Traveled a long road from Windhoek with Intercape and let's just say the coach wasn't the most modern one. Great sight from the front seats though. The landscape for the first hours reminded me of Jurassic Park and was waiting for a dinosaur to cross the road, instead got jackals and an elephant. After only four hours of travel, my seat decided to give in under my weight and I found myself lying on it, laughing hysterically and considering a diet. After sunset the view of the clear sky was amazing, plenty of stars lighting our way. Got to the Zambian border before noon and the crossing was relatively smooth (except for the increased visa fees). From the border, 80 USD's poorer, continued towards Livingstone and the Victoria Falls only to pay another 30 USD for a visa into Zimbabwe.

There is a huge difference between Livingstone and Victoria Falls town. Livingstone is a lot more developed and urban, where Victoria Falls has it's own charm of living amongst the wildlife and the streets are generally safer and quieter. We were also pleasantly surprised when discovering it's actually low season. This year the low season happens to be lower than low though, we were the first customers to stay at Victoria Falls backpackers in a long while. Great facilities and a nice quiet spot, just slightly far from town though. Our arrival evening two local guys decided to take us for a ride around the sights accompanied with an endless supply of Black label and Savanna, this we rewarded by cooking something for them at their place in the township.

Our full day on the Zimbabwean side we spent by the Batoka gorge. And yes, we screamed our lungs out doing two tandem gorge swings. After an adrenalin filled day it was only right to chill and have pizza for the hangover. The next morning took an early stroll by the falls themselves and being the first and the second customer of the day, avoided the tour groups coming in later on. Would highly recommend crossing over to the Zim side, personally preferred staying on that side for several reasons. Needless to say the falls were awesome.

After snapping a billion photos of the falls, was time to cross back into Zambia. Actually carried all our luggage between the borders and this was in mid-day heat. After running a few mandatory errands of changing Kwachas and buying drinking water, enjoyed a swim in the pool at Fawlty towers (our home in Livingstone). Their pool is reason enough to stay here. The next day went by mostly organizing our things before the tour. Laundry and arranging both of my backpacks took up most of my day. Also attended to our so called pre-departure meeting at the Zambezi waterfront lodge (this is where all the overlanding trucks come together to graze). Sixteen of us sharing the truck from tomorrow on, but only got to meet two other members of the group and our tour leaders. Have to say that so far I'm not too impressed, but it remains to be seen what the bigger picture is.