Victoria Falls – A Phenomenon To Behold

A distance aerial view of Victoria Falls as my flight approached Victoria Falls International Airport is a field on fire with white smoke bellowing into the skies. As you close in on the falls itself, you realize that the 'smoke' is actually a cloud of water rising up as the Zambezi River pours down the falls with amazing force and power.

Once on the ground, the 24 km drive from the airport to Victoria Falls town is an extremely smooth highway. Both sides of the road are lined up with beautiful trees. Victoria Falls town can easily be confused with a small modern city in the developed world. It is clean; the buildings are modern and very well maintained. The roads are very well paved and marked. The flower beds and gardens well nurtured. The town does not have so much traffic apart from the hordes of buses and minibuses shuttling tourists from the falls to various lodges in the town.

Park entrance fee is paid at the falls entrance. Please note that park entrance fees is paid in United States dollars, cash. This is the most preferred mode of payment. Any other mode of payment may be a big hassle and give you unprecedented complications. A lady ahead of me on the queue had US travelers cheques of 50 dollars denominations and had to go away because she could not be given back her change. Zimbabwe dollars cannot be used by foreigners to pay park entrance fees.

Before you arrive at Victoria Falls, it is very important to prepare for a 'rainy' day. It is guaranteed that you will be rained on as you view the falls. This will not be rain water but from the cloud of 'smoke' I mentioned early. The best item to protect you from the rain is a poncho. A raincoat will also do. Also have shorts if possible because long trouser will definitely get wet from your knee downwards. Non-leather open shoes would be the best option for footwear.

First stop would be at the Livingstone statue. This is a relatively big statue that was put under immense security guard when the locals wanted to destroy it due to political differences between Zimbabwe and Great Britain several years back. Next stop would be a view of the Devil's Cataract and Cataract Island. The Devil's Cataract is the western end of the falls and there is a huge force of water flowing down the Devil's Cataract. From the Cataract Island, the next stop is the Main Falls. This is where one might experience the heaviest rainfall though this is the best sight of viewing the falls. From the main falls, I head to the Livingstone Island. It is said that Dr. Livingstone docked at Livingstone Island and spent the night there oblivious of the falls right after that. As I continue eastwards, the next stop is Horseshoe Falls followed by the Rainbow Falls and finally the Eastern Cataract. Words cannot express the sight at Victoria Falls as the scene is never static. The width of Victoria Falls from the Devil's Cataract to the Eastern Cataract is 1,700 metres. The mean height of the Main Falls is 83 metres. The mean height of the Rainbow Falls is 99 metres. The mean height for the whole falls is 93 metres. The average flow of water over the falls is 34,000 cubic metres a minute.

The best time to see the falls is between February and June. This is the time the falls is full and complete from the Devil's Cataract to the Eastern Cataract. During the other months when there is less rainfall experienced, the Horseshoe Falls, Rainbow Falls and Eastern Cataract have no water flowing on them. The paved walkways along the entire falls are well maintained and accessible by wheel chair.

Immediately preceding the falls, the Zambezi River has 4 rapids that zigzag one after the other. The current falls is the first rapid and it is in favour of Zimbabwe. The best country to view the falls now is from the Zimbabwe side and not the Zambia side. However, several centuries ago, Rapid 4, which formed the first ever falls along the Zambezi was in favour of Zambia. Rapid 3 was then created and it was in favour of Zimbabwe. When Rapid 2 was created, it was in favour of Zambia. The Zimbabwe/Zambia famous bungi jump bridge is located on Rapid 2. The current falls and Rapid 1 is in favour of Zimbabwe. Judging from the amount of water flowing down the Devil's Cataract, it is predicted that the Zambezi River is already cutting its new path heading towards the Zambia side. This will create a new falls and rapid which will be in favour of Zambia. This will however take hundreds of years to form.

As we exit the falls after the Eastern Cataract, we head to the famous bridge joining Zimbabwe and Zambia on Rapid 2. This is the bridge where bungi jumping is done. Water rafting is also done from Rapid 2 downstream. River cruises are done upstream before the falls.

The best method to view the falls is by helicopter. The Flight Of Angels provides one with the perfect experience and excellent view of the falls.

Victoria Falls has all kinds of lodgings and hotels to cater for all classes of travelers. These include Victoria Falls Safari Lodge, A'Zambezi River Lodge, Elephant Hills Hotel, Nyati Lodge, Lokuthula Lodges, Victoria Falls Hotel, The Kingdom Hotel and Casino among others.

Some of the activities available at Victoria Falls is a Sundowner Cruise which provides a very good experience. A visit to Victoria Falls will not be complete without a visit to The Boma – The Place of Eating. This is a wonderful dinner location with traditional dances. One can also do elephant rides and visit the crocodile farm. There is also canoeing and white water rafting along the Zambezi.

Botswana is just an hour's drive away from Victoria Falls, if one has more time, consider visiting Chobe in Botswana for a night or two.

My flight back to Harare stopped over at Bulawayo. I could not miss noticing that Bulawayo International Airport seemed to have been expanding the airport with a modern massive airport building. This building however seems to have stalled several years back.

Harare is a modern city with well paved and maintained roads. As I traveled around Zimbabwe, it is evidently notable that this is a country that previously had enormous economic growth and focused development which now seems to have hit a brick wall.

About The Author
Felix Koskei is the editor of http://www.safariafrika.com and an experienced tour operator offering safari vacations to various African countries. Travel Connections has provided hundreds of travelers with highly personalized safari packages. For more details visit Travel Connections Ltd.
info@safariafrika.com

Find Out Why Charter Flights Can Save You Thousands Flying Regularly!

Almost anyone will probably agree that in a perfect world they'd be able to travel more. It is one of the most natural human desires to want to see different parts of the world and experience new things. And anyone who has traveled will probably agree that you don't really appreciate or think about your home too much until you have the perspective of seeing how people live in other parts of the world.

The problem of course, is that travel has always been expensive. Although airfares have gotten cheaper over the years, they are still expensive enough that most people don't fly regularly, and this is likely to remain the case. So unless you plan on suddenly getting rich, you're going to have to come up with some discount travel solutions if you want to fly more, and a great thing to look into if you're looking for a cheap flight are charter flights.

Charter flights are cheaper because they work on a different system than a started airline flight. A standard airline will have a set route between two cites: an airline will fly a certain amount a times a week between two cities, and this remains constant regardless of the amount of passengers. In other words normal airline routes function like bus routes, and sometimes there may only be a few people on the plane. It is this need to average out costs - to be able to afford all those times when the plane is a third full - that leads to high airfares.

A charter company can offer cheaper fares by working in a different fashion: they will charter an entire plane from an airline for a particular date and time, and thus receive a heavy discount on the cost. They can then pass some of this discount on to you by offering a lower per seat price for the flight. Most charter companies operate along very common routes during peak times - for example, sunny vacation spots during the winter.

Charter flights are much more reliable then other more radical ways of obtaining discount airfare, and fares will generally get cheaper as the departure date approaches. There is a certain amount of risk, however: a charter company can decide to cancel a flight if they haven't sold enough tickets. Unlike a regular airline, which constantly has planes going to multiple destinations, the charter company may not be able o immediately put you on another plane. So instead of waiting a few hours it's likely that if your charter flight is cancelled you'll either be receiving a refund, or waiting at least a day or two for another charter - which of course can ruin any vacation.

That being said, there are many large and reliable charter companies, and charter flights -- while not offering discounts as big as can be found through other discount travel methods - remain a reliable alternative to regular airfare. And if you're flexible and willing to buy a ticket on short notice, you can find many excellent airfares from charter companies, making charter flights one of the more popular discount traveling methods.

Copyright 2006 John Navata

About The Author
John Navata owns a travel agency in Chicago, IL. Now he is helping travelers on how to save thousands of dollars on hotels, airfares, car rentals, and cruises. Speak to one of our agents at 1-800-226-6066. Use promo code: 75792 Mon-Fri 9am-6pm EST or visit http://www.jptraveldiscounts.com.

Cruise Vacations On A Budget

Millions of individuals and families wish to take a vacation; however, many are financially unable to. If a vacation does occur, it is often a visit to a local amusement park or campgrounds. These small vacations often occur because individuals limit themselves. If you are interested in taking an extravagant vacation, such as a cruise, you are advised not to limit yourself. With the willpower to do so, just about anything is possible with a budget.

If you and your family are interested in scheduling a cruise ship vacation, but you feel that you may be unable to, you are urged not to assume. This assumption could prevent you from enjoying the vacation that you want and deserve. To make a cruise ship vacation possible for you and your family, all you will have to do is a little bit of budgeting.

For many individuals, developing a family budget is a small sacrifice, but for others it may be larger. The more money you need to save for a cruise, the harder it may be to save. The first step in saving money for your cruise ship getaway is to determine where all of your money is going. This can easily be accomplished by documenting your spending habits. Everything from the mortgage payment, rent, car insurance, even that cup of coffee you purchased should be recorded.

After documenting your spending habits for a week or a month, you will have to examine your findings. Many individuals are surprised to learn how much money they are wasting on unnecessary purchases. These purchases often include, but are not limited to single serve beverages, cigarettes, alcohol, and out-of-home dining. To save money for your cruise ship vacation, you will need to cut all unnecessary purchases.

Cutting unnecessary purchases may sound easy, but the reality is that it often isn't. There are some individuals who cannot do without their cigarettes or their morning cup of coffee. If you are unable to curb your spending habits, you are encouraged to change them as much as possible. For instance, instead of purchasing a cup of coffee each morning, you can brew your own at home. Additional alterations could be made to prevent your habits from impacting your cruise ship vacation fund.

When saving money for a vacation aboard a cruise ship, you need to make sure that you actually save the money. All too often, many individuals take the money they saved by creating a monthly budget and spend it on something other than what they originally intended. If you find it difficult to hold on to your savings, you may want to open a savings account at your local bank. In addition to accumulating interest, you are less likely to spend the money because it is safely tucked away.

Curbing your spending habits is one of the best ways to raise funds to take your dream vacation aboard a cruise ship. While saving money is important, it is not the only way that you can plan a cruise ship vacation on a budget. There are a large number of online travel websites. These websites may offer you significant deals and savings. Other cruise discounts can be obtained through membership clubs or your local travel agent.

Obtaining the financing needed for a cruise ship getaway may seem like a difficult task, but aftertime it may become a part of your daily routine. Saving money and obtaining cruise ship discounts are both great ways to obtain the needed financing, but together they can save you more money than you ever imagined.

About The Author
Burt Cotton http://www.last-minute-cruises.net