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Experience

The Batoka Gorge Swing and Zipline

The gorge below Victoria Falls from the end of a rope or a cable: a swing, a zipline, a flying fox and an abseil, from a base on the rim.

At a glanceOn land
How longA half dayA half day for one or two activities, a full day for the lot
How hardActiveMore nerve than fitness, but each activity ends with a walk back up out of the gorge
SeasonYear-roundRuns year-round

Just downstream of the falls the gorge is a deep, sheer-sided trench in dark basalt, and along its rim there is a base where people go over the edge in several different ways. None of them needs experience. All of them need one moment at the edge where you decide to go.

The Gorge Swing is the big one. You step off a platform, fall straight down for a long couple of seconds, and then the rope catches and carries you out in a huge arc across the gorge.

The zipline is the fastest: a run across the gorge on a cable, quick enough that it is over before you have quite taken it in. The Flying Fox sends you across lying flat, arms out, with the gorge floor far beneath you. The abseil takes you down the gorge wall on a rope, feet first, or face first if you choose the rap jump.

It is about nerve rather than fitness, right up to the end of each activity, when it becomes about fitness. Each one finishes the same way, with a walk back up out of the gorge on a steep path. Do three and you make that walk three times, in the sun, so pace the day and carry water.

Both banks have a base on the rim, and they are not quite the same. The activities on offer differ a little between the two, and each operator sets its own minimum age, which is not the same on both sides. We check both against your group before choosing.

It suits a group where not everyone wants the same thing: one swings, one abseils, one watches from the top. If the swing is not enough, the bungee goes off the bridge a short way along the gorge. If you would rather meet the gorge at river level, the rafting spends a whole day at the bottom of it.

Good to know

  • Every activity ends with a walk back up out of the gorge. Several activities means that walk several times.
  • Each side’s operator sets its own minimum age, and they differ. We confirm the rule for your group.
  • Wear closed shoes that grip and clothes you can move in. Loose items stay at the top.
  • Morning sessions are cooler for the walk out.
  • Tell us in advance about back, neck or heart conditions, high blood pressure and pregnancy. Operators exclude some of these.

Listed daily at 09:00 and 15:30 on the Zimbabwean side and 09:00 and 13:30 on the Zambian side, as a half or full day, from a base about 300 metres from the falls; the abseil is given as 53 metres and the zipline at up to 106 km/h. A walk out of the gorge follows each activity; which activities each bank runs, the operators' minimum ages (they differ between the sides) and any medical exclusions are to be confirmed. We confirm what applies to your dates in writing before you pay anything.

The swing is over in seconds. The walk back up takes rather longer.

Where to do it

Where we arrange the batoka gorge swing and zipline

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Questions we are actually asked

Which one is the most frightening?
For most people, the swing, because of the freefall at the start before the rope takes over. The zipline is fast, but you are moving across rather than down, which feels less like falling. The abseil is the slowest, and the one where you are most in control.
Do we need to be fit?
Not for the activities themselves, which are about nerve. You do need to manage the walk back up out of the gorge afterwards, which is steep and, in the heat of the day, hard work. Plan several activities and you make that walk several times.
Is there an age limit?
Yes. The operator on each bank sets its own minimum age, and the two are not the same, so it can decide which side a family books. We confirm the rule for your group before booking.
Can we do the swing and the bungee on the same day?
You can. The gorge base and the bridge are close, though the bridge needs your passport, because it sits between the two border posts. It is a lot for one morning, and we plan the timings so the walks and the border do not collide.

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