Microlight Flights
A microlight flight over Victoria Falls puts you in an open cockpit just metres above the spray — an intimate, wind-in-your-face aerial experience that feels more like flying with the falls' spray than observing them from a distance.
Activity Guide
The Most Intimate Flight
If a helicopter tour over Victoria Falls is like watching the falls from a luxury box, a microlight flight is like being on the pitch. The open cockpit, the wind in your face, the sensation of flying rather than being flown — a microlight provides an aerial experience over Victoria Falls that is completely different from any other.
The Aircraft
The microlight used at Victoria Falls is a weight-shift trike — essentially an engine, a wing, and two seats mounted on a lightweight frame with wheels. There is no enclosed cabin. Your legs dangle in the air, the wind rushes past, and only a harness keeps you in your seat. It is, for many people, the closest they will ever come to the sensation of unaided flight.
The Flight
Take-Off
The microlight takes off from a small airstrip near the falls. The acceleration is surprisingly brisk, and within seconds you are airborne, climbing above the bush towards the Zambezi River. The immediate sensation is one of openness — there is nothing between you and the landscape below except air.
Over the Falls
As the microlight banks towards the falls, the spray column becomes visible, then the gorge, and then the falls themselves. The microlight flies lower and slower than a helicopter, following the contours of the gorge at altitudes that make the falls feel close enough to touch. You can feel the mist on your face, hear the thunder of the water over the engine, and look straight down into the churning Batoka Gorge.
The Gorge System
The flight typically follows the gorge system downstream, banking through the zigzagging canyons carved by the Zambezi over millennia. From the microlight's low altitude, the depth and drama of the gorges are even more apparent than from a helicopter.
Photography
Photography from a microlight is challenging but rewarding:
- Secure your camera with a wrist strap — dropped cameras are lost forever
- Use a compact or action camera rather than a large DSLR
- GoPro-style cameras mounted to the frame produce excellent video
- The pilot will bank the microlight to give you the best angles — communicate what you want to photograph
Practical Details
- Flight duration — 15 minutes (standard) or 30 minutes (extended)
- Weight limit — typically 100-110 kg per passenger
- Weather dependence — microlights are more weather-sensitive than helicopters. Flights may be delayed or cancelled in high wind or rain
- What to wear — warm clothing is essential even in summer, as the wind chill at altitude is significant. Sunglasses or goggles protect your eyes
A microlight flight over Victoria Falls is not for everyone — the open cockpit and the sensation of exposure require a tolerance for heights and a willingness to trust the engineering. But for those who embrace it, there is no more exhilarating way to see the falls, no closer you can get to the feeling of being a bird soaring over one of nature's greatest creations.
