Livingstone: Game Drive & Walking Rhino Safari with Picnic

4.95

(141 reviews)

What’s the experience like?

The first thing I noticed in Mosi-oa-Tunya was the way the air felt—warm but with a kind of dusty sweetness, like sun-baked grass. Our guide, Joseph, grinned when he spotted the first zebra through the trees. “They’re shy today,” he said, but honestly I was just happy to see their stripes flicker between the branches. The game drive wasn’t rushed; we stopped whenever someone wanted to watch a giraffe or try (and fail) to count how many wildebeest were actually out there. There’s this odd silence sometimes—just birds and tires crunching softly over dirt.

We pulled up by the Zambezi for snacks—nothing fancy, just sandwiches and cold drinks, but after watching a buffalo herd from the jeep it tasted better than it should have. I sat on an old log and let my shoes fill with sand while Joseph pointed out hippo trails on the opposite bank. He told us about how sometimes elephants wander down here in late afternoon. Didn’t see any that day, but you get this feeling that anything could walk past at any moment. It’s hard to explain unless you’re there.

The real reason I booked this day trip from Livingstone was for the walking safari to see white rhinos. We left the jeep behind and followed Joseph quietly—he kept his voice low, explaining how they track rhinos without disturbing them. When we finally saw them (three adults and a calf), I almost forgot to breathe. Their skin looked impossibly thick up close, almost like old tree bark if that makes sense. One of them snorted and flicked its ears; everyone froze except Joseph who just smiled and nodded for us to stay still. I still think about that moment—a mix of nerves and awe—and how small we all felt standing there.