn't seem to really care about us unless we made a sudden move, so it was quite fun.

We have time to chill by the reception for a good hour before our minivan is here. But we keep waiting and waiting, 5 people are missing and the driver is waiting. In the end I put my foot down and told him that we had a tight schedule in Zimbabwe and needed to start going. Time is time, if you are more than 30min late, then you are just not showing up anymore.

It's a short 15min drive to the border. During that time, our driver gives us a lot of tips on how to pass the Zimbabwean border quickly but also all the irregular things that can happen. There is not much love there.

Few advises were: unless you are going to visit the Zambia side of the falls, insist that you want a single entry visa, otherwise they charge you double upfront. He reconfirmed our visa fee, so we were properly informed. Then he said that sometimes they ask for yellow fever, and sometimes not. He also says that you have to pay in dollars, but sometimes they ask you to pay in euro so that they change the money in USD later and pocket the exchange rate for themselves. They also say that you have to provide all documents in your passport and all of them from same group together, not one by one, otherwise people will skip you and you can wait longer.

The Botswana exit is super-fast. As you pass the border, the Zimbabwean side is immediately full of mud and potholes. The border control is a pre-built bungalow, that I would expect on a construction side. We had pre-filled everything online and had a QR code, we were told that this is useless. At this border everything is old school triplicate forms and stamps. Every passport takes a good 5min to be processed.

The first stop is port health, they check your passport, take your temperature and he did want to see our yellow fever book.

We had an arrival form to fill to enter Zimbabwe that our guide had already with him. Then we queue into one of the immigration counter and handed over our passports. 10min later we have paid and gotten our stamps. No issue and fairly standard procedures, although he does ask a lot of questions about ongoing travels.

Our driver from Botswana hands us over to the Zimbabwean driver on the other side of the border and we drive the 1h separating us to Victoria Falls town without incident.

It took 2hours from pick up to drop off to arrive. But the driver from Botswana said that we are lucky, when the big overlander tourist buses come through, you can be stuck at the border for hours. These big buses usually have their arrangements in Zimbabwe and skip the queue, the counters will be closed to manage them in priority leaving everyone else stranded for as long as it take.

We had asked to be dropped off at the entrance of Victoria Falls, so that we could start our visit. We only have a small backpack and we have prepared a picnic to eat on the go.

The geography of the Falls is unique, it's a huge crack with drastic vertical walls. Because it's so narrow, the spray lifts in the air like smoke, and you can see where the falls are from far away.

It's low water season, and we are not seeing them at their best. Nevertheless, it's quite an impressive sight. I do believe that from the air, they would look very nice, these helicopter rides seem tempting.

There are 16 viewpoints, and it takes about 2h to walk all the paths and enjoy them all. We are lucky because the weather is very good today, we had prepared for a wet day as per the weather forecast. I am happy it was wrong. We still end up drenched, some viewpoints are right in the middle of the spray and it's like you are standing in the rain !

In high water season ( March/April/May), I wonder if you can see the falls at all with the spray?

While the falls are impressive, I did find Iguazu falls in Brazil side more picturesque. Both are a must visit.

We finish strolling through the national park at about 2pm and catch a taxi to our hotel. It's going to be our first real bed in 2 weeks. It's a little bit of a shame that we don't have much will be o enjoy the rest of the facilities because it's a nice place. 

The moment we get into the room, we forgot all about the swimming pool, and just crashed in bed and enjoyed the Aircon. Alexis takes a long nap and I take a piping hot, extra-long shower and a short nap. Funny this is what you miss. We have 2hours of quiet time before our next activity.

I have booked a diner cruise on the Zambezi river. I wanted to do it but couldn't find how to book. It's the French couple we met in Sandwich harbor that provided the contact and I am so thankful for their tip. The cruise boat is lovely, the overall atmosphere very nice. The weather is perfect and the river wide and calm. We feel instantly relaxed. Furthermore the food was excellent ( 4 courses  seated meal ) and with impeccable service. Drinks were free flow and their table wines were pretty decent. We observed the river banks while dining and spotted some wildlife ( hippos, crocodiles and beautiful birds). Truly a memorable experience.

The drive back to the hotel is marked by a hippo crossing the road. Proof that they go really deep inland at night to graze. Insurances do not cover night driving because of the risk of hitting wildlife here, that was certainly an improbable encounter.

We arrive fairly tired at the hotel around 9pm. But it's a short night, tomorrow we watch the sunrise on the Bamba tram.