Related Zimbabwe Favorites Tips

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Fondest memory: You need to write a visa application and arrival card. A visa label for 30 days stay is pasted in the passport for 30 USD. Free entry for people under 18 years in companion with adults. Be aware that the price for visa and the length of stay is different from country to country. For example a guy from Mexico had to pay 100 USD for only 3 days stay.

Helpsome and co-operative immigration officer at Kazungula road border.

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Fondest memory: Electricity in Zimbabwe is 220 Volts at 50 cycles per second. If you travel to Zimbabwe with a device that does not accept 220 Volts at 50 Hertz or have different plugs, you will need a voltage converter with 3 rectangle holes.

Voltage converters may have different holes. For example, in Namibia they use 3 circular holes.

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Fondest memory: I came from Botswana and had experienced harsh immigration officers. Due to all the rumours about the political and economic mismanagement in Zimbabwe, I had expected a tough treatment and many questions at the Kazungula Road Border. But no!
The immigration officer was so polite and helpful. I had for example lost my pen and needed some assistance to write the visa application and arrival card. The officer did all of that with a smile. Maybe this is the policy or maybe the officers have been instructed to be polite and helpful?

A visa label for 30 days stay was pasted in the passport for 30 USD, and I drove away towards Victoria Falls in a taxi. (read the transportation tip...)

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Favorite thing: Rent a raincoat? That’s what I said. I started by seeing the Falls from the Zambia side during the dry season. I walked with 2 Zambian guys halfway across the Falls – no problem. The next day I was about to enter the Zimbabwe side when I saw signs for ‘RAINCOAT RENTALS’. What!? I FOUND OUT THE HARD WAY. Even during the dry season, the Zimbabwe side lives up to the name “Smoke that thunders”. The smoke is actually the spray generated by the falls year round on this side. Millions of litres of water a SECOND go over the edge. A lot of the water atomises before it reaches the bottom and floats away. Several of the lower vantage points are mini tropical rainforests compete with animals. You are going to get wet! So for $1-2 (no more) you can be slightly dryer. Enjoy!

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Favorite thing: You might think that being charged by an enraged 3 ton Mother Elephant trying to protect her baby would not be fun. I had just picked up 2 hitchhikers on the Botswana Border on my way to Victoria Falls. The guys spotted these 2 elephants and suggested I stop and take some pictures. The mother and baby where happily strolling away from me. I stopped to adjust me camera when I heard my 2 passengers shout “RUN” at the same time. That was enough for me! I ran back to my still running car and sped off laughing with my guests. Luckily for me there were a few trees to slow down what could have been a good trampling. Now that would not have been fun.

Favorite thing: You will sometimes see telephone numbers that look like this:

+263 4 258495/6/7/8

This means:
1) If you are calling from abroad, dial what you need to get an international line and then enter Zimbabwe's code (263). If you are calling from inside the country, there is no need to dial 263.

2) The second grouping is the area code. If calling from in Zimbabwe, these all have a 0 in front. I would dial 04 258495 from the above example. Area codes can have 2 to 5 digits. The area code for Harare is 04. If I am in Harare, I only need to dial 258495.

3) Telephone numbers are not all the same length. Sometimes they will be six digits or perhaps five. Don't worry about it.

4) The forward slashes indicate that the company or person has multiple lines. You can choose any ONE of the last numbers. If one line is busy insert a different last number. In the above example, I could dial:

258495
258496
258497
or
258498

Favorite thing: Since the hyper inflation is in full effect, the government has had to print much larger bills. If you get your hands on a $20,000 bill, look in the bottom corner and you will see "50505050". From what I was told the government washed the $50 bills and printed $20,000 bills on them.

Favorite thing: Log into a website for all sorts of info on Zimbabwe. This site is very useful and contains all sorts of information which is regularly updated. URL www.zim-sight.com or www.zim-sight.co.zw

Fondest memory: I still live here and the beatiful places one can visit are boundless.