Victoria Falls Travel Forum

Hi
My partner and my 16yr old daughter are travelling to Victoria Falls in July this year for 5 days and are staying on the Zimbabwe side of the falls at the Rainbow Hotel. We would like to here from anyone who has stayed her re- safety etc and also how safe it is to stay on the Zimbabwe side of the falls. We have booked several activities through our travel agent as advised and are including a lion walk, elephant back safari, jet boat ride and Zambezie river cruise. We would like to hear from anyone else who may have done these activities!!!
We are looking forward to our holiday but are concerned how safe it is and also how great the risk is of disease etc malaria ........

Hello joanandpaul

We travelled through Zimbabwe on an overland tour in October 200 and spent 5 days in Vic Falls. Safety wise we found Vic Falls to be reasonably ok. Suggest you stick together. You will get plenty of people trying to sell you trinkets and maybe one or two gents trying to chat you and your daughter up. If you dont want to buy - smile say no thank you,firmly and keep walking. the people have become dirt poor and desperate but on the whole are good natured and value the trade tourism brings, especially in Vic Falls area, In 2005 we 'rubbed shoulders' with tourists from parts of Europe and the States. American dollars are far more welcome than local currency (or British pounds) and you will get amazing value for your money. The market in town is well worth a visit. We travelled through Africa through Kenya, Tanzania,Uganda, Malawi Botswana Zimbabwe Namibia and South Africa and the market in Vic Falls was the best for quality of tourist sovenirs, apart from one place in Malawi which made beautiful folding chairs, to order. But you can get these in Vic Falls and they are in a far better condition than those that find their way, eventually, to South Africa. Also the Shona soapstone carvings are lovely.

Apart from the usual high adreneline activities that go on, if you have time go and have afternoon tea in the Vic Falls hotel. Take a wander round the hotel too, its stunning and echoes back to Victoria Falls in its grandest days. And the tea you are given is amazing - comparable, if not better, than the Ritz. Also try a steak and mushroom pie from one of the big supermarkets if you get a chance and the Zimbabwean wine - its amazingly cheap and as good as any South African wines, especially the red.

Vic Falls is in a malaria area and you should take malaria tablets. Also cover up at dawn and dusk and take a mossy repellent with high factor deet to avoid being biten. We have tried Malarone in the past - not good. We find the least 'invasive' medication was Doxycycline. About 80% of our fellow travellers were taking this medication, which can be taken over a protracted period of time. A tip we learnt from seasoned travellers was to take this medication, after a meal, at night. Not first thing in the morning!! At that time of day, the stuff may make you feel quite sick. One advantage of Doxycycline, it's an anti-biotic, so should keep colds at bay as well!!

Have a great trip, we did and its a part of Africa (along with many others) that we'd return to if only to put some money into the pockets of the poorer people who live there.

I agree with above. I have not stayed at Rainbow Hotel so cant comment on that. Vic Falls is as safe as anywhere else using common sense. The last time I was there I walked around the main streets on my own and only got the normal hassle from street touts trying to sell me stuff. There are tourist security guards around the main shopping areas too which can be reassuring. As far as activities go: Lion walk: I dont know where these lions come from? Is is ethical? There has been a lot of controversy lately regarding elephant back rides. Be aware that it has been reported Shearwater Adventures have (legally if not morally)recently taken many young elephants from Hwange National Park to be trained for tourist rides. I personally find this abhorrent. Hwange certainly has too many elephants, however I can't condone this activity. And it cant be cited as an alternative to culling because elephants are not culled in Hwange. The Zambezi river cruises are lovely. Have done it twice and really enjoyed it. I don't know how much you have paid for prebooking these activities - it is very easy to book anything when you are there and often a lot cheaper. The above poster I agree with re Malaria concerns although during July in Winter the risk is lessened.
The zimbabwean people are wonderful - but you have to open you're heart and not suspect everyone of being a potential mugger just because they are poor and suffering through this terrible time.
Five days in Vic Falls I think is overkill - but you could also do a day trip to Chobe in Botswana or Hwange National Park which are both very worthwhile.

Quite safe and agree with the other posters, a day trip to Chobe would be good depending what other safaris you are doing while in africa. I have used Doxycycline in alot of malaria areas and have never had any trouble so would recomend it, although being an antibiotic it has absolutly no effect on any virus what so ever, including the common cold or any cold, might help out with the stomach bugs though.

I waas in Vic Falls in Sept 05, and will be back in June 07. You will have pressure from vendors, and it can be exasperating--- but remember they are trying to stay alive. Do NOT use your ATM/Credit cards in Zim. I have done the Lion Walk, and ele safari-(not Shearwaters). The Lion Walk was horribly upsetting for me, as the lions were not well treated, and we had been on safari for a week already, and had seen wild lions the same age as the captive ones we walked with. There is much debate on what the lions will be used for when grown. They will NOT need as many Male lions as they have, for breding purposes, and I think they are being used in canned hunts- also a revenue source. Shearwater is also not handling their ele's well, so I will stay away from giving them my $$. The River Cruise (aka booze cruise) is quite relaxing, I would highly reccomend the Boma Dinner- great entertainment as well as interesting foods (impala, warthog, homemade beer, mopani worms etc. I am going a second time on this trip- It was quite nice. Also a word of advice for your daughter on Doxycycline- it is known to be responsible for many a yeast infection- so take additional meds- not fun while travelling. Doxy will also cause you to be quite sun sensitive- so use lots of sunscreen. Personally I prefer Malarone (you don't need to take it for 30 days after leaving exposure areas- only 1 week). The jet boat ride sounds great! It will be quite cold in the mornings/nights in July (high 30's to low 40's). You should be quite safe- tourist police everywhere. Be careful about transporting your soapstone- easily broken in transit.

Five days is a lot in Vic Falls- I would also reccomend safari activities after about day 2- there just isn't that much to do there!
Have a great time- stay out of crowds! suzi

We have just arrived home from our stay at Victoria Falls. We stayed at Lokuthula Lodges at Victoria Falls. We were there one week and had a fabulous time. During that time we traveled into Zambia to visit the Livingstone museum which I highly recommend and also visited the Zambia side of Victoria Falls. The fee for entering the falls on the Zambia side was only $10.00 us dollars and the scenery was spectular--even more so than on the Zimbabwe side. Be prepared to get really-really-wet. The rain from the falls was really heavy but it may be less in July. We saw baboons and monkeys on the walking trails.

The cost of admission for the falls on the Zimbabwe side is 20.00us per person and the walk is well worth the fee. The experience of seeing such a beautiful sight is wonderful. If you can go around sunset, the pictures out spectacular. There is a flat place at the head of the falls that you can actually see the sun set down into the water. The mist from the falls and the color of the sunset make for a photographers paradise. Be sure to protect your camera and other electronic equipment from the water. A waterproof disposable camera is a really good idea. Also wear shoes specially made for water. You will get them soaking wet.

The economy in Zimbabwe is really depressed so there is practically nothing in the food markets and what they have is expensive. So if you can,bring snack foods in your luggage or if you travel to Zambia or Botswana, you can buy almost anything there for a reasonable price. They wanted $5.00us for one candybar!! I am a nurse and I brought skin medicine and soap and shirts, socks, hats shoes and other things to trade in Victoria Falls for the beautiful goods that the people make.I packed clothes that I could leave there and packed my bags with native goods to bring home and it worked very well and the people needed what I did bring. Go to the open market behind the train station and there are 2 buildings that the women sell goods in. they are in desperate need of anything you can bring to them, including soap,toothpaste, toothbrushes, skin ointment etc. Bring writing pens as the people asked us for them to trade. Also, I brought $1.00 bills us to buy goods with since the Zim dollar is worthless and the people cannot give change back to you. I was very safe the whole time I was there however I did not go out at night except to the restaurant. there is a shuttle bus to get you around and it runs all day long. Do not eat at Wimpys hamburger place-it is dirty and the food is terrible.

We travelled into Botswana for a day trip to Chobe Natl Park. The first part of the day we were on land in a safari vehicle and the second part of the day we were on the Chobe River. If you can manage to do this, it was a hightlight of our trip. We saw a leopard stalk a warthog, there were lots of game including lions, kudu, impala, sable and a thousand elephants. In fact we were in a real elephant traffic jam. On the river there were hippos, crocs, elephants. We saw more game there than in Etosha Natl Park in Namibia.

We also did the elephant safari and enjoyed it very much--it was well worth the cost of it. It was hot and shorts were the choice of clothing for the day. Be sure to wear a hat.

The cruise on the Zambezi was great too. the dinner was fabulous--we had a good cook but we saw more animals on the Chobe river cruise. If I could only do one cruise, it would be the one on the Chobe river in Botswana as there were more animals to see and we were up close and personal unlike on the Zambezi. I wish I could show you the pics on the Chobe River--they are beathtaking.

While in Vic Falls, I was bitten several times by mosquitos and did use the net over my bed. Be sure to bring bug spray so that you can spray any bugs that get into your bed net. I am taking Doxycycline 100mg for Malaria. You take it 2 days before you enter the malaria area and continue to take it 3 weeks after you leave the area. I was in africa for 3 weeks and never became sick and have been home for 2 weeks now and have had no ill effects at all. We ate game meat almost all of the 3 weeks and it was really-really good--especially the warthog. Go to the Boma Restaurant for sure. Make it a priority on your list while in Vic Falls. You will not be disappointed. The water in the restaurants is fine even the ice in their drinks was ok. Beware of the street vendors selling water. We bought a bottle of water and after checking the cap, we noticed that it was not sealed. We guess that the vendor just filled it up with water(and we don't know what kind) so we discarded it. Bottled coke is widely available there and also canned juices. Just make sure that they are sealed.

Do hope you have a great time and if you have any more questions feel free to respond. It was a trip of a lifetime for us and we know that we will be returning someday there. Take a backpack--it will come in really handy for everything. Sincerely, Rhonda