How we check facts

The sources behind each fact

A fact gets into this guide only from a public source we can name. There is a pecking order. Official and government sites and the operators’ own sites come first. Booking agents are next, then Wikivoyage, Wikipedia and news reports.

The record for each fact holds four things: the link to the page it came from, the exact line quoted from that page, the date it was read and the date it falls due for another look. That quoted line has to turn up on the live page. Guide pages draw on these records and on nothing else.

Following a single fact

A claim starts life as a line on its source page. It is stored with that source and its dates, and only then written into a guide page, with a number pointing back to where it came from. Here is one, pulled straight from the records:

Keeping facts fresh

Each live site has its data refreshed on a cycle of a few months, and the table below gives the dates. A refresh compares a batch of facts again with the pages they came from. Older facts go to the front of the queue, along with the kinds that tend to move: prices, fees, timetables and the months a place opens. The same pass tests the source links, the tour pages and the places to stay.

When a source stops showing a fact, the fact gets a flag. It is never deleted without notice. It is either brought up to date from the source, switched to a stronger source, or removed from the page.

Conflicting sources and gaps

If two sources give different figures, the page shows you both ends of the range and names each source. Anything that can’t be confirmed stays out of the guide.

Tours, food, sights and stays

Tours. These are picked from each booking site’s list for Victoria Falls. Before a tour is linked, its page is opened and checked: the title must name the place, and the page must not say the tour is unavailable. A tour whose page has disappeared never gets a link. The booking site that listed the most tours here when the site was planned goes first; the others follow a fixed default order.

Places to eat and drink. These come from Google Maps listings around the main areas, and each one was opened in a browser and checked before it shows up. The sources table gives the count and the month. The list runs by area, then by places people look up by name, then by the Maps search order. Rating never sets the order. Ratings shown are Google’s and carry the date they were read. No place paid to appear.

Attractions. Also drawn from Google Maps listings around the main areas, each opened in a browser and checked. Opening hours are Google’s. Entry fees, time to allow and notes for children appear only where a source states them. The list runs by area and by search interest, not rating. Anything Google Maps lists as closed is left off.

Travel times. Driving times and distances come from OpenRouteService routes built on OpenStreetMap data, with no traffic factored in. Each is stored as a fact with its route as the source and stays valid for a year. Itineraries are plans put together from these sources, not trip reports.

Places to stay. These are the ones people search for by name, most searched first. Price, what is included and who they suit come from named sources shown on each card. No stay carries a booking link for now. A link goes up only after it is tested in a browser and the booking site signs off on this site’s account.

Writing and review

An AI model, Anthropic’s Claude, writes the guide pages, working only from the stored facts. Automatic checks then run over every page. Before any page goes live, the publisher reads it through; after launch, the publisher reads it again and fixes whatever turns up.

Photos come from Wikimedia Commons and Pexels. No photo is made by AI: the logo and favicon are the only images that may be. Credits sit on the image credits page.

Each guide page numbers its sources beside the facts they support.

Latest edits

• 21 October 2026 · Victoria Falls travel guide: First written
• 21 October 2026 · About this guide: First written
• 21 October 2026 · Affiliate disclosure: First written
• 21 October 2026 · Compare: First written
• 21 October 2026 · Contact: First written

At the foot of every guide page you’ll find its own page history: what changed there and when.

If you spot an error

Use the contact page. Name the page and the fact, and include a source if you have one.