Experiences in Zimbabwe

Chete Safari Area
Upstream from Matusadona National Park is the Chete Safari Area. This hilly and rocky area is difficult to access by car or game vehicle. Chete is actually a controlled hunting area, done by boat, vehicle and on foot. Chete Safari area is situated on the shores of Lake Kariba between the Senkwe and Muenda rivers.It is a controlled hunting area and one of Zimbabwe’s most rugged concessions.

Its hilly country means that the area is not well developed in terms of roads therefore some areas are only accessible on foot. Hunting is mainly by boat , vehicles and on foot.Wildlife available to hunt are elephant, buffalo, leopard, lion, sable, kudu, zebra, waterbuck, hippo, impala, crocodile, klipspringer, eland, hyena, bushpig and grysbok.

Bike Tour
This is a unique way to get around Victoria Falls, see sights and experience the area in a way that not many visitors do.The guided bicycle tours are done in three trips – morning, mid-morning and afternoon. Each tour lasts about 2 hours. The terrain in the area is generally fairly flat (no mountains around), but a few inclines are to be expected in a few places.

Please bear in mind that it can get extremely hot in Victoria Falls during summer (check our calendar), so of all the trips to pick from, we would recommend the morning tour best, but it still can be quite arduous. If you have a slightly energetic nature and a bit of extra time in the Falls we would recommended doing this activity.

The trip begins with a pickup from your pre-arranged meeting place (usually your lodge or hotel in town) to The Lookout Café. You meet your tour guide and this is where bikes and water bottles are issued.

Your tour starts with cycling along the Batoka gorge with the raging rapids of the Zambezi River down below. Your guide takes you down to the upper river, into the wilderness and past the Big Tree – a famous massive baobab tree which is said to be over 3500 years old. Your guide will share his knowledge of the unique fauna and flora of the region. Keep an eye out for impala, warthog, monkeys, baboons, an abundance of birdlife and even the mighty elephant!

The Adventure Jet boat
The Adventure Jet boat, introduced in early 2019, is a trip from the Zimbabwe side of the Zambezi River. This high-speed Victoria Falls jet boat was specially made and with 465 horsepower, it is bound to inspire and thrill like no other. It is located in the Batoka gorge, under the Victoria Falls Bridge and close to the base of the Victoria Falls.

It operates daily between the hours of 8 am and about 4 pm, with the last trip leaving at 3 pm. It is available every hour. Guests are picked up at their hotel/lodge in Victoria Falls (extra transfers will be required if coming from Livingstone town) and taken to the top of the gorge.

Strap into your safety gear and head down on foot to the launch point. You must be fit enough to walk in and out of the gorge. The walk is steep and in some places rocky. Once on board and harnessed in, the jet boat hurtles you at high speed up and down the river, racing through the rapids and executing sharp turns, all-in-all a very exhilarating experience.

Fishing on the Zambezi River
Fishing on the Zambezi River to the novice or experienced angler is possibly as close as one can get to absolute perfection.As all fishermen know it is not only about the catch but it’s about being at one with nature and your surroundings. Well what better place can you do this than on the Mighty Zambezi River?

There are over 75 fish species found inhabiting these waters. The most sought-after of these is the Tiger Fish, well renowned as probably the greatest fighting fresh water fish around. It is a ferocious species which can grow as large as 33 lbs (15 Kg) in weight.However you can also expect to catch three-spot, pink-happy and Yellow-belly bream, Upper Zambezi Yellowfish, African Pike and Silver Barbel to name just a few of the most common.

Targeting Tiger fish on fly is definitely one of the most challenging and exciting experiences any angler can have. Heart stopping strikes are always followed by fantastic acrobatic aerial displays, as the tigers dance across the waters surface trying to throw your fly from their bony mouth (often successfully).

These tremendous fighters swim against the current all day long and are extremely fit, their fight is unsurpassed by any other fish so catching them on normal tackle is exciting in itself but to catch one on a fly rod is beyond belief.

Bird Watching
As if the abundance of wildlife in Hwange wasn’t enough of a reason to visit, there are almost 400 different species of birds that can be found in the National Park – making it a twitchers’ paradise! Make sure to keep your eyes directed at the sky and towards the treetops while you’re on a game drive so that you don’t miss out on an incredible opportunity to tick some awe-inspiring bird species off your list.

Village Experience
In an attempt to empower the local villages in the Hwange District, steps have been taken to turn local villages into tourist destinations. Visitors to the region can visit traditional homesteads to learn about the local people and their unique cultures. Village markets offer locals the chance to sell their arts and crafts, which not only ensures that local traditional crafts do not die out, but enables locals to turn their skill into an activity that empowers them to support their families.

Fishing Kariba
When Lake Kariba was formed in 1958 the area began to support a booming fishing industry in both Zimbabwe and Zambia. The Tanganyika sardine, otherwise known as the ‘Kapenta’, was a major source of food for people around the lake, and still is today. This species also happens to be a favourite food for the tiger fish. With such an abundance of prey, the tigers of Kariba can grow to over 14kg, providing remarkable fishing opportunities for anyone who likes a big fight on their hands.

There are many splendid fishing locations on Kariba, but one of the best is surely the Sanyati Gorge, where steep cliffs rise on either side of the gorge for 13km up from the lake. In other parts of the lake you’ll find fish eagles watching over as you cast out your line, elephant and antelope grazing on the lush growth along the waterline, and in the clear, unpolluted waters of the lake itself, the tiger fish are waiting.

 

Crocodile Cage Diving
Crocodile Cage Diving is located in the centre of Victoria Falls town, Elephants Walk Shopping Village. This gives visitors a once in a lifetime opportunity to view Zambezi Predators in action. Crocodile Cage divers can watch, touch and experience crocodiles in their own environment. Get a unique underwater look at their short legs, thick tails and impressive jaws.

Prepare yourself for an exhilarating crocodile encounter! Whilst in the cage you can observe these fascinating carnivores pushing powerfully through the water from all angles.

Operated by an over-head monorail and designed for 2-4 people per cage. The cage is suspended above the crocs before being lowered into the croc cage enclosure to get an up close and personal look at these amazing reptiles. Enjoy a 360 degree view of the three rescued Nile Crocodiles – Bongo, Prado and Lucky.

 

Lion Walk – Victoria Falls
Walk side by side with the King of the Jungle. You are invited to take a walk on the wild side and interact with the rowdy adolescents as well as learn about the conservation issues on the walk with lions safari.

No leashes, no collars……

Come walk with the Pride….no leashes, no collars, and the pride roam freely with you through the African bush in this walk with lions activity. All clients will be given equipment for their Walk with lions (stick). On a walk with lions safari there are three lion handlers plus a Trip leader. All Trip Leaders carry a .458 rifle, and a communication radio plus a first aid kit.

 

Lion Walk – Antelope Park
Join our lions on a walk through the bush, while the animals explore their natural habitat. Experienced guides and handlers will take you on early morning or afternoon walks with our older cubs, where you can interact with them and get closer than you ever thought possible. Our professional team of staff will help you make the most of this incredible experience. Closed walking shoes are compulsory. No bright colours or flimsy tasselled clothing.

 

Vulture Culture Experience
Victoria Falls Safari Lodge’s popular Vulture Culture Experience is a supplementary feeding program that aids the survival of these remarkable, but endangered birds, enables their numbers to be monitored, and also raises awareness of their plight.

The Vulture Culture Experience, which is entertaining, educational and appeals to all age groups, begins with a briefing about the ecological importance of vultures and the challenges they are facing. The activity is free but visitors are encouraged to make a donation to the Victoria Falls Wildlife Trust.

Vulture populations are dwindling due to a variety of human created issues, including electrocution by power lines, loss of available and safe food supply, poisoning and the use of their parts for traditional medicines. After the briefing visitors walk down a bush path to a hide, from where they witness the spectacular sight of hundreds of vultures swooping down to feed on leftover meat scraps from the onsite restaurants.

The experience, which occurs at 1pm daily, offers the opportunity to spot white headed vultures, hooded vultures, lappet faced vultures, white backed vultures, cape vultures, as well as marabou storks, tawny eagles and yellow-billed kites. Victoria Falls Safari Lodge works in collaboration with Vulpro, a leading vulture conservation program based in South Africa, and the Victoria Falls Wildlife Trust

 

Game Drive – Victoria Falls
No visit to Africa would be complete without a Victoria Falls safari tour. Whether you want to get up close and personal with African wildlife on an intimate walking safari through the African bushveld

or want to experience the wild in the evening when animals are most active, as you watch the sun set over the African savannah in the Zambezi National Park. Spot majestic predators as they prepare for their nightly hunt or watch elephants sway in the twilight. A Victoria Falls safari will complete your trip to Zimbabwe and make for an unforgettable experience.

African safaris, game drives and walking tours are available at dawn and dusk, which are the best times to spot wildlife, for three hours at a time.

 

Gorge Swing – Victoria Falls
Gorge Swing is a thrilling and mind blowing experience. Leap into the wide-open air as you plunge into the mouth of the Batoka gorge, Victoria Falls. Scream as you break free of the fear and trepidation you felt before you threw yourself off the platform. Zero Gravity!

Imagine swinging in a child’s swing in the playground…now imagine a giant swing 95 m long and 120 m high above water…now imagine a 70 m free fall before you begin swinging. Stop imagining and come and try it out! Our high wire is suspended across the gorge at a point where the width is 316 m and 120 m deep.

A harness is attached to the jumper and then the jumping ropes, the other end of which is pivoted to the middle of the cable. The jumper leaps off the edge of the gorge, free falling about 70 m before going into a 95 m long pendulum type swing.

Parents or guardians of any child under 16 must be present and available to sign an indemnity on the child’s behalf. Management retain the right to turn a child away at their own discretion should they feel the child is not able to cope with the experience in any way. There is no maximum age limit. Tandem swing available.Minimum age is 12 years.

 

Helicopter Ride – Victoria Falls
Experience a bird’s eye view of the Victoria Falls on a thrilling flight over the Falls and the Zambezi River in a helicopter or Microlight aircraft. The helicopter is designed so all passengers have a good view. The Microlight has an open cockpit for theultimate ride with the wind in your face. 15-minute flights also go downstream over the Batoka Gorge & upstream over the Mosi Oa Tunya National Park, an opportunity to see game in the park below.

 

Boat Cruise – Victoria Falls
Lush riverine vegetation, prolific birdlife and abundant game, I would highly recommend this activity especially if you have not done the upper Zambezi canoeing. There are a variety of cruises available early morning, lunch and sunset. There are also a variety of boats from small private boats of 8 to 10 people up to large party boats that carry 120 people. In Zimbabwe the boats launch about 5 Kilometres upstream of the Victoria Falls well out of dangers way of going over the edge, some people are often wary of this. The bigger boats normally head upstream a little way and then turn around to return slowly giving you plenty of time to really take in the magnificence of your surroundings.

You will see plenty of crocodiles and hippos and the birdlife is spectacular. Often elephants are seen crossing the river to get to the lush vegetation on the island of the Zambezi River. As you look downstream you can normally see the spray from the mighty Victoria Falls rising high into the sky and you imagine to yourself, that this must have been the same view that David Livingstone had, as he approached the Falls for the very first time.

The sunset cruises as the name suggest stay on the river to watch the great African Sunset and arrive back slightly after dark. The early morning cruises are excellent for birdwatchers. Zambezi River Sunset cruise

There are numerous different tour operators for this activity, with many boats of different shapes and sizes. All I can say here is that Shearwater run an excellent operation the staff are friendly, helpful and informative.

The price you pay includes all drinks and snacks. The waiters chirp is that the more you drink the more you will see. So they tirelessly bring you fresh gin and tonics. What a way to spend and afternoon.

 

Flying Fox
You get clipped into a harness which is attached to a pulley which then glides along an almost horizontal cable across the gorge, 125m above the valley floor. This gives you the sensation of flying. It looks tame in comparison to the Foofie slide and Gorge swing, but I promise you this is still a thrilling experience, and requires great courage.

 

Zip Line
As the river zigzags down the Batoka Gorges, the cable is suspended across from one side to the other. For this product you are harnessed and attached to a pulley, then launched over the edge picking up speed as you descend over the water and reaching a speed of 106 km an hour.

 

The Big Tree Tour
The Big Tree – one of the best-known trees in the world – is a huge baobab of the species Adansonia digitata in Zimbabwe, close to the Victoria Falls. It has sometimes been called Livingstone’s tree erroneously. Unusually for a baobab it has both an impressive girth and is very tall. It measures 22.40 metres in girth (2004) and is 24 metres tall (1985).

The explorer and missionary David Livingstone who discovered the Victoria Falls for the British Empire (naming the Falls for his queen) carved his name in 1855 into a Boabab tree on an island (Garden Island) above the precipice of the well known waterfalls that is now an international tourist attraction.

Big Tree is in fact roughly 2 km from the river, the falls and the island where Livingstone arrived in a ‘makoro’ dugout canoe made landfall and wrote his records. Apart from being the best known this impressive tree is possibly the oldest and biggest baobab in Zimbabwe. Some as impressive, or more impressive trees were sadly lost under the flooding further downstream that occurred once Kariba Dam wall was finished in 1956. Unlike the animals rescued and saved by Operation Noah during the flooding the trees had to stay where they were, many were bulldozed so they would not become underwater hazards.

Big Tree may be about 2000 yrs old using estimates from its girth and growth ring data collected from other trees under Rhodesian rule. However it is deeply incised and there is speculation that it is three tree trunks ( or trees) and it may be considerably younger.

 

Nile Crocodile Farm – Victoria Falls
Explore the crocodile farm and see various African animals, including the second largest crocodile in the world, as well as the second largest reptile in existence.

The Nile Crocodile is abundant in the Zambezi River around Victoria Falls. Many people are terrified of these Pre-historic creatures so I would recommend a visit to Spencer’s Creek Crocodile Farm, to understand them more and get a closer look at them than one would like to in the wild.

The crocodile farm is situated about 5 Kilometres from the town centre, very close to A’ Zambezi Hotel, and at the doorsteps of the Zambezi National Park. The grounds are set along a natural creek surrounded by tall, shady trees which keeps the temperature down. There are hundreds of crocodiles on display as well as a number of African animals including Lion.

These lion are often heard roaring by people staying at the nearby hotels and the village itself, sending shivers down their spines.

 

White Water Rafting – Eastern Highlands
FAR and WIDE offers four white water rafting trips on the Pungwe River in the Honde Valley in Zimbabwe’s Eastern Highlands. Each trip is very different in character to the next but all are exceptional experiences. They are all participatory in nature requiring guests to self paddle their raft down river under instruction from a professional river guide. From a fun filled family day out to an adrenalin pumping non stop action decent and everything in between the Pungwe River has it all.

Accommodation options include: Aberfoyle Lodge, Hornbill House, Pamushana Cottage, Mutarazi Cottages, Pungwe Drift Cottages, Mutarazi Falls camp site and FAR and WIDE cabins. It is also a great days outing if staying anywhere in Nyanga or Vumba.

The trips are run on a daily basis and the season begins with the onset of the summer rains normally late November and goes through to April but sometimes as late as August.

The boats we use are inflatable five man rafts which have been specially designed for the technical low volume waters of the Pungwe River.

The alpine type flow regime of the river systems on which we raft means that we rely on the almost nightly orographic rains that fall in the vast catchment areas of the upper slopes of Mt Nyangani to “top up” the river each day. The rivers hold their volume very well from January through to April but the volumes can be erratic at either end of the seasonal timeline. It is also possible that large volumes of rain received in the catchment over several days, or even overnight, make certain sections of the river unsafe to raft on for several days. It is a dynamic river system and our priority is always your safety. For this reason it may be that a decision is made to change the section we raft, on any particular day. However if, for example, Bernie’s Run is closed due to high water levels, then the Family Day or Bridge2Bridge sections become awesome!

Below are brief descriptions of the four river trips. Please note combinations of the various tips are possible. e.g Family Day followed by Bridge2Bridge&Beyond or even all four in a day!

Please note all trips are dependent on safe water levels on the day. On rare occasions it may even be necessary to cancel a trip on arrival at the river. If such a cancellation is necessary a full refund is given. Your safety is our only concern.

 

Bunjee Jumping
Surely jumping 111 meters off the Victoria Falls Bridge has to be one of the most challenging, terrifying, crazy things to do. I have not built up the courage yet but from all accounts…. It’s a must do.

Some say it’s the best Bungee in the world…it’s not the highest, that honour goes to Macau Tower in China which is an incredible 233m. Maybe it is because of the backdrop of the Victoria Falls or maybe just the fact that you are free falling down towards the mighty Zambezi. Whatever it is, it is a massive adrenaline rush!! Even famous people such as Ewan McGregor and Will Smith have taken the plunge.

There is only one company that operates the Bungee Jump on the Victoria Falls Bridge. They are affiliated to Shearwater in Zimbabwe.First timers normally do a standard head first dive, but the more experienced try all sorts of flips, backflips and inward tucks, some even with a bicycle or kayak.

Pre-booked and paid bungee jumpers are entitled to a full refund up until they sign the indemnity form on the bridge and start to strap up, you are then past the point of no return.

 

White Water Rafting – Victoria Falls
I guarantee this will be one of those days that you will remember for the rest of your life and whatever time of year you go you are going to get wet.. very wet.Names of rapids like Stairway to Heaven, The Terminator, The Washing Machine, Judgement Day, Devils Toilet Bowl and Oblivion, give you a small insight of what to expect.

Rafting trips run from both the Zimbabwean and Zambian sides and operators on both sides are highly professional.The water level of the Zambezi River is completely dictated by rainfall, and this has a huge impact on the white water rafting season.As every year’s rainfall is different so is every year’s rafting. So the dates given below are guide lines only.In Zimbabwe the low water trips (approx August through to late December) start at Rapid number one which is just below the boiling pot of the Victoria Falls and finish after rapid 19.

The intensity of rafting varies due to the fluctuating levels of water plunging through the gorges. On the whole, lower water levels means higher thrill levels. This is because when the water levels are very high, they flood the rocks and outcrops which are the formation of the rapids. As water levels drop, rocks get closer to the surface and the white water starts to really boil and crash through the gorge.

However when the water level is very high the sheer volume of water makes some rapids unsafe, hence the need for the high water run where the first 10 rapids are left out. As water levels get increasingly higher around about March, the whole river becomes unsafe so the Victoria Falls White Water Rafting is closed until the water levels start to drop again in around June.