Dr. Livingstone, I presume (the Wandering Writer)

As you already figured it out, this time we followed the steps of the famous Scottish explorer Dr. David Livingstone, who was the first European to discover the Mosi-oa-Tunya, (the smoke that thunders) or as they are known worldwide, the Victoria Falls.

Differently than David Livingstone, we could fly comfortably from the cold Finland, and we landed at the Livingstone International airport on a very warm day of December, leaving the winter and darkness to those who enjoy it.

The first impression is how small the airport is, it didn't even look like an international airport at all, rather one of those used only for domestic flights, and in fact, as we understood it later, the airport is a military airport, which is also used for public flights.

That also meant that the time we had to wait for the passport check and visas, were longer than normally you could expect. However, being on holiday, we didn't have any hurry, and we enjoyed chatting with other passengers in the queue.

We opted for a double visa for Zambia and Zimbabwe, as the price was very advantageous and we heard that from the Zimbabwe side, you have a better view of the falls.

It took something like one hour, from the moment we left the airplane to the time we were looking for a taxi, and once again finding a taxi was easy, so reaching our hotel was a smooth operation.

The town of Livingstone is very small, but, at least from my point of view, extremely cozy, and walking around was a pleasure.

Most of all, because right on that day there was a parade for the election campaign of the new president, so the streets became suddenly very colourful.

The morning after, we moved to see the falls, so we had a taxi driver waiting for us after breakfast to reach the border, after which we would have walked to reach the National Park and visit the falls.

We were told that December is a dry season so we might get a less impressing experience of the falls than during the wet season, so I was already hoping there could be at least something to be seen in the Park.

The walk from the Zambia-Zimbabwe border to the entrance of the National Park was not far; however, as we were expecting a lot of people were offering to reach the place with their rickshaw. If you are going there, prefer to walk, it takes just a few minutes, and generally, those guys are charging crazy sums, just for the old principle that since we come from Europe, we have a lot of money to spend. I don't know other people, but we always travel with a small budget.

So here we were, to the entrance of the park; we were supposed to meet our driver at about 17:00 on the Zambian border, so we had a lot of time to roam around discovering the marvels of the Park.

I must admit that the park itself is very beautiful and worth the visit, but then...
The FALLS!!!

MOSI-OA-TUNYA, the smoke that thunders, and indeed there was smoke, and believe me, it did thunder. It was almost difficult to hear each other talk so that we decided to stay silent and enjoy that breathtaking show nature was offering.

One thing really amazed me, and that was when I recalled that it was a dry season, just think about what it might look like during the wet season!!

I will have to go one more time to see that.

We walked some more, and in the end, we finally met him: Dr. Livingstone, looking at the falls with a severe expression, as to look for the next adventure, or still wondering about the source of the Nile.

Nevertheless, the park, as I told before, offers a lot more than simply the falls. Surely that is the main attraction and reason why tourists decide to visit the park, but you really need to take your time and look around:

The colours, the diversity of plants and animals amazed me and made me wish I could just remain there forever. I had no wish for returning to Finland, knowing that there, I would have been welcomed by the old brisk cold, darkness, and snow.

But even knowing we had time reserved for the next destination and to discover the beauties of Zambia, leaving the park was not easy.

Nevertheless, when you have your bungalow immersed in the very same nature, you might agree that being inside or outside any National Park in Africa, doesn't mean necessarily much any difference.

Mostly because during the wet season, also the elephants might visit the premises of the lodge, and it was a real shame that we arrived during the dry season. I suppose this is another reason why I should go back and have a fuller experience of the local wildlife.

We spent in Zambia only one week, due to the tight schedule to reach ad enjoy the other destination of our journey, for which you will have to wait until the next time, so stay tuned as other 'adventures' are waiting for the Wandering Writer.