Zambia: Livingstone by Victoria Falls.

Saturday 28^th February. Livingstone, Zambia

First impression of Zambia, entry formalities excluded, is of a very nice people and country. Didn’t get out of bed until 9.15 today and had the continental breakfast before heading for Vic Falls, just 7 kms away. Having paid our $10 entry fee, we spent about 90 minutes walking around the viewing site.


It is truly one of the most awesome sights we have ever seen. The sheer power of those falls is wondrous and of course we were soaking wet, despite having a reasonable amount of waterproofing on us. 

Where we are now is an area that borders 4 countries. Zimbabwe, Namibia, Botswana, and Zambia of course. Angola is just a short distance away as well. Today, we are having a day off in Livingstone, it is baking hot and although there is not a lot to see outside of the falls, it is an interesting town and being Saturday, it is buzzing.

Tomorrow we are heading for Lusaka, about 500 kms away. Apparently the road is dreadful for part of the journey, very badly potholed and quite slow going. It’ll be an early start and shared driving but if it looks too challenging, we will stop in a small town enroute.

We had a relaxing afternoon and a drive around town. That killed 5 minutes! 

Bought some provisions in the Spar supermarket near our hotel. We were fascinated to see people buying loaves of bread by the trolley full. They were queuing up at the bakery and as quick as the bread came out of the oven, it was in a trolley. 

We asked back at the hotel why this was happening and had our reality check, Zimbabwe. Of course there is a huge shortage of bread and food so people were buying as much as they could and take it across the border. Apparently, the amount they can bring in is still rationed by Mugabe. The bridge into Zim is just by Vic Falls, 7kms away. We picked up some Zimbabwean notes similar to this. Just an indication of what can go wrong with an economy!! 

We found a bar in town and had a couple of beers there, with the local folk. We were made to feel very welcome and we watched some English premier football.  We then went to Steers, a South African food chain restaurant that mainly sells burgers, a bit like McDonalds really. 2 burgers & fries plus 2 drinks came to almost $30, pretty outrageous for Zambia I feel, and double the price of SA. We were back in the hotel by 9pm & after a chat with the owner, off to bed soon after, in preparation of our early start tomorrow.

Zambia: Botswana to Zambia on a ferry

Friday 27^th February: Kasane, Botswana to Victoria Falls,  Zambia.

Breakfast at 9am, checked out at 1130 and said our farewell to Andy & Ilona as they were heading for Namibia. It was a wonderfully fun and exciting two days with them and we all got on so well.

 I sincerely hope our paths cross again, but not in a swamp the next time! Just updating this blog in Kasane before we head for Kazangula where we will take the ferry across the Zambezi into Zambia. We will then head straight for Victoria Falls to see this wonder. It’s been raining a lot so we’re hoping for a great sight. We’ll probably stay in Livingstone tonight and plan the journey through Zambia over dinner. Oh, and you thought we had planned this down to a fine art!!

Botswana to Zambia on a very small ferry!
 

We drove to Kazangula and of course on arrival were greeted by the sight of hundreds of trucks lined along the road, queuing for the ferry. 

We already knew from the guide book that smaller vehicles just went to the front of the queue. We got to the departure immigration office and after visiting two booths, got our exit stamp. As with the entry into Botswana, that was the easy bit. We then drove down the muddy ground to where the ferry leaves from. 

There are two small ferries operating this crossing and you can see the shore on the other side quite clearly. We didn’t get on the first one as it already had 2 cars and a truck waiting. That ferry came in with just one double trailer truck on it and there was no capacity for anything else. That gives an indication of the size.

We then switched to the other ferry a few yards away and were in pole position for it. However, when it arrived, on it’s first crossing apparently (it was clearly ancient) it couldn’t lower the ramp so we could see he was going to have to go out and come in at the other point. We quickly drove over and got on as soon as the ramp was lowered. One truck & two cars followed and we were on our way within 10 minutes.

The crossing is only 15 minutes and we arrived to utter chaos. Cars and trucks everywhere, no signposting either, so we slowly made our way to a parking spot. John, driving today, stayed in the vehicle while I went off to start the process of entering Zambia.

1^st Stop: Port office to pay the ferry fee of $20 for the crossing.

2^nd Stop: Next door to pay the police clearance, about $10

3^rd Stop: Another office to fill in a book with all the vehicle and owner details
.

4^th Stop: Another office to pay carbon control tax of 150, 000 Kwacha ($30)

5^th Stop: To find a money changer because they wouldn’t accept US$, rather short sighted in Africa!

6^th Stop: To a portakabin, to buy third party insurance for Zambia, 100,000 ($20)

7^th Stop: Back to the carbon control desk to pay the 150,000 ($30) I had now secured.

8^th Stop: Around the corner to write all my details into another book at passport control.

He then stamped my passport & as it’s Africa, I asked him if he would also stamp John in as I had his passport. Yes he would, but there was a $50 visa fee. Irish passports get in free. John meanwhile has been sitting in air conditioned comfort while I battled with officialdom.

9^th Stop: Customs post. I decided I would walk along there and try and get advanced clearance. Showed him all the paperwork and explained we would bring the vehicle along in a few minutes.

That was it, or so I smugly thought at least. This whole process, from arriving at the ferry on the other side, took over three hours. I went back to the vehicle and off we headed to the customs post. We were let through without any further checks. We stopped just outside & I got a very cold beer out of the fridge, well deserved I felt, after all that.

10^th Stop: Joined the main road into Livingstone which is 70 kms away. Drove 1 km and there was a police check. Of course John was driving; he always is for police checks. The policeman asked us for various bits of documents, which we provided. I gave him a blank look when he asked for the RTC certificate. This, he explained, is the Road Toll Certificate to drive on Zambian roads. It can cost up to $150, depending on the size of your vehicle. We decided to head back to the port, well chaos really, and find out more about it. The policeman wanted to keep our insurance certificate and John’s driving licence until we returned and I had to insist it was our property and he could not have it. After a few minutes he relented when he finally understood we would be back this way again & show it again if he wanted. Also, no was no, he was not going to get any of our paperwork to keep.

11^th Stop: So, back to the port only to be told we were exempt. 

12^th Stop: Back to the policeman & still he couldn’t understand but I gave him a phone no. to call & finally we were on our way.

That was another 40 minutes wasted so now we’re approaching 4 hours to get into Zambia in a private vehicle. And, guess what, it’s dark so here we go again, breaking our driving in the dark rule. Huge potholes in the road but we tuck in behind another vehicle and follow his weaving around. 

Livingstone Zambia

We arrive in Livingstone and fairly quickly get down to finding accommodation. We got decent rooms at the Ngolide Lodge near town. It has an Indian restaurant so we’re having dinner by 9pm. By 2am I am up with stomach cramps but I believe it is still just the recovery process from the nausea and stomach problems of a few days ago. Hey, the diet might be working, though not the way I expected.

Botswana: Chobe to Kasani.

        Thursday 26th February: Savuti to Kasane, Botswana.

 

Didn’t get up until 8am, John still feeling nauseous. We packed everything away, had a cup of black tea and got on our way by about 10am. I drove again today as it would be unfair to expect John to concentrate on that. Andy & Ilona decided to accompany us to Kasane. He was worried about some deep flooding along the way and again, there was safety in numbers. As it turned out, there was only deep sand, very deep in places and we made it to Kasane by about 5pm. The road was still terrible though and very slow going. We got to see lots of elephants on this journey, as well as Giraffe. 

So many elephants

So many Giraffe

A very curious Giraffe

One of these dips every few hundred metres.

Chobe Park

In Kasane we checked out a few hotels and finished up staying at the Mowana safari Lodge, on the banks of the Chobe river. It is a 4 star hotel, very luxurious and very welcome after our few days in the bush. 

Dinner at Mowane Hotel

Lobby of hotel with huge tree growing in the middle of it.

Might be a while before we see 4* again.

We all met up for drinks and dinner and all of us glad to be able to get to bed by 11pm. Pure luxury, ensuite bathroom and no prowling animals. There was also a mosquito net, so no worrying about any buzzing in the ear in the middle of the night.

Botswana: Moremi & Chobe Game Reserves

Wednesday February 25th: Botswana (this is a long one so patience required!)

Thankfully no rain but no wind either, and it was hot in the tents. Slept off and on, after all it is a little bit different to 32 years in BA where it was Sheraton, Hilton, Intercontinental etc. Where was that aircon switch again! 


We were definitely sharing the campground with some nocturnal animals, I could hear them moving about, but what were they. This is where it might not be a good idea to go to bed after a couple of cold beers and some wine because when nature calls, you have to get out there and join them. I was suddenly thinking of all those nature programmes where the lion waits silently and then jumps on his prey in a millisecond. That helped to hasten the whole process I can tell you. 

Up at 6.30 and there is no need for an alarm because everything wakes up with the sun and you know it. 


Animal sounds all around. It was lovely to be so at one with nature. Now, where’s the room service menu so we can order breakfast, oops, not fully awake just yet. Got the kettle on, stripped the tents, and repacked it all. No point having a shower before that because you’d need one immediately afterwards again so we decided to have that when everything was done. There was an ablution block nearby and it had excellent shower facilities, even hot water, courtesy of solar panels. 

Had our weetabix and about 4 cups of tea in the next hour, just relaxing and enjoying the peace and quiet. Oh, and great news, we found the lighter and gas refill in with the food, very well hidden! I was also taking some photos of a large baboon that was in the tree which we were camped under. 

After 5 minutes he suddenly came down and appeared to amble off. Then, a quick detour towards our table and I shouted a warning to John who was enjoying his tea. The baboon went right up to the table and grabbed a full box of Bewley tea bags. Now it’s war because we cannot let that go. John is wrestling with him and neither one will let go. I am running over and at that point he realised he was outnumbered and left the scene. This whole thing took about 5 seconds. They are so cunning.

Had a great shower and set off for North gate, a short distance away. 

We were meeting with a German couple, Andy & Ilona, who we’d met at the park office two days ago when buying our tickets.Did I already mention they're from Berlin. I don't think so.

They also wanted to drive to Savuti and had a rented Toyota Land Cruiser station wagon camper. These Land Cruisers are meant to be the best in the business for overland. It seemed prudent to travel together as the terrain was definitely going to be inhospitable so we arranged an 11am meet at the gate. 







They arrived at 1130, having already got stuck en route from Xakanaxa. We set off and as we had the winch, it was decided that they should go first. Then, if either of us got stuck, the positioning of the vehicles was correct for recovery. We were no more than 10 kms into the 76km drive when conditions started to deteriorate. Everywhere we turned it was water and mud. We really had no idea where the track was at times. We had the GPS with tracks 4 Africa loaded and as I mentioned earlier, it is a lifesaver in the bush because it is mapped for overlanders, by overlanders. Good as it is though, it had not mapped this area in detail.

As we entered a swampy marshy area, Andy followed a track away from the waterlogged road as it appeared to be a detour around the deep water. He was bogged down almost to his springs by the time he’d stopped. 

We stopped just behind him and walked to see them. Two very nervous people were sitting there, wondering if there might be a crane nearby that could possibly lift them out of this hole. We spent about three hours extracting that vehicle. The high lift jack that was supplied with their vehicle didn’t work properly, we had an issue with our winch which John sorted, (chief mechanic, remember). We tried to winch the cruiser out but it was buried too deep. 

So, it was raised by the high lift jack, slowly and laboriously due to it not working properly. Branches of trees lying around were gathered and packed underneath the wheels and we were ready for the third attempt. Meanwhile, the mother of all storms is brewing around us, thunder, lightning and heavy rain. Standing in a foot of water, gripping a metal lifting device seemed pretty risky just then, with lightning flashing all around.

Today was my day of driving as John did the whole day yesterday. John then got into the drivers seat of the landcruiser and after discussing tactics we were ready for the big pull. Don’t you just love it when a landrover rescues a Land Cruiser!  It's a common joke in Africa that when you spot a landrover, it usually has a pair of legs sticking out from under it, so always use a Toyota landcruiser instead. Not today! Using both vehicles gears, I was also operating the winch from within the disco, we gave everything we had in power. I was in diff lock and after getting the tensioning correct I just pulled with every horsepower the disco and winch had. John was in the cruiser giving it everything it had too. Out it came, reluctantly at first but suddenly we’re reversing out of this swamp at a very decent pace.

At this stage Andy & Ilona were ready to turn around and cancel Savuti but we persuaded them to stay with us. They'd tried this the previous year and also got stranded. Understandably, they were nervous. We found a different way around, walked the water to see how deep it was and got through ok. After that, we had to walk a couple of crossings first to see how deep it was, and how solid. If it was solid, the disco could easily go though at bonnet height but the cruiser, being petrol, could not. Thankfully, we never encountered anything that deep, it was more a sense of figuring out whether we were entering a track or a swamp.

Then, we were past the Savuti marsh, the worst part for flooding, and on our way in deep sand to Savuti. We eventually got there at 8.30 pm. That was 9 hours to travel 76 kms. Also, we were not supposed to drive at night in the park but at Mababe gate, about 40 kms from Savuti, they said it would be ok as long as we didn’t use our spotlights.

The tents were set up up again. I was feeling pretty nauseous and definitely had a tummy problem. The only thing we’d had since the weetabix was two cereal bars a few hours back. Of course we had been in swamp water for a few hours too. Trying to inflate the mattress was like trying to climb Mount Everest at that point for me so it was done in stages. Andy & Ilona cooked some pasta (we shared the one pitch in the campsite) and I ate a bit. John had worked up a real appetite by then so he had a second helping. Oh, how I envied him his appetite. By the time I retired to my tent I was feeling a lot better and went straight into a deep sleep.

At 2.45am I heard John outside my tent, asking if I had toilet paper. He had the bug too. He had an unsettled night and slept rather fitfully. We both think it must have been the swamp water (is that swamp fever then!) and somehow absorbed some of it. Cannot imagine a cereal bar doing that to us. By the way, we do have more than one toilet roll, the problem is that the immobiliser for the disco is only working on one set of keys and I happened to have them as I was the driver today.

Botswana: Maun to Moremi Game Reserve.

Tuesday 24th February. Maun, Botswana

This is a very big day for us, day one of a few challenging ones that lie ahead, as we attempt to get to the Zambezi River for our crossing into Zambia. We know we are entering a potentially 'trip ending' period, just 9 days into this very long journey, and we are doing so against the advice of the park rangers. But, we are prepared to take that risk, whether it be through ignorance or just being dare devils. Personally, this is what the trip is all about, pushing the boundaries and personal challenge. John feels the same way. We had an early breakfast at the Discovery B&B in Maun and we were on our way to the Moremi Game Reserve before 9am. Arrived at South Gate at 1030 and they told us that the road from Xakanaxa to the North gate was impassable due to a bridge being washed away. It had been our intention to do the circuit of Moremi via Xakanaxa  and eventually arrive at North gate, near to the Khwai camp where we were to camp tonight. We could however drive the  straight route between South & North gates, a distance of 32 kms.
We decided we’d go into Moremi anyway, drive as far as we could, & then retrace our steps later. We had 5 hours of driving and completed a total of 100 kms (62 miles) in that time although we did stop for some game viewing along the way. 

From Dust and Diesel Overland Trip Part 1

From Dust and Diesel Overland Trip Part 1

From Dust and Diesel Overland Trip Part 1

From Dust and Diesel Overland Trip Part 1

From Dust and Diesel Overland Trip Part 1

From Dust and Diesel Overland Trip Part 1

From Dust and Diesel Overland Trip Part 1

It was very slow going on some changeable tracks. Sometimes wet & muddy, other times deep and sandy. Once we got back to South gate after those 5 hours, we headed for Khwai at the North gate. This was an easier drive, mainly deep sand. We arrived at our camp site at 5.15 and set up camp under the trees.

From Dust and Diesel Overland Trip Part 1

This was our first night in the bush, previously we’d always found ourselves a bed. Setting up was relatively straightforward although we did have a raid on our vehicle by a baboon, within 5 minutes of stopping. 

From Dust and Diesel Overland Trip Part 1

We’d arrived with the windows open and didn’t close them while we were unpacking. I got quite a shock when I suddenly saw it rummaging through our stuff in the front. Within seconds, it had a pack of raisins and a pack of mints and as we chased it away, it dropped lots of the raisins around the vehicle. It quickly climbed a tree & ate everything it had taken and then boldly came down and finished off the remainder that was scattered on the ground. We realised we’d have to keep everything very secure. It then boldly walked up & down, looking for a chance to strike again. There would be none.

We set everything up, tents erected, mattresses inflated, campsheet and sleeping bag in place and also set up the braai so we could cook our steaks. We have a 2 burner gas stove and a charcoal braai. By now we were ready for a cold beer and all we had to do first was light the braai. We had a gas lighter with a spare cartridge as well, but where was it? We searched every ammo box we had and could not find it. So,no lighter, no hot food. We had however passed other campers a few hundred metres back so John set off to get some matches from them. He came back with 3 boxes, clearly they had come prepared. Now we were happy campers. We still don’t know where that lighter is, possibly back in my garage in Somerset West. Had a great dinner and while it was cooking in the dark, John shone his torchlight in the distance and all you could see was about 50 pairs of eyes lit up by the torch, a few hundred metres away. That was an amazing thing to see, all lined up like an army waiting to advance. They were most likely baboons. They were definitely not sharing our steak tonight. We had a great dinner, put everything away or it wouldn’t be there in the morning and lights out at 9pm.  There was lightning in the distance so we hoped we wouldn’t get a downpour tonight.