Victoria Falls- The First of Many Visits!

On Saturday one of the volunteers from our intake had come down to Livingstone for a couple of days and so we decided to make out first visit to the amazing Victoria Falls.

The falls are approximately 10kms out of town which provides us with the opportunity to make numerous visits and observe how the falls change over the year. At the moment we are in the middle of the dry season, so the falls were quite dry relative to what they will be like in a couple of months when the rainy season is in full swing. Regardless of the season however, the falls were still incredible to see. I think I am best to let the photos tell the story!

 Views of Victoria Falls

We also came across families of baboons (they kind of freaked me out, particularly how close they were prepared to come to us) as we made our way down through the "Boiling Pot" towards the Zambezi River. 

 Baboon staying cool in the "Boiling Pot"

Down the bottom of the "Boiling Pot" looking at the Victoria Falls Bridge over the Zambezi River

And on the way home, along the side of the road heading to Livingstone, we saw three elephants grazing on the roadside scrubs. What a perfect end to a great day!

 Elephant grazing on the road back into Livingstone

Perfect day: At the top of Victoria Falls for sunset

Arrival in Livingstone

After a very long car ride of approximately 7 hours from Lusaka to Livingstone, we finally made it to our final destination and home for the next two years. It had felt for sometime like the day would never come!

Our house in Livingstone is pretty comfortable with 3 large bedrooms (so plenty of room for visitors) and a basic kitchen and living area.

Our house comes with a few other features including a dog Simba (he actually belongs to our landlord but spends a lot of time lounging on our front porch), countless geckos and “flat spiders”, all harmless and incredibly fast and red dust absolutely everywhere. I don’t think I am going to have proper clean feet now for the next two years.



We have only been here a few days and have found electricity and water to be a tad “sporadic” however the water issue should disappear once the wet season begins in about another month. In the meantime good preparation for unscheduled events will hopefully get us through.

Mike and I were both very fortunate to get up some time off from our employers to settle in and take care of a few logistics. Our first couple of days were mostly spent cleaning our house and buying some of the basics. Then we had some time to sort out internet, phone, a local bank account, etc. Some of the logistics have been a little frustrating to complete, some are still in progress, but I guess we’ll get there! However I am going to have to work on my patience a little more.

We have also been incredibly fortunate to have the hospitality of another Australian couple also volunteering here in Livingstone. They have so far cooked up a couple of great dinners and given us further advice on work, local life as well as travel.

So far, I think I am going to like Livingstone.       

VSO Orientation in Lusaka

My first week in Zambia was spent in the capital Lusaka at the Commonwealth Youth Centre where our VSO In-country Induction Programme took place. We were kept busy throughout the week with various briefings, lessons on Zambian culture, history and politics as well as various events. Some of the highlights included:

- The Volunteer Committee Welcome Brai (i.e. BBQ) was put on by current volunteers and gave everyone the chance to get to know each other a little better, as well as ask some of those “curious” questions 

- A reception at the British High Commissioners Residence to welcome the VSO volunteers to Zambia (not something most of us would generally get to do at home!)

- On the last day meeting our new employers and a culture evening to finish off the week. The culture evening included local food and dancing and was a fun way to complete our week in Lusaka.

Probably the best part of the week however was getting to meet the other 20 or so volunteers who came from countries all over the world. Amongst the volunteers were very different life experiences, cultures and reasons for being in Zambia, however all were keen to travel to their new homes (for those staying in Lusaka this meant only travelling a few kilometres up the road) and getting started in their new roles.

One sleep to go!

Only one sleep to go until Zambia and my first blog entry. I had planned on writing a few words earlier as I prepared to leave however couldn’t come up with the words to get me started. No doubt I will have plenty to write once I arrive in Zambia; if I don’t this will be a pretty dull blog!

We have just spent a few days in beautiful Johannesburg, not long enough to see everything I would like to see, however we seem to have achieved our goal of getting over jet lag and adapting to our new time zone. Plus being based in Zambia means we will be pretty close to South Africa so I’m sure there will be a future visit (or visits).

Feeling super psyched about arriving in Zambia as it has been a long process to get there. Still a little unsure of what to expect which seems funny given the amount of information I have read and been provided with, but I guess that adds to the excitement. There is only one thing left to do now before we leave Johannesburg and that’s to re-pack my bag. I have no idea how I am going to fit everything in again- better get to it!