An African Adventure part 1 - Zambia

This year, we decided to go on an epic adventure in Africa. Well actually, we decided this back in 2016 when we booked the first part of our holiday. It started out as a three week trip and ended up as an eight week odyssey.

Stage one was Zambia. We decided that Victoria Falls was a must-see, particularly as I am obsessed with waterfalls. So we flew from Melbourne to Abu Dhabi (Etihad Air, not that fantastic) and then on to Johannesburg (the accommodation there was not even worth mentioning) and the next morning flew up to Livingstone. Our accommodation was the glorious Royal Chundu Island Lodge, and if you ever go to Zambia I highly recommend you stay there. Aggie and Hessan are the hosts and they seem to be put on this earth to make sure you have the best time possible in Zambia. The villas are gorgeous, and when you are sitting on your deck sipping your morning tea and watching the birds swoop over the Zambezi River, you might well be the only people on earth. The food is pretty bloody good too.


(view from our deck)

Every evening the trackers take the guests on a sunset cruise, looking for birds and wildlife. Drinking champagne (or whatever you feel like on a particular evening) and watching the world slip by, spotting elephants in the undergrowth on the Zimbabwe side of the river, and hearing hippopotami grunting from the river banks, is a pretty nice way to spend an evening. And then when you get back to the lodge and there is a gorgeous meal waiting for you, well, it's hard to not want to move in!


If you do the Zambezi canoeing trip you will be treated to a wonderful time, and the most glorious picnic meal along the way. I say picnic, but basically it was a 10 course meal created by the lodge chefs and transported for us to a very picturesque spot for lunch. So do the canoe trip, it's great fun.

Of course the whole reason to visit Livingstone is to see Victoria Falls. And what a sight it is.



I have never gotten so wet in my life without getting into a pool.



That might look like a bit of spray but actually it's a total deluge. The spray splashing up from the bottom of the falls is like being rained on really hard. It's quite the experience.

This is the view from the back side, over the river.



Taken from a helicopter, it looks a lot calmer. And I definitely recommend you do the heli ride over the falls and through the gorges on the other side. During the wet season, the rapids are too dangerous to even try white water rafting.



In summary: go to Zambia, see Victoria Falls, visit a local village, have a wonderful time.