Pass The Passport
Completed: Feel The Power Of Victoria Falls

Bucket List / Travel Goals

Feel The Power Of Victoria Falls

Ticked off

Feel the ground shake as the Zambezi drops over a 1.7-kilometre lip, throwing up spray you can see for miles.

Feel The Power Of Victoria Falls

The adventure

You hear it long before you see it, a constant deep roar, and from a distance a column of spray rises above the bush like smoke. The local name, Mosi-oa-Tunya, means the smoke that thunders, and it's hard to think of a better one.

On the paths through the rainforest opposite the falls, the spray comes down like a tropical storm and you're soaked within minutes, catching glimpses of a wall of water plunging into the chasm, with rainbows hanging in the mist. When the river is lower, from around August, you can swim right to the lip in Devil's Pool on the Zambian side. There's the bungee jump off the 1905 bridge, white-water rafting in the gorges below and, at full moon, a lunar rainbow arcing through the spray.

Why it’s epic

  • At around 1,708 metres wide and 108 metres high, it forms the largest single sheet of falling water on Earth.
  • The Victoria Falls Bridge, completed in 1905, hosts a 111-metre bungee jump over the Zambezi.
  • Devil's Pool lets you lie at the very edge of the drop, beside Livingstone Island in Zambia.
  • The falls have been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1989.

What it is

Victoria Falls is one of the largest waterfalls in the world, 1.7 kilometres wide.

How to do it

Visit from Livingstone in Zambia or Victoria Falls town in Zimbabwe, crossing the bridge to see both sides.

Top tip

The KAZA UNIVISA covers both countries and saves money if you visit both sides.

Need to know

  • Peak flow from February to May is the most dramatic but throws up so much spray you may barely see the falls; lower water from September gives clearer views.
  • Devil's Pool is only open when the river is low, roughly August to January, and must be booked as a guided trip.
  • Take a waterproof and protect your camera, and ask a travel clinic about malaria precautions.

Plan this trip

Rough cost
£2,000 to £5,000 per person, including flights from the UK
Time needed
2 to 3 days
Best time to go
February to May for full flow
Fly into
VFA airport

Flights to southern Africa are the main cost; activities like bungee, rafting and helicopter flights add up quickly.

Sample itinerary

  1. Day 1Fly into Victoria Falls (Zimbabwe) or Livingstone (Zambia); sunset cruise on the Zambezi
  2. Day 2Walk the rainforest trail along the falls, then the bridge bungee or a helicopter flight
  3. Day 3Devil's Pool (Zambian side, mid-August to January) or white-water rafting below the falls

Do it yourself

Some of these are affiliate links: if you book through them I may earn a small commission, at no extra cost to you. More about this.

My experience

Ticked off, but the full story is still to be written up.

Comments