Vic Falls Boat Rides
 

We will be staying at the Royal Livingstone in May, and will probably do a river trip to see the falls up close and personal (since I'm not about to swim up to the edge even if its do-able at that time of year!). Anyone know if we should book the boat in advance of arrival at the hotel? Any recommendations on operators or boats? Thanks for any help - Sharon

Hi Sharon
I recommend pre-booking, the cruises in Zambia are often full due to group and incentive's taking the whole boat especially the better cruises which I recommend you do being the African Queen and African Princess, they are 5 star as is your accommodation. These cruises actually do not go near the edge of the fallls but are very scenic and relaxing with good snacks and drinks all included in the price. The alternative option is to do the Livingstone Island trip which is awesome and takes you to the island on the lip of the falls. If interested feel free to place the booking with Lee on [email protected], she has been great with all our arrangements. Have a great time. Brian

I second the recommendation of the African Queen/Princess. We went on that and it was a nice boat (compared to some of the others that we seen).

thanks so much for the responses, Bzambezi and drehburg. I will be looking into these and booking in advance. Can't wait! :)

We were on the African Queen this past September, early evening cruise. Nice little boat ride, yawn, ho-hum. All the booze you wanted. Which reminds me of the time - I was leading a safari in darkest Africa when one of the porters dropped our only case of gin. We shot him of course and had to live the rest of the way on only food and water. Aaaah, yesss.
regards to W.C. Fields

so, Cary999 - is that a recommendation or ...? good W.C. Fields riff, anyway.;)

recommendation - well, iz ok if you don't have anything else to do. It was a nice clean large boat. "Vanned" over to it from Royal Liv. This was not close to the Falls, some ways up river. (Not much water going over in Sept, would think May will have a lot). I don't know what it cost, was in package with Royal Liv.
regards - tom

Hello Stamiya,

If you want to see the falls up close and personal, you make want to look into riding a jet boat up to the foot of the falls -- it will be a lot more interesting than a booze cruise on the river above the falls. Batoka Sky offers this option (www.batokasky.com).

I met a couple who had done the jet boat ride at Londoz -- they loved it and it certainly sounded like a lot of fun!

Cheers,
Julian

Tom and Julian - thanks for the information. We'll check out the jet boating, although I think we'll have to pass on the rafting after reading some earlier posts regarding the "thrills and chills" aspects of shooting the rapids on the Zambezi...