Heading to Zimbabwe – Day 1 & 2

We commenced our current adventure on the upper deck of a BA A380 bound for Jo’Burg. Flight is delayed for over an hour and immediately we start to worry whether or not we’ll be able to check-in in time for our connecting flight the following morning to Victoria Falls.

We land at 8.30am, 90 minutes late and the clock starts to tick towards our 11am flight. Immigration queue is long but moves fairly quickly. Along with a number of other travellers we’re allowed to jump the queue significantly advising passengers in front of us that we have a connection to catch. We’re thankful for the kindness of strangers. Passports stamped we sprint off to collect our luggage forgetting that with a total of 469 passengers on our flight the arrival of our bags is going to take some time. Luggage eventually joins the carousel and we successfully navigate through customs. At arrivals we find a friendly porter who deftly balances our very full trolley onto an escalator as we ascend to international departures and head for the Fastjet check-in desks. Bags make the 20kg weight limit – thank goodness – and after a swift security check and another immigration queue we make our way to the gate with a South African exit stamp drying in our passports.

We board a considerably smaller plane- 80 passengers – for our 90 minute flight to Victoria Falls. Fastjet definitely get our vote for the best in-flight snack box. A tube of Pringles, a tasty bag of biltong, kit kat chunky and a carton of orange juice make for a great mid-morning snack.

We land on time at Vic Falls and the captain advises that the temperature is a scorching 32 degrees. We queue for a Zimbabwe entry visa which is swifty added to our passports after a payment of $55 each and go off in search of ours bags which appear almost immediately. We locate our driver and arrive a our final destination 45 mins after landing.

We’re staying at the Vic Falls Rest Camp and a thatched chalet is our home for 3 nights. After an unpack and a shower we take the 20 minute walk down to the entry gate to the Falls. The sun is slowly on the descent and we pinch ourselves at how incredibly lucky we are to have returned to see one of the wonders of the World for the 2nd time in 3 years.

We have dinner at 3 Monkeys and start with crocodile skewers presented on what else but a crocodile of course – they’re delicious by the way and we are after all in Africa.

We finish dinner and head for bed tired and delighted to be back in Victoria Falls.