[Travel Tuesday] Livingstone, Zambia

Over the next several weeks, we will be outlining our 2012 trip to Africa!  This has been one of our favorite, most adventurous vacations to date.  Sometimes you go to a place and are happy to have checked it off a bucket list.  For us, Africa checked several items off of our bucket list however we added a new one that says return to Africa.  We can't wait to relive the memories through these posts!!

Before we could enjoy anything the continent had to offer, we had to endure the brutal flight.  We flew South African Airways from NYC to Johannesburg.  The good news was it's a direct flight, the bad news is it was 17.5 hours!  The airline was great, the food and drinks were plentiful however the fact is 17.5 hours on a plane is just miserable.  Once we arrived to Johannesburg, we then boarded a quick flight to Livingstone, Zambia for our first stop.

Our ride for 17.5 hours

Hotel
Zambezi Sun - We stayed here for our 1 night in Zambia.  The property showed it's age a bit however we found it to be clean and comfortable.  We weren't sure what type of quality to expect in this country but we were comfortable here.  The staff was very friendly and we enjoyed our stay.

Sightseeing
Devil's Pool
African Queen River Cruise

Tips

• Bring bug spray, the highest DEET level you can stand.  We sprayed ourselves constantly
• If Devil's Pool is a must for you, then travel between May and October.  We went in September and it was perfect
• It costs $50 per travel for a Visa to enter Zambia as a US citizen
• Aside from being up-to-date on routine vaccines, it is highly recommended to get Hepatitis A and Typhoid vaccines as well.  In addition, a prescription for Malaria is highly recommended.  We followed the CDC recommendations for all of the vaccines and medications prior to our arrival
• If you are traveling to other countries after Zambia (such as South Africa as we did) then it is required to show proof of the yellow fever vaccination.

We were happy to be on land and breath some fresh air when we arrived.  We had a driver pick us up to take us to our hotel, The Zambezi Sun.  Overall the property was beautiful, clean and comfortable.  It did show it's age somewhat however it served it's purpose for the 1 night we stayed.

Although we were taking Malaria medication, we were obsessed with spraying ourselves down with bug spray.  We had loaded up on a very high DEET rated spray and doused ourselves as soon as we got out of the shower.  We just weren't taking any chances!

We arrived in the afternoon so we spent a few hours relaxing and then had booked a sunset dinner cruise as our first activity.  It was wonderful to get on the water and see the country.  It sailed along the Zambezi River.  Food and wine were included and while the meal wasn't overly abundant, it was satisfying.  We had our first wildlife sighting as Hippos were bobbing in the water.  The sunset view was breath-taking!

The next day was one of the highlights of the trip for us and a most anticipated activity; a visit to Devil's Pool.  In the car ride over, we were in awe as giraffes crossed the road in front of the van.  It was so cool to see and definitely made us feel like we were in a different world.

In the winter months when it is dry season, you are able to walk along the lip of the falls on the Zambian side.  There is a rock pool just on the edge that you are able to jump in and the rock lip stops you from going over the edge.  

The small rock pool on the far left side of the photo

The tour left from The Royal Livingstone Hotel (if we returned, we would stay here).  It's a short boat ride, a small hike and then a quick swim over to rocks.  From the rocks, we jumped into the pool as we heard the thunderous crash of water behind us.  Since this was our first day, we didn't have the opportunity to view the falls from Zimbabwe yet to have an appreciation for what we were doing.  It was scary and thrilling and we were very pumped we were able to do it.  Following the swim, a lovely breakfast of eggs benedict was served in the outdoors.   Check out the video to see the pace and volume of water that was moving around us as we swam in the pool! 

On the boat to the falls

Hike over to the edge

In the pool!

Breakfast after the swim

Overall we were extremely pleased that we went through the additional hassle and expense of staying in Zambia for a night.  The Devil's Pool experience was definitely an experience that has been and will continue to be hard to top!

After an incredible morning, we packed up and headed for a drive over the Zimbabwe boarder.  We will tell you all about that country next week!