This is the tour we built the company on. Victoria Falls, Livingstone and Chobe — three countries in under a week, a natural wonder, and one of Africa's great game parks. It is our most popular trip by a considerable margin, and the one travellers most often come back for, usually bringing friends and family with them.

We created this package as Thrifty Road Trips in 2019. Other operators have since modelled their offerings on it — some travelled with us first to see how it works. This guide is what we have learned running it more times than any other tour.

Three countries, one trip

The geography here is unusually generous. Victoria Falls sits on the border between Zimbabwe and Zambia, and Botswana's Chobe National Park is a short drive away. That means you can genuinely see three countries in a few days without spending the whole trip in transit.

Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe is the base. The town is small, walkable and built entirely around the Falls. This is where the adventure activities are, where you will eat dinner looking out over the gorge, and where the group tends to settle in.

Livingstone, Zambia is the other side of the same waterfall, reached across the bridge. Different view, different country, different stamp in your passport. Devil's Pool is here.

Kasane and Chobe, Botswana is the day trip — and the wildlife day. Botswana has the largest elephant population in the world, and Chobe concentrates it along the river.

Road or flight — how to choose

This is the only real decision you need to make, and both options do exactly the same things on the ground.

The road package is six days, Sunday to Friday. You depart Cedar Square in Fourways on the Sunday evening and travel overnight by coach — 17 to 21 hours. It is cheaper, the deposit is R2,000 rather than R3,000, and it is the option most of our travellers choose. The drive home begins straight after Chobe on the Thursday, so there is no final night at the Falls.

The flight package is five days, Monday to Friday. You fly out on the Monday morning and back on the Friday afternoon, which means you get a final night in Victoria Falls that the road group does not.

Neither is better. It comes down to your budget and how you feel about a long coach journey. Plenty of people who can afford the flight still take the road, because the coach is part of the experience and the group bonds on it.

Money: three countries, two currencies

Worth understanding before you go, because it is not the same across the trip.

Zimbabwe and Zambia both use US dollars. That covers Victoria Falls and Livingstone, which is most of your time.

Botswana uses the pula — relevant for your day trip to Kasane and Chobe.

Card machines are available when booking activities, so you do not need to carry the full cost of everything you plan to do. Operators take card.

Two things to know about cash:

• Bring cash for the Victoria Falls rainforest entry. It is quicker than paying by card, and the queue moves faster for everyone if you have it ready. Budget R600 per person — this is the only fixed extra cost on the tour.
• US dollar notes must be clean, undamaged and issued after 2013. Older, torn or heavily marked notes are routinely refused. Check what your bank gives you before you leave the counter.

A small amount of cash for tips, market purchases and incidentals is sensible regardless.

The Falls themselves

The rainforest walk is non-negotiable, particularly if you enjoy the mist. What you see depends enormously on the season, and both versions are worth having.

High water, roughly February to July, and the flow is enormous. The spray rises hundreds of metres and you will be genuinely soaked — a rain jacket is essential and you will still get wet. At peak flow the spray can be thick enough to obscure the view of the gorge itself.

Low water, roughly September to December, and the volume drops considerably. You lose some of the drama, but you gain the rock face and the structure of the gorge, which is invisible when the water is high. This is also when Devil's Pool opens.

People sometimes ask which is better. Neither. They are different waterfalls.

The activities

This tour has more optional activities than anything else we run, and they are the reason the trip can get expensive if you do not plan.

• Helicopter flight over the Falls — the only way to see the full scale of it
• White-water rafting on the Zambezi, some of the best commercial rapids in the world
• Jet boating in the Batoka Gorge
• Bungee jumping off the Victoria Falls Bridge — you jump between two countries
• Devil's Pool in Livingstone — swimming at the actual edge of the Falls. Seasonal, roughly August to December, and it cannot be guaranteed
• Walking with lions in Zambia
• Crocodile cage diving
• Chobe game drive in Botswana
• Zambezi sunset cruise with unlimited drinks
• Boma cultural dinner with a drum show — the meal is included when you book it
• High tea for a classy afternoon

We also run a formal group dinner with birthday celebrations, which is included and is consistently one of the most talked-about evenings of the trip.

How to budget without overspending

Decide before you travel which activities matter most to you, budget for those, and stick to your list. Ask us for the current activities price list — we will send it before you fly.

And a word the other way: do not let anyone talk you out of something you came for. We have had travellers discouraged from an activity by someone else in the group, who then spent the rest of the trip regretting it. It is your holiday and your money. Do the thing.

Chobe, and why one day is enough

A single day in a game park sounds thin until you understand what Chobe is. Botswana holds the world's largest elephant population, and in the dry season they concentrate along the Chobe River in numbers that are genuinely difficult to describe.

Expect elephants in real quantity, plus lions, buffalo, hippo, crocodile and a great deal of birdlife. It is consistently one of the most talked-about days of the tour, and it is why the trip works as a wildlife experience despite the short timeframe.

Where you stay

The Rainbow Hotel in Victoria Falls, walking distance from the town centre. Accommodation is shared as standard, which is how we keep the price where it is; a single occupancy upgrade is available at booking.

Dinner one evening is at either Lookout Cafe or Three Monkeys — the Lookout sits directly over the Batoka Gorge, and it is worth the trip on the view alone.

Who this tour suits

Almost everyone, which is unusual. Solo travellers, couples, families with children of all ages, and older travellers all do this trip — and unlike most of our tours, a good number of people arrive with friends and family rather than alone.

The adrenaline activities are entirely optional. Even without a single one of them, relaxing and visiting three cities makes for a genuinely rewarding week. We recommend it to everyone.

The climate stays warm year-round, which makes it a real escape during the South African winter — June and July are cold at dawn and pleasantly warm by midday.

Practical things

• No visas needed for South African passport holders in Zimbabwe, Zambia or Botswana — but bring a passport with blank pages, because you will collect several stamps
• No time difference from South Africa
• Plugs are Type D and G — bring an adapter
• Pack layers. Mornings are cold, afternoons hot, particularly June to August
• A rain jacket for the Falls — you will get soaked and it is worth it
• Neutral colours if you are doing the Chobe game drive
• Insect repellent — this is a malaria area, so speak to a travel clinic before you fly

Booking and paying

The road package is secured with a R2,000 deposit; the flight package with R3,000. We then invoice the balance with a card payment link, or you settle by EFT in instalments before departure. No interest, no credit check. Full detail on the How to Pay page.

The September and December departures fill fastest, and the New Year tour books out well in advance every year we have run it.