Victoria Falls: Getting there & around

From Livingstone Airport, Zambian Airways (tel: 322967; www.zambianairways.net) flies to Lusaka several times a week and South African Airways flies between Johannesburg and Livingstone every day. Tickets for all flights can be booked at Southend Travel (tel: 320241; southend@zamnet.zm; Liso House, 106 Mosi-oa-Tunya Rd).

Several private companies offer comfortable buses to Lusaka (7hr), via Choma (3hr), for almost identical prices, including CR Holdings Bus Services (cnr Mosi-oa-Tunya Rd & Akapelwa St), Euro-Africa (ticket counter in front of the post office) and RPS (office near the Laughing Dragon restaurant in Mutelo St). Most other public buses leave from Maramba Market in Maramba township, about 800m east of the post office. From there, a daily bus heads to Sesheke (6hr), and another goes to Mongu (10hr), via Senanga, a couple of times a week.

Minibuses to Lusaka, via Choma, leave from the minibus terminal along Senanga Rd, while a few buses also depart from outside the post office (Mosi-oa-Tunya Rd). Minibuses to Sesheke and the Botswana border at Kazungula (1.5hr) also leave from a lay-by in Dambwa, along the main road 3km (1.8mi) west of Mosi-oa-Tunya Rd. The minibuses get very crowded; get there by 07:00 .

A quicker and more comfortable (but more expensive) way to reach Botswana from Zambia is to cross from Livingstone to Victoria Falls (in Zimbabwe), from where shuttle buses head to Kasane.

The Zambezi Express leaves Livingstone for Lusaka (15hr), via Choma, on Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday at 19:00 . Reservations are available at the train station (tel: 320001), signposted off Mosi-oa-Tunya Rd.

Livingstone Airport is 6km (3.7mi) northwest of town. It is only accessible by taxi or the shuttle buses offered by a few tour operators.

Livingstone 4X4 Hire (tel: 320888; www.4x4hireafrica.com; Industrial Rd) hires - you guessed it - 4WDs. Rates include insurance, but not petrol. Driver-cum guides are also available for hire. A.J. Car Hire & Tours (tel/fax: 322090; ajcarhire@zamnet.zm; Liso House, 106 Mosi-oa-Tunya Rd) will hire you a 2WD.

Active Link (tel: 322753; 131 Mosi-oa-Tunya Rd), which shares an office with Wild Side Tours & Safaris, can also arrange car and bicycle rental. Bikes can ridden into Zimbabwe, but keep the receipt with you. And bear in mind that cyclists have been mugged while riding to and from the Zambian border and falls.