ZAMBIA: Big 5 for 1000 Kwacha; Vic Falls & Royal Livingstone

375 Ruger Fan

AH ambassador
Joined
Jun 14, 2015
Messages
7,312
Reaction score
18,711
Location
Shreveport, Louisiana
Media
266
Articles
5
Hunting reports
Africa
8
USA/Canada
9
Australia/NZ
1
Member of
NRA, DSC
Hunted
Nam, Zam, Zim,RSA (Eastern Cape & NW), Canada, NZ, Alaska, TX, LA, MO, OH, MT, ID, WA, WY
After my 3 days at Chobe, Botswana, we traveled by truck through the town of Kasane and got to the Zambezi River crossing. My lord, if ever a place demonstrated the inefficiency of Africa, this was the place. There are 18 wheelers along side the road for 3-4 miles. They are also parked at a truck stop and I guess there is some sort of organized method they get in line. The line is for the ferry across the Zambezi River. There are two ferries and they each hold just one 18 wheeler and a few cars. I was told that trucks might be in line for 2-3 days to get across. Amazing!

Luckily, cars have a much shorter line and since our transport just took us to the river, where we boarded a small, water taxi type boat. Cross the river and cleared customs quickly, at $50 a head. Then about an hour drive to Livingstone and our hotel for the next 3 nights, the Royal Livingstone. Top notch place, withing walking distance of Vic Falls. Some wild game, wondering around the manicured grounds of the hotel. Zebra, Warthog, Impala. A few, large bull elephants were also closer to the falls.

While I was there, I obtains the Big 5 for 1000 Kwacha or a little over $100 US. The carving is about 20 inches tall and probably weighs about 20 lbs. Had to pack it in a suitcase to bring it home, or I would have bought an even larger one. The detail is actually pretty good. Poachers got the tusks though. Actually, they were wrapped separately and I lost them. I'll have to figure out how to make some replacements.


DSC00709.JPG
248.JPG

The Royal Livingstone was very nice.


253.JPG
254.JPG

Great hotel bar


256.JPG

Pool with the Zambezi River in the background
840.JPG


No, I didn't go bungee jumping.



846.JPG

This shot is from the bridge, looking through the gorge. The Victoria Falls Hotel, on the Zimbabwe side, is the white building. Next trip, will likely give that a try. The view of the falls is better from the Zim side.

852.JPG


The water was exceptionally low for mid August. The rainy season in Angola was not very wet this year, so all the rivers that feed into the Zambezi are running low.

853.JPG
864.JPG
867.JPG

Zam on the left and Zim on the right.

875.JPG

See the person standing on the falls? We walked out there too.
893.JPG
898.JPG
909.JPG
911.JPG
 
^^^Spike.T - I'm not sure my cajones are big enough to do that! Makes me think of the blokes in Hawaii recently that got flushed off the waterfall during monsoon rains.
 
I was in Zimbabwe a month or so ago. We visited the 'Smoke that thunders', but from the Zim side. It is certainly worth a visit!
 
Awesome, Thanks for sharing . Forrest
 
good stuff ruger fan,
you certainly get around on your time off work .
whilst traveling through/around Zambia , was there many places to buy niknaks , and the like ?
 
did you go for a swim in the devils pool? :D


tb_Devils-Pool-Victoria-Falls_1.jpg


Mike...........NO!!!!!! Didn't make it to the Devil's Pool. Didn't go bungee jumping. Didn't go walk with the lions. Didn't go down to Cape Town and swim with the sharks. I'll leave all the stuff to the more adventurous.

We did walk out on the dry falls, since the water was low. We also did the old train for dinner.

955.JPG
855.JPG
844.JPG


Old fashion train ride. We left Livingstone and in about 20 minutes, stopped on the bridge. Good view of the gorge, falls and river. Lots of street vendors hocking their wares to the tourists. Dinner was a multi course, elaborate affair. A nice way to spend an afternoon and evening.
 
good stuff ruger fan,
you certainly get around on your time off work .
whilst traveling through/around Zambia , was there many places to buy niknaks , and the like ?

Bluey,

Absolutely, vendors everywhere. Lots of carvings, woodwork, art, jewelry, etc. I'm told the deals are better on the Zim side in the Vic Falls area. That carving of the Big 5 that I got, the shop owner had a large shop on the grounds of the two hotels (Royal Livingstone and the former Sun International). I gave him my email address because I told him I was interested in the larger version of the Big 5 and had some friends that might want one. He said he'd contact me and ship via DHL. I haven't heard from him, but I plan to phone the hotel and ask them to have the guy contact me and try to work a deal.

Dave
375 Ruger Fan
 
good stuff, thank you dave ......
 
Neat pictures, I love the carving.
 
The old train looks awesome. I know Ann would love that. Thanks for the information, we'll be sure to do that when we get there.
 
Depending how long you are planning to be in the area, you might want to book a train reservation ahead of time. We stayed 3 nights in Livingstone and the train was only available our first night there and it was full. A very nice motor coach bus picked us up at the hotel at 4pm and it was only about 15 min ride to the "train station". About 9:30pm, the bus took us back to the hotel.

http://www.royal-livingstone-express.com/#!info--times/c1rrh
 

Forum statistics

Threads
57,645
Messages
1,236,374
Members
101,537
Latest member
WaylonSchm
 

 

 

Latest posts

Latest profile posts

Grz63 wrote on x84958's profile.
Good Morning x84958
I have read your post about Jamy Traut and your hunt in Caprivi. I am planning such a hunt for 2026, Oct with Jamy.
Just a question , because I will combine Caprivi and Panorama for PG, is the daily rate the same the week long, I mean the one for Caprivi or when in Panorama it will be a PG rate ?
thank you and congrats for your story.
Best regards
Philippe from France
dlmac wrote on Buckums's profile.
ok, will do.
Grz63 wrote on Doug Hamilton's profile.
Hello Doug,
I am Philippe from France and plan to go hunting Caprivi in 2026, Oct.
I have read on AH you had some time in Vic Falls after hunting. May I ask you with whom you have planned / organized the Chobe NP tour and the different visits. (with my GF we will have 4 days and 3 nights there)
Thank in advance, I will appreciate your response.
Merci
Philippe
 
Top