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baboons, they can be quite vicious.
The falls did not disappoint, there are
guides who are happy to show you
the falls and give you some inside
information. I recommend that you
ask one to accompany you, as all they
ask is that you tip them at the end of
the tour. Our guide was a lovely young
lady who was great with the twins and
helped us to keep them in check, as we
took photographs etc. The thundering
powerful waters of the Victoria falls,
locally known as Mosi-oa-Tunya (The
smoke that thunders), will take your
breath away and leave you drenched,
so take waterproof camera equipment
along with you and wear a rain coat, if
you don’t want to get too wet. If you
want to get really close to the waters,
at the bottom of the falls, then you can
take the trek to what is called the Boiling
Point. This is not recommended for
persons travelling with small children
or elderly persons, as the slopes are
quite steep and challenging. We
enjoyed the thrill of crossing the Knife
Edge Bridge, a narrow metal bridge
that takes you from one section of the
falls to another. What really made the
experience special, was the sighting of
a huge rainbow over the falls, our kids
are still talking about it today.
Although Livingstone is a quiet town,
there is still a lot for tourists to do;
there are helicopter rides over the
falls, train rides to villages on the
outskirts of the town, walking safaris,
extreme sports and even a local
national park, where you can do game
drives. After the Falls trip, we needed
to rest, so the following day we went
to the local crafts market, Mukuni Park
Curio Market, and explored the town
on foot. Soon after, it was the morning
after the night before, and we were up
early, for our 06:30 am pick up, from
our apartment, for our day trip to the
Chobe National Park in Botswana.
After a thirty-five-minute drive, we
arrived at the Kazungula border post
of Zambia. There, we boarded a
small boat which took us across the
Zambezi River to Kasane border post
of Botswana.
It was a short crossing, lasting less than
fifteen minutes. Once on the other side
we cleared immigration and customs
and boarded our bus to the reception
area of our tour operator, a short ten-
minute drive from the border. We were
treated to refreshments. The Chobe
Day Safari tour consists of a boat safari
on the Chobe River, Lunch as well
as a game drive through the Chobe
National Park. After refreshments, we
boarded our boat for the river cruise,
this was both exciting and terrifying,
all at the same time. It was a small
boat and our tour guide had a need
for speed, having said that, the boat
cruise was the highlight of our day.
We were able to see more animals
there, than we did on the game drive.
After the boat ride, we enjoyed lunch
at The Chobe Safari Lodge and then
proceeded to our game drive. It is
hard to sum up our experience in so
few words, but for the purpose of this
article, I will simply say that the day
trip to Chobe was superb, you get
to see and experience the animals in
their natural habitat, the rides both
on water and land were thrilling and
the tour guides take excellent care of
you. If you are not travelling with small
children, I would highly recommend
camping in Chobe for a few days, this
would give you a better chance to
experience all that the place has to
offer. We are now back home in the
United Arab Emirates, but we have
a head full of memories, along with
photos and videos to last us a lifetime.
Africa, especially southern Africa is a
must for the discerning traveller.