Schlagwort-Archive: waterfalls

Victoria Falls – Zimbabwe & Zambia

We arrived in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, after a lengthy bus ride from Windhoek that ended up taking about 23 h. We didn’t catch lots of sleep on the bus, but considered ourselves fit enough to head for the waterfalls after dropping our bags at the AirBnB we had booked.

There is one main trail on the Zimbabwean side of the falls, leading you to 14 different viewpoints. As we visited just after rainy season, some viewpoints were more like „shower points“ with not much of a view but lots of spray from the incredible amounts of water pouring down the falls.

However, there were still many beautiful views to be appreciated and we spent a couple of hours walking around, taking many photos, as always.

Next day, we crossed the border to Zambia. Before entering Zambia, there’s Victoria Bridge – essentially in no man’s land between Zimbabwe and Zambia. In the middle of the bridge, there’s an option to bungee jump – about time to try this! I must say, the moment just before jumping, when you’re standing on the edge, is a bit scary. But I didn’t even have time to think much or consider pulling back: the guys were already counting 5, 4, 3, 2, 1…bungeeee! And off I was. Overall, it was a really cool experience and I enjoyed some upside down views of the gorge.

After watching my video, we continued through Zambian immigration to Livingstone, the town on the Zambian side of the falls. We spent a couple of days here, relaxing and getting organised as we had many things on our to do list – such as booking our flight home! And of course we also visited the Zambian side of the falls. We were a bit skeptical about how much we would be able to see since the spray was worse than on Zimbabwean side. And we certainly got drenched at a couple of trails/viewpoints! There were still some nice ones though where we were able to see something.

All in all, it’s good to have seen the falls from both sides – but we much preferred the Zimbabwean side!

Iguazu Falls – Argentina & Brazil

The Iguazu Falls are of course a highlight we didn’t want to miss out on, so we planned our route into Brazil to go via these waterfalls. On Argentinian side, Puerto Iguazu is the town you stay at. From here, we took and early morning bus 30 min to the national park where the falls are located. It was good we arrived early and accidentally chose our favourite trail – the lower circuit trail – as a first thing to do. Luckily we did, because most groups went elsewhere first and we had the trail pretty much to ourselves, with some really pretty first viewpoints!

The Iguazu Falls are, as the name already suggests, a series of many, many waterfalls that form one huge fall together. The trail led us to some points with a great view overall, but also closer to some of the falls.

Although I must have seen hundreds of pics of the Iguazu Falls before in my life, I was still captivated. The falls are even better and more impressive in real life than on any pictures!

Later, we continued on the upper circuit where there were of course more people now, but it was still ok and less busy than expected. On this trail, you got to see the falls more from the top, which was also nice, but not quite as spectacular as on the lower circuit.

Last but not least, we took the train to Devil’s Throat, where you get very close to the most impressive part of the falls. Here, you were getting sprayed by the water masses splashing down. It was impressive to see nature’s force from so close by.

Unfortunately, here we had to fight our way through masses of people and stand in line for photos. Oh well, at least the rest of the day had been less busy than expected and really, really cool.

We said goodbye to the falls, knowing we would see them again next day – from the Brazilian side. We packed up and took a bus directly to the falls, where we could lock up our big backpacks before taking the park’s shuttle bus the last bit. We got off a little before the last stop, to be able to follow a scenic walk along the river – getting closer and closer to the falls, with lots of amazing views. That day we had left much later, so unfortunately there were way more people, more fighting for good photo spots and even standing in line at some spots.

Oh well, it was all worth it! At the end of the walk, there’s a board walk across the water which brings you really close to the falls. Too many people and lots of spray again, but beautiful!

There’s also a watchtower which you can access by elevator and provides some more good views over the falls.

By the end, we had really seen the falls from any and every corner and viewpoint possible it seemed – so we were ok to leave, pick up our backpacks, take the bus to the city of Foz do Iguazu, then another bus to the big bus terminal… and then hop on the night bus to Florianopolis! The Brazil adventure had officially started.

Samoa – Summary & Pictures

People: I met the friendliest locals in Samoa! So far my favourite people of the South Pacific. Everyone was so helpful and friendly, and again the level of English made it easy to communicate with everyone. People seem to be well educated, but traditions still play a big role in everyday life. The travellers I met were a mix of people on short holidays as well as people who were travelling longer, like myself.

Food: Breakfast and dinner was usually included in the price of accommodation, and I enjoyed some really good food! Especially in Savaii, I really got spoiled. Best food of the South Pacific so far, hands down!

Weather: Hello sunshine! While there was some rain or grey morning here and there, clouds usually disappeared quickly and I enjoyed an extraordinary amount of sunshine in Samoa.

Costs: I spent slightly over 42€/day, thus saving some money compared to my 50€ target. There was not much I could have done cheaper though – only if I had found someone to share the scooter with, or just not rent a scooter and not see some of the most amazing sights. „Tough“ choice 😉

Accommodation: I already explained about the typical beach fale accommodation in Samoa in my Upolu blog post. These usually came at 70 Tala/night including dinner and breakfast. I spent about half of my time sleeping in fales and the other half in a cheap motel in Apia, and the AirBnB place in Savaii.

Infrastructure: There are busses, but some places are only serviced once/day. So while you can get pretty much everywhere on public transport, these buses are not ideal for sightseeing, unless for the sights close to Apia. For the rest, I strongly recommend renting a scooter for at least a day on each island to get to some of the most beautiful places.

Illnesses: All good!

Safety: It was only in my head that I worried about myself and my valuables in the beach fales. Samoa is a very safe country.

Itinerary: I guess most people visit both Upolu and Savaii during their time in Samoa, and that’s what I did. Because of the reasonable size of both islands, it makes sense to split the time between two places or so each, exploring the surroundings in day trips.

Highlight: Difficult, everything was really awesome! Probably I’d say the people and the food though and as in places… the To Sua Ocean Trench.

Lowlight: Apia city itself.

Click on the photo below to see our full photo album of Samoa:

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