We didn’t come across giraffes in any potholes, but the 13kms to the Zimbabwe border was severely in need of the road crews we passed earlier, to get a move-along.  Getting out of Botswana was so swift and orderly, that we kept wondering when we were going to hit the chaotic, corrupt African border crossings that we had heard about.

Things were a lot more hectic on the Zimbabwean side and Dale and I were ordered in different directions.  He with a border crossing fix-it man to Customs with Carnet in hand; me to wait in the llooonnnggg Immigration queue.  Actually it wasn’t too bad.  We were used to slow and chaotic border crossings in the Middle East, and you need to stay in a calm, relaxed and patient mood, as the only person you’ll upset in any other frame of mind, will be yourself.  It was easy to strike up conversation with fellow travellers and it was really enjoyable meeting local Zimbabweans and sharing stories.  Dale joined me in the queue without our Carnet and not really knowing what was happening in the Customs office, but we knew that someone would eventually work it all out.  

The chit, chat continued until we got to the Immigration counter.  The fellow was pleasant and advised us that the credit card machine “wasn’t working today”, so passing over 100USD, we got our two stamps.  The fix-it man returned the Carnet to Dale, gave him a gate pass that needed stamping and off he went.  By this stage the Customs queue was pretty long.  White Woman Wasta (a Middle East privilege that I got used to using as required) had me going to the front of the line and asking, oh so very nicely, whether someone could please stamp our pass.  Minutes later, we were on the Guzzi on our way to Victoria Falls.

After checking into Mambo’s Backpackers, we walked through town towards the famous Victoria Bridge, and on a little further to the Lookout Café.  The G&T’s were pink when they arrived; warthogs were grazing within metres; we were perched on the edge of the 120m high Batoka Gorge; and mist from the Victoria Falls was just visible behind the Victoria Bridge. A GREAT start…

The Victoria Falls Bridge was the inspiration of Cecil Rhodes, who was reported to have said: “build the Bridge across the Zambezi where the trains, as they pass, will catch the spray of the Falls”.  This was part of Rhodes’ unfulfilled Cape to Cairo railway scheme.  These days the track finishes in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.  Originally referred to as the Zambezi Bridge, the parabolic arch design of the Victoria Falls Bridge is credited to George Hobson. It was constructed in England, shipped to Mozambique, and then railed to Victoria Falls. In a feat of Victorian engineering, the Bridge took just 14 months to build. It was opened by Charles Darwin’s son, Professor George Darwin, President of the British Association (now the Royal Society) on 12 September 1905. The American Society of Civil Engineers lists the Victoria Falls Bridge as an historic civil engineering landmark.

A “must do” in Victoria Falls township is to have high tea at the Victoria Falls Hotel, Zimbabwe's grandest and oldest luxury hotel.  For a very reasonable price, three tiers of delectable finger food is served with bottomless tea or coffee.  Warthogs graze in the gardens, the pianist plays soothing tunes, whilst you take in the views of the Victoria Falls Bridge.

Photographs of the 1947 British Royal Tour of the Union of South African and the Victoria Falls, line the corridors of this grand hotel.  It was the first overseas state visit since 1939 and the young Princess Elizabeth celebrated her 21st birthday during the tour.

The original leasers of the hotel chose the “Cape-to-Cairo” themed insignia – explorer, a lion and sphinx.  The first Manager was an Italian who struggled with the boisterous, heavy-drinking clientele.  They would chase him around the hotel, place him on the bar and force him to sing arias.

We were taking our time whilst building the anticipation of visiting the Victoria Falls themselves. 

While it is neither the highest nor the widest waterfall in the world, Victoria Falls is classified as the largest, based on its combined width of 1,708 metres and height of 108 metres, resulting in the world's largest sheet of falling water. 

We spent hours walking along the edge, soaking up the vista and getting soaked from the mist.  We took rain coats but it seemed an insult to the Falls to deflect it’s energy.  We were truly in the presence of greatness, but a downfall to that would be the hours required in sorting the two zillion photos that we were taking!  

Zim or Zam - which side to see the Falls?  Both, is probably the answer.  Zimbabwe, Zambia and Botswana have relatively recently released the KASA visa.  For 50USD, you get a 30 day single visa that covers Zambia, Zimbabwe and day trips to Chobe National Park in Botswana.  To cross between Zimbabwe and Zambia is merely a short walk across the Victoria Falls Bridge.  If short on time however, for that classic view of the Main Falls, stay in Zimbabwe.

The more low-key and relaxed town of Livingstone, in Zambia is only 11km’s from the Victoria Bridge border crossing.  We have been on the lookout for some leopard and zebra print fabric for me to whip up some cushion covers for placement in our “farmhouse” Arabic Madjlis (welcome room) in northern New South Wales.  It was understood that some luggage may need to be jettisoned, but that would be the price we were willing to pay!

It was very easy to be stamped out of Zim, walk across the Bridge and be stamped into Zam.  Oh boy, that uneasy feeling of the leaving the Guzzi in a different African country, returned!  We negotiated with one of the many taxi drivers for an all up price to take us to the Maramba local market, back into the Livingstone Museum, then collect us from a highly recommended local café.  We remembered Chris Rea’s words “Don’t pay the ferryman, till he gets you to the other side”…

I love marketplaces and we wandered through stalls selling clothing, foods, cosmetics, kitchenware, and roof thatching materials, before returning to the fabric store to pick up our leopard print fabric.  Alas, no zebras in sight, so eyes will be peeled during the rest of our travels.  

We can highly recommend a visit to the Livingstone Museum.  A highlight was learning the history of David Livingstone (1813-1873) a Scottish physician, pioneer Christian missionary, explorer, and anti-slavery campaigner. He became a great hero of the Victorian era for his epic discoveries in the heart of unexplored Africa. He soon realised the difficulty of converting locals to Christianity, so increasingly turned his attention to exploration of the continent.  Of particular note was his discovery (the first by a Westerner) of the great waterfall Mosi-oa-Tunya (“the smoke that thunders”) waterfall. Livingstone renamed it Victoria Falls in honour of Queen Victoria. 

James Gordon Bennett, Jr, editor of the New York Herald, decided to capitalise on the public’s craze for news of Livingstone. He sent Henry Stanley to lead an expedition into the African wilderness to find Livingstone or bring back proof of his death.  When he spotted a white man with a grey beard in 1871 near Lake Tanganyika, he is believed to have greeted him with the words “Dr Livingstone, I presume?”

The journey back to Zim wouldn’t have been complete without a quick walk around the grounds of The Royal Livingstone Victoria Falls Zambia Hotel.  Pure African luxury with a restaurant overhanging the Zambezi River almost close enough to feel spray from the top of the Falls.  Resident zebra graze in the gardens…seriously…

We heard about the Victoria Falls Safari Lodge’s 20 year daily tradition of feeding local scavenger birds, offering some of the resident endangered species a supplementary food source, as well as allowing conversation experts to monitor bird numbers in the area.  We also heard they had a free shuttle bus from town and that vulture numbers were in the 100’s…