Victoria Falls Zimbabwe

Map of our flight on the plane.

 After three years of waiting to go on this trip, it finally happened in August 2022.  Our first location is Victoria Falls on the Zimbabwe side. We spent three days here enjoying the falls and all that is offered. We did not do extreme sports as we are playing it safe for the rest of the trip.

To get to Victoria Falls we flew to Toronto Canada, and then to Ethiopia on Ethiopian Air. Business class on the airline was excellent and we were able to sleep for part of the trip. From Ethiopia, we took a plane to Victoria Falls. From Toronto, the flight took nearly 20 hours. We were met at the airport and escorted to our hotel.

Our accommodation at Ilala Hotel.

Our accommodation was at the Ilala Hotel a short distance from the airport. Our first night included a complimentary meal at the Cassia restaurant located at the hotel. This was perfect as we needed to relax so we could get an early start to see the falls. The food was excellent and Bill tried the Springbok.

Victoria Falls is so loud that it was locally known as the 'Smoke That Thunders' when David Livingstone first discovered the falls. The park has an entrance fee and does not allow multiple entrances so you need to pick the time you wish to explore the falls. 

We could see a rainbow from our room as the mist from the falls rose over the trees.  This was our first view of what was in store for us when we went to see Victoria Falls. The falls were called Mosi-Oa-Tunya Falls by the indigenous people in the area. 

Rainbow from the mist

Ilala Lodge is located close to the Victoria Falls National Park so it was a short walk along a walkway. You do need to be careful along this pathway as the elephants in the area roam freely. There are also a lot of men trying to sell items along the way.

The falls are spectacular even when the water level is lower. We took the trail leading to the left which brought us to Livingston Statue. Livingston was the explorer who discovered the falls.

Zambezi River coming over the gorge.

To enjoy the sunset we had dinner at the Wild Horizons Outlook Cafe. The food is not spectacular but the views of watching people bungee jump and zipline made up for the food.

On our second day, we took a Ra-Ikane Cruise on the Zambezi River to see the birds. We were served breakfast and saw an elephant, hippos, and a variety of birds.

Relaxing Cruise

Hippopotamus 

Vulture 

While we decided to do the 'Flight of Angles' over the falls. The gorge that the river flows over is 120 kilometers wide this is considered to be the biggest curtain of falling water in the world which makes it quite spectacular even in the dry season.

Zambezi River approaching gorge.

Rainbow over Victoria Falls.

Two Km long river has created the gorge.

On our way to dinner, we had the taxi driver go by the big tree. This is a Baobab tree and it is between 1000 and 1600 years old. 

Dinner on the last night at The Eatery which was outside of town. Most people went on the sunset cruise and then left so there were only a few people who stayed to have dinner. We had hoped to have the Potties dinner but the staff from the hotel did not let the restaurant know to prepare for this experience. Instead, we had an excellent dinner of Bream a local fish that we had wanted to try.

Sitting area by the river.

The next day we were picked up by our driver and driven to the border between Zimbabwe and Botswana where we transferred to another vehicle to be taken to the Kasane Airport in Botswana for our flight to Zarafa Camp in Botswana. We had picked three lodges that could only be accessed by planes. Soon the safaris would begin. 

The sound of Victoria Falls.

Two Years of Covid-19 Restrictions

 With the pandemic looming in March of 2021 travel was restricted to the province where you lived.  Restaurants, hotels, and air travel was shut down. No one was going anywhere.  We thought that it would only last a few months but after two years we are still waiting to take our trip to Africa

So what did we do for the last two years???  Lots of walking!!!!

In late September we booked a two-bedroom accommodation at Pine Bungalows in Jasper National Park.  Fall is a beautiful time to be in the mountains. The leaves are changing colour and the Elk are calling.

The fall and winter were fairly mild and we spent a lot of time in Elk Island National Park.

We had picnics and cooked hot dogs over an open fire. During the winter we continued to hike a variety of trails.

Hoodoo Trail

In early December we rented a unit at Tunnel Mountain Resort in Banff National Park so we could cook meals and remain safe from covid. The accommodation was great and with covid-19 no one entered the unit while we were staying. This helped us feel safe. We cooked all our meals and the wood fireplace was a welcome addition. Our unit was larger than we needed but it did not matter.

The weather was great so we could easily hike around Banff. We skated on the pond that the locals used. Cross-country skiing was great up near Lake Louise. There was not enough snow in Banff.

Frozen Bow Falls Banff

The next trip was to Jasper National Park in January 2021. We again rented a unit with a kitchen at Pyramid Lake  Resort.  The purpose of this trip was to do the Maline Canyon Ice Walk and some cross-country skiing.  

Main Lodge

The room was on the top floor and had a loft area as well as a bedroom on the main floor. Skating on Pyramid lake was a nice addition to this trip.

Touring around Jasper we visited the usual spots like Lake Edith, Maligne Lake, and Athabasca River, and skated on Beauvert Lake across from Jasper Park Lodge. Someone had built a snowman on one of the lakes.

Boat House at Maligne Lake

Moose Brothers

Maligne Canyon Walk

Elk

The winter passed quickly and we were very fortunate not to have an extremely cold winter. The pools were finally open again and we started swimming again. Things began to relax and everyone was hopeful that covid would be over soon. But we were not that fortunate as we had another year to go.

Churchill Manitoba

Train Station Greeting

One of the best places to see Polar Bears in the wild is Churchill Manitoba Canada. Churchill is one of the lowest latitudes that polar bears congregate in early November each year before leaving the land to spend the winter hunting for ringneck seals on the ice.

Churchill is a small town around 900 hundred people in 2016. Tourism is one of the main sources of income. With Polar Bear viewing in November, Northern Lights or the Aurora Borealis during February, Beluga Whales in summer as well as birding and wildflower tours.

You can get to Churchill which is located on the Hudson Bay in Northern Manitoba by air or train. The train ride from Winnepeg will take two to three days depending on the freight trains using the same tracks. The flight from Winnepeg can be very expensive and is currently run by Calm Air or  Air North. You just might be on a plane that has cargo since this is one of the ways supplies can get to the northern communities when there is no water access.

The town of Churchill has several stores for souvenirs, a grocery store, a few places to stay and a variety of restaurants. The hospital, recreation center, library, and school are all connected at one end of town parallel to the Hudson Bay.

Rocket launch 1965

We stayed at the Churchill Northern Studies Centre https://churchillscience.ca/. This area was once used by the U.S. Army as a sounding rocket test station. The Army left Churchill in 1970 and the  Canadian National Research Council to support the Canadian Upper Atmosphere Research Program during the '70s and '80s but was deserted by 1985.

Churchill Northern Studies Centre New Building

We spent a week at the center learning about the polar bears, climate change, local vegetation, and landscape.

Hudson Bay before the ice

Cross Fox

The Arctic Fox use to be the only fox in the area. With the Red Fox moving into the area there is now a black fox with to white tip tail from cross-breeding of the Arctic and Red Fox.

Tree Island

Our main goal was to see Polar Bears so we spent two days traveling in Tundra Buggies in the Churchill Wildlife Management Area. We were not disappointed as we saw numerous large male bears waiting for the ice to form so they could get out on the ice to hunt for ringneck seals their primary food source. For these bears, it has been a long time since they ate their last seal when the ice disappears in June on the Hudson Bay. Here are a few pictures that we took of the bears.

Who is Stronger?

We also had a dog sledding ride. This experience gave us an idea of what it would be like to travel this way. The experience was only a mile long but that was cold enough for most of our group.

The last experience was the 45-minute helicopter ride over the Hudson Bay rugged coastline. Everyone has a window seat during the helicopter ride with groups being no longer than four people.

Ice Forming on the Hudson Bay

If you plan on going you need to book early. We booked in early January the year we wanted to go in November. We also booked our flight as soon as possible. If you wait the price goes up and there is limited space so you may need to take the train. We heard that the train was an interesting experience but we wanted to get there faster. The train also only runs on certain days so you might have to book an extra night in town at a hotel or B&B.  Here is the current website for the tour we took.

https://churchillscience.ca/event/lords-of-the-arctic-i/

This was definitely a wonderful experience that I would not have wanted to miss. If you plan to fly in and out in a day you take your chances with the weather and polar bear sightings might be limited. Some tours only take you around town and along the road system not out onto the tundra in the Churchill Wildlife Management Area. The Churchill Wildlife Management Area is not Wapusk National Park which is farther away from town.