One of the best trips of my life was traveling across Africa with my parents, sister, and husband. To get there took 12 hours of flying from Dulles International to Amsterdam to Johannesburg for our first leg. We were fortunate enough to stay in business class which for most flights to Africa are considered first class. This made our flying experience comfortable as we were able to stretch out and sleep. The flying experience was a vacation. However, there was a lot of packing and preparation that required vaccination and visas. To learn more about that process, check out my previous post here. The first third of our trip we landed in Johannesburg where we briefly stayed in at the Johannesburg Intercontinental overnight before jetting to our first vacation destination in Tongabezi, Zambia.
Personal Concierge Services with American Express
Before we kick off this excursion there is something I never mentioned. We used a personal tour guide to build our itinerary and show us each country. This was a program we used through American Express. We cannot rave about this experience enough as it was personalized to our requests, dietary restrictions, and family dynamic. Each tour guide picked us up from the airport and drove us to our hotel. Each day they would meet us back at our hotel and take us around for the day. We stopped at the best food spots, wineries, museums, and shopping experiences thanks to these individuals who take their jobs seriously and are hospitality professionals.
Day 1- Arriving in Zambia
We arrived in Zambia early that morning. Our tour guide picked us up from Zambia’s airport and drove us to our resort in Zambia named The Tongabezi Lodge. The Tongabezi Lodge is just steps away from the banks of the Zambezi River. It is only a few miles from Victoria Falls. Founded in 1990, the Tongabezi Lodge is one of the region’s most romantic and exclusive hideaways. The lodge is hidden away from towering ebony trees where 6 private cottages and 5 river houses reside. All of these homes have a rustic feel making you feel apart of its natural habitat.
Our family stayed in the Dog House for 2 nights. During our stay all meals, drinks, wine, spirits, sunrise and sunset cruises, guided walks, local village tours, game drives, fishing and laundry were included. The Dog House consisted of 3 cottages all connected by path with a shared infinity pool overseeing the Zambezi River. On any given day you can witness hippos swimming up to your lodge and drinking from the pool and monkeys waiting to steal your food from the trees. My Mom & Dad stayed in the main suite and my sister, husband and I stayed in the second largest house. Between us we shared a family room space that we walked to from the outside and pass the pool. There we always congregated for meals and cocktails. If one of us wanted to we could have slept in the additional space as there was a massive sectional to rest our head. Then we walked to our shared living room space where we kicked off our first night off with spirits in the shared living room space. In addition to our personal tour guide we were paired with a house manager who ensured beer, wine and spirits were stocked in our fridge and timed our meals to be ready prior to us entering the room. The house manager was already aware of our dietary restrictions, so it was safe for us to eat anything provided to us.
The first day we arrived we got changed in our living quarters and hung out in the main Tongabezi lodge space that is shared by all guests (not our personal lounging quarters). The views there were amazing. We there received cocktails and waited for our first sunset cruise down the Tongabezi River. There we witnessed a family of elephants. It was the most magical experience of my life as we drove up to them close enough to almost touch. We took pictures and then cruised more down the river. On our way back we stopped on a private bank where the Tongabezi staff organized a private cocktail hour for us. We were served wine and spirits, custom cocktails and snacks tributed to the Tongabezi area. We drank cocktails and ate while watching the sunset. The staff then took us home where we had a family style dinner in one of the shared lodges and congregated with other families for a bonfire. We met a wonderful family who was from Northern Virginia (who would’ve thought we would find someone so close to home an entire globe away!). They shared with us that they had just stayed in one of our next stops (Leapord Hills) and we were in for a treat. We later that night headed back to The Dog House and drank spirits, danced and had a great time still in awe that we were in AFRICA (what!!?!?!!).
Day 2- Flight of the Angels Helicopter Trip
Day 2 in Zambia our private tour guide drove us to take a helicopter ride along the Zambezi River and Victoria Falls. My husband and I shared a Bell LongRanger helicopter together while my Mom, Dad and sister shared another. First, I have to say it was an incredible experience. However, if you are one to get nauseous, brace yourself! I did get sick from all the twists and turns but tried to suck it up as the views were like any other. My husband use to ride motorcycles and loved this experience. For him it felt like joy riding. I did have to grab a bag in the event I got sick but was thankful to witness such incredible views.
After our trip we drove back to the Dog House. On our way home we witnessed tons of elephants again. In Zambia you can see elephants crossing the road at any given time. We stopped and took tons of pictures. I still wasn’t feeling my best so I did a lot of resting in our headquarters. I can’t complain though as our mattress was heated and so we’re the floors. The views in our living space were picture perfect. We ended our day eating another family style meal and hanging by the fire pit before bedtime.
Day 3- Victoria Falls
Although we stayed in Zambia, we traveled to see Victoria Falls on the Zimbabwe side. Our last day in the area we took a guided tour with our personal tour guide where we witnessed incredible views of Victoria Falls. In order to do this we needed a visa. Yes, we needed a visa as we were headed to a different country just for a day. It is quite common in the area despite the work needed to get one prior to leaving the United States. It is important to have blank pages when traveling through Africa despite other continents allowing you to stamp a passport page with other items shared on a page.
Victoria Falls is considered the seven natural wonders of the world. David Livingstone was the first European to visit the falls and named it after Queen Victoria. To the locals it called “Mosi-oa-Tunya”- The Smoke that Thunders. This nickname does not fall short as you can see mist in many directions as the waterfalls create rainbows and tranquil sounds.
The following day we packed up our things and hopped on a plane to Cape Town, South Africa. We all took a domestic flight which took 2.25 hours. I can’t wait to share our stay in Cape Town as it provided an extremely diverse experience. For more information on my stay you can find pictures on my saved story on my Instagram page @Lifestyleswith_erika.
