Victoria Falls 2025

May 11, 2025

Victoria Falls and Flight to Johannesburg, South Africa

In hindsight we should have stayed one or two extra nights in Victory Falls. There was a lot more to do than I realized.

Luckily our flight did not leave till 2:00pm so we had a couple of hours to drive over to the national park and see Victoria Falls. It was amazing but very wet. The water level is very high this year so there's extra water. This means a heavy and larger mist with lots of rain in them.

The falls have a lot of water in them this year so everyone who is going to view the falls need a raincoat. All the people with stands by falls have raincoats for rent.

Dr. David Livingston was a Scottish missionary and physician who named Victoria Falls after Queen Victoria in 1855. He was the recipient of the phrase "Dr. Livingston, I presume" when Stanley found the man he was looking for.

Victoria Falls "Thundering Smoke / Smoke that Rises" is a waterfall on the Zambezi River, located on the boundary of Zambia and Zimbabwe. It is one of the world's largest waterfalls, with a width of 1,708 metres (5,605 feet). The average flow rate is 1,088 metres cubed/second (38,400 cubic feet/second). Niagara Falls, has a width of 1,204 metres (3,950 feet) and an average flow rate of 2,407 metres cubed/second (85,000 cubic feet/second). Victoria Falls produces the largest sheet of falling water in the world.

May 10, 2025

Chobe National Park, Botswana

The people going to Chobe National Park (there were only 4 of us today, 6 were going tomorrow) were picked up at 7:15am. After an hour of driving we arrived at the Botswana border. It was not a simple process going between countries. First we had to get a stamp from Zimbobwe border control indicating that we had left their country. Next stop was customs in Botswana followed by immigration. Thankfully, Botswana did not require a visa. There were lines everywhere so it took a little more than an hour to get through the entire process.

We were transferred to a safari driver / guide and climbed into a 10 passenger jeep. Two women from Canada joined us along with a couple from Dallas.

The drive through Chobe was amazing as see saw a lot of animals, including giraffe on the road leading into Chobe National Park.

There was a troop of baboons on the both sides of the road and on the road ---- typical.

As we were driving along, we noticed a lot of vultures in the trees and a few on the ground.

We drove on a slightly smaller and rougher road and saw why the the vultures were hanging about.

The vultures were waiting for their turn to work on the buffalo carcass. First pass, we saw two lions lazing under a tree, then one got up and headed for the river. So our driver drove unto another so we could watch the lion as it headed for the river. She even did a little bit of roaring for us. While we sat parked there, we saw the rest of the pride returning to the carcass, including a baby. There were eight or nine lions in the prided.

This jackal could smell the carcass --- it really did stink. Unfortunately, the jeeps scared the jackal away.

The African Sacred Ibis is known for its role in ancient Egyptian religion, where it is linked to the god Thoth.

The Lilac Breasted Roller is widely distributed in Southern and Eastern Africa.

The Pied Kingfisher's black and white plumage and crest, as well as its habit of hovering before diving for fish, make it distinctive.

The African Jacana is also know as the Jesus bird as it appears to walk on water when it walks on lily pads.

The horns of the Cape Buffalo are an excellent indication of age and gender. The females and young males do not have the hard shielding that protects the base of the skull in large adult males.

There were lots of Nile Crocodiles on the banks of Chobe National Park. The Nile Crocodile is a large crocodilian native to freshwater habitats in Africa, where it is present in 26 countries.

The black heron, also known as the black egret is an African heron. It uses its wings to form a canopy when it is fishing.

The Martial Eagle is a large eagle native to sub-Saharan Africa. A species of booted eagle family. It has feathers over its tarsus.

A water lily.

The Egyptian Goose is an African member of the Anatidae family including ducks, geese and swans. Because of their popularity as an ornamental bird the species has been introduced to Europe and the US.

We think this Hippopotamus was asleep. Hippos can sleep under water. Their nervous system prompts them to surface for a breathe, then sink back down without waking up.

The kudos are a species of antelope.

When we drove through the park we saw a few elephants here and a few elephants there. Not sure what this elephant was doing but she kept rubbing her trunk against the tree.

When we were out on the boat on the Chobe River, a good sized herd of Elephants came down to the river. Some to drink, some to eat and some to play around. A one point two bull elephants were harassing each other.

May 9, 2025

Flight to Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe

Unfortunately, the demand for flights between Windhoek and Victoria Falls is not very large so the flight only runs a couple of times during the week, and this week's flights did not coincide with our desire to go to Victoria Falls. This meant we had to fly from Windhoek, Namibia to Johannesburg, South African and Johannesburg, South Africa to Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe. We left our hotel in Windhoek, Namibia at 4:30 am and arrived at the hotel in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe just after 3:00 pm. It was a long day, of hurrying up and waiting, having passports checked, going through security and getting a visa for Zimbabwe.