A friend and I have booked a nyala hunt with Ian Blakeway for April 1-10. The friends wife will join us after the hunt and we would like to visit Victoria Falls and the Okavango Delta. We are looking for recommendations on things to see in the area, recommendations for a place to stay in Victoria Falls, guided tours, etc. We would appreciate any information. Thanks.

Dale

Stay at Victoria Falls Hotel or at least dinner there, one of the booze cruises on the river, helicopter ride over the Falls well worth it. We booked a tour to Chobe but The Zambezi Safari & Travel Company cheated us out of the tour.

Here's a reference to my venture at Vic Falls with my wife: Of Wives and Elephants

We surely had a great time!

The very best thing to do is to send an email to Belinda Cooke of Thomas and Cooke Travel there in Vic Falls. Not only does she know the places, the people, she will have it set up for you across the board. She is tops.

The Vic Falls Safari Lodge is an excellent place to stay as well.

Helicopter tour of the falls, Boma Restaurant, Victoria Falls Hotel, walking tour of the falls, booze cruise.

E-mail one of my best friends and Zim PH Nigel Theisen. He lives in the Falls and his sister organizes touristy in the Falls. Definitely stay in the Victoria Falls Hotel.

nigeltheisen@gmail.com

I would like to thank everyone for the information. Ledvm and TexKD: I have made the contacts you suggested.

Dale,

Another vote for the Victoria Falls Hotel, it is like stepping back in time.

The Okavango is incredible. Rather than take the boat to the Ivory hunting camp (NG32) we took the helicopter flight to camp from Maun. The flight gives you a totally different perspective of the Delta, well worth the money.

Have a great time, when we left the Delta I had a hard time believing places like this could still exist.

We had to spend the night in Maun prior to catching the flight home and stayed at Riley's. A clean hotel with old hunting safari photos in the dining area.

.
Can echo the Vic Falls; stayed last month and it was wonderful - Stanleys Bar a great place for a night cap!

If you are sporty and a thrill seeker white water rafting down the Zambezi with Sheerwater. Awesome fun but a murder of a hike out!

Have fun and enjoy!

.

Dale:

We did the Vic Falls end of hunting trip trip two years ago. Vic Fall Hotel was great. The buffet for breakfast and dinner is fantastic. The dinner there includes a little "show" and your friend's wife will love the afternoon "High Tea" on the terrace. Overall level of service there was outstanding.

From the hotel to the Falls is about a 15min walk. You can "rent" a raincoat from multiple vendors/hawkers at the gate for I think it was $5. You can expect to get wet from the spray.

Bomma restaurant turned out to be better than expected. I normally avoid these "tourist traps" but the food and show were much better than expected.

There are elephant rides (didn't do), bungee jumping off the Vic Fall bridge (didn't do) and zip lines across the river(did do). Helicopter rides (did do) sunset booze cruise (did do) and several other things. All can be booked directly at/from the hotel.

Take a walk into town and explore a bit. Lots of kids hawking wood carvings - if you buy from one, word spreads like wildfire and you'll have a boatload more hitting you up.

There is also a casino-hotel next to the Vic Falls Hotel and the main part of town (I don't remember the name) My wife was the ONLY person in the casino and just had to give "Bob" a few bucks in the slot machine.

Great trip and great thing to see - once.

Gorges lodge is a really neat place to stay. It is literally on the edge of the Zambezi gorge, with amazing views from all the chalets.

Vic falls is also just an hour or two from Hwange National Park, which is a fun place to spend a day or two and see a lot of animals.

If you are taking firearms, be sure to get the appropriate Botswana documents after your nyala hunt, Dale.

Regards, Tim