One of a kind - Trip to Victoria Falls/Livingstone

View of the Victoria Falls on the Zimbabwe side, from Zambia

All work and no travel unquestionably make for a dreary life in our home.  Travel in my opinion gives us a panoramic view of life outside, lets us experience firsthand what life holds for people in other parts of the world, how much the environment influences  people and vice-versa.  As mentioned in my blog on our trip to Tanzania, we love the road less travelled but it is enjoyable sometimes to take the road frequently travelled, especially when hard-pressed for time. I have a bucket list of places to visit in Africa and  I constantly hear from friends and family of those beautiful places nestled quietly around us. It is a difficult task to set a time frame for these voyages but I love the fact-finding exercise and the idea of planning these trips as a hobby. For the time being P and I seem to be  in-sync about that mile long list, I can’t begin to think how tricky it would be otherwise.

A 23th hour design to tour Victoria Falls in Zambia ensued last month. In terms of travel, DRC posts a lot of hurdles, we are not pampered with many flight connections to other parts of Africa, our neighbour being one of them. Zambia is about an hour from here, yet there is no direct flight to its capital Lusaka from Lubumbashi, the 2nd largest city in DRC. We had to drive down to the border and across, to the nearest airport city at Ndola through the copper belt, which certainly gave P much delight. At the end of the day, we were thoroughly entertained by the drive, albeit arduous, for the diverse experience, the border protocol, the roads, the landscape, and the presence of mining companies along the way, incredible few hours I must say.  More than 24 hours, a road trip and 2 flights later we arrive at Livingstone, quaint and queer, the home of the Victoria Falls.

Victoria Falls or Mosi-oa-Tunya (translated  as  ‘the smoke that thunders') is situated on River Zambezi, the 4th longest  river in Africa, neatly dividing Zambia and Zimbabwe. Dr David Livingstone, a Scottish missionary and doctor is the 1st known European to view the Falls from the only piece of land that is accessible on the Victoria Falls, now called the Livingstone Island. He named the breathtaking sight Victoria Falls after the Queen of England. Victoria Falls is twice the height of Niagara and 500metres wider; Niagara is  however 1.5 greater in terms of the mean annual flow rate.

We stayed at the Zambezi Sun, a resort placed idyllically in the midst of the Mosi-oa-Tunya National Park and only 500metres from the Victoria Falls. A few terracotta coated  array of suites  adorning the manicured lawns and plenty of greenery all  around, impalas, zebras, giraffes and monkeys going about their routine within the resort without a care in the world, this place makes for a perfect setting for relaxation and rejuvenation.  On the other side, their Activity centre provides us the most wonderful menu in an attempt to  bring out the 'adrenaline junkie' in each one of us.

A perfect holiday, short and sweet, tranquil yet adventurous, a visual treat most of all, hopefully the picture postcards ( some have turned out more elongated than their originals, post upload ) that follow will tell the story as beautifully as our experience was.

Road to Kasumbalesa, DRC-Zambia border

Flight from Ndola to Lusaka

View from Lusaka Airport, a wet day

On our way from the Livingstone airport to the hotel

Located 500metres from the Victoria Falls

My favourite place in the room

View from the balcony

An array of suites

The first glimpse of the Falls

The Knife Edge bridge

Lovely view from the bridge

Dr David Livingstone

The restaurant

Poolside

Impalas within the resort

View of the mist from the Falls from the helipad

Ready for the flight

Bird's eye view of our resort and the Falls

The Victoria Falls bridge connecting Zambia (left) & Zimbabwe (right)

River Zambezi flowing into the gorge

The Victoria Falls bridge again, Zam on the right and Zim on the left

A rainbow, adding to the spectacle

Local musicians adding flavour at the portico

The Reception

Souvenir stores hidden away

Watching a horde of monkeys arriving into the resort

A sunset cruise

A Hippo having a splash

Sunny, serene, sunset on the horizon, one with nature

And an in-house bar

Lovely!!!

Busy bees...no hippos!!!

A patch of land bifurcating Zambezi

On the widest part of the river

Shore on this side

Sunset on the other

Waiting to be transferred to Royal Livingstone, the sister hotel

A corridor at the resort

Waiting at the pier deck of Royal Livingstone, the misty Falls at a distance

Approaching Livingstone island

A 'Treasure island' moment at Livingstone island

On the edge

Fierce

Zambezi all serene...

...before it plummets down the gorge

A 5 course lunch awaits

Back for a walk by the Victoria Falls

Beautiful pathway

Green and misty

Absolute edge

Inbetween Zambia and Zimbabwe

Cannot get closer

A sight to behold

Following the rainbow

On the Knife Edge bridge

By the Reception

Still and dark, the restaurant

A Zebra walking past us at the resort

A giraffe doing the rounds

Microlight flights waiting for us

Am taking off

Like a bird in the sky

Over River Zambezi

P getting strapped in

Waving out to me

Over Victoria Falls

Zambezi changing course, from the road

An invitation to High tea at Royal Livingstone

An awesome spread

Starting with mini quiches

View from the verandah

Lounging in the garden

View of the pier

Atop the Victoria Falls bridge

Double rainbow, can it get better???

The gorge between Zimbabwe and Zambia

Steam engine train tranferring passengers between the 2 countries

The placard says it all

The sun sets on our wonderful holiday

"One's destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things" - Henry Miller