Exploring South Africa, Zimbabwe, Zambia & Botswana
The Three Rondavels, South Africa September 2024
Introduction
After visiting Cape Town in 2022 I wanted to go back and see some more of South Africa. I found a reasonably priced ticket flying from Gatwick into Johannesburg and out of Victoria Falls, via Addis Ababa with Ethiopian Airlines in June 2025.
Day 1 - Johannesburg and Soweto
To visit many of the best places in Southern Africa, it is very common to pass through Johannesburg (or Jozi as the locals call it). It's the number one transport hub in this part of the world, but many visitors go in and out as quickly as possible due to the bad reputation for crime. I had one day there.
Cursing myself for getting a cheaper flight that landed into Johannesburg at 03.55, I got to my hotel an hour or so later. They gave me a sofa I could sleep on for a few hours and then very kindly got my room ready for 8.30!
Today, I got on the red City Sightseeing bus, which you get in every major city. This took us around the Central Business District (with admittedly not many interesting stops) and eventually to a casino where I changed to the Soweto tour bus.
The Soweto tour took us past the stadium that hosted the 2010 World Cup final, and then the first stop was the famous Orlando Cooling Towers that featured on An Idiot Abroad. You can bungee jump from the top for a fraction of what it costs in Victoria Falls.
Orlando Cooling Towers in Soweto
After not bungeeing here (in fact no-one was) we moved on to Vilakazi Street where both Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu lived (the only street in the world that can claim two residents that have been Nobel peace prize winners)!
You can also visit the Hector Peterson memorial nearby. This is dedicated to the memory of a 12-year old student who was shot dead by police in 1976 for protesting against the rule that black children must be taught in Afrikaans (the main language used by whites). Unsurprisingly, this led to a full-scale riot.
Soweto’s sights are unspectacular in a purely visual sense. The interest comes more from a historical association.
Johannesburg will inevitably be compared with Cape Town. In some respects, this is a bit unfair, as in my eyes there's very little on earth that can compare to Cape Town. Even so, Johannesburg is sprawling, gritty and not a tourist destination. It's all about business and making money, and is actually responsible for producing 10% of GDP for the entire African continent. One advantage it does have over Cape Town is the near perfect winter climate.
Day 2 - Travelling to Hazyview
Today was a bit of a transit day. Leaving the big city behind, I flew with South African Airlink to Kruger International Airport in the state of Mpumalanga. It was a small plane where there are two seats on one side and one seat on the other.
View of the South African Wilderness from the plane
My accommodation - a rondaval hut
After landing, I picked up a rental car and drove a couple of hours to Hazyview where I was staying. Driving in rural South Africa is straightforward as there are not many cars around, although you have to watch out for farm workers who walk down the side of the road.
Compared to cosmopolitan Cape Town and the Western Cape, it's immediately noticeable that Johannesburg and Mpumalanga are much more African in feel, with much fewer white or mixed race faces.
I stayed for 3 nights at Kruger Adventure Lodge in a rondaval hut (above). In the restaurant you can get a decent two course meal with a drink or two for under £10.
Day 3 - Kruger National Park
I had an early pickup in the morning to get to Kruger National Park in time for best wildlife viewing. With it being winter in June, it was very cold, and as the safari truck had no glazed windows there was a strong wind that felt fresh from the Antarctic as we drove to the park entrance.
Luckily after a couple of hours, it started to warm up, and we got into the park at about 8am.
Lions in Kruger National Park
A giraffe in Kruger National Park
It wasn't too long before we started seeing some of the big names. The section of Kruger that we visited had a lot more vegetation than the East African parks so it's harder to spot animals from a distance. But then the excitement of a giraffe or lion suddenly popping up outside your window makes up for that.
We saw a buffalo with its tail bitten off being stalked by five lions, although they'd moved out of sight before any kill could take place.
Kruger has excellent roads and there were a lot of self-drivers, although this meant it could get crowded. I was glad I wasn't driving when we got stuck in a bit of a traffic jam! There seemed to be an etiquette as to who went first and who had right of way, but it didn't make much sense to me!
There are quite a few different camps within the park that you can stop at with food and shops. It's all very accessible and convenient, however seeing as Kruger is the size of Wales there is plenty of wilderness for those with more time on their hands.
Day 4 - Blyde River Canyon
In contrast to the previous day, today's itinerary was much more suitable for me to self-drive. I was heading up to the Blyde River Canyon area north of Hazyview with a few lookout points that looked worth visiting.
Mpumalanga is a very rural state and there are long stretches of road between the small towns. The roads have a few potholes but they are generally easy to avoid.
The first stop was God's Window where you can follow a walkway through forest to the lookout points.
God's Window
Bourke's Luck Potholes
A few more miles up the road there is another stop called Bourke's Luck Potholes which reminded me of some of the national parks of Australia.
The best views though were at the third stop which was called The Three Rondavels. You can see deep into the canyon.
There are local craft stalls in the car parks however the vendors aren't too pushy and the prices are generally fair after you've haggled a little. One of the sellers asked me if I wanted to buy something for the grandkids! Although to be fair, 47 is probably quite a common grandparent age in rural Africa.
There was a famous pancake cafe on the way back that I planned to stop at, however there was a large group of bored looking young guys sitting outside. So, I decided not to stop as I didn't want to take any risks with the hire car.
Day 5 - Back to Johannesburg
I had a flight back to Johannesburg in the afternoon but had booked in to see the chimpanzee sanctuary in Nelspruit in the morning first. It was founded by Jane Goodall who is famous for her conservation work with chimps in Africa for many years.
The chimps had all at some point, been rescued from the wild, where they had either been orphaned or badly injured. The staff were very passionate about the rehabilitation work they do with these animals.
As well as the chimps, there was a bizarre moment where I turned around from looking at them to see some wild giraffes on the horizon. Definitely one of those “this wouldn't happen at home” moments!
It was time to go back to Johannesburg after this, and I put Nelspruit Airport into my phone sat nav. However, this took me to the old airport which had closed down some years ago! One guy there had a good laugh to himself and told me I needed Kruger International Airport; luckily, I had some spare time and made it there an hour before the departure time. Given the size of the airport, this was still way early enough!
I also noticed on the departure screens that there was a flight that day going directly to Victoria Falls. I was instead, going back to Johannesburg to connect to Victoria Falls the next day. A bit of poor planning there!
After landing in Johannesburg I went to an airport hotel to sleep and get ready for the next day's flight to Zimbabwe.
Day 6 - Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe
The morning flight took a couple of hours and then, having made sure I got a KAZA visa (which gives you day access to Zambia and Botswana as well as Zimbabwe - see our Essentials Guide for details), I transferred to Victoria Falls Backpackers lodge - www.victoriafallsbackpackers.com, which is great value for money.
It felt kind of weird being in a “failed state” (given Zimbabwe's recent economic collapse) but there was nothing wrong with the neighbourhood that the hostel was situated. It was leafy, quiet and prosperous. Although we were warned that wild elephants, giraffes and warthogs regularly wander through the neighborhood, so basically to keep an eye out!
The hostel was nice and quirky, however rather than stick around for too long, I went straight to the national park where the falls were. It was about half an hour's pleasant walk through the town centre, which was pretty quiet apart from the odd annoying street vendor.
The entry fee to the falls was a ridiculous $50 USD. But you pay it, because you're never coming back! (Apparently the famous rock cut churches of Lalibela in Ethiopia now charge double this amount. It must be an African thing!)
I could literally post hundreds of pictures. It was stunning. Hopefully the two photos above will speak for themselves.
It was also very wet. Although the surroundings don't strictly qualify as rainforest, they are as good as. It was very green on the paths.
Footpaths at Victoria Falls
The best afternoon views are at the first few viewpoints near the entrance. As I moved down the trail, the mist became more of a factor. It started to rain, and combined with the splashback from the falls, everyone got totally drenched. You can hire a poncho, but a few people said they found them sweaty in the heat.
The photo below is at Danger Point (which is not really dangerous) and shows the bridge that connects Zimbabwe and Zambia. It was built in the 1800s using materials sent over from Darlington in North East England. The famous bungee site is halfway across. Having done a jump in New Zealand in my younger years, I wasn't tempted. No one ever asks you if you've done two bungees!
Danger Point, Victoria Falls
Having ensured I got my $50 worth out of the park by staying a good few hours, I went back to the hostel just as the sun set.
Day 7 - A Day Trip to Zambia
Today I would cross the bridge into another new country, but first I had booked a helicopter flight over the falls.
I was sharing the chopper with the pilot (obviously) and an older French couple. The pilot flew in a figure of 8 so everyone got the same view.
I would 100% recommend this activity as you get such a different perspective on the falls, and you can see more of the Zambezi where the crazy amount of water comes from! It wasn't too expensive, I think from memory about $150 USD.
Victoria Falls by Helicopter
After finishing this amazing flight, the tour company dropped me off in town where I could walk to the bridge and cross into Zambia. There are lots of agencies that sell “tours” across the bridge to the other side, but it's easy enough just to do it yourself (as long as you have the KAZA visa).
Your passport is stamped out of Zimbabwe at the start of the bridge, and you can then start to walk across. You will most likely be hassled to either take a taxi or buy something from the bored local vendors, however prices are reasonable. Halfway across you pass the bungee site, although it was pretty quiet that day.
Zambia Border
Victoria Falls, and the Zambezi, as seen from Zimbabwe
After completing the bridge walk and passing the above sign (and then going through immigration), you reach the entrance to the Zambian National Park where their side of the falls is located.
Although this side gives slightly less spectacular views than the Zimbabwe side (reflected in the lower $30 USD entrance fee!), it does have the Devil's Pool where brave souls can swim up to the edge of the falls (although in high water season it's too dangerous and therefore closed). I think it's somewhere on the far left of the picture of the Zambezi above, where the water tumbles over the edge.
Although the appearance of most of the vegetation suggests the Zambian side is generally dryer than the other side, there is a very wet and green route known as the Boiling Pot. This takes you past lots of baboons (don't feed them), down over slippery rocks (wear proper footwear), to a great viewpoint of the bridge. It is, however, a steep climb back up afterwards.
The bridge between Zambia and Zimbabwe
After this, being very tired, I went back to the hostel where the outdoor pool was waiting. It was nice to cool off and the African guests were quite amused to see someone was using the pool as it was officially middle of winter, ie “only” 25℃ (77℉)!
In the evening I went out for a drink or two to a traditional drumming venue with some of the people from the hostel, who were generally in or just below my age range. Shoestrings is the other hostel in town and is more aimed at younger party people. Nearly all the hotels in Victoria Falls Town are expensive and poor value for money.
Day 8 - Chobe, Botswana
So far, this trip had been getting better with every day, and this final day would prove to be possibly the best of the lot. I was picked up by the tour company at the hostel and driven to the border with Botswana where after passport formalities I switched to a minibus to take us to Chobe National Park, famous for its large elephant population.
Our bus pulled up to the Cresta Moana Lodge. This was one of those expensive tourist lodges that Botswana is famous for. I wondered what the high-paying guests potentially thought of sharing their posh lodge with a bunch of scruffy backpackers on a day trip!
The Lodge was perfectly situated right on the Chobe river, where there was a boat waiting to take us downstream.
We saw all sorts of animals from the boat, large and small, but this elephant in the water was truly something else.
There were also hippos by the water’s edge. Notoriously bad tempered and the biggest killer of humans in Africa (after the mosquito).
After lunch back at the lodge, my small group (6 of us) then switched to a safari truck for a land tour. We got terrifyingly close to this elephant (promise I've only zoomed in a tiny bit on this photo!)
Shortly afterwards our truck, while trying to get close to a sleeping female lion, veered down a big pothole and scared the life out of her!
This all felt like a special experience, as all the traffic of Kruger was absent here. It really felt like you were more “in the bush”.
I don't say this often, but Chobe absolutely blew me away. The Botswana model of high cost (but low environmental impact) tourism understandably prices out a lot of visitors. As a result, it felt remote and exclusive.
It's pretty certain I will never be able to afford the prices the Botswanian lodges charge (there are campsites if you are willing to camp, but no budget or mid-range hotel accommodation in the national parks). However, to come in on a good value day trip was a great way to see Chobe National Park on a budget and at least get a short taste of the country.
Day 9 - Fly Home
I couldn't have left Zimbabwe without a souvenir of past troubled times of high inflation. Note the date of 2008! These days the old Zimbabwe dollar has been taken out of circulation, and tourists use USD or occasionally SA Rand for nearly all transactions.
After the excitement of the past week it was time to go home. The first flight from Victoria Falls airport was to Gaborone, the unexciting capital of Botswana. Some passengers got off, some stayed on the plane, and then we connected on to Addis Ababa.
Security at Addis airport is a little bit crazy. Your hand luggage is scanned three times, so leave sufficient time for the connection if you transit this airport! After an overnight flight I landed in London Gatwick in the morning. Unfortunately a couple of days of tummy trouble was in store for me, but thankfully it wasn't one of those scary African diseases you hear about!
If I'm fortunate enough to go back to Southern Africa in the future, it would likely be Namibia for the desert experience. And of course, you can never go wrong with South Africa, the Rainbow Nation.
