New Zealand, specifically Queenstown, prides itself on being the adventure capital of the world. But Victoria Falls gives it a run for its money.

Do you want to bungee jump? How about walk with lions or cage dive with crocodiles? Or perhaps you’re keen to swim at the very top of these 350-feet waterfalls, a single slippery step away from falling into the depths below. Whatever your poison, in this post I’ll detail the adrenaline-inducing activities on offer at Vic Falls.

(All but two of these images were taken by other people — I’ve link to the source below each photo.)

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As you’ve likely gathered from the name Victoria Falls, water plays a big role in the area’s tourist offerings. Curious to try white water rafting? The Zambezi River has an epic series of rapids to navigate, either on a half-day or full day tour.

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Bungee jumping isn’t for everyone — heck, until six months ago I wasn’t sure it was for me — but for those willing to step out of their comfort zone, there is no greater thrill than those first few seconds of free fall. The bridge connecting Zimbabwe and Zambia is a pretty swell location to do it.

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There’s a modified bungee jump called a swing — instead of dropping straight down off a platform, you’re tied to a rope connected to the other side of the gap. You still free fall for several seconds but in a swinging motion instead of up and down.

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But if free falling isn’t your thing, there’s always a normal zip line or Flying Fox zip line, which I wrote about in yesterday’s post. I definitely took the easy way out by doing this — I got a taste of adrenaline rush at Vic Falls without eating the full meal.

For a different kind of thrill, you could take a microlight flight and soar over Victoria Falls for a bird’s eye view. These 2-person planes have an open cockpit so for safety reasons you can’t bring your own camera, but a wing-mounted Go Pro will capture the action for you.

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For a more traditional flight over Vic Falls, you can take a 15-minute helicopter ride to witness the splendor of the Falls from above. I did this activity and I’ll bring you a full post tomorrow.

For the ultimate thrill, you can swim in the pools at the very top of the waterfalls. There are two locations — Devil’s Pool and Angel’s Armchair — where you can literally hang over the edge of Victoria Falls. Isn’t that nuts?! (I would’ve done it in a heartbeat if I’d been there longer to sort out the details.) Just beware that these pools are located on the Zambian side of the Falls so plan your visa situation accordingly — i.e., maybe get a multiple entry visa for both Zambia and Zimbabwe so you can go back and forth, depending on where your accommodation is. Note that these pools are closed in the wet season (November to April) when the water is too high to safely visit this area.

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If heights aren’t your thing, I’m not sure any of the aforementioned activities will appeal to you. But these next two will… how would you like to walk with lions? Not the man-eating kind, but the human-friendly cubs who will walk by your side and maybe even cuddle a bit.

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Or perhaps you’d like to ride an elephant in a gorgeous outdoor location. Both of these encounters — with lions and elephants — are extremely popular with guests.

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And I can’t help but include this gem I stumbled upon from National Geographic photographer Marsel Van Oosten (you’ll want to click through to his site; the images are outrageously good and I’d kill to go on one of his photography tours of Antarctica or Svalbard).

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Another animal activity on offer is to go cage diving with crocs.

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My tour mate Robin is enchanted by crocodiles — anytime we saw one on safari, he could not take his eyes off it. So it doesn’t take much convincing for him to sign up to go cage diving with crocs here at Vic Falls. It happened on the day we finished this leg of the tour, so I never saw Robin afterwards… but his current Facebook cover photo is this image:

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And he took this awesome close-up shot — those ferocious teeth are practically touching the cage!

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While New Zealand might have a problem with Vic Falls claiming title of Adventure Capital of the World, I think that Adventure Capital of Africa is a fair superlative.

A word of warning — if you’re headed to Vic Falls and have an eye on any of these activities, look into booking them in advance or at the very least several days before with your tour guide. On my overland trip, our guide did not present the Vic Falls activity options until two days before we arrived and by then several of them were full and not accepting any more reservations. Beware that your tour guide / company might be affiliated with particular local tour operators in Vic Falls so when they say “it’s full” they might just mean that particular tour operator doesn’t have more space. My group found that by checking with other local operators upon arrival that there was in fact space on some of these activities after all. Don’t be afraid to walk up and down the main street in Vic Falls village to scope out the options and prices for yourself!

For the record, I wasn’t paid to promote any of these activities — I just wanted to share all the cool adventure-related stuff you can do at Vic Falls. As such, I didn’t include any links to particular companies, but suffice it to say that there are dozens of travel offices that will happily sell you these experiences. Do your homework and go with one that fits your budget and has good reviews!