Zambezi

Botoka Gorge & the Look Out Café: The BEST Views Around Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe

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Unexpectedly, one of my favorite memories of Victoria Falls is my stop at the Lookout Cafe to see the Botoka Gorge!  The Botoka Gorge is a sizeable gorge just beyond Victoria Falls, and it is absolutely stunning!  We were so lucky to have stumbled across the Lookout Café!

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The Lookout Cafe is a small outpost/bar right of the walking path between the Victoria Falls Hotel and Victoria Falls.  This walkway is open to the public and there are signs for the Lookout Cafe halfway down the path.  Dan and I decided to stop on a whim, thinking that it would just be a fun place to grab a drink!  Wrong!  But it was a fun place to grab a drink!

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Victoria Falls Helicopter Tour!

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On our final afternoon visiting Victoria Falls, Dan and I decided to go all out and take a helicopter ride over Victoria Falls!  As this was right after our Livingstone Island/Angel’s Armchair tour, this day was reallllly crazy!

Helicopter tours are offered from both the Zimbabwe and Zambia sides of the Falls.  We signed up at our hotel the morning of the tour.  The helicopter tours are quite expensive, running approximately $160 a person for a 12-15 minute ride!  While expensive, the views were stunning and we really enjoyed our 15 minutes!

The tour started with a transfer to the take-off site, followed by a short safety lesson.  After that, it was off to the chopper (as Dan said!).  Here is our trusty ride:

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Note – the helicopter seats four guests, one in the front and three in the back.  On our trip, it was only Dan and I and one other person, so we all got a window seat!  However, if there are four people, someone will have to sit in the middle.  Here is Dan in the front and me in the back!

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The tour started with a fly over Victoria Falls.  The pilot pointed out the relevant sites, such as Livingstone Island, and gave a bit of history.  Everyone wore a headset, so questions were welcomed!  Again, the views were absolutely stunning!!

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A Zambezi River Sunset Cruise: A Must in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe

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If you have been reading my posts (and here it is again if you haven’t!), you know that Dan and I took a sunset cruise on the Zambezi River when we visited Victoria Falls.  I found this tour to be extremely enjoyable, suitable for all ages and really a “must-do” when visiting Victoria Falls!  The above picture was taken from the Sunset Cruise.  The cloud/smoke in the background is water coming off the Falls!!

No need to book ahead of time.  All accommodations in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, from hostels to the fanciest hotels, offer this tour, and you can generally book it the same day.  It costs about $60 US a person.  Wild Horizons, who did our transfer from the Livingstone Airport to Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, seems to organize the Zambezi Sunset Cruise in Zimbabwe.

We purchased our tickets around noon for the Sunset Cruise later that evening.  Around 4:00 p.m. a Wild Horizons tour bus picked us and several other tourists up to head to the “port.”  The bus stopped at several other hotels to pick up guests.  When we arrived at the “port,” which is not much more than a boat landing, we filed down to the dock and boarded one of several boats waiting in the water.  Some boats are nicer than others, and which one you get is really based on luck.

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Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe: Back And Ready For Visitors!

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Tourists have two options when visiting Victoria Falls, which is one of the Seven Wonders of the World: Zimbabwe or Zambia.  The Falls straddle the border between the two countries, and the famous border is marked but the photogenic Victoria Falls Bridge!

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Zimbabwe has historically been the tourist favorite, offering the best views of the Falls and the closest accommodations.  In recent years, however, political turmoil and crazy-inflated currency have lead many tourists to visit the Falls from Zambia, rather than Zimbabwe.  Dan and I decided to visit both sides and started our tour in Zimbabwe, and I much preferred to Zambia!

Old and new Zimbabwe ads!  I just love travel ads!

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The good news is that Zimbabwe is steadily returning as a tourist destination.  The politics largely avoided Victoria Falls in an effort to keep tourist dollars flowing into the country, and Dan and I really saw no sign of it on our trip.  The people were very friendly and we felt totally safe.  The only lingering effect of the past troubles is Zimbabwe’s lack of currency.  As of April 2015, Zimbabwe uses the US dollar.

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