How 2 fit everything in less than 2 days?

by David
(Malta)

We will be in Vic Falls in April 2011. We arrive on 20th Apr in Livingstone airport at 11.45. Does this itinerary make sense?

Day 1 - at around 14.00/15.00 visit falls (no guide) and later do the sunset tour.

Day 2 - Helicopter tour - what time is best for this? How much time does it actually take apart from the 15 min ride? Is there normally a long queue? And is it walkable from the Amadeus Garden Lodge?
Market - we are very much interested in buying souveniers (lots). What time of day is best to visit and is it far away? We read that we should bring clothes to trade. Is this true?
Cultural village - we would like to visit a local village. How long does this normally take and at what time is the tour?

Are these 3 doable in 1 day? We were also considering the walk with lions but we don't think we have time.

Thanks
David




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How 2 fit everything in less than 2 days?

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Dec 16, 2010
 Answers to questions
by: Tony

Hi David

In response to your queries.

Day 1: I would recommend a minimum of 2hrs to experience the Falls. The best time to go there is between 2pm and 4pm as this is when the rainbows are at their best. April time the Falls will be extremely full and there will be a lot of spray.
If you are not going on the guided tour you will need to organise a taxi from Amadeus as the walk would take you too long.

Pick up for the sunset cruise is at about 4pm so it would be rushed to get this all done in the first afternoon.

Day 2: Helicopter is probably best done in the afternoon as there is slighty less spray at that time of the day, but it is spectacular from the air at this time of year.. at any time in the day. It is too far to walk from Amadeus but your helicopter price includes collection and drop off from Amadeus or any Hotel.

Total turnaround time from pickup to drop off, is about one to one and a half hours depending on other clients that will also be collected. There is not a long wait, as long as you have pre-booked you will be given a time slot.

A cultural village tour lasts about 2.5 to 3 hrs hours and can be done at any time.

The market is also okay at any time of the day, I guess the heat of mid day would be the only limiting factor. Too early in the morning maybe some of the vendors wont be there yet. Yes bring T-shirts, shoes and caps. It is not far away and is centrally situated in town, by the Elephant Walk shopping center.

I would say you could do these three things in one day, but probably not the lion walk as well. What time do you fly out on the following day as you could possibly do the Lion walk then, it starts very early in the morning and you are back in town at no later than 10 am and it includes a breakfast.

You might find our downloadable guide which has maps etc useful. To see more details click here. Victoria Falls Guide Book

Let us know if we can be of any further assistance
Dec 16, 2010
 2 days in Vic Falls
by: David

Tony,

Thanks for your very useful reply.

As regards the cultural village, is it better to go to a Zambian or Zimbabwean village? And do you need a double entry visa to go to the Zambian side? We would prefer to see the both sides and as we are already planning to visit the market in Zimbabwe we would prefer a village in Zambia.

Another thing, is it possible to book with yourselves the helicopter flight, and the mentioned cultural tour?

We are also thinking of going for the Boma dinner. Could you give us more details about this?

Regards
David
Dec 16, 2010
 Village tours
by: Tony

Hi David

The village tours on either side are pretty much the same as each other. I would think your decision should be based on which fits in best with your schedule.

Yes, you will need a double entry visa for Zambia if you exit and then re enter the country, but you will also need a double entry visa for Zimbabwe if you exit and then re-enter, so that would get costly.

As you are flying out of Zambia you are going to have to buy a double entry visa anyway, one for when you land and another for when you exit.
Have you checked if you need one, what passport are you travelling on?

Yes, you can book the helicopter flight and cultural tour with us. Booking Enquiry Form

The Boma ? ?Place of Eating? ? US$ 60 per person includes pick up and drop off from your hotel.

It's an unforgettable African experience infused with Zimbabwean cuisine. Ndebele performances, African drumming and traditional storytelling.

The restaurant has firmly established itself as a ?Must Do? activity for visitors to Victoria Falls. Specializing in a superb selection of Traditional Zimbabwean dishes served on cast iron plats.

The Boma?s four course meal combines a choice of starters with a barbeque buffet. Read more here Boma Dinner

Again we can arrange this for you.
Dec 19, 2010
 2 days in Vic Falls
by: David

So when you say that if you book the helicopter ride you have a time slot, does this mean that if you book for example at 2.00pm, you are guaranteed to have the ride at 2.00pm or do you still have to wait for other people who are there?

Also at what time does the market open and what time does it close?

Thanks for all the info.
David
Dec 20, 2010
 Helicopter time slot
by: Tony

Hi David - Yes if you book at 2pm you will go at 2pm give or take some minutes if there have been any delays, but you do not wait for anyone.

Not sure of exact Market hours, but its an open air market and the traders are there just about all the time, so between 8am and 5pm you will have no problems.
Jan 11, 2011
 Some questions
by: David

Hi Tony,

We have had a change in flights and now we will spend 4 days instead of 2 at Vic Falls so we have more time for different activities.

Day 1 - Arrive at noon. We plan to go on a Victoria Falls tour. What does the guided tour include? At what time does it start? And how long is it?

Day 2 - AM go to markets. Afternoon - Helicopter 15min. We will book in advance as you suggested so as not to waste time waiting.

Day 3 - We are thinking about spending a whole day in Zambia. Go to a cultural village, go to Devil's Pool, etc. Do you organize such tours? And is there anything else to see on the Zambian side?

Day 4 - Walk with lions - is it best in the morning or in the afternoon? We plan to do the sunset cruise either on day 3 or 4. Rest of the day go again to markets (we are very interested in buying local souvenirs).

Is there a reliable and inexpensive bulk posting service in Victoria Falls or is it better to post from South Africa?

Regards
David
Jan 12, 2011
 replies
by: Tony

Hi David

4 days is much better, you will have plenty of time to enjoy Vic Falls.

In response to you queries

1)Guided tour of the falls includes collection and drop off from you hotel, entrance fee to the falls and then a guided tour by a qualified guide. Inclusive cost US$50 per person.(Entrance fee is US$30)
From collection to drop off you need to allow about 3 hours and this can be done at any time of the day. I recommend the afternoon bewteen 2 and 5 pm for the best rainbows.

We also have a very detailed tour of the Falls in our downloadable guide, which covers what you can see at each vantage point as well as info on the flora and fauna amongst other things

2) Confirm with us what time you want to do this and we can arrange that for you.

3)Good idea to make a day of it in Zambia. They do have good curio markets there so its worth spending some time there. We can book the cultural village for you, but in April it is very unlikely that you will be able to do the Devils swim as this is only done at low water levels and in April the Zambezi river will be in peak flood.
Most of the activities done in Zimbabwe can also be done in Zambia although they are a bit more expensive on that side.
It definitely worth viewing the Falls from the Zambian side.
Livingstone also has a good railways museum if you are interested in the history of the railways and how it is intimately connected with this area. If you do like that kind of thing I also highly recommend the guided tour of the Victoria Falls bridge.
4) Lion walk is best done in the morning as the lions tend to be a bit more active, in the afternoons they can be quite lazy.

There is a DHL and a Fedex office in Victoria Falls. See our maps for location
I would not like to rely on the postal service out of Zimbabwe but there is also a post office.

I hope that helps
Feb 14, 2011
 2 days in Vic Falls
by: David

Dear Tony,

As regarding to spend a day in Zambia, do you offer any type of tour/guide for the following:

We leave from Amadeus Garden in the morning and go to Livingstone to do a cultural village tour. (Could you give details of what village and tour you offer?)

Then we tour around and visit Livingstone itself.

Then we go to Maramba Market and to Mukuni Curio Market (are they 2 different markets or the same?)

Then we go back to guesthouse.

Also, can you confirm that we do not need any visas for Zambia and Zimbabwe because that's what our foreign office told us. We are from Malta (Europe).

Regards
David

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