Lokhuthula Lodge - Vic Falls

This is heaven for the adventurous: You can do River rafting, Bungi jumping, an African Elephant back safari, fishing and lots more. You can choose between a booze cruise, Jet boating, canoeing or an Africa boat safari on the Zambezi. You can see the Vic falls from a helicopter or an aeroplane or book a daytrip into Botswana. Most importantly you have to see one of the Seven Wonders of the World: The Victoria Falls.

Quick Tips:

This is a Malaria area. Taking Malaria tablets is essential. It is advisable to wear long sleeves and socks at dusk and dawn.

When you go to the falls take a raincoat and an umbrella. Close to the falls, is like standing under a shower. Wear fast drying clothes. If you take food to the falls, seal it in an airtight container.

Do not exchange money on the street! Go into a shop and ask to exchange money. Do not carry too much cash on you. A safe is provided in the chalet.

The units are self-catering; all you need to take is clothes, food and swimming towels.

We were permitted 20kg luggage per person. Take as much food as possible. You cannot take meat and dairy products across the border. We took apples and dried fruit. Crackers and cheese spread was our "lunch on the run". Instant dishes like Pasta and sauce and Tuna mate saved us. Firewood is available at R5.00 a bunch from the hotel.

Products to pack: Sugar, powder milk, salt, oil, maize meal, coffee and tea, and tinned meat. We could buy bread, eggs and soft drinks. Alcohol is expensive. Take your own.

Best Way To Get Around:

Owing to the fuel shortage, it is not advisable that you drive through Zimbabwe. You can drive via Botswana.

We flew with flight SAL 737-200 from Johannesburg into Victoria Falls on 19 April 2003. The price of the tickets was R 2900 per adult or 20 000 Voyager miles per person. When we arrived at the airport, a Lokhuthula Lodge driver was already waiting for us. I arranged this prior with the resort. We paid R90.00 per Adult and R45 per child (one way) for this necessity.

Please note: Airport taxes of 30 US dollars is payable on departure from Victoria Falls. Take this with you in Dollars.

Once at the resort, you don’t need a car. A Shuttle bus (free of charge) leaves from Safari Lodge (walking distance from all the chalets) every hour. The shuttle stops at the craft market, Wimpy, the Vic. Falls and The Kingdom hotel.

The resort is within 5 km of the Victoria Falls.

When you arrive at the resort, you see lush green lawns, scattered with freestanding two-and three-bedroom chalets and lots of indigenous trees. Everything about the units shouts out you are in Africa. From the thatched roofs, the giraffe mirror frames, and the Ginny fowl light shades, to a mosquito net over each bed. The front wall of the chalet is made of canvas that can be rolled up. This invites the patio with a lovely barbecue area, and the African bush to be part of the chalet.

At night, while you sit around a big fire, looking at the bright stars, listening to the lions roar and the hyenas laugh in the distance, you know this is wilderness. An electric fence prevents herds of buffalo and elephant from taking a short cut through the resort. It did not prevent day visitors like a bushbuck, a family of mongoose, monkeys, and some warthogs to welcome us though. Just remember that these are wild animals, not pets. My little girl had a scuffle with a warthog and she ended up with a bruise to proove it.

The resort has a lovely restaurant called The Boma. A buffet dinner will cost you R180 per person. Here you can wrap your taste buds around local delicacies like Mopanie worms.

During the day you can laze around the swimming pool while the kids jump on the trampoline or play on the jungle gym.

Every evening we went to The Safari Lodge for sundowners and complimentary snacks. Our favourite was Zambezi in the green bottle, a local beer for R12 (J&B Whiskey at R40 a tot). As the sun was setting we watched herds of buffalo and elephant drink at the waterhole while we listened to the roars of lions announcing the night. This was the time to unwind, the time to press your ear against the chest of our Creator, and listen to his heartbeat.

This is heaven for the adventurous. You can river raft, bungee jump, go on an African Elephant back safari, fishing, and lots more. You can choose between a booze cruise, jet boating, canoeing, and an African boat safari on the Zambezi. You can see the Vic falls from a helicopter or book a daytrip into Botswana. Most importantly you have to see one of the Seven Wonders of the World, The Victoria Falls.

We went to look at the Victoria Falls from the Zimbabwe side and from the Zambian side. Six of the seven waterfalls are on the Zimbabwe side--if you only had one day to spend at the falls, I would suggest that you spend it there. We paid R100 entry fee for adults and half price for children. This is a regional price for Africans, overseas visitors paid $30US. The falls are 1.7 km wide and at some places 93m high. The views and mere size is indescribable.

When each of us chose our favourite excursion (excluding the Victoria Falls), my husband, mother, and I all chose the daytrip into Botswana. We were picked up from our chalet at 7:30am. After a 70 km drive we entered Botswana at Kazunkulu border post. At Kasane we boarded a boat on the Chobe River. My family had the boat all to ourselves. Where the Chobe and Zambezi Rivers meet, four countries (Zimbabwe, Zambia, Namibia, and Botswana) border each other. This is one of only two places in the world where this happens.

The cruise on the Chobe would count under the top five experiences of my life! This must be what paradise was like. It is untamed wilderness. On the cruise, we saw two herds of buffalo, three herds of elephant, three herds of hippos, a crocodile...everything at the same time. It was the first time that I saw four Fish Eagles in the same tree. They threw their heads back, and gave the call of Africa, the call of the wild. Two elephant bulls swam through the river next to our boat. At some places the river was so deep that they were submerged, except for the tips of their trunks sticking out. We had a lovely lunch at Elephant Valley Lodge the afternoon we traded a safari in a 4x4 for another trip on the Chobe. The R623 we paid per adult (half price for children) included transport, snacks, and drinks. It was worth every cent!

My daughter Anne-Rita’s (9) first choice was the African Elephant back safari. She had the opportunity to meet Rustas, a baby elephant. My son Lambert (11) chose the Jet Extreme. They cruised at speeds of 90 miles an hour in a jet boat while skimming past rocks, doing 360-degree turns, and going over rapids.

At the time of our visit the water levels were very high and it was too dangerous to river raft. I want to go back to do this. Next time I also want to bungee jump.