Zambia, Victoria Falls

Earlier this month our daughter Phoebe and I went on a ten-day safari to Zambia to look at some of the camps and lodges they have there and to see if this would be a fantastic safari destination for our guests.  It was really wonderful to travel with Phoebe and we really had a great time together; she helping me with photographs and notes and me teaching her bush craft.

Our first stop was at Victoria Falls where we stayed at a couple of places. The first night was at Sussi and Chuma lodge, named after David Livingstone’s faithful porters and companions during his travels through Africa. This is a lovely lodge built up on stilts and connected by walkways overlooking the great Zambezi River a few miles above the falls. 

On our first night we enjoyed a quiet sundowner looking over the river from their pool deck and enjoyed the cheerful dancing flames of the campfire. After the bustle and hours of travel in big airplanes and regional airports the quiet rustle and flow of the Zambezi River and the orange orb of the setting sun was a wonderfully calming scene.  The ice-cold white wine, courtesy of South Africa's vineyards, was also of considerable assistance in helping to set the scene!

The following morning Phoebe and I went to explore the Falls.  Our first view of the Mosi Oa Tunyo (The smoke that thunders) was from the back seat of a microlight aircraft and it was an exhilarating ride. The flimsy machine soared into the clear blue skies and the wash of wind roared through my helmet. We circled around the falls a couple of times and the view from just a couple of hundred feet up was fantastic! We then explored a little upstream seeing elephant, hippo and crocs in the river and then more game as we came in over the park towards the landing strip.

After seeing the falls from the microlight the view from the ground may seem to take a second place but in fact it was also stupendous.  The roar of the falling water and the cool mist, the deep chasm and then the view of Rhodes’ railway bridge, “I want the passengers to feel the mist through their windows” all made for a wonderful experience.

Our second night was at The River Club, an old homestead converted into a safari lodge by Peter Jones a retired officer from the Black Watch; a history buff and keen oarsman.  In fact he was in the midst of organizing an international regatta to be held the following week with teams from Oxford, Cambridge and South African Universities due to do battle on the Zambezi. (http://www.victoriafalls-guide.net/the-zambezi-international-regatta-returns-to-livingstone.html).  

The lodge is filled with old sepia prints of early settlers, explorers, newspaper articles, WW1 recruitment posters and other collector’s memorabilia.  These all set the scene for sumptuous dinners by candle light with marvelous stories about the characters who carved out a home in the African wilderness. Since the lodge was quiet Peter invited Phoebe and I to dinner at his home and we chatted into the night over a bottle of Cabernet with the chirrup of crickets and the gurgle of the river outside.