Our Victoria Falls Celebration Trip.

Paula Joy and Murray John ready at Victoria falls to Gorge Swing.

There is nothing like a celebration in the Victoria Falls.

The Long Journey.

In mid-August we took a six-day round trip to Victoria Falls, to celebrate my mother’s 80th birthday. The trip required two days of driving, on some good and some very potholed roads. The drive took us from the farm, via Bulawayo, to the Victoria Falls.

Museum.

We made a lunch stop in Gweru, to see the Military Aircraft Museum, which was most interesting for the children.

Fortunately, they had their grandfather with them, to explain whatever they didn’t understand. Seeing an original Spitfire plane was definitely the highlight for the children.

Granite Park Lodges.

En route we spent a night in Bulawayo, at Granite Park Lodges, which has wonderful self-catering lodges, set amongst the rocks, in a quiet suburb.

Early the following morning we watched the sun rise, as we continued our journey up to Victoria Falls.

Victoria Falls.

The first thing we did as we arrived was watch the tourist helicopters taking off and landing, just outside the town.

Murray John is an avid plane and helicopter enthusiast, so we had see what all the action and noise was about!

Victoria701.

Finally, we checked into our Airbnb house called Victoria701 – situated in a pleasant suburb of Victoria Falls. This amazing and very spacious house sleeps ten people very comfortably. It has a wonderful entertainment area, games room, neat attractive garden and pristine swimming pool, complete with an awesome water slide. We could not have chosen a better house for our family celebration!

Once there, we met up with other members of our family, who had travelled from the UK and Botswana, plus 2 friends from the USA!

This grand reunion meant that the 80th birthday party celebrations had begun! As soon as everyone was settled in, we could then catch up and enjoy some quality time together.

Elephant Hills Golf Course.

For the next three days our day began with early morning, 7am, golf at the Elephant Hills Golf Course. This course is an extremely stunning 18-hole golf course, set between the Elephant Hills Hotel and the Zambezi River.

The course boasts Impala herds, Water Buck and Warthogs, all who roam freely around the course. We also marvelled at all the amazing indigenous trees. Whilst the children enjoyed their golf, I took in the beauty of the surroundings…

Gorge Swing.

Victoria Falls is known for its action activities and there are so many to choose from! After much discussion, Paula Joy and Murray John decided to do a tandem gorge swing, which is a dramatic swing down into the stunning Zambezi Gorge.

The experience turned out to be an unbelievable adrenaline rush!

Afterwards, both children were on a high of excitement and delight at having taken the big brave step off the platform and to have been catapulted into a looping swing above the rushing Zambezi River!

Lookout Cafe.

The Lookout Cafe is positioned at the top of the gorge, facing the iconic 119-year-old bridge, linking Zimbabwe with Zambia.

It certainly was a beautiful place to enjoy an afternoon tea, whilst watching the children do their gorge swing. The area also boasts lots of birds, naughty monkeys and banded mongoose, to keep one entertained.

The Victoria Falls.

Due to the year’s regional drought, the spectacular Victoria Falls was not at its best but was still an amazing sight to see.

The children loved wandering through the rain forest viewing the Falls and all the little Bush Buck that live in the vicinity. They also came across a baby cobra snake, which gave them all a big fright!

Wild Animals.

Whilst driving or walking around the outskirts of the town we often saw Warthogs, Elephants, Mongoose and Buffalo, as they wandered around leisurely, chomping at whatever they found to eat.

On one of the days, when the children were walking from the Victoria Falls to the Lookout Cafe, they came across a herd of Buffalo, on both sides of the road. They had obviously taken heed of the advice to never get in a Buffalo’s way, so wisely hailed a taxi in order to travel safely through the herd!

80th Celebrations.

Victoria falls Airbnb celebration table.

For my mother’s 80th birthday celebration we had a brunch party in the garden entertainment area of the Airbnb. The children all helped decorate the venue, whilst some of us cooked and busied ourselves with the preparations.

The party was truly a great celebration, with loads of story sharing and laughter! What a fantastic time we all had together and my mother was absolutely thrilled with the whole wonderful experience!

I had ordered an amazing giraffe cake from ‘Frosting on Safari’. This was a resounding success! I totally recommend these cakes, as they are an absolute winner, for any celebratory occasion.

The Baines Restaurant.

To round off the day of celebration, we all went to the Baines Restaurant for an early dinner. This restaurant is situated right on the Zambezi River, just

above the Falls. It was a truly wonderful place to eat and relax, as one can hear the Falls, whilst watching a huge mass of water rushing by. What a glorious experience!

Treasured Memories.

All in all, Victoria Falls is an action-packed fun place and the perfect location for families. We certainly enjoyed all our excursions around the Falls, as well as just spending relaxing family time together at the Airbnb.

After our three days of fun we then had to head back to the farm, which was another two-day’s drive. However, the memories we created and fun we had, certainly made the long drive worth every minute of it.

I do suggest that you add Victoria Falls to your bucket list for your next family celebration, as you certainly will not be disappointed.

Happy travels!

“He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end.” Ecclesiastes 3:11

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