Our family wants to travel to see Victoria Falls this September. Despite the reassurances of our travel agent that everything will be fine, my husband is not buying it. He wants us to visit the Zambian side & wants us to make arrangements on our own. ????
Are most of you making arrangements on your own & not working with a travel/tour operator? Or maybe you can recommend a tour operator. We will be in Jnb prior to the visit & want to spend 3-4 nights for this trip. Any help would greatly be appreciated. Just hope we have not waited too long to arrange this

Buckeyebandit,
We are doing most of South Africa on our own (5 weeks), but decided it was cheapest to get a package deal from SA to Vic Falls which includes airfares and accommodation. I cannot say for sure this is true, but it certainly seemed that way to us. We booked a flight / accommodation deal through an agent - and for the rest we are on our own. We are using SELFTOURS - a Sth African travel agency (we did everything through email). We are not due to fly until December, so I cannot endorse the travel agent yet - so far so good, but the proof of their efficiency will be when we actually travel. Good luck!

So sorry the Visa waiver is no longer available. It was if you were staying on the Zam side for two nights. I saved $200. i had read about it in my book, and emailed the hotel I was staying at. I travelled in vic Falls twice by myself (before and after my tour). I had made all accomodations and flights with a travel agent in the states, but you could probably easily book with SA airways directly. They had 3 flights/day from Johannesburg to Vic Falls. I flew into Zim though and was picked up at the airport to get into Zam. It was fine, no problem, but i didn't want to stay on the Zim side, but many people i met were and had no problems.

I stayed at Bush Front, which is connected with the Zambezi Waterfront hotel. No shuttle between the two and although easy walking distance, there were elephants too close to walk.

The Zambezi had Safari Par Excellence within the hotel to book tours. I went "Walking with the Lions" in zim for $100..best thing I did the entire trip. and went to a day safari in the Mosai-oa-Tunya park. The walk with the elephants was all sold out before I got there. Id didn't go river rafting because I didn't get my luggage for 4 days...It didn't make my connecting flight in NYC to Jberg. Happened to about 30-40% of the peopel I met, so pack your carry-ons wisely.
Not much shopping in Vic Falls excpet a couple very expensive stores.

Also, I went via taxi to visit Mukuni Village..bought lots of stuff there and the quality was much better than from the vendors at the stalls...they are all aggressive, but nice. FYI - bring pens to trade for goods...they all wanted my pens and such an easy thing to bring, but no one told me.

Email me directly if you wish for further info.

I'm not sure if I've understood the Visa situation correctly. I'm flying into Zambia and then, the next morning, want to walk over to the Zim side to see the falls from there, and walk back to Zam. Does this mean I need to pay the $135 Zambian Visa twice (once when flying in, and then again when walking back from Zim)???

and I have another question to add to this: if you want to walk from Zam over to Zim, do you need a Zim visa?

Hi,
To answer the first question, yes you may be charged twice as your visa will be single entry, really depends on the officer on duty if you can prove you will return that day he may overlook it but bearing in mind Zam has really tightened up it's visa rules and you are seen as being able to afford it then it's unlikely.

You are allowed to walk onto the bridge which seperates the two countries and look down the Zambezi but if you wish to go beyond that into Zim itself and view the falls from there then you will need a Zim visa.

Vic Falls is actually made up of many different falls. The difference being you look down the gorge from Zam and see some from that side but in Zim you are facing onto the main falls, both are spectacular,some prefer Zam view some Zim. In recent years we have been more to Zam than Zim but that is because of the situation in Zim and the fact we don't wish to indirectly support and ergo prolong the existing regime.
Hope this helps.

The lonely Planet guide for botswana and Namibia had good maps for the Falls on both sides..it included the Victoria Falls part since so many people go there along with Botswana. When I was there, the line at the Zim airport (late July) was long, but crossing the border was pretty easy. The lines were small and I was there early am as well as mid afternoon. maybe 10 people in front of me? It was quick and easy.

FYI _ I took a lot of taxis (the blue ones) and it was always about $20 roundtrip. The drivers were amazing though..they would drop me off and we would arrange a time to pick me up. I could barely recognize them, but they always knew who i was and were very pleasant. Pre-arrange the price though and I never paid til after i was taken back to my hotel.

When I flew into Zimbabwe, I paid for the double entry visa, which allowed me to go back into Zim easily. There are many places to buy gifts on the Zambian side, but beware, the vendors area bit aggressive. got lots of deal and bring pens to use for bartering.

heasereb, do you know if there is also such "double entry" visa for Zambia so I don't have to pay the $135 twice? how much is it?

thanks

One thing that is highly desired are high quality socks and tennis shoes. If I had brought a dozen pairs of socks I probably could have purchased virtually anything from the aggressive vendors at Victoria Falls.

I just looked on the US Dept of State web site and the Zambian visa for US passport holders is $135 and is valid for 3 years and for multiple entries.

"Not much shopping in Vic Falls except a couple very expensive stores"
When I was there 3 years ago there were lots of inexpensive little shops selling shirts and knick knacks, if that's the kind of thing you want. Also the open bazaar where the craftsman sell their own handiwork has a zillion handmade African artifacts at reasonable prices.
People with our group were bartering literally with the shirts off their backs and the shoes off their feet! Didn't have to be high-end shoes. They wanted those athletic shoes big time.
For the person who asked about touring Soweto--it's perfectly safe to take a bus tour there. We did it and never felt any trepidation. We were abel to tour a former home of N.Mandela, and drove past current homes of Winnie Mandela and Desmond Tutu. I wouldn't hesitate to do it, if I were you.