Let’s face it, Zimbabwe is probably a long way from where you live. If you live in Europe, there are a good number of long-haul flights to get you to Zimbabwe. If you are in North America, you’ll face far fewer options. Almost certainly, your best bet is to fly through South Africa.
Johannesburg, South Africa is a major airline hub for all of Southern Africa. From Europe, most major airports will have direct flights south to Johannesburg (JNB). In North America, you are limited (due to the length of the flight). As of this writing, United has a direct flight from Newark to JNB. They also offer a Washington Dulles flight to Cape Town, South Africa. Delta has a direct flight between Atlanta and Johannesburg, which I took for my trip to Zimbabwe.
These are not short flights by any means. You will have double the number of flight attendants (and flight crew) to staff the flight, as they cannot be allowed to work the entirety of the flight; it is that long. But on a positive note, my Atlanta to Johannesburg flight was the best long-haul flight I’ve ever experienced. Granted, I had an empty middle seat and a nice aisle seat partner, but it still is an economy seat on a 14+ hour flight.
Upon arrival in Johannesburg, I recommend taking a night off. Yes, I know you’ve got limited time to be gone, but trust me on this one. Most flights arrive in the afternoon anyway, so go through customs and immigration at JNB and then walk to a comfortable hotel. You can eat a decent meal and take a shower or bath and sleep in a real bed. Both the InterContinental and a local chain called City Lodge are attached to Johannesburg airport. I like the City Lodge both for its value and its great buffet (both breakfast and dinner).
Since you will spend many mornings getting up quite early for morning safari outings, taking this day to rest up and be ready for your Southern African adventure is time well spent. There will be a few options in the morning after breakfast where you can fly to Victoria Falls, or another great destination in Southern Africa. As of this writing, FastJet and Airlink are both great options for flights into Zimbabwe.
The holiday of a lifetime. The company is Alaksa-owned and thhat makes a big difference to the experineces you get i.e. meet genuine First Nations tribes people. The amount of wildlife was beyond my expectation, and seeing everything on sucha small, intimate boat made it even more spoecial and unique.
Liz O
3 days ago
Adventure Life covered all the details in planning our trip to Ireland. Any questions we had were answered immediately. Any trip glitches, which always happen when traveling, were resolved immediately. There were no worries, just fun!
Kathleen Weller
3 days ago
It was an outstanding, up-close, educational vacation of nature, culture, history, animals and geology! It was everything they promised! Binoculars were plentiful on the boat, but I'm glad I brought my own. Food was excellent. Rooms had black-out shades. Pack/wear multiple layers of clothing (I carried a small backpack when off the ship). Crew were delightful and very accommodating! Remember to jump FEET FIRST first when taking the optional polar plunge! Spend as much time outdoors as you are able and ENJOY!!!
Janet Dutton
1 week ago
Excellent travel advice and service
This is my second experience working with Adventure Life. I’m sold. Jess Heuermann is an experienced traveler and provides a lot of useful information when planning a trip. These are the questions I like to ask at the outset - What’s it like to go here, there, what would you suggest, what do people report, can we add any additional side trips? Jess took the time to answer my questions and seek additional information to share with me. Petchie Colina is outstanding in helping with travel logistics and final preparations. Adventure Life has excellent guides and offers private guides and small group adventures. We enjoyed the opportunity to talk with the guides and drivers to learn more about their countries, cultures and histories. A highlight was having the guides pick local restaurants where we could share meals together. Highly recommend.
Claire Cordon
1 week ago
Our six-day tour in Iceland went smoothly with one exception. We had asked for two rooms each night. Somehow we were booked with one room with three beds. It could not be fixed at the first hotel in Reykjavik because the hotel was fully booked. Once informed of the problem, however, Adventure Life rebooked for two rooms for the remainder of the trip. As an 85-year-old traveler, I appreciated that one could participate at different physical levels at many of the stops. Iceland is a great place to visit but on the expensive side.