Zimbabwe Archives - Wandering North

Africa Zambia Zimbabwe Zimbabwe-Zambia 2023

Zimbabwe to Zambia: a border crossing on foot

When I was finished my time in Victoria Falls, the town, it was time for me to crossover into a new country: Zambia. There are two opportunities to visit Victoria Falls, the falls: Victoria Falls, the town, which is in Zimbabwe; and Livingston, which is on the Zambian side of the falls. Before I traveled to Victoria Falls, I had some anxiety about how best to approach the falls. Which town was the better way to see them? But that anxiety was really unnecessary. The short answer is you should visit both sides because traveling between the two cities is very easy. (The only thing to factor in is, depending on your nationality, you might need to pay for a new visa every time you enter Zimbabwe and that can get a little bit expensive. As usual though visa rules change all the time so you should check before you go.)

The view of the falls from the Zimbabwe inside is the best view, but there are more falls-related activities on the Zambian side. Plus, the town of Livingstone, I thought, was far superior to town Victoria Falls, which I just fund too touristy.

When it was time for me to leave Victoria Falls (the city) and Zimbabwe, I took a taxi from my hostel to the part of the falls where the bridge crosses over. At that point I got stamped out of Zimbabwe and then I just walked across the border.

*Me on the Zimbabwean side before starting the walk across to Zambia.*

The walk from the road to the falls is a bit of a distance and then you cross a bridge. The best thing is that when you are halfway across the bridge you were literally on the border in between Zambia and Zimbabwe. It’s one of those things that is maybe only interesting to travel and geography dorks, but I thought it was very cool. Did I take pictures? You bet I did.

*_{The road to the bridge and then crossing the bridge}*

When you get to the other side, now in Zambia, you go through immigration. Canadians don’t need a visa for Zambia, so I was expecting it to be easy. While there wasn’t a bunch of paperwork, the officer at the border did have a lot of questions for me and wanted to see my accommodations booking and my proof that I was leaving the country.

After leaving immigration there were countless taxi men hanging around to give rides. After a bit of haggling, I hired a taxi and started the drive into the city of Livingstone and to my accommodations. Here’s where things got amazing.

We were just driving along the street and all of a sudden, I saw on the side of the road two zebras. I freaked out with excitement and insisted that he pull over so I could look at them. I appreciate that for him this isn’t a big deal; I live in Canada and so it’s common to see things like bears and deer and moose, but I had never seen zebras before. Maybe in a zoo when I was little. I was delighted. Zambia was off to an excellent start.

The next day I would visit the Devil’s Pool.

Africa Zimbabwe Zimbabwe-Zambia 2023

Victoria Falls, the Town

I flew from Harare, Zimbabwe to Victoria Falls (the town), Zimbabwe. The reason for my trip to Zimbabwe was to visit Victoria Falls, the falls. Not surprisingly Victoria Falls the falls is in Victoria Falls the town. I didn’t have much in the way of expectations about the town, but I did want to leave myself a little bit of time to explore it, so I had set aside enough time to visit the falls, explore the town, and do a day trip into Botswana to go on a safari drive. All of this was accomplished, and two of the three things were wonderful. Victoria falls the town… It was OK.

There are a lot of land transportation options between Harare and Victoria Falls, and if I had a little bit more time, I would have done that, but I was on a ten day holiday from work, so I took a flight a direct flight to Victoria Falls the town on an airline called Fast Jet, which lived up to its name. Upon arrival at the airport, I took a taxi to my accommodations the Victoria Falls Backpacker Lodge.

The accommodations were fine. This place had dorms, private cabins, spaces where you could park your van if you were doing a road trip, it had an outdoor kitchen under a little hut, and a small swimming pool, and areas for hanging out. It was actually quite pleasant to look at.

Most of the accommodations in Victoria Falls are set quite far from the town. This was no exception. This turned out to be one of the things they didn’t like about Victoria Falls – the lack of walk-ability. Every time I wanted to go to or from my accommodations and the town, I either had to walk or arrange a driver. I don’t like arranging a driver because it’s expensive (not really expensive; it’s just that I’m cheap) and I had to wait around for one to show up. The walk wasn’t really that far (about 40 minutes), but in the daytime it was blisteringly hot and at night it was pitch black and wasn’t particularly safe due to…animals. I’ll come back to that.

I stayed in one of the little huts at the lodge; a self-contained unit with a thatched roof and two beds with mosquito nets. No AC, no fan, shared bathroom, very dark. It was OK. A fan would have been great, as it was so hot and mosquito-y. I didn’t love my accommodations also because there often was no one at the front desk so if I did want things like, say, a fan or a bottle of water or a driver into the city, there was just no one to ask. And although there were people staying there, I didn’t see any of them, so there was no fun backpacker vibe. I probably wouldn’t stay there again, but if you’re a little more self-sufficient and driving I think it would be a decent spot. Or if you are willing to spend more money, there are really nice-looking lodges a little farther away on the river where hippos will practically serve you dinner.

Shortly after my arrival, I did go into the city and had the driver deliver me to the entrance to Victoria Falls. (I will write about that in another post.) After the falls, I browsed around various craft markets. There’s one right at the entrance to the falls and there’s another one called the Elephant’s Walk. This one I enjoyed quite a lot, as there are lots of crafts, little shops, and a café. It’s a nice place to take a rest. Other than that, there’s really nothing in Victoria Falls. It’s not an attractive town, it doesn’t have much in the way of interesting areas to look at, and it is entirely built for tourists.

At Elephant’s Walk

It just doesn’t feel like a real place it just feels like a bunch of tourist amenities. Most of the restaurants are very much geared towards tourists: brew pubs and pizza restaurants and that sort of thing. Also, and this is kind of a niche complaint, there is absolutely no place that I could find to buy matches or a lighter. They took my lighter away from me at the airport in Harare, so I needed to buy some way to light my cigars. I asked everyone I could find and no one had any idea. I went to a supermarket, a gas station, a convenience store, a liquor store, and a hardware-type store, and none of them had matches or lighters. Not even the places that were selling barbecues and firewood. I eventually was gifted a box of matches from waiter at a restaurant. That half full box of matches became precious.

On my last night I went to a restaurant called Mama Africa’s, which I really enjoyed and would recommend. I met a nice couple there from South Africa, who were planning to drive the length of the continent. They were nice and we had a good chat. This restaurant and its atmosphere, felt more authentic, but the rest of it wasn’t for me.

dinner at Mama Africa

I had another nice evening though where I met up for dinner at a restaurant called the 3 Monkeys with an American fellow that I knew of through Instagram and Twitter, who happened to be there at the same time as me. Another crazy world traveler person. That was fun. It’s always interesting to meet up with real life people that you met on social media. That night, after dinner, I caught a ride with his driver who agreed to drop me off at my accommodations. As we were driving, on the side of the road in the darkness, were two elephants. It was incredible. I could barely even see them. I could just make out their black silhouettes against the black sky with just a hint of moonlight, and I could certainly hear them stomping and crunching through the brush period. My first wildlife sighting on this trip. Being just a few meters away from elephants out having a nighttime walk was amazing. No pictures. Too rapt in awe.

I did see other animals while I was in Victoria Falls. Walking between my accommodations on the town I saw big warthogs, which was pretty neat. I found out from locals that not only are there elephants and warthogs at night, but also potentially hippos, which are the most dangerous animal in the world. So that is why it’s not safe to walk around late at night in Victoria Falls.

My visit to the falls was excellent, my day trip into Botswana was very good, and I had a couple of decent meals out, but otherwise I did not like Victoria Falls the city and I was content to leave. It’s not a place you visit for the city; it’s just a base from which to do excursions and activities, like visiting Chobe National Park or Victoria Falls, the falls, both of which were great.

Onward to Zambia.

Africa Zimbabwe Zimbabwe-Zambia 2023

Victoria Falls, the Falls

This was the reason I was in Victoria Falls the town: I wanted to see Victoria Falls the falls.

Victoria Falls, the waterfall (as opposed to the town of Victoria Falls), was “discovered” by missionary and explorer Dr. David Livingston in 1855. Obviously he wasn’t the first person to ever see the falls, but he was the first European person and so, according to the books of history, that’s what counts. That’s why the falls are named Victoria Falls, because he named them after the Queen of course. There is also the African name Mosi-oa-Tunya, which means “the smoke that thunders”, which is used more interchangeably with the English name, but that tends to be used more on the Zambian side.

Victoria Falls are not the largest waterfall in the world either by length or width, but for the amount of water that flows over the side during the rainy season, they are considered the biggest. The falls are divided in the middle by the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe. You can visit the falls from either country and there’s really no reason to choose there is a bridge that connects the two countries and you can go back and forth easily, providing you have the right passport or visa.

You see more of the falls from the Zimbabwe inside, but there are a lot of activities to do on the Zambian side including but not limited to the Devil’s Pool. There are so many falls and Zambezi river activities, that it is kind of overwhelming. A person could spend probably a week in Livingston and Victoria Falls just doing all the activities: bungee jumping, boating, rafting, kayaking, swimming with crocodiles, flying over the falls… It seems never ending. But on the Zimbabwean side, all I was going to do was look at the water.

Despite this being the entire purpose for my trip to the Zambia and Zimbabwe, I wasn’t sure the Victoria Falls was going to be an impressive sight. I had never before been to see a big waterfall, and I did not entirely understand what the attraction was. I mean…it’s falling water. I guess it’s nice to look at but is it worth traveling halfway around the world for? I was about to find out. I entered the falls from the gate on the Zimbabwe side in Victoria Falls the town.

The entrance fee was about $50 US. Like most places in Victoria Falls you can pay with a credit card. Once inside, it’s not necessary to have a guide. There is a path with various tributaries off of it with signposts leading you to different lookout places. It is impossible to get lost and no explanation is required.

I was there in November of 2023, this is not the high season for the falls. If you want to see the falls at their true majesty go during the rainy season which is roughly from February to May; at that point the falls are going to be a solid sheet of water. But I chose to go in November, which is the dry season so the falls were greatly reduced in their volume. Part of the reason that I chose to come during the dry season was so that I could visit the Devil’s Pool on the Zambian side but I’ll save that for another post.

So what did I think of the falls? Really impressive. That first turn when I left the main path and went down to the first viewpoint, was really spectacular. I was the only person there and as I got closer I could hear the roar of the falls and then as they came into view it was just this tremendous amount of water. Having seen it, I still can’t articulate why it was so impressive, but I know that I got a little bit of a lump in my throat which completely shocked me. I suppose it has something to do with being in proximity to something natural that is so vast and powerful, and feeling small and insignificant in a wonderful way. It was great.

Walking along, I appreciated the view from all of the different angles. At the end of the right side of the path you get the view of the bridge across the river and sort of this sweeping view of the landscape from kind of a rocky outcropping and it’s a nice way to end the journey.

A lot of the information that I had read stressed how wet you would get visiting the falls and that you needed waterproof shoes and a poncho, this is not really true if you are going during the dry season. There was a part where I did get wet, but for the most part this was not an issue. (But given how wet I did get I can only imagine that going during the rainy season you would be absolutely drenched from head to toe and a waterproof bag for your phone or camera would be a necessary.) It was a totally pleasant visit.

Was it worth flying halfway around the world for? Yeah, I think it was. My visit to the falls took maybe two hours at the most but it was still satisfying.

A small aside here. As small and insignificant as I felt, it didn’t stop me from feeling critical of what other people were wearing. I get that you’re in Zimbabwe, and that it’s hot and there are mosquitoes, but the amount of people that are dressed head to toe in safari gear is kind of hilarious to me. They’ve got the safari hats and the convertible cargo trousers and the tactical shirts and hiking shoes, even though all they’re doing is walking. And they are dressed completely in khaki. It’s like they’re trying to look like archaeologists. I’ve known archaeologists and they didn’t even dress that way. I just thought it was kind of funny. I’ve noticed this in a lot of African countries, that tourists tend to dress like they are at an archaeological dig or an Indian Jones costume party. I don’t think the memo has gotten out that you can just wear regular clothes when you visit Africa. I’m not posting any photos here because I’m critical, but I’m not mean.

At the end of the walk, I went to the little cafe that’s there on the grounds where they serve various meals, and I had a tasty burger and watched monkeys running through the trees and along the tops of the thatched hut roofs trying to steal food. That was a nice bonus.

lunch with monkeys

I did this on my first day in Victoria Falls the town. The next day I would going to Chobe National Park in Botswana to go on a game drive. Two days in Victoria Falls the town was enough for me, and I was looking forward to going to Livingstone, Zambia.

Africa Zimbabwe Zimbabwe-Zambia 2023

Visiting Harare

I arrived in Zimbabwe after a long flight from Vancouver via New York and Nairobi. I landed in Harare. The purpose of my trip to Zimbabwe it was to visit Victoria Falls, but there was no way I was going to skip visiting the capital on my first visit to Zimbabwe.

Arrival in Zimbabwe

I don’t think Zimbabwe way it needs much of an introduction, but just in case: it is in southern Africa, formerly Rhodesia. It became independent in 1980 and then from 1980 to 2017 was under authoritarian rule courtesy of Robert Mugabe. During this time there was massive inflation, human rights violations, and corruption. Things are better now. What Zimbabwe always had however is astonishing natural beauty and wildlife. The former being the reason for my visit.

Two fun facts about Zimbabwe.

It has more official languages than any other country (16), though English is most commonly spoken.
During the period of hyperinflation in around 2008-2009, purchasing power of the currency got so bad that the government had to issue notes as high as 100 trillion. Some of these are still floating around for purchase by tourists and nerds. I was not lucky enough to get a trillion note, but I did find some in the billions and millions.

Visas

As a Canadian, I was able to get a visa at the border. I knew I would be in and out of Zimbabwe a couple of times on my trip, so I tried to get a multi entry visa or at least a double entry visa, but this was denied and I was only given a single entry visa, which cost $75.00 US payable in US cash on the spot. It was effectively a cash grab and there was no formality and no application. (These is a thing called a Kaza Visa, which gives multiple entries to Zambia and Zimbabwe, but it is no longer given to Canadians since Canadians no longer need a visa to visit Zambia.)

Accommodations

I then took a taxi to my accommodation: the Bronte Garden Hotel. Honestly, the Bronte Garden Hotel is a little bit above my general budget, but it looked so charming and I felt that after such a long journey it would be amazing to stay in such lovely surroundings. The Bronte Garden Hotel, at least its main building, was built in 1911 as the house for some sort of industrial colonial bigwig. It was converted into a hotel about 50 years ago. It is a collection of two or three white two-story buildings set amidst lush tropical gardens. There are trees and flowers and pools, statues, and lovely seating areas set under the trees. A bar and a restaurant. It feels quite special.

The thing that put it within my reach price-wise is that while the main house is well outside of my normal budget, they have some more basic rooms in the houses that are much more affordable. These cheaper rooms are less fancy, but you still get access to all the same grounds and amenities, and that’s really the reason that I wanted to stay there. I enjoyed my time at the Bronte Garden Hotel immensely. The two nights that I was there, I spent my evenings in the garden with cigars (actually I also spent my mornings in the garden with cigars) and I had several conversations with other people staying at the hotel, most of whom were there on business from South Africa. It was just a lovely oasis.

me and my breakfast cigar at the Bronte Garden Hotel

Wandering in Harare

But of course, I didn’t come to Harare to sit in a hotel. I was in the city for a day and a half, two nights in total. The first day, I arrived at midday I didn’t do much of note. I essentially walked around the neighbourhood. Lovely wide streets with flowering orange and purple trees, apartment buildings and big houses. It was pleasant but I didn’t see anything too interesting.

An afternoon walk

The next day, my one full day in Harare, I really explored the city. I walked from my hotel to the National Botanic Garden (free), because it opened early. On the way I walked past a golf course and saw small antelope bounding across the greens. The gardens were beautiful, with different plants and landscaping suitable to different climates. It was massive, more than I could see in one visit, but I enjoyed a stroll around the grounds and chatted with a young man who was friendly and taking a detour on his way to school.

National Botanic Garden

From the garden I walked to a café called The Bottom Drawer. It was in a residential neighbourhood, basically operating out of a house. It was absolutely lovely, set in a garden with plants and trees and chickens running loose I sat on a comfy sofa on a covered veranda and had coffee and sandwich while I planned my next moves.

I had walked quite a far way from my hotel and in the opposite direction from where I wanted to go next, so I took a taxi back to my hotel and then walked from there.

a park near the National Gallery

I walked into the centre of town, passing along the way lively street markets and businesses, busy with traffic and commerce. I had wanted to visit the National Gallery and that was my first destination, however it was closed (Mondays). Fortunately, the Artopia Café in the in the gallery was open. A cool cafe with art and free wi-fi and coffee and lots of young people working on laptops. It was a good spot, especially after my long walk. Behind the gallery, accessible from the café was an outdoor sculpture gallery, so I got to see that, which I enjoyed.

Artopia Café and the Sculpture Garden

I could have gone to the Shona sculpture gallery, which is a popular tourist attraction, however my hotel had a lot of Shona sculptures in its gardens and I didn’t feel need to see more. But I did visit another gallery near the National Gallery about a block away, called the First Floor Gallery. It is on a higher floor of a commercial building and has almost no signage, but I found it. It is a small gallery (free) and with interesting contemporary art. Plus, it has access to the roof from which you can get a decent view of the streets below.

First Floor Gallery & and the view from the roof

Walking through central Harare was moderately interesting. It was pretty orderly and it lacked the chaos that I often enjoy in big African cities. I got in trouble only once for attempting to walk up to a statue that was accessible on a small bridge over an intersection. I got halfway there and the police on the street started shouting at me to turn around, so I did. I don’t know what the problem was it was completely accessible, but I didn’t argue.

*intersection with the off-limits statue*

I spent a couple hours just walking around Harare, checking out a market and some of the interesting architecture, and just looking around. Harare was interesting enough for a day, but I definitely didn’t feel the need to stay there for longer than that. For those of you that wonder about these things, it felt totally safe.

street markets

sights in Harare

I returned to the hotel for dinner, and cigars and chitchat in the gardens until it was time for bed. It might seem fast, but it was the perfect amount of time for me to visit Harare and I really enjoyed it. But on my third day I took off again for my second location in Zimbabwe: Victoria Falls (the town and the falls).

Category: Zimbabwe

Arrival in Zimbabwe

Visas

Accommodations

Wandering in Harare