Info on Victoria Falls / Livingstone
 

Hi All
My first post after being a FT lurker for some time!
I am taking the family to Zambia in Aug 08 for the 1st time to go to Vic Falls (I used to live in Zambia 20 yrs ago - so have been myself). My kids are 14 and 11 and are keen on doing more than just looking!! My son (14) is keen on the Bungee Jump and also a bit of white river rafting........but the wife and daughter (11) are looking for something a bit more sedate!
Can anyone who has been recently, please give me some tips / advice on what is the best way of going about the research?
Any help appreciated!
Ta

I booked a full day white water rafting trip with Safari Par Excellence. You can find many more activities here...

http://www.safpar.com/victoria_falls.htm

The chobe day trip was a popular sedate activity.

If want the wildest rafting trip possible, ask for Boyd aka Capt. Carnage.

Extra thoughts:
You don't have to stay right at the Saf Par lodge to be able to book. Based on my limited survey, some places to stay have a list of these available activities. They can call in your request and the company will pick you up.

I didn't do it myself, but the abseil/gorge swing was rated a much better value and more entertaining than the bungee jump.

I would also really like to know how the riverboarding activity works. Those rapids were rough enough riding in a large raft.

Thanks KOStradivarius
I will contact safpar for details, and no doubt when we get there ask for Capt Carnage's trip!!!
We are already booked into The Zambesi Sun hotel, and i would feel more organised pre booking any activities before we get there! (previous experience of Africa and old habits die hard!)
regards and thanks again

We (my kids are 18 and 12) did a very similar trip a few weeks ago in December, staying in the adjoining Royal Livingstone. The hotel was fine but I'd probably say the Zambezi Sun is better for families. The whole Royal Livingstone/Zambezi Sun complex seemed a little artificial and "Disneyfied" for us but as a base for a few days it's very convenient for the Falls and you'll be well looked after.

All our accomodation, ground transfer and activity arrangements were booked/arranged through go2africa.com, who used Wild Horizons as their local activity provider. Both their websites would be useful for you.

Depending what other safari-type activity you're doing, we found the Chobe day trip very good and even the journey there and back (across the Zambezi) was interesting.

Have a great time!

Recommend Zimbabwe side
 

we stayed on Zimbabwe side and really enjoyed it. Victoria Falls Safari Lodge is great as it has a lot of activities on it's own. its located within a national park and has a waterhole in front of rooms (at a little distance) to which animals comes (buffalo, elephants, hyena, warthogs, etc). they also do game walks in am and pm with guides and we tracked elephant on foot, coming up only about 50 feet behind it! the also do game drives (nothing like a proper safari, but good enough for something different to do). the food and rooms are great (considering where you are) and they have a shuttle every hour to the falls entrance, town and main market.
check out www.luxurylink.com they have a good deal (i think like $500 for 3 nights stay with a bunch of extras. last year it was for a suite, but i think now it's a regular room. still good though). I was most impressed with people in Zim - very friendly with a great sense of humor.
of course, the view is fantastic from zim side. one note - we were there in June and the water was too high for rafting. that was disappointing as I was really looking forward. but we did a sunset trip over zambezi and it was bliss. no tourists, so there was only us and another 4 people. had a great time chatting with the captain and crew. saw bungee jumping, but passed on that.

Hi lerasp and Corpt
Thanks for the tips.
I will look at the web addresses (go2africa.com and www.luxurylink.com) and do some more research. I think we are staying for 2 nights, maybe 3 so will have to select activities carefully. I suspect the River cruise is best done in the evening, but rafting is an all day activity. Bungee jumping (for the 14yr old) will have to be fitted in sometime too, but i think that is not far from the Zambesi sun hotel we are staying in.

Thanks again for the info

I was in Vic Falls at the beginning of last September, and did both the sunset river cruise and the Chobe day trip, both of which were enjoyable. However, my favorite thing that we did, which ranks up there as probably one of the coolest things I've ever done, was our swim at the edge of the falls, as part of a visit to Livingstone Island. http://www.tongabezi.com/livingstone_island.php Basically, when the water is lower, as it was at the time of year we visited, you can swim to a pool right at the lip of the falls. I am not a daredevil at all, so while it sounds scary, it really wasn't - there are several guides to assist you, and children can participate. After the swim, you have cocktails, tea, and light snacks on the island. The boat picks up right from the Royal Livingstone. Make sure to reserve in advance - only 12 people max can go on each trip, and when I went there were several people who came down to the boat hoping to get on at the last minute who were turned away.

Does anyone have a good understanding about what's going on with Zambian visas? I hear they did away with the visa waiver program about a week ago!

wow, safari par excellence still exists?

Granted this advice is from 5 years ago but.... we stayed on the Zim side and for about $65 got a "3 in 1" package which included rafting, a game drive through a park in Zambia, and a sunset cruise. Plus a Zambian visa. It was excellent.

Friends went bungee jumping, it's on the bridge in no-man's land between the border crossings; I think it's about $100.

The old Victoria Falls hotel on the Zim side has been in use since the early 1900s; you can sit at the outdoor patio and have afternoon tea with a beautiful view of the falls.

To see the falls themselves from the Zim side, you need to pay an admission fee (which unfortunately goes to the Zimbabwean government, one of their few sources of foreign currency; getting on my soapbox, the views are stunning but I'd hate to give my money to Mugabe). It was about US $20 for foreigners when I went, but since I had a Zimbabwe student visa I got in for about 50 cents:)

from what i've heard (not personal experience) it's effective immediately. Visa for US citizens is $135 (reciprocal), UK is more than that, others are less. That alone would make a decision for me regarding Zim/Zam. Zim visa is $35 (or $30).

Too bad I booked my tickets to Livingstone Zambia about 2 weeks ago - back when the visa would be FREE! I was weighing the two options for a long time.. then decided things would be less hassle in Zambia given what's going on in Zimbabwe right now. I know the $135.00 will go a long way toward my Mom's piece of mind, but it's still such a waste! I get the whole 'reciprocal' idea.. but I'm not sure the Zambian govt thought this one through - it will def send people to Zimbabwe! I'm only going there for 3 days - I don't think the visa is good for the life of my passport like the Chilean one is. Plus, a US visa is only $131.00 - I want my $4.00 :)

For your son, I would consider looking into the gorge swing. I chose this over the bungee jumping and can say that it was definitely a good decision. Not only is it unique and more thrilling, but you also got to do several other activities including belaying/rappelling and a sort of zip-line out into the gorge.

With this and many other Livingstone activities, it is very easy to book on the ground there for same-day or next day, although certainly not a bad idea to try to book ahead either. Also, all of the activities offer pickups and drop-offs from your hotel.

I also took a boat cruise up the Zambezi which I found to be a relaxing evening with food and some drinks and beautiful views.

Also, I'm not sure what the Visas they are offering now are like, but mine from a year ago was $100 and is good for three years. While I don't think your visa will be good for the life of the passport, I expect it is good for multiple entries over some similar period.

REPUBLIC OF ZAMBIA

IMMIGRATION DEPARTMENT

REVISED VISA FEES WITH EFFECT FROM 26TH JANUARY 2008

BRITISH NATIONALS

SINGLE ENTRY 75 POUNDS OR US $140
MULTIPLE 240 POUNDS OR US$442

AMERICANS

STANDARD VISAS US $135.00

CANADIANS US $55.00

OTHER NATIONALS

SINGLE ENTRY US$ 50.00
DOULBLE US$ 80.00
MULTIPLE US $160.00

Please note also that all visa waivers have been scrapped off. Therefore no manifest shall be accepted.

BY MANAGEMENT

Hi PDW 5000
The Gorge swing sounds good. Do you know if it is operated by the people who do the Bungee jump? I will try and do some research on that.
I have found out that we only arrive in Livingstone at 13h00 on a Monday and fly out at 15h00 on the Wed!! - so time is of the essence to cram the best things in!
With the Visa costs stinging us for £300 this will be a pricey short trip