Majestic Victoria Falls

It is a weird mix of excitement and nervousness when you are about to land in Zimbabwe. You are in the heart of Africa, in a country that has been sinking into poverty  and instability for decades, and yet , with astonishing gems to discover. The town of  Victoria Falls is like a tourist bubble, with big resorts and services so that you won’t feel or see anything that may disturb your holidays. Even the villages around receive foreigners to show them their ways of life as an attraction.

 

 

We arrived in the early evening, so after getting our very cool Zimbabwe stamp on our passports, we were driven to the hotel without much time left of the day to explore. We were kindly checked in by Anyways… You know African names, there is no need for further comments…We  had missed our reservation for the Boma (typical -and touristy- African buffet with dancing, face-painting, etc) and tried to book a last minute tour to see de rainbow circle around the moon, but due to a cloudy night the tour was cancelled. We  then opted for a clam night and decided to have dinner next door, at the Victoria Falls Hotel, an emblematic site from the colonial period, with beautiful gardens and a direct view of the falls (which at night is just a big and dense cloud). A calm night doesn’t have to be a boring night, specially in Africa, you can always rely on excitement within the menu, so crocodile it was.

 

(The emblematic Victoria Falls Hotel)

(Night view of the falls from the gardens of the Victoria Falls Hotel)

 

 



Personally, I have always loved waterfalls, so what better way to start your day than with a helicopter ride over one of the biggest falls in the world? It is a breathtaking view. Staring down at the imposing sight of a deep opened Earth makes you realize how little we are. After the flight, we were taken to the park, to walk around and have a different perspective of the falls, standing right in front of them . Now, this was April, which is supposed to be a good time to see the falls because they have a heavy amount of water,, which makes them look bigger and more majestic. The not-so-good part is that you get really wet and it is hard to take pictures.

 

If I ever get the chance to go back to Vic Falls I would like to go  earlier in the year to be able to access the Devil’s pool (google it up, it looks terrifyingly awesome) and during a full moon to be able to see the rainbow circle that we couldn’t see this time. We stayed at the Kingdom hotel, but I would like to try a less Disney-like one, or maybe even stay on the Zambia side.

 

 

 

We also did the visit to one of the villages, it was called Monde. It is a good experience because you get the chance to see how the local people live, their houses, how they cook and ask them questions about their culture, beliefs, traditions etc. However, it is important to keep in mind that these villages, thanks to tourism, have higher living standards than those in the rest of the country, so you will get a sense of local life, just not the real local life of the majority.