Victoria Falls budget safari is a 4 days African budget safari in Zambia. This is an ideal add on for Zambia safari tours that start or end on the Zambian Victoria Falls.

About Victoria Falls Budget Safari

This Victoria Falls budget safari is a 4 days African budget safari in Zambia. It is an ideal add on for tours that start or end on the Zambian Victoria Falls. Victoria Falls budget safari can be a short getaway to the spectacular “Smoke that Thunders”.

You will stay in en-suite rooms at a luxurious yet affordable Zambia hotel. Your Zambia budget hotel is only 5 minutes drive from Victoria Falls. Transfers and breakfasts are included in this Victoria Falls budget safari. There are other activities included on this Victoria Falls budget safari.

They are a Zambezi River Sunset Cruise and a tour to Chobe National Park, Botswana. You’ll have a half day Canoe Trip on the Upper Zambezi. There is also a Cultural Village Tour and a 15 minute helicopter flight over the falls.

Victoria Falls Budget Safari Itinerary

Day 1: Zambezi River Sunset Cruise

You’ll be met on arrival at international airport in Livingstone, Zambia. This will be by our Zambia safari rep. He will brief you on the Victoria Falls budget safari in Zambia. This is to be followed by a transfer to your budget hotel in Livingstone.

This hotel is located on the outskirts of Livingstone town. It is not far away from the Victoria Falls waterfall. You will be accommodated on bed and breakfast basis. Dinner and lunch will be a direct cost on you.

Zambezi River Sunset Cruise

In the afternoon your Victoria Falls budget safari head to the Royal Landing. Here you’ll be greeted by a Marimba Band. It is from here that you embark on a scenic sunset cruise on the Zambezi River.

The cruise departs at around 1530hrs. It is a two hours cruise travelling downstream towards Vic Falls. Yoy will go as far as Siloka Island and back. The tour goes along the edge of Mosi-Oa-Tunya National Park.

The cruise is the ideal way to end your first day at Victoria Falls. You’ll catch a spectacular African sunset over the tranquil river and bush. The laid-back boat cruise includes sun-downers and tasty snacks. Hippos and crocodiles are commonly spotted from the boat.

There are also various other wild animals along the banks. They include elephants, giraffes, buffalos and even rhinos. An amazing array of birds can also be sighted on this cruise in nature. After your mellow sunset cruise we return to the hotel. This is in time for dinner and overnight.

Day 2: Chobe National Park, Botswana

Your Victoria Falls budget safari set out early today. Your adventure heads to Chobe National Park. This is considered one of the best game parks in Botswana.  You will travel to the Zimbabwe border post for clearance. Once through there you head to the Botswana entry gate.

You will stop en route to step on a sanitized mat. This is to prevent Foot and Mouth disease entering the country. On arrival in Botswana you’ll change into an open safari vehicle. This is to enable great game viewing in the park.

Your Victoria Falls budget safari goes to the northern section of the park. Here the Chobe River forms the border in the north. Your Victoria Falls budget safari adventure begins with a river cruise into the park. This provides an opportunity to view the many waders and animals.

They frequent the river banks at this major watering spot. This is a very popular animal spot particularly in the dry season. This area is known for its dense woodland. This has attracted herds of elephant resulting in a huge elephant population. It is estimated that there are about 50 000 individual elephants here.

You’ll take a break for buffet lunch at the Chobe Game Lodge. This includes a complimentary drink and tea or coffee is served with lunch. A short rest will prepare you for the afternoon game drive.

You should expect to see up to 15 different animal species. They include buffalo, giraffe, kudu, roan and sable. There are also impala, warthog, bushbuck, monkeys and baboons. The predators here are lion, leopard, hyena and jackal.

Be sure to have your cameras ready and binoculars if you have them.  It’s also advisable to have sunscreen and a hat. This is a 3 hour game drive in the hot, afternoon sun. It’s time to go back after your exciting Victoria Falls budget safari day. You’ll go through the border posts arriving at your hotel around 1800hrs.

Day 3: Upper Zambezi Canoeing Trip

This morning, your Victoria Falls budget safari set off on our half day canoeing trip. Your destination is the Upper Zambezi River. This is above the spectacular Victoria Falls. Canoeing is the best way to explore the scenic Upper Zambezi River area.

You’ll receive a safety briefing by the professional river guide. This will be followed by a quick practice session on the water. Let the paddle begin. This will not be a challenging paddle. You’ll be navigating only small, easy rapids. Therefore there is no canoeing experience is required.

You’ll take a lazy paddle down the Upper Zambezi. This is as you look out for hippos, buffalos, crocodiles, elephants, kudus, and impalas. There will be other untamed creatures including birds along the banks. Canoeing along the river is also a great way to spot birds.

This includes the powerful Martial Eagle, among the over 50 bird species commonly sighted. Canoeing along the river goes to the Zimbabwean banks and pristine bush on the Zambian side. This gentle paddle is all about soaking up the beautiful scenery.

You’ll enjoy the local fauna and flora up close. Afterwards there’s time for a picnic lunch on the riverbank.

Guided Victoria Falls Tour

This afternoon the Victoria Falls budget safari adventure tours the Victoria Falls. You’ll be led by an experienced and knowledgeable local guide. You’ll walk through lush rainforests on the Zambian side of Vic Falls.

Your Victoria Falls budget safari visits vantage points. This is to have spectacular views of this natural wonder. The walk takes you across Knife Edge Bridge and through the forest. Here you’ll see plant species rarely found in other parts of Zambia or Zimbabwe. During peak season you’ll feel the spray of the “Smoke that Thunders”.

Victoria Falls is one of the seven natural wonders of the world. It is an awe-inspiring sight to behold. This is truer especially when the Zambezi water levels are high. Victoria Falls is considered the largest waterfall in the world. The falls plummet 100m’s into the gorge below and span 1.5 km’s across.

About 550 million liters of water flow over Vic Falls per minute. The skilled guide explains the geology of Victoria Falls. He will also tell you more about this epic waterfall as you walk. You’ll retire to your hotel later. This is in time for dinner and overnight.

Day 4: Departure

Today your Victoria Falls budget safari lifts off on our thrilling helicopter flight. This Flight of Angels takes you on a scenic chopper ride over the thundering Victoria Falls waterfall. This provides a fantastic views and a whole new perspective of this natural wonder.

This is a 15 minute flight that gives an uninterrupted bird’s eye view of Victoria Falls. You’ll also see the Zambezi River and surrounding bush. You’ll fly upstream over Mosi-Oa-Tunya National Park. This is a great way to looking out for game below.

You can also see downstream over the impressive Batoka Gorge. What a great way to end your Victoria Falls budget safari. You will finalize your Victoria Falls budget safari with a transfer to the airport. You will be there in time for your departure flight.

———— End of Victoria Falls Budget Safari ————-

Victoria Falls Budget Safari Destination

Zambezi River

The Victoria Falls budget safari is a Zambia budget safari to upper Zambezi and the Victoria falls including Chobe National park in Botswana.

Zambezi is the fourth-longest river in Africa, the longest east-flowing river in Africa and the largest flowing into the Indian Ocean from Africa.

For about 500 kilometers it serves as the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe thundering over the Victoria Falls and through the narrow, steadily deepening Batoka Gorge, providing a fantastic playground for white-water rafting, kayaking, river boarding and jet boating.

Its unique value is that it is less developed than other rivers regarding human settlement and many areas along its banks have even been granted protected status.

Upper Zambezi

From the source the river flows to the south-west out of Zambia and into Angola for about 240 km (150miles). When it re-enters Zambia it is approximately 400m (1300ft) wide in the rainy season and is fast flowing at Cholwezi rapids and the Chavuma Falls.

The river runs south now for a distance of about 800 km (500miles) and in this distance only drops about 180m (590ft). It is very slow flowing for most of this section as it enters an area known as the Barotse Floodplain where the width of the river reaches up to 25 km (16miles) in the rainy season.

The upper part of the Zambezi River is only sparsely populated by pastoralists, farmers and fishermen. During the rainy season when the plain is in flood a ceremony known as the Ku-omboka Ceremony take place as the local people move to higher ground to escape the flood waters.

One local folk law is that the Zambezi River has a spirit called Nyami Nyami – this spirit brings them water to grow their crops and fish to eat – and so they call the river “the river of life”.

It then turns easterly and forms the border between Zambia and Namibia this is at the Katima Mulilo rapids.

The Middle Zambezi

The Victoria Falls budget safari will get you to the Victoria Falls. They are considered the boundary between the upper and middle Zambezi. For the next 500 km the river serves as the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Below the fall on your Victoria Falls budget safari the river continues to flow due east for about 200 km (120miles), cutting through gorges of basalt rock between 200 to 250 metres (660 to 820ft) high. It is in these gorges where the commercial white water rafting now takes place.

The Zambezi River is graded as a grade 5 river. This is the highest grade that a river can be graded for white water rafting, meaning this is as wet and wild as it gets.

The Victoria Falls also serves as a backdrop for many other Victoria Falls budget safari adventure sports including the famous bungee jump from the Victoria Falls Bridge.

The river drops 250m over the next 200 km before entering Lake Kariba. The Kariba Dam which was completed in 1959 is one of the largest man-made lakes in the world. The hydroelectric power generated at the dam provides electricity for much of Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Chobe National Park

Whether arriving by air or road, the first glimpse of the Chobe River is always breath-taking. It appears as a swathe of bright, blue ribbon, winding its way through the tiny town of Kasane and out into the Chobe National Park’s wilderness. One of Africa’s most beautiful rivers, the Chobe, supports a diversity and concentration of wildlife unmatched in Botswana.

Established in 1968, Chobe National Park covers approximately 11,700 sq km, encompassing floodplains, swamps and woodland. The Chobe River forms the park’s northern boundary, which includes four distinct geographical areas: the Chobe Riverfront: the Ngwezumba pans; Savuté; and Linyanti.

The most accessible and frequently visited of Botswana’s big game country, the Chobe Riverfront, is most famous for the large herds of elephants and Cape Buffalo that converge on the riverbank to drink during the dry winter months.

During this season, on an afternoon game drive, you may see hundreds of elephants at one time. The main Serondella Road sometimes becomes impassable as scores of family herds cross the main road to make their way to the river to drink, bathe and play.

Driving the tracks and trails close to the riverbank on yoiur Victoria Falls budget safari, you may see as many 15 different species of animals on any one drive.

Common species on the Victoria Falls budget safari include waterbuck, lechwe, puku (endemic to this area), giraffe, kudu, roan and sable, impala, warthog, bushbuck, monkeys and baboons, along with the accompanying predators such as lion, leopard, hyena and jackal, who are never far away.

Take a river cruise – and you’ll experience the park and wildlife from a completely different vantage point, getting up closer to hippo, crocodile and a mind-boggling array of water birds than you ever would on land.

Common species on Victoria Falls budget safari include the Sacred Ibis, Egyptian Geese, the ubiquitous cormorants and darters, Spur-winged Geese, Pel’s Fishing Owl, carmine Bee-eaters, most members of the kingfisher family, all the rollers, the unmistakable Fish Eagle, the Martial Eagle, and many members of the stork family.

The Chobe River rises in the northern Angolan highlands and travels vast distances before reaching Botswana at Ngoma.

Like the Okavango and Zambezi rivers, the Chobe’s course is affected by fault lines that are extensions of the Great Rift Valley. These three mighty rivers carry more water than all other Southern Africa rivers.

Victoria Falls

Victoria Falls presents a spectacular sight of awe-inspiring beauty and grandeur on the Zambezi River, forming the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe.

 It was described by the Kololo tribe living in the area in the 1800s as ‘Mosi-oa-Tunya’ – ‘The Smoke that Thunders’. In more modern terms Victoria Falls is known as the greatest curtain of falling water in the world.

Columns of spray can be seen from miles away as, at the height of the rainy season, more than five hundred million cubic meters of water per minute plummet over the edge, over a width of nearly two kilometres, into a gorge over one hundred meters below.

The wide, basalt cliff over which the falls thunder, transforms the Zambezi from a placid river into a ferocious torrent cutting through a series of dramatic gorges.

Facing the Falls is another sheer wall of basalt, rising to the same height, and capped by mist-soaked rain forest. A path along the edge of the forest provides the visitor prepared to brave the tremendous spray, with an unparalleled series of views of the Falls.

One special vantage point is across the Knife-edge Bridge, where visitors can have the finest view of the Eastern Cataract and the Main Falls as well as the Boiling Pot, where the river turns and heads down the Batoka Gorge.

Other vantage points include Livingstone Island, the Falls Bridge, Devils Pool and the Lookout Tree, both of which command panoramic views across the Main Falls.