On the day of our trip to Zambia, we left Cape Town early in the morning, which I think was the best decision because it was down pouring! We later found out that it began to hail that day which was record breaking for Cape Town. We flew to Livingstone, Zambia where we stayed at Jolly Boys Back Packers.

Then we sat by the pool and relaxed for the afternoon with a beer. For dinner, we walked up the road to a local restaurant to try out some local Zambian food. Some people we met decided to try caterpillar but I just couldn’t do it with their eyes so prominent! It just felt too weird!! In all of the books, it always says to take a taxi when it’s dark out. We were with four people in total so I was convinced to walk back to the hostel and was a nervous wreck the entire time!!

The second day, Sunday, we lounged around the hostel and then that afternoon. I had the opportunity to go to an orphanage to play soccer and card games with the children. It was such an amazing experience to be able to spend time with them! It made me want to take every single child home with me. This orphanage in particular wasn’t like the ones you see on TV (although they do exist), these kids were clothed, washed and ate well. They had just come from class and were excited for there to be new people to play with.

Monday we ventured to Victoria Falls!! What an amazing piece of nature. I thought that Niagara Falls was impressive, these falls are ten times longer and higher. I wore my raincoat and still got SOAKED!! The spray back from the falls was so intense!! I got some really incredible pictures but I still don’t think that they will capture the beauty.  We spent a few hours hiking around and then taxied back to town. Originally I had wanted to take a helicopter ride over the falls, and I still to this day regret not doing it. My bank account though does thank me as I still had a lot of travelling to do.

Tuesday I signed up to go on the Elephant back safari. It was a great experience but I don’t think I would do it again or recommend it to anyone. It was quite expensive for only an hour with the elephants. We rode on their back around the grounds and then had some tea to finish off the tour. I don’t mind spending money if it goes towards the well being of the elephants, but there is no way of knowing. I didn’t like how they were all gathered for us to ride on their backs but according to the company, the elephants were all saved from either poachers or other wildlife.

Once I got back, I lazed by the pool until it was time for the sunset cruise aka the booze cruise. There were about twenty individuals on the cruise from varying hotels and hostels. While cruising on the river for two hours, we saw crocodiles and hippos! When we finished, some passengers continued to party back at the hostel but after being up at 6am for the elephants, I was ready for bed around 10:30pm…. Shocking I know haha!!

On our last day of the Zambia trip, we just lounged around because we had an early bus the next morning to the capital of Zambia, Lusaka. It was about a 7 hour bus ride there and then another 7-10 hours to get to Malawi. Stay tuned for my adventures in Malawi which was my favourite country in Africa!!

Did you like reading about my Zambia trip? Check out this post on my South African trip. As always, feel free to DM or follow me on Instagram!

Nicole.