Victoria Falls Speed Tour

Wait, I flew into Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe but had neglected to see the falls from the Zimbabwe side. With only a few hours until my departure, I needed to cross the Zambian border, go through immigration on that side, then clear immigration in Zimbabwe, find a place to drop off my bags, see the falls then get a ride to the airport.

I left the hotel promptly at 8:45AM‎ and paid $10 for a ride to the border. I had no issues at the Zambian border but got hustled for $5 for someone to take me from there to Zimbabwe border. I thought this person would take me all the way to the park entrance. After getting on Zimbabwe soil, I was propositioned by more taxi drivers saying they’d give me a ride. I negotiated a $2 fare with the third driver that caused quite the uproar. The nice guy said for $18 more, he’d take me to the airport and even wait for me while I went to the Falls. I agreed.

Our first stop was the Ilala upscale resort. I walked in, pretended to be a guest, and stored my bags there. Luggage free, I went back to the taxi and we drove to the park entrance. For the nice price of $30 per person, foreigners are allowed access to the park. Locals pay $10 which is still pretty steep.

Victoria Falls has multiple viewing spots that are numbered. I recommend going to the higher numbers for pictures during the dry season as there’s nothing but dry rocks in stations 2 and 3.

Not on a real time constraint but more for fun, we decided to run from one station to the next, snap a photo, and move on. This kept our heart rate up and kept us ahead of the other‎ tourists. I highly advise speed tourism as an effective way to see the sights and not waste any time. Think Clark Griswold seeing the Grand Canyon.

Forty five minutes later, we had seen all the stations and taken enough pictures and videos. My favorite was the last station where you can witness tourists on the Zambian side getting into the deservedly hyped attraction of the Devil’s Pool.

Victoria Falls is one of the Natural Wonders of the World, and I’m happy that I got to see it in a timely manner. It would have been quite an oversight if I had skipped it. Then again, I lived in Arizona for ten years and have yet to visit the Grand Canyon.