TravelTalkOnline Forums Trip Reports (Read Only) Trip Report and Photo Archives Africa 4-River Club and Victoria Falls

MAY 16–RIVER CLUB


The River Club is on the Zambian side of the Zambezi River, 18 KM upstream from Victoria Falls, one of the seven wonders of the world. There are 10 thatched roof chalets which face out toward the Zambezi River, all of which are completely open on the side which faces the River.

The public areas of the Club consist of a main dining room and lounge in the main building, which also houses a large library and interesting Edwardian pictures and furnishings,
with expansive decks surrounding the side of the building that faces the Zambezi, and a pool with a wonderful view of the river.
There is a bathroom in the lodge, although we didn’t actually discover it until we were almost ready to leave. There is heat in the lodge, by means of a fireplace open on both sides, and Eric said he saw possibly an a/c unit for the lodge, but I don’t know. When it’s terribly cold, you eat inside by the fireplace. We ate outside on the deck or under the trees for all of our meals. The main lodge, with it’s lovely porch and the pool in front of it, all had a magnificent, restful view out over the Zambezi and while they were not able to get into the camp, one could often hear hippos call out over the water at night, and if you had a good pair of binoculars, you could see them from some of the lower decks.


Because there are no game drives to go on, there are no early morning wake-up calls here at the River Club, and in fact they serve breakfast till very late. Even though there are several things to do in the Vic Falls area, most people come to River Club either at the beginning or end of their trip, to either get on Africa time, as we did, or to decompress after several days in the bush. Maybe next time we’ll do both. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/Grin.gif" alt="" /> We definitely enjoyed comparing notes with the other guests, many of whom are at the end of their journeys. There are NO dangerous animals at the River Club, as it is completely fenced by an electric fence, which keeps out any dangerous animals. In light of that, this was the only camp we stayed at that we were totally free to walk about at night without a guide. We thoroughly enjoyed the view and the ambiance at the River Club and determined after a few hours that it was nice and we could stay there for a while and wouldn’t mind returning! <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/Smile.gif" alt="" />

Our room, and most of the rooms at the River Club, had the bathroom downstairs from the main bedroom area, so that the bedroom AND the bathroom both had fully unobstructed views of the Zambezi.
There was an old style claw foot bathtub in the bathroom, but we didn’t use it, opting for the nice stand-up shower instead, which had a very cute row of animal themed print tiles in the shower and around the wash basin. .
There is a roll down shade which you can use to sort of close off the room at night to keep out bugs if you have the lights on at night, but it isn’t airtight, by any stretch. We did NOT experience the Expedia commercial in the room, not at all. (You know, the one where the lady says, “Isn’t that romantic, mosquito nets!”.. And then she and the hubby wake up to this HORDE of huge bugs on the mosquito net). They make up the room while you are at dinner. We were instructed to turn off all lights before going to dinner, so we wouldn’t attract extra bugs. There was a mosquito net and we did use it every night and they did spray the room every night when they turned down the bed, but there were surprisingly few mosquitos there, few bugs of any nature, in fact.

In the room were provided a hairdryer, nice robes, a safe, shampoo, lotion, peaceful sleep (African brand bug spray), Q-tips and cotton balls. Electricity at the River Club is on the mains, so there is lots of light in the room and we can plug in the computer directly. The showers are nice and HOT, and I bravely even took a shower a couple of mornings, as it wasn’t quite as cold at the River Club as the other camps. The bed was HIGH, but there is a sort of step at the end, so short people like me can crawl up, if necessary.. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/Smile.gif" alt="" /> There is a LARGE floor fan, plus a ceiling fan in the room, so we were very comfortable during the day, even though it was around 80 degrees or so during the day. The temps at night were around 50 to 55, and the second night they put a bed warmer in the bed, which was kind of a nice touch.

We arrived at the River Club with the couple from hell–fortunately, the only real exposure we had to extremely difficult people during the trip. While we were at the airport in Johannesburg, I had made fun of this lady at the airport. She and her husband were both wearing dufus safari hats, IN the airport. Eric and I had had a discussion with this hotelier from Zimbabwe, (interesting discussion about the “old man” and his effect on her industry) and I had said to Eric “well, at least I’m not wearing a dufus hat like that! The lady and her husband were both wearing hats the whole time we saw them, in the airport, on the plane, at the camp, probably to bed, I don’t know. She was also wearing those flip up sunglasses on her glasses, and sandals with white socks underneath. This couple was probably 85 and she couldn’t climb any stairs and in fact had to have her husband and the guide both help her into the van. Then she proceeded to ask where the seatbelts where.. They had to bring her round to the River Club by road, as she couldn’t climb the stairs up to the River Club, which are fairly rocky and steep. After waiting a half hour for her road transfer to show up, they did our orientation at the same time as the old folks and we had to listen to them b*tch about signing the waiver of liability if someone at the club is responsible for getting you killed, and about how they couldn’t be held to that waiver.

They have a very nice sunset cruise at the River Club and we certainly planned to do that. However, the first evening, we decided maybe we would stay and check out the pool instead. It actually worked out much better anyway, as it was maybe 3:30 by this time, and the sunset cruise left at 4:30, and we would have had to rush around to get on the boat.

We were happy to take a dip in the pool and get a couple of drinks, and compare notes with several other nice folks that were just concluding their safaris, several of whom had been in camps we were getting ready to visit, so that heightened our anticipation even more!!
The water in the pool was cool but not horribly so, and they brought drinks even down by the chairs down by the water. The temperatures so far were much warmer than we expected, maybe 80 to 85, which we are certainly not complaining about! We had brought along our swimming suits, as we knew there were pools at all the camps we were going to, but figured that it would be way too cold to get into the pool, so that was a very pleasant surprise.

They bring coffee and juice to your room at the River Club in the morning with your wake-up call, which thankfully is NOT 5:30 AM or so, like in the bush. Breakfast is served from 7:30 to 10:30 AM, and consists of a small buffet with cheese, sausage, fruit, etc, plus eggs and omelettes cooked to order, served on individual tables on the patio out front of the main lodge. Lunch is served from 1 to 3, on individual tables out on the lawn under the trees, which is delightful. At lunchtime, they have a menu, and the one lunch that we were at River Club, I had the steak roll, and Eric had bangers and mash, since he is a more adventuresome sort than I. Bangers and mash is an English kind of a thing, sausage and mashed potatoes. The sausage is different than American sausage but Eric liked it OK., although I would personally would have passed on it, and was quite happy with my steak roll. The view and the service and everything was quite wonderful for lunch and I feel like I could get really used to this....

They have four resident dogs at the River Club, and although I had scarcely been gone from my Simba for a couple of days at this point, I loved playing with the dogs there. Dogs inherently know who is a soft touch and they all hung around me, wanting me to rub their tummies. The highest and best use of a human being is to rub a dog’s tummy...

Pre dinner drinks are served at the RC at 7, then dinner at 7:30. Dinner is pre-plated for the main course, with usually an appetizer or soup first, then dessert, all served sit down style, not buffet. Dinner is from the menu, but there is a printed menu, like at Mombo, unlike Savuti or Little Vumbura, so if you don’t like something, you can ask to substitute something else. I asked for chicken one evening, instead of the fish main course, and several people asked to substitute a salad for the pate served one night.

With regard to salad, I had a very interesting talk with Tess, one of the managers, one night at dinner. I don’t know if it’s because the RC is in Zambia, not in Botswana, or because it is actually owned by Peter Jones, not by Wilderness, but Tess said that they often have trouble getting lettuce, and sometimes other items there, as they are a small consumer and get their stuff locally, and kind of have to wait for the “big boys” all round them to take the premium produce, etc., that they want. Strangely enough, she said that the folks in the bush in Botswana often have an easier time getting some items than they do there at the RC, as the folks in the bush camps all have a plane that comes in once a week or so with perishable stuff direct from South Africa, in addition to the non perishable stuff that comes in every few weeks by truck. We did see one of the planes landing at Mombo with the perishable supplies, as we were leaving. It was kind of wild to see that little plane choc-a-block with packages of food! <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/Smile.gif" alt="" /> Still, in all, they did a wonderful job at RC with the food, as we enjoyed such treats as a grilled pork entre, and a chocolate torte with ice cream, yummy!!! The water at RC was supposed to be safe to drink, but everywhere I routinely brushed my teeth with bottled water, and didn’t drink many drinks with ice, although Eric didn’t bother and he had no problems with the water anywhere.

Each night, one of the staff takes turns with being the host for dinner. Our hosts for dinner the two nights were Nigel, who is the food and drink manager, and Tess, one of the other managers. Each night there were plenty of drinks before dinner, and wine with dinner, and then a port after dinner. By the way, all food and drinks are included in the all inclusive price. The first evening after dinner, there was horn blowing contest and a kind of trivia game, and Eric won the bottle of port! (Ah, fine, something else to carry! <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/Smile.gif" alt="" />)

VICTORIA FALLS EXCURSION!!

Included in your fare when you stay at the River Club are several excursions, including a day trip to the Zambia side of Victoria Falls, and a river boat sunset cruise, in addition to several pay excursions, including helicopter flights. They meet with you when you first arrive, to go over what you want to do, so they can make plans for transportation, etc. We knew that we wanted to go to Vic Falls, and the sunset cruise, and do a pay helicopter flight. There is also stuff like bungee jumping and ultra light flights available, but I don’t particularly have a death wish, so we declined those.

You could, by special arrangement, arrange to visit also the Zimbabwe side of the falls, but we were not interested in doing that. The trip to Victoria Falls is well worth it unless you are not physically able to climb up some stairs. The drive from the RC to the Falls is around 30 minutes. I did NOT take my main camera and Eric didn’t take his video camera, especially since this was at the very beginning of our trip, and we could not risk damage to either my camera or Eric’s video camera. Probably they would have been OK, but it really was not worth the risk to us to get them wet. So, unless you have a waterproof camera, my suggestion is to take your backup camera, or get one of those cheap waterproof disposable ones, as there are no lockers, etc., at the falls to store cameras. Your other option is to go ONLY on the dry part of the walk, but that would be missing some really nice sights.

The River Club provides ponchos and umbrellas for it’s guests to use at the Falls. I used the poncho over me, but not the umbrella, except as a walking stick, which it actually worked quite well for that. If your resort does not provide them, they do have ponchos for rent there at the falls, and it is well worth it, as without it, you get VERY wet. We did rent the flip flops at the falls, which again, were well worth it, so we didn’t get our tennis shoes wet. Going without any shoes at all is not really an option, as you go over a lot of sharp rocks. The ponchos were maybe $3 PP to rent, and flip flops are $2 US each, and well worth it. You can do the trip without a guide, but with a guide is much better. The River Club has guides for the falls employed by the River Club. Our guide’s name was Raphael, and he did a very nice job. The admission to the park is $10 per person, which was covered for us by the River Club. The first part of the trip is dry, and then the last part is wet, very wet! <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/Smile.gif" alt="" /> It’s best actually to wear shorts, and thus your long pants don’t get wet. With the ponchos on the upper part of our bodies, and wearing the flip flops on our feet, we really were fairly dry by the time we got back. It was a very nice trip, we really enjoyed ourselves and got some really nice pictures.


We left the River Club around 9:15 AM and got back around 11:30 AM. We had about 15 minutes shopping just outside the gates at the falls, for wooden statutes and jewelry, etc. That time really wasn’t enough, but we kind of ran out of money a bit also, as we hadn’t brought a large amount of money. This is one of the few places that you can buy carved wooden animals, so take advantage of it. Prices are negotiable, of course. Raphael suggested that we offer about 60% of the price that the guys originally quoted you, and I got most of my stuff for around 50% of what they quoted me, after I walked away at least once. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/Smile.gif" alt="" />. I got three small carved wooden animals in a matching mahogany for $30, two necklaces and a ring for $20, 4 little animals stone animals for $15.

That same afternoon, we had planned to take the ½ hour helicopter flight over the Falls, which was supposed to be $175 per person. After a nice lunch, Eric and I were sitting on the couch on the verandah outside the main lodge, trying to figure out how to squeeze that couch into our carry-on bags, as the couch was seriously comfortable! <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/Smile.gif" alt="" /> Tess came by and told us that she had bad news, our helicopter flight wasn’t going to happen, as the pilot was sick! <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/Mad.gif" alt="" /> We asked her to continue to try to get us a flight the next morning, which was when we were supposed to leave for Savuti. We figured that probably we would not be able to do it, which made us very disappointed, as that was one of the main things we wanted to do at Vic Falls.

On a happier note, we had not been sure when we had planned the helicopter flight that we would be able to do the sunset cruise, so we were happy to be able to do that our second night. The sunset cruise left the RC at 4:30, and arrived back around 6:15. with sunset at about 5:30. They provided booze and canapes onboard the boat, and a nice guide to provide commentary. We saw crocodile
, hippos, cormorant, egret, baboons, deer, and warthog, and a lovely sunset. It was a really enjoyable time, and again, included in the fare at River Club.


We had been working with Tess, who was frantically trying to get us the helicopter flight. She said that she might be able to get it done really early our last morning and that if so, she would contact us at about 7 AM. When we didn’t hear anything early, we figured we were toast. Around 8 AM, Tess showed up at our room and said that if we could be ready to go in 15 minutes, she can get us a 15 minute helicopter flight. We threw our last bits of stuff in our duffels, skipped breakfast, and we’re there! We had wanted the 30 minute flight, as it is a lot longer and they actually fly down into the gorge, but beggers can’t be choosers, and we were ecstatic to be able to go at all. We left the last of our tips for the staff ($30 for general staff, $10 for housekeeping, $10 for Raphael on falls trip, and $5 Raphael on drive), and left the bags in the room, which would meet us later on.


[img]http://www.info-res.com/ehill/pixs/africa/falls2-a.jpg[/img]
[img]http://www.info-res.com/ehill/pixs/africa/falls3-a.jpg[/img]



We loved our 15 minute flight, which we shared with other couple. Our flight was supposed to be at 9, but the flight was late, a fact that didn’t terribly concern us, as we knew our transfers from then on were private plane transfers, and they might not like it, but they would wait for us.

Raphael was again our driver and when we got off the helicopter, we beat feet!!! He drove very fast and very well, stopping midway to pick up the older couple, who were also flying out on the same plane we were!! OMG! We took about a 45 minute drive to the border of Botswana, where Raphael dropped us off for a boat ride,[img]http://www.info-res.com/ehill/pixs/africa/raphael-a.jpg[/img]
and then another jeep ride, arriving finally at Kasane airstrip, where we checked in for our first Sefofane flight.

Sefofane I guess now is actually owned by Wilderness Safaris, as of this year. They provide all the small plane transfers between Wilderness Camps, and between some camps owned by other companies also. A fellow greeted us there at Kasane, checked us in and weighed our bags. As I have noted before, Wilderness changed their luggage limit, as of April of this year (possibly when they bought Sefofane????), so that the luggage limit per person for Botswana only safaris, is now 44 pounds per person, not the previous 25 pounds per person. We were well under the new weight limit, especially since they did not weigh our carry-on bags.

THE PLANE TRIP FROM H*LL, THE TRANSFER TO SAVUTI CAMP..

I guess the first moral of this story is--ALWAYS have a full bottle of water when leaving on a plane transfer! The way most transfers are handled between camps is that there is generally 2 couples on the plane, unless you pay extra for a private plane transfer. Thus, what sometimes happens is that you will fly with another couple to drop them off at their camp, then you take off again for your camp. Also, the nature of these airstrips is that they are basically hardened dirt roads with absolutely no services, with the exception of possibly a sunshade for the jeeps to sit under, to wait for a plane to arrive.

In our case, we got on our Cessna with the old couple, and dropped them off at Chobe air strip, which is the air strip for Duma Tau, where they were staying, as well as being the air strip for several other camps. After taking back off from Chobe air strip, we flew to another airstrip, picked up another couple, and then flew to what was supposed to be the airstrip for our camp, Savuti. When we landed at SVT airstrip, the trouble began. As we landed, we noted that there was no jeep waiting for us, which was kind of weird. We asked our pilot whether this had ever happened to him before, and he said, “only once”. He tried to raise the camp on the radio, without success. After about 45 minutes sitting in the hot sun waiting for someone to appear, the pilot decided that he knew where the camp was, so we would buzz the camp really low with the plane, which would prompt them to come over to the airstrip to investigate. We were ready to be where we were supposed to be, but we thought it sounded kind of cool to actually have good pictures from the air of our camp! We had already unloaded our bags from the plane, while we were waiting for the jeep to arrive. So he didn’t have to shove our bags back into the bottom of the plane, the pilot decided to take off and our bags sit. We took a picture of our bags out the window of the plane, hoping we would see them again, and hoping that some baboons or whatever didn’t come by and make off with them!!!

We buzzed the camp fairly low, and then went back to land at the strip again, to wait for someone to appear. Eventually about 40 minutes later, a jeep finally arrived. We were very happy to see him, and walked up to the jeep, happy to finally have transportation. Our joy turned to acute distress when the fellow said “Hill?? Hill??? We don’t have any reservations for Hill.’ Oh my god, you have to understand here, we are in the middle of the bush here, and there is not exactly a Holiday Inn around the corner!!!!! What do we do now????????? The fellow looked at our vouchers, and still said he didn’t have any reservations for us. He got on the radio and called the camp. Still no reservations... It’s getting really scary now. After about another 30 minutes of calls on the radio, etc., the mystery is solved!!! They had brought us to Savuti ELEPHANT Camp, which is not the same as Savuti CAMP, which is where we were supposed to be!!! By this time, it’s about 3:30, and we are very hot and very tired and the pilot is very ticked off also... [img]http://www.info-res.com/ehill/pixs/africa/pilot-a.jpg[/img]
Finally, the pilot was able to raise someone at Sefofane, at which time we discovered that the correct airstrip for Savuti Camp was Chobe airstrip, the very first airstrip that we had landed at, at 12:30 that day!!!!!!! <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/Mad.gif" alt="" /> OK, so we took off AGAIN, for another 25 minute flight, and arrived back at Savuti at 4 PM!!

I felt really sorry for other couple who got on the plane after the old couple got off, as they had been riding around with us, waiting as we did, and they got to their camp even later than we did. Finally we arrived at Savuti at 4PM and our guide, Thuto met us, and there are elephants, MANY elephants on the road!. We have not gotten to our first real camp yet, and we spent 10 minutes looking, watching and photographing the elephants. Look out, Savuti is going to be AWESOME!!

Link to next section of trip report