|
DOCUMENTS
EU citizens need a visa and they can
get it at most of the entry points as airports or
crossing borders (but not in all). A single entry
visa 15 days valid is 50$ and it's just a stamp.
MONEY
The currency is the Zambian Kwacha (1€=
6.800 ZWK). You can change almost everywhere against
€ or $
HEALTH
I took Lariam against Malaria, mainly
due to the part of the travel in Mozambique; having
a mosquito net, wearing long pants, long sleeve shirts
and abounding with insect repellent, you can avoid
the famigerated Lariam profilassys.
Take into consideration to buy Malarone instead of
Lariam, although it's a daily dose (Lariam weekly)
and more expensive, it doesn't give Lariam side effects.
If you r gonna staying for a long period in the country,
obviously you have to do your counts on risks, money
and side-effects!
Morevoer I had the usual vaccinations:
Ephatite A, B, Typhus, Tetanus, Meningitis.
I hadn't any problem with the food or the drinks,
never drinking tap water, obviously.
GUIDE
BOOK
I used Lonely Planet 'Southern Africa
2007'; I found it particularly shallow in the details
of the frequency of the public means of transports
(especially to reach the villages) and also giving
the distances, but it's still a helpfull travelmate
GENERAL
TIPS
- How to fly to the Victoria Falls
One of the cheapest (and fastest)
way to reach the Victoria Falls from Europe is to
land in Johannesburg and from there take a 1.5h
flight to Livingstone (140€ one way) in Zambia
or to Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe (170€). Flights
are almost daily and the carrier are British Airway
and South African Airlines respectively
- Helicopter flight info
Flying over the falls is by far the
best way to see the 1.7km water front both the Zimbabwe
and the Zambia side. There'r several agencies and
while you can easily check different internet websites,
you don't need to book in advance. Once you'll get
an accommodation in Livingstone, they will book
for you for the following (or the same) day. Prices
are quite leveled so I don't think it's worth benchmarking
too much: at the time of writing (aug09) it was
130$- 15min flight and 260$- 30min. The accommodation
didn't ask any extra charge for booking, and on
the opposite there was a discount on the overnight
(5$ each instead of 10$ for a dorm bed). In the
price it's included the transport to/from your accommodation.
The chopper had a clockwise and counterclockwise
turn so I doesn't make a different which side you
sit. Avoid wearing white clothes otherwise the reflection
will spoil your pics. If your aim is just to see
the Falls the 15min flight will be enough
- The inconvenient train Livingstone-
Lusaka
Since the beginning I did want to
reach Lusaka from Livingstone by train, but after
having been at the station we gave up, being so
inconvenient in respect of the bus.
Bus take 7h with hourly (and even more frequent
in the morning) departures, while trains leaves
twice per week and it takes 14h, traveling from
20.00 to 10.30am, in addition the night travel it's
said to be unsafe.
- Reaching South Luangwa Nat. Park by
public means of transport
From Chipata it's relatively easy
to reach Mufwe by one of the two daily minibuses
at 10.00am or 14.30. They leave once they are full,
so it can take 30min or two hours, but for sure
sooner or later they'll pull out of the town. Then
with a small extra charge you can ask the driver
to take you to one of the camps all generally placed
quite near the village, and to avoid waste of time
do some calls in advance. On the other hand the
way back it's quite more complicated: the minibus
is the heart of the night (at 1.00am) to let the
locals reach Lusaka the same day and there are not
other public means of transport the whole day (I
can promise you!), so you have to hitch hike. To
have the best chances it's convenient you start
asking for a lift at the guests of the camp where
you are staying. If you aren't lucky with them ask
somebody to take you at the village in the early
morning when most of the guests of the other camps
come back to Chipata.
If you don't like to hitch hike and you want to
save money of an overnight, you can stay the whole
day at your camp and in the evening (at the Flatdog
the last lift was at 21.00) ask for a lift to the
village, where waiting for few hours you can get
the night minibuses that'll pull into Chipata at
5.00am in the morning.
Good luck
|
