Malawi 2016: Day 9 - 22 May 2016 Livingstone

Day's trip schedule

Livingstone -> Vic Falls

Distance & time taken

27 km
45 mins

Accommodation

Zambezi Waterfront Lodge (www.thezambeziwaterfront.com)
between Livingstone town & Vic Falls on the T1

Trip Notes

When I got up to make coffee this morning, the German cycling tourists on the opposite campsite were slowly arising & starting to get their gear sorted. As we saw a bit later, they were doing a short slow ride around town & the falls to get the legs moving after the flight the previous day. It's a relaxing start to the day watching others working hard whilst you sit on your butt - although this was with a cup of coffee & not an ice cold Mosi.

We had breakfast after the cyclists had left & then took a leisurely drive down to the falls. We stopped off at the Zip Line which is situated a few kilometres downstream as the river flows but very short if one takes a straight line. This is because of all the switchbacks that the river has made over the millennia. It was after 10 when we got there & we were the first people they had seen today. They tried there best to convince us to have a go on the zip line but with my vertigo, they had no chance. After wondering around for about half an hour, we headed back to the border with Zimbabwe & parked the Hilux at the Mosi oa Tunya National Park offices. We paid ZMW40 for the privilege of parking there & then walked down to the border.

Photo I had taken on a previous trip to the Falls - to give perspective

We had to relinquish our passports to the Zambian Customs officials & would then collect them again on our way back from the bridge. The bridge was busy with tourists & pedestrians as well as the occasional truck so one had to keep an eye on what was going on around you. As we approached the bridge, the first waves of mist descended onto us from the falls even though we couldn't see them. This continued the whole time we were on the bridge.

Bungee jumpers

Ang on the Vic Falls bridge with the falls in the background

We walked across to the Zimbabwe side but stopped short of going to the border post. From the cliff on the Zim side, we could get a good perspective of the "loons" jumping off the bridge with only the bungie cords keeping them in touch with reality. After taking a number of photos on the bridge, we climbed back up the embankment on the Zambian side to the office & restaurant area for the bungie company. A short stroll past the restaurant, was another zip line that linked to the Zimbabwe side of the bridge. From here, one gets a good perspective of the bridge & the falls in the background. The water level going over the falls was quite high & a lot more than what we had anticipated after reading blogs of visitors over the last few months.

We collected our passports from the Customs officials on our return (much to Ang's relief), retrieved the vehicle & headed back to the campsite. En route we stopped off at a few of the other camping opportunities to get a feel of what else was on offer as we would be overnighting here again in a few weeks time & were interested in alternatives.

On the bridge

View down stream from the bridge -
Victoria Falls Hotel in the distance

First stop was Maramba River Lodge at $10 pppn. The Lodge was well situated on the river side of the main road & is nicely set out but the for the campsites which are at the back end. In order to get to the ablutions, you have to walk through the safari tents that they had set out as another accommodation option. (http://maramba-zambia.com). Although the website doesn't mention self camp options, they do offer a few sites.

Next we headed to the Livingstone Safari Camp which is on the opposite side of the main road & about a 2 km drive on a dirt road. The Camp is very basic with no electricity & the hot water fueled by a donkey. The sites were quite sizeable & you get the feel that you are well away from civilisation here. They also ask $10pppn.

The last stop was almost opposite to where we were currently camping, the Bushlands Campsite. This looks to be the best of the 3 options with the campsite away from the lodge but campers are entitled to use all the facilities. There are 3 campsites with an ablution block in the middle catering for all sites. They also charge $10 per head.

After reviewing all 3, we decided that we would return back to the Zambezi Waterfront Lodge as a stopover on the way back again. When we eventually got back to camp, we made lunch & then retired to the pub to catch up on emails, etc as they offer 30 mins of free wifi per device. As it was getting late, we ordered a few beers & settled in to watch a final Zambezi sunset.

The biking party had been on the river cruise & were looking slightly worse for wear when they climbed off the boat. It did make for a later night for us as they were chatting away until way after 10 - alcohol tends to soften the edges & free the tongue.