VicFalls

Hi,

We would like to visit Victoria falls from Botswana in april. We will have a
rental car but we're not allowed to take the car into Zimbabwe or Zambia.
First of all, I would like to know if the Zimbabwean side of VicFalls is
really much nicer than the Zambian side. Zimbabwe has its problems so I
would prefer to go to Zambia unless the Zimbabwean side is much more
spectacular.

About Zambia, are you allowed to enter the country without a visa from an
embassy ? Maybe they issue 1 or 2 day visas at the border considering the
polularity of VicFalls.
Is it possible to travel from the border to Livingstone by bus, or maybe
there are 1 or 2 day tours from Botswana to the falls ?

Any info greatly appreciated.

Regards,
Harry

Just my opinion - but the Falls are best viewed from Zimbabwe,
if you are not going to take one of the flights. The Falls drop
into a gorge, and the paved walkways along the opposite side
of the gorge are all in Zimbabwe. From Zambia, you see the
north end of the Falls from the side.

Any tour operator can organize your land transfers to and from
Vic Falls town from Kasane, Botswana. About $35US p.p. each way.
And an operator can set up your hotel as well. If you do any reading,
you don't really need a guided tour of the Falls. Entry is $20US p.p.

It's even possible to have a boat transfer from Kasane to Zambia and
be driven to one of the Zambian lodges/camps. The boat ride parallels
the Kazangula ferry that carries trucks,cars, buses, back and forth
between Botswana and Zambia.

I can't answer on how to get to the Falls, but I don't think there is
any comparison in viewing the falls from Zim as opposed to Zambia. In
the park in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, you walk along the edge of the
Falls. looking across the chasm to the drop. You are face to face with
the water. Remember the river does a 90 degree turn at the bottom of the
Falls, so from Zambia you see the falls from the side, and you see the
river. Cross if you possibly can, and go in April when the Falls at at
flood. Magnificent!!! Peter

On Mon, 19 Jan 2004 16:37:59 +0100, "Harry"
wrote:

Hi,

We would like to visit Victoria falls from Botswana in april. We will have a
rental car but we're not allowed to take the car into Zimbabwe or Zambia.
First of all, I would like to know if the Zimbabwean side of VicFalls is
really much nicer than the Zambian side. Zimbabwe has its problems so I
would prefer to go to Zambia unless the Zimbabwean side is much more
spectacular.

About Zambia, are you allowed to enter the country without a visa from an
embassy ? Maybe they issue 1 or 2 day visas at the border considering the
polularity of VicFalls.
Is it possible to travel from the border to Livingstone by bus, or maybe
there are 1 or 2 day tours from Botswana to the falls ?

I don't have answers to most of your questions, but I have seen the
falls from the Zambian side, although not from the Zimbabwean side.

My daughter was working in Zambia at the time and took us there. She
saw the falls a number of times and from both sides, so I will report
her opinion as well.

On the Zambian side there is a large park. You can hike to near the
edge of the falls at the top, and you can hike down to the foot of the
falls. We were there in early August, when the water flow is much
depleted by the dry season. In any case, it was spectacular, but at
that time of the year most of the water is on the Zimbabwean side.

My daughter said that in the early summer, when the volume of water is
great, it's difficult to see anything on either side because of the
mist. I don't know how much water there is in April. (My daughter
didn't arrive until June.) In any case, my daughter preferred the
Zambian side to the Zimbabwean side when there was plenty of water. It
is much less touristy, for sure. She also liked the view better.

I would have liked to see both sides, but the tourist visa for
Zimbabwe cost an awful lot and we didn't have enough time in the area
to make it worthwhile.

You can get Zambian visas on entry. The cost wasn't outrageous, but
you had to pay in American dollars or British pounds. (You couldn't
pay in Zambian currency even!) Maybe they've added the euro to those
other currencies by now.
--------
Barbara Vaughan

My email address is my first initial followed by my last name at libero dot it.

Second thought. From Zimbabwe, I could walk into Zambia without a visa,
using a Canadian passport. It is one of those informal arrangements that
are allowed to happen. I believe I had a stamp on a piece of paper that
I had to surrender on return. BUT, I don't know if the service is
reciprocal. Peter

I also recommend the view from the Zimbabwe side. I have seen the Zambian
side of the falls just one big, dry, black cliff in a drought year. The
only water falling was in the horse shoe shaped falls in the Zimbabwe side.
Not much of a view from Zambia. There were some people walking across the
dry river bed at the top of the Zambian side trying to get over to where
they could see the falls. I don't know how far they got.

I would not be afraid of a short visit to Zimbabwe as a tourist. Most of
the people are very friendly and helpful. It's just the government and some
of their henchmen that are a problem. The tourist industry is desperate for
income and will want to treat you very well.

Scott Elliot
http://www3.telus.net/selliot/

"Harry" wrote in message
...
Hi,

We would like to visit Victoria falls from Botswana in april. We will have
a
rental car but we're not allowed to take the car into Zimbabwe or Zambia.
First of all, I would like to know if the Zimbabwean side of VicFalls is
really much nicer than the Zambian side. Zimbabwe has its problems so I
would prefer to go to Zambia unless the Zimbabwean side is much more
spectacular.

About Zambia, are you allowed to enter the country without a visa from an
embassy ? Maybe they issue 1 or 2 day visas at the border considering the
polularity of VicFalls.
Is it possible to travel from the border to Livingstone by bus, or maybe
there are 1 or 2 day tours from Botswana to the falls ?

Any info greatly appreciated.

Regards,
Harry

"Harry" wrote in message .. .
Hi,

Zimbabwe has its problems so I
would prefer to go to Zambia unless the Zimbabwean side is much more
spectacular.

Also: I don't believe there are ANY hotels on the Zim side that have a
view of the falls, so you can stay on either side, and travel to the
other to get the view. We stayed on the Zim side, and went to the
parks on both sides of the falls. Walked down to the Zim side in the
morning, then decided to walk across the bridge to see the view from
Zambia in the afternoon. Since we wanted to get back in time for tea
at the Vic Falls Hotel, we walked part way, then caught a cab just to
save time. So you can do both in a day, on foot.

About Zambia, are you allowed to enter the country without a visa from an
embassy ? Maybe they issue 1 or 2 day visas at the border considering the
polularity of VicFalls.

Yes, definitely can get a visa at the border..I've done this several
times. So easy it is not worth the trouble of getting one in advance.
Have a great time!

Is it possible to travel from the border to Livingstone by bus, or maybe
there are 1 or 2 day tours from Botswana to the falls ?

Any info greatly appreciated.

Regards,
Harry

"Harry" wrote in message
...
Hi,

We would like to visit Victoria falls from Botswana in april. We will have
a
rental car but we're not allowed to take the car into Zimbabwe or Zambia.
First of all, I would like to know if the Zimbabwean side of VicFalls is
really much nicer than the Zambian side. Zimbabwe has its problems so I
would prefer to go to Zambia unless the Zimbabwean side is much more
spectacular.



If you possibly can, see them from both sides.
From the Zambian side you can get sunset over the Falls (never managed to
get up earlier enough to get sunrise from the Zim side!
You can see more of the gorge from the Zim side, but there was something
special about the Zam side.

--
Rita Daggett

On Tue, 20 Jan 2004 04:26:42 GMT, "Scott Elliot"
wrote:

I also recommend the view from the Zimbabwe side. I have seen the Zambian
side of the falls just one big, dry, black cliff in a drought year.

In April that "dry cliff" would be a very big waterfall.

--------
Barbara Vaughan

My email address is my first initial followed by my last name at libero dot it.

Thanks everyone for the answers !

Harry



"Rita Daggett" wrote in message
...
"Harry" wrote in message
...
Hi,

We would like to visit Victoria falls from Botswana in april. We will
have
a
rental car but we're not allowed to take the car into Zimbabwe or
Zambia.
First of all, I would like to know if the Zimbabwean side of VicFalls is
really much nicer than the Zambian side. Zimbabwe has its problems so I
would prefer to go to Zambia unless the Zimbabwean side is much more
spectacular.



If you possibly can, see them from both sides.
From the Zambian side you can get sunset over the Falls (never managed to
get up earlier enough to get sunrise from the Zim side!
You can see more of the gorge from the Zim side, but there was something
special about the Zam side.

--
Rita Daggett