After flying through Ethiopia, I arrived in Lusaka, the capital of Zambia. I had paid for the combined Zambia-Zimbabwe visa online, had only carry-on luggage, and had printed my visa paper. I breezed through immigration and went out to find the check-in area for regional carrier Proflight Zambia, which would take me over to Livingstone, near Victoria Falls.
I had to check in my small roller bag for this flight, given the size of the plane, and got a good chuckle from the setup for the sign that the sink wasn’t working in the bathroom.
I was in desperate need of a sink. When we were landing in Lusaka, a young child in the seat next to me had vomited all over my shoe and his seat on the plane. Thus, I bought a bottle of water and improvised.
We boarded for Livingstone on time, and the small propeller plane got us there in just over an hour.
The Livingstone airport is surprisingly far outside the city to the north, and the Protea Hotel where I stayed was outside the city to the south, so getting there took longer than expected for such a small city.
Incredibly, there are 3 or 4 zebras that visit the property on a pretty regular basis. Seeing them was a highlight of each of the 3 nights/4 days I was in the area.
I also got an ironic laugh from the malaria information pamphlet in my room.
Walking distance from my hotel, just up the street, there was an Indian restaurant that had solid vegan options. And I even passed more zebras on the way here (and on the way down the falls), since they seemed to live around this stretch of the main road.
The Indian restaurant became a staple, and I went there for lunch and dinner every day. The main reason I was in this area, though, was to visit Victoria Falls. Despite going in the “low” season, where water volume isn’t as thunderous as other times, it was still incredible to see.
I also made my way down to the Boiling Pot, located under the falls and looking up at the bridge that crosses the Zambezi River between Zambia and Zimbabwe.
Since I had to take my phone for pictures and my passport to get entrance, guess what was in my pocket when I slipped on a wet rock and went into one of the many small pools in this area. That cut my visit short, as I raced back up to the taxi that was waiting for me and hurried back to the hotel to put my phone in a bag of rice and use the hair dryer on my passport. Luckily, both worked fine (though with some odd color stains in my passport).
I made another trip over to the falls the next day and explored the upper area. The greenery around the top of the gorge is a crazy juxtaposition from the falls and their thundering sounds on the other side. This is a really amazing area of the world, though.