Sling Africa Tour day 5 - we arrive and fly over Vic Falls

Nothing can describe the excitement as we caught sight of Victoria Falls almost from the border with Botswana only 70kms away. It was a short flight and no sooner were we in the air than the spray and mist from the Falls could be seen from the cockpit. A special rules area operates over the Falls and you need permission to fly over either just prior to landing at Victoria Falls International Airport or on departure.

It was a clear morning and James suggested that the six planes fly in formation with me in the lead and then doing a complete circuit passing to the right of the Falls on the Zimbabwe side and crossing anti-clockwise into Zambian airspace to complete the circuit with the other 5 Slings in tow and then over the town to the airport about 10 nautical miles out of town for landing.

James, Marc and I pay landing fees in Kasane before departing for Vic Falls

The Namibian, Zambian and Zimbabwe border posts were all within 5kms of the Botswana border here in Kasane

We couldn't decide what to call our "gaggle" of Slings all parked together at Kasane Airprt as we refuelled for our flight to Victoria Falls.

James briefs us on the formation flying to Vic Falls in a rare moment in which he had a pen to hand ha ha. 

The mighty Zambezi River came into sight and we followed it to the Falls. The spray and mist went up over 1 500 ft AGL (4 500ft) and could be seen almost from the Botswana border 70 nm away as we cruised in at 6000 ft, although I managed to get down below 5 000 ft as we flew over them.

Flying over the town of Victoria Falls keeping the Falls to our left

The Zambezi River flows from the Zambian side over the Falls into Zimbabwe, then flows under the bridge which links Zimbabwe (left above) with Zambia on the right.

The Zambian city of Livingstone has grown exponentially and is considerably larger than Vic Falls and appears on the left of the river slightly upsteam from the Falls.

Lee's great photo of the Falls and Bridge from their plane

We parked at the Airport in the same order we flew in

What an incredible flight and view. It's hard for me to describe. 

Canopy covers on.. immigration and passport control next

Marc and Llew ready for the paperwork.. General Declarations in duplicate, health declarations, crew/passenger information...

Air Zimbabwe plane landed just after us

Waiting for everyone to complete the documentation process

As soon as we had checked in to the Cresta Sprayview Hotel (which had no view of the spray), we caught a cab down to the visitor centre and entrance to the Falls trail

The Falls stretch 1,7km across the width of the Zambezi River and in the wetter season we were in some 500 cubic metres of water flow over the edge per minute and up to 3 000 cubic metres at its highest. Entry to the Falls trail cost USD$ 20 and extends from the Devil's Cataract on the left, with viewpoints all along until you reach the bridge on the right which spans the river from the Zimbabwe side to the Zambian side.

Our first sight of the Falls on foot with rainbows everywhere in the early afternoon sun - the glory of the Falls deserves a separate posting with the incredible views and pics I was so privileged to be able to take at this UNESCO World Heritage site.