Victoria Falls & Hwange Highlights

After breakfast, your driver guide will escort you to the entrance of Victoria Falls with a 10-minute drive, then accompany you to experience this rich and exciting water trip today. Are you ready for magnificent waterfalls under rainbow?

Victoria Falls are also named as Mosi-oa-Tunya by locals which means “Smoke that Thunders”. They are almost two times higher and wider than the famous Niagara Falls between the USA and Canada. With a height up to 122 meters (400 feet) and a width nearly 1,800 meters (5,900 feet), the roar and mist can be heard and seen from tens of kilometers. The first viewpoint out of the total 16 stands the statue of David Livingstone (1813 - 1873), a Scottish explorer who discovered this landscape in 1855 and named it after Queen Victoria. He would have felt surprised if he had known that the popular tourist city Livingstone in Zambia is named after him. Then, the falls sightseeing formally starts from the second viewpoint. In the following rainforest hike of about 3 km (1.8 mi), Devil’s Cataract, Main Falls, Horseshoe Falls, Rainbow Falls, Armchair Falls and Eastern Cataract will present themselves progressively, bringing you distinctive views. In the end of the hike, Victoria Falls Railway Bridge that connects Zimbabwe and Zambia comes into your sight. Walking onto it, you can overlook the falls and gain a special experience of stepping between two countries in the mist.

► Best Time to Visit Victoria Falls
May to October is regarded as the best time to visit Victoria Falls. Despite of the local dry season, its waterflow on the Zimbabwe side remains considerable and frequent sunny days make rainbows commonly visible as well. However, that of some falls on the Zambia side might be less satisfactory. During rainy season from late November to early April, the waterflow tends to be exceptionally high, thus contributing to overwhelming thunders and mist, while on the other side, the visibility is largely lowered by profuse mist, probably making visitors fail to see the whole waterfalls. You can choose appropriate time and country to visit there based on your preference.

★ Special Treat: Zambezi River Sunset Cruise
In the afternoon, you’ll board a vessel to start your relaxing sunset cruise on Zambezi River. During the journey, we offer you drinks and snacks without your extra expenses. It is quite reposeful to hold a cup of drink in bright color and admire natural scenery sitting by the boat side, especially after walking for hours in the morning. Throughout the cruise, the splendid river views vary from locations and times, bathed in the golden sunset. Crocodiles and hippos emerging up and down in the river, wandering warthogs and deer on the banks as well as birds flying over the clear sky together create surprises and vitality for this trip. Finally, your driver guide will accompany you back to your hotel.

► Optional Activities at Victoria Falls (at your own expense):
1. Helicopter Overview: In the helicopter, you could gain the panorama of Victoria Falls and see clearly how the wide river suddenly plunges into the narrow deep valley. The whole process lasts for over a dozen of minutes with 3 to 4 rounds.
2. Bridge Bungee: It must be unforgettable to jump from the historic Victoria Falls Railway Bridge and float in the rainbow and mist. If it’s too much for you, the zip line is a better choice.
3. Visit Devil’s Pool: In dry season, Devil’s Pool in Zambia side becomes available to visitors. You can lie down on the cliff edge to experience the new thrill and gain get Instagram-worthy photos. However, in consideration of safety, it is limited to guided tours. 

Meal: Breakfast
Accommodation: Nkosi Guest Lodge, Victoria Falls or similar

When you finish packing up and breakfast in the hotel, we will start off and arrive at the new hotel around Hwange National Park after a scenic drive of 2.5 hours. We choose this featured hotel for you where you can see vast land and lush forest from the window. The picture of elephant herd drinking by the pool nearby is also common. Living here makes you feel like becoming a part of the wild more than just a tourist. Besides primitive natural environment, the hotel’s donation to wildlife conservation also plays an important role for us to choose it since every booking gives a helping hand to the wildlife protection in Zimbabwe.

After lunch, you can meander around the hotel to snap wild views, or have a rest for the game drive coming in the afternoon. Around 3:00 PM, let’s drive deep into Hwange National Park, featuring one of the world’s largest elephant herds. With the help of your guide, you would see the renowned “Big Five” including buffalo, elephant, leopard, lion, and rhino. They earn this reputation not for their large sizes but for the high danger and great difficulty to hunt them. But don’t worry! Our experienced driver guide will secure your safety through appropriate distance which allows clear observation on animals. As the sunlight grows dim and your view becomes limited, we will drive back to the hotel and enjoy dinner. Wish you a good rest for schedules tomorrow!

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Accommodation: Ivory Lodge, Hwange or similar

Today, we will conduct a full-day safari in Hwange National Park during the two periods when wild animals are most active. In the very early morning, a cup of coffee or tea is served before setting off so as to pull you out of drowsiness. Around 6:30 AM, you’ll start the morning game drive in an open-sided 4x4 safari vehicle. Remember to wear thick coats to deal with the relatively low temperatures. During the following 3 hours, you are able to see many animals who are especially active in the morning, such as buffaloes and elephants drinking around lakes, or leopards and lions hunting in the wild. Around 9:30 AM, return to your hotel to have breakfast. The rest morning time depends on you, taking a brief sleep to revive energy or relaxing yourself in the swimming pool of your lodge.

The lunch time is at 1:00 PM, then the afternoon safari begins around 3:00 PM. when it turns not that hot. Besides the “Big Five”, most other wildlife such as monkey, zebra, giraffe and birds also start to emerge frequently. You could take the binoculars to search and observe them. Pay special attention to African Wild Dogs, the characteristic but endangered animal of Hwange. From the front perspective, large and round ears like Micky Mouse make them look somewhat lovely. Together with the mottled patches of yellow, black and white on the body, they can be easily distinguished from similar animals like hyena and jackal. Though seeming ugly-cute, they are actually as fast as leopards and more likely to hunt successfully than lions. Moreover, they are quite team-oriented, for instance, a “conference” is held before hunting to vote with loud sneezes; during hunting, they never leave injured partners behind and the weak members are given priority to enjoy the prey after hunting. It is particularly rare among predators. However, such “waste” of resources is also one of the reasons why there are only about 6,000 African wild dogs in the world.

When the dusk falls, your driver guide will accompany you back to the hotel to have dinner.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Accommodation: Ivory Lodge, Hwange or similar

According to your departure flights, your driver guide will escort you to the Victoria Falls Airport and the transfer is about 3 hours. We wish you a pleasant journey home!

Meal: Breakfast