Zambia 3

I was hoping that this post would be all about the amazing animals we saw in South Luangwa National Park.. This will happen later on but currently the car has decided we have had too much fun, and too few problems and thrown a teenage tantrum (being 20 years old I would have thought we would be well past that by now). So the first half has been taken up by the car, but hopefully it has enough attention now and will behave..!

We arrived at Pioneer camp glad we had gotten there without more issues (I think I wrote this last blog), Charles went back out and came back a happy(ish) boy.. He had found a shop called Builders Warehouse - a bit like home base and halfords had a baby and then beefed up at the gym. It sold all the tools we needed, plus engine cleaners etc. Basically a mans dream shop.. By the time he was back it was too late to start anything and getting dark - it gets dark around 6pm here which makes things difficult, we ultimately cook in the dark and sit in the dark from that point onwards! After a lazy start the next morning Charles set about taking the engine apart to try and diagnose the problem. Without Rob guiding him he was feeling the pressure but he worked methodically and felt he had worked out the problem.. A leaking fuel pump! With a cleaner engine, but an oily Charles, he put the parts back together by 4pm. The plan being to wake up early the next morning and try to find the part we needed.. We had been on FaceTime to Gill and Roger when some locals overheard us. They gave us a number of a guy they use who sells and stocks parts for landrovers! Local knowledge was good this time!

Up and packed (tent down then up again because we left the satnav up there.. We will never learn!), we headed off to Lusaka.. Again! Considering we didn't really want to go there we had now spent a lot of time! First port of call Builders Warehouse.. I could see why Charles was so impressed.. Finally, one place where you could buy all the rubbish you need .. It was like a huge man drawer! We managed to get the things we needed from our shopping list (staying focused on the shopping list was hard) and went to the mechanic recommended by Paul at Pioneer Camp. He could not help us but pointed us on towards the Landrover dealer.. They also couldn't help us so they pointed us onto another Landrover dealer.. After some conversation they said the part would be 58000kwz.. We were stunned, divide it by 13 to get the pound and it was astronomical! There was no way we were paying that for a part that costs about £15 in the UK! We politely declined and headed to Rightway Autoparts who luckily had the fuel pump.. 600kwz later (still expensive but Zambia's import prices are rediculous) and we had a part. I think the first quote for for a brand new engine.. maybe fuel pump for engine was lost in translation..! Feeling rather smug we stopped off at Manda Hill Mall and had a Mugg and Bean.. Charles has been raving about this place since I met him.. Basically a Costa! They have unlimited coffee, and huge muffins which tasted amazing! 

The smuggness soon wore off as we arrived back at Pioneer Camp and Charles went to open the part.. Sadly it was not sold with the olives (copper rings) needed to fit the part.. Obviously! Rather annoyed we headed back to Lusaka to find some.. It turned out there was none.. The guy who we bought the part off didn't have any either! Useful! Back to the campsite (the trip being 40km round trip), and we found out that Dave and Rob2 were also in Lusaka. Their car had been put onto a tow truck because it was also broken down... Our predicament could have been worse! Charles set about trying to hammer off the old olives gently and fit them onto the new part.. Easier said than done in the growing darkness. We tried heating and making larger, filing them.. All sorts of things and finally they fit. One got split but in true plumbers style, ptfe tape was applied liberally! Charles worked like a trooper under the careful supervision of myself.. Haha! Dinner of sausage pasta created an interlude, and by 8.30pm Chalres closed the bonnet. "I'll started it in the morning", he said.

Next morning came around.. A beautiful crisp, sunny morning! Just the time to start a dirty great Landrover with smoke bellowing out! Anyway .. The smoke came out black, and then white.. Fuel cleaner went into the tank, Charles cleaned the exhaust and attempt number two was made! There was still some smoke issues but by 11.30 we had decided to take it for a drive and find a change of scenery. We had loved Pioneers Camp, the owners were lovely, the wifi good and the bar well stocked, but we just needed to be closer to the city in case things went wrong again.  We drove into Lusaka (again), and stopped off at Wanderes Backpackers and Campsite, at $5 per night it was perfect for one night in the centre of Lusaka and meant we could walk to immigration. With time ticking on our via (it ran out on the 17.05.16) we wanted to try and get another 30 days so we could still do everything we wanted to do pre car troubles. We arrived at immigration at 1.30 and they were in lunch till 2pm.. We decided to wait around for half an hour, and as we waited the crowds got bigger. There was a queue of sorts, we were at the front, and others just came and stood behind us.. The queue began to snake around the building. However as the time ticked on to opening hours people just stormed in.. I think my rather loud comment of 'it's funny how people don't queue even when there is one' fell on deaf ears but it is one thing that really annoys me. The poor lady who had arrived 2 minutes after us ended up at the back of a long line of people.. Rudeness really gets to me, especially please and thank you (true teacher style), which across this trip I have noticed a lack of.. Not just locals but tourists as well! I digress.. We got in and spoke to the receptionist, 'Oh no, not here', she said, 'here is the address you need to go to for tourist visas'. Why they couldn't have it in the same building I don't know. Anyway 3.9km later and we arrived, went up the stairs and spoke to a very lovely lady. She started stamping our passports and Charles and I are looked,at each other thinking we haven't asked the price and she is stamping away.. I quickly asked how much it was and she replied free, but you can pay if you like! Finally something in Zambia that is free and not overpriced! Charles and I felt like we had beaten the system and headed back to the camp site elated. The site was nice, free wifi and electricity, we started chatting to a couple who were doing the south in a Bushlore car (6 months was cheaper than kitting and shipping over a car, as well as buying a Carnet from the ADC in Germany who wanted a €5000 deposite, what a way to put off travellers!). They had heard things about the situation in Mozambique so it was good to chat.. We shall keep up to date on that! 

We left the next morning, after Charles had been given a catapult by Kevin, a South African working in Lusaka. Charles was very pleased and was looking forward to aiming at monkies later..!  We set off towards Bridge Camp, a half way point between Lusaka and Chipata. The site was nice, basic but the owners were friendly. The site got slowly more busy as the night went on. Despite being woken up early by the overland bus singing happy birthday, we were ready to keep on driving after chatting to a Spanish couple who had done the East Coast. They too had wanted to go to Mozambique but when they got to the border they were advised not to. Fingers crossed things will improve in the next few months. We arrived in Chipata, another town, stayed at Mama Rula's camp site and prepared to head into the national park the next day.

We set off at a leisurely pace arriving at Wildlife camp by 1pm, we were not disappointed - it was situated just outside the national park so we didn't have to pay park fees to stay there.The camp sites were well equipped, overlooking the river full of hippos, there must have been about 50 of them including some with babies. There was also crocodiles, Impala, puku and wart hogs. We met an American couple Robert and Lara who had been at the site numerous times, and we were soon shouting over to their pitch the different animals we were seeing during our sundowner drink. Just as the sun set red across the sky an elephant walked across the river and started having a bath, it was just magical! We struck gold and this was before we had even got into the park! Park fees here are quite expensive so we could only justify one of the three days in there, along with a night drive. We spent the first day relaxing, doing exercise, washing and watching the animals, the highlight being a journey of 17 giraffes coming to the river, then the second day got up early to head into the park.

We were at the gate by 6am and raring to go! The park is huge and we had to be back at camp by 3pm to be in time for our night drive. We drove a couple of different loops, a river trail and then a more open plain, and saw loads of Impala, puku, zebra, elephants, water Buck, bush Buck, giraffes, hippos and crocodiles including babies of all! We saw some fantastic birds also, the lilac crested roller, oxtails, bee eaters, along with the Eagles, the fish eagle, batalear eagle and martial eagle - it was great to have a hard copy of a bird book, we had been using iBooks before and it isn't as quick or comprehensive! Tsetse flies were also out, luckily not as many as in Kafue! As it got hotter we abandoned hope of seeing much else, I was desperate to see a lion but didn't hold my breath. We drove for a while towards the southern boundary, seeing lots of animal shading themselves from the sun, the water on the southern side was more scarce but there was little apart from the normal around the watering holes. We stopped for lunch, pre-made sandwiches in the car and heard something like a motor bike engine. Very strange as they aren't allowed in the park but we thought it may have been across the river - sound travels far here! We left our lunch spot and decided to finish the loop we were doing, suddenly in the clearing a spotted a lioness.. Charles slowed down the car to a halt and behind her came a male, Wow! Their sheer size and grace was breath taking.. They wandered around for a bit then went to lay under a tree.. Well this was not before they had some fun time together.. Actually three times! We felt a bit like we were intruding! After all the excitement they both fell asleep under the tree, we had managed to watch them for about 40 minutes! I felt incredibly lucky! It was now 2.30pm we we rushed back to the camp site to get ready for our night drive.

Sundowner drinks ordered, we sped off at high speed to get back to the southern boundary where Charles and I had been in the day. I did worry that we were going back to the lions we had seen earlier - not that I would have minded too much, just when you are paying someone else to guide you it is nice to see something other that what you can see by yourself! We had told the gatekeeper and shown him on a map where we had seen the lions so it was plausible we were headed there. I was wrong, through the grass we bumped and stumbled across 5 female lions just relaxing.. More lions! I had gone from seeing none to seeing loads! They were so docile (!?) and we happy with the car being about 5m away! We inched away slowly and carried on, within 100m of the lions a leopard was chilling in a tree, it again was not phased and we sat watching this majestic creature for at least 10 minutes. It must have got slightly fed up, so it got down and walked straight past the car.. Another wow we are lucky moment. We watched the sun go down over the imaplas, and we were soon back in the car. Darkness fell and it was down to the spotter with his flashlight to find us some nocturnal animals.. We were lucky enough to to see the leopard again, and then also a genet and African Civet. We weren't able to see a bush baby however we felt very lucky to have seen what we did see, it is the luck of the draw sometimes! 14 hours in the park had knackered us out, it was left of poetji (stew) from the previous night and we were fast asleep in minutes! 

(Sunset across the river)

(Poetji and roasted squash seeds)

(Civet)

Our last night was spent in Crocodile Camp, another site along the river. It was similar to Wildlife Camp just with free wifi and with different quirks! We plan to cross the border into Malawi tomorrow at Chipata and spend some time in Lilongwe! 

I have truly loved Zambia, even if at times I have felt like screaming and kicking at the car! The country is beautiful, the people so friendly and knowledgable about their surrounding environment. We have seen some awesom things; the Vic falls, lions, leopards and of course hippos! We have donethings we wouldn't normally do; microliting, bungee jumping and some beautiful boat trips. Yes, Zambia was expensive, I think I have written this before - it is for us the most expensive African country we have visited so far (a lot has gone on car parts, with out having bought those it would have been under budget), however it is also one of the countries we have lived a more UK lifestyle.. If you shop in Shoprite it is bound to be expensive, eat meat every meal, drink alcohol frequently, or buy chocolate and crisps it will add up. Shoprite in Nigeria was expensive and also Benin but we were still buying local, something we had forgotten about at the beginning of the country. Buying local veg, to supplement the meat, and is cheap, as cheap as Burkina Faso.. So it can be done cheaply! Zambia is as expensive as you make it living day to day wise. The tourist attractions are also expensive, but the name gives it away, tourists are willing to pay, so they stay the same or go up. I guess you make that toss up of wanting to do it over price.. Charles and I have reached the point where if we want to do something we are going to do it.. We won't have that chance again and I don't want to regret it in 20 years time. I would definitely love to visit Zambia again and do the North Road, we were planning to do this but ran out of time and then accessibility (the road network is not so good here!). It has been a country of firsts and one I will not forget but recommend to others.. 

Charles and I were chatting about the things in Zambia.. Mainly the things we have done for the first time  Here goes! 

Longest country we have stayed in

First time we have been given a free extension on our visa

Most times we have blown the weekly budget (car parts to thank..)

First time we have returned to a campsite (4 campsites returned to!)

First time we have returned to the capital

First time I have bungee jumped (Cat)

First microlite 

Most times on a boat!

First time we have travelled with family

Longest time on our own

First time staying in a backpackers

First time using the electricity to power the fridge

Most hippos seen

First Mugg and Bean

First time fixing the car without Rob (major fix)

First night drive in a national park

Most Overland busses seen!

Charles thinks we have covered the most amount of miles 

First time caught speeding (no fine!)

First time we had to renew our insurance

Most amount of tsetse flies

Most Mosi beers drunk (and Savanna cider also!)

Mort braais had

First lion, and first lion hanky panky for us both 

#africa #overlanding #travelling #thisisafrica #zambia #southluwangwa #safari #leopard 

Zambia 2

We stayed at the Water front lodge for another 3 nights, in that time the boys managed to fit the parts to the cars, tinker and fix ongoing problems (our oil leak.. Which is still there a week or so later!). On the Saturday evening we had heard there was a wedding at the lodge, we had showers and decided to check it out (I think we were hoping for some freebies), sadly we saw no wedding but we did manage to watch the rugby.. You win some you loose some! As we were sitting there we got chatting to three bush pilots, two South African and one British. Drinks soon got flowing along with stories of their adventures.. They fly out wealthy tourists to go spend their millions in the national parks! They were very interesting, and a good laugh.. One drink led to another, one pizza led to 7 (including crocodile pizza), which ultimately led to the moonshine we had been given from Andrew in Angola. In one of my more sensible life decisions, Mandy's aswell, we decided to duck out of those shots .. We were both in bed by 10. The boys came back at about 12, raving about a good night.. Charles was most proud he had only done one shot of moonshine, Rob was proud he had done a lot more (however asking him that in the morning I think he changed his mind).

Morning came early, 6am to be precise.. Mandy, Charles and I were doing the microlight flight. We had heard Rob and Dad rave so much about it and we were lucky enough to be able to do it - we were very excited! We arrived at Batoka Skies air field and the micro lights were all ready to go. I went first and my pilot was German - I cannot remember his name! I was strapped in, headphones and helmet on, and before I knew it we were on the runway. My pilot was chatting away, he had done the same trip as us but been in Zambia for 15 years now, as we got to the end on the runway we were off. Into the skies so quickly without a second thought! The view was awesom, I don't know enough describing words to illustrate the sight below - the view, the skies and the warm breeze rushing last. We flew towards the falls, as they got nearer and nearer you could see the geography of the land, the zigzagging of the river and the huge gorges. We flew over, and around the falls. To see the falls from ground level and then the sky was just breath taking - the rainbows and the shadow of the microlight on the spray! My pilot dipped down so we were in the spray - I just couldn't stop laughing. We came back out the falls and over the Zambezi national park in the Zimbabwean side - I saw hippos, buffalo and a fish eagle nest. Being above them gives you a completely different perspective! Landing, I waited for Charles and Mandy - they too had an awesome time, they had also seen elephants and other animals. I think different pilots like to show their 'student pilots' different things.. For them more focus on the animals, mine the falls in more detail! Everyone had such a good time, Rob (in his slightly fragile state) had been taking photos and video. Sadly we had rather a long wait for our videos.. Short staffed and very busy, but we were back at the Lodge by 11am. What a morning! We spent the afternoon in the Livingstone museum, an informative place but could have done with a bit of love and care. There was a lot of information to read, however their animal section was fascinating. Worth a visit! Coming back I think we were all rather shattered, it was fire and bed! 

We moved back to Jolly Boys on the Monday - it was slightly cheaper to stay there, and now we had no work to do we didn't need the space. We arrived and next to us was another overland Toyota.. Coming out of the reception there was a bit of mutual love between Charles and the owners, Rob and David (I will call him Rob2 to prevent confusion). Rob and Mandy arrived, and soon the boys were talking cars and mechanics.. Charles and I snuck off to the bar to talk about our plans, only surfacing when we had come to a decision (see other blog for decision!). That evening we spent time chatting to David, Rob2 and Bastian (a guy who had been back packing and had got a lift with Rob2 and David). We also met the founder of Bhubesi Pride (www.rugbyinafrica.org), a charity who travel round Africa with volunteers training local children how to play rugby - a really interesting guy and he said on the Wednesday we could go and join in. The boys were extatic and the decision was made we stay in Livingstone till Thursday! Tuesday was spent dopping about - the boys helped Rob2 and David fix their car and change their roof tent around. We bought some more car parts, mainly things that Rob already had and we needed due to separating. 

(Boys sorting out the tent)

Wednesday came around quickly.. Rugby day and also our last night with Rob and Mandy.. We had decided on a braai so a trip to shoprite was in order for alcohol and food. Surprisingly nothing was touched till after the rugby. We turned up at the field at 4pm and instantly their coaches got the boys involved in touch with about 30 children.. It was great to see them smiling, joining in, and also the talent of some of them! I think some of the children could run circles around the boys! Training session over and it was time for 7s with their 1st team.. Rob, Charles, Rob2, David and three of their volunteers walked out onto the pitch to 7 of the Livingstone team.. They all had kit on and looked far more healthy and fit (7 months of travelling doesn't lend itself so well to exercise!). However they all did well, it ended up with them winning, but by only 2 points, and no injuries or passing out.. Result!! We arrived back at Jolly Boys at 7, and after a quick dip in the pool the alcohol came out.. By 8pm 2 bottles of vodka had gone .. Shots for us and who ever was unfortunate enough to walk past us.. By 9pm the brandy came out.. Mandy and myself started the braais but for the boys it was a little too late.. Somehow Mandy and mself were fine.. (Possibly less vodka.. I had been showering and chatting to our neighbours), we slowly watched the boys crash and burn.. David was the first in bed.. Then Bastian, Then Rob, then Rob2.. Charles was no where to be found for about 3 hours and he turned up behind the trailer asleep.. This left Mandy and myself to cook and eat three chickens and a boerworse.. We struck gold! By 11pm all the boys were tucked up around the campsite and we were drinking Amerula under the stars on their platform.. Romantic! It was a sad moment, the last time we would be doing that in a while.. A happy one because we had out lasted the boys! 

We woke up the next morning to hangovers a-plenty, the flower beds suffered as well.. I won't divulge in too much detail what from! 6 out of 7 of us managed breakfast.. Rob2 couldn't get out of bed..! For Charles and I, it was goodbyes all around.. We hit the road heading for Sinazongue at the south of Kariba Lake. We arrived at Lake View Lodge to stunning views across the lake.. We set up camp and were given the use of the luxury lodge for showers etc! All the perks of high living at camping costs... Included was the use of the balcony over looking the lake! There wasn't much wildlife as we sat down to spaghetti bolonaise but we had heard there was crocodiles! Fingers crossed! The next day we went for a hike, we managed about 5 miles around the dam, stopping off at a campsite/school for a drink next to the lake. We saw lots of birds but still no crocs! In the afternoon we spent time in their pool overlooking the lake and relaxing.. Hard life! Despite the lack of wildlife the scenery was stunning and we were looking forward to seeing the north of the dam in a couple of days.

(Playing cards in the tent to get away from the Mossies)

To get to the Siavonga (North Kariba) we had to do a loop back through Lusaka. We stayed back at Eureka camp where just going up the drive we saw zebra, giraffe, Impala and roan..! Just amazing! We arrived back and settled in, chatting to Anna and Gerard who we had met the first time there! We sat down to G&Ts, a braai and some cake brought over by someone we had been chatting to on an overlanding bus! It was a lovely evening, chatting and swapping stories! Back in the tent Charles got out to find something from the car.. Literally behind him were two huge giraffes! Amazing what you see in Africa! 

It took us 4 hours of hills and winding roads to get to Eagles Rest Campsite. The view was spectacular over the Kariba, and the animals fantastic! Across the lake were hippos, crocs and so many birds! We spent the afternoon being thoroughly amused by their antics. As it got dark and we were eating dinner we watched the hippos come out to graze below us. 'I bet they will be in the camp site', Charles joked.. Sure enough, 20 minutes later there were two hippos snorting at us about 10m away.. They were very placid, but we did go and sit in the car. They got bored of us and moved on, a definite highlight of my day! The second day we drove to Kariba Dam.. Wow!!!!! I will put the photos of the statistics of it.. I just cannot describe how huge it was, and the amount of water! Just wow!

Kariba Dam

Leaving Kariba we wanted to head towards south Luangwa national park. To do this again we had to linchpin around Lusaka, this time we had to go through it! Back we went, the police were out in full force today.. We were driving through a town going probably about 43km (I know this because I often look at the satnav speed as we go through villages). We were waved down by a police officer who told us we had been speeding - 56km. Both Charles and I could quite believe we had been going that fast but got out the car and went to look at their monitor.. An ancient speed camera! We said to them basically if your machine says we were speeding then we were, however all they wanted to do was chat.. 'Oh your tourists? Where are you from? Where have you been? You should make a flag tshirt'.. They let us off without a fine.. Phew! The problem after that was going out of villages they don't mark in increase in speed limit so you are often left wondering what the speed is! Oh well! We got to Lusaka with more police checks (just insurance checks) and stopped off for food. As we pulled away from shoprite Charles groaned.. White smoke.. Same smell as Rob's in Congo. My heart sank.. Great! One week away from our resident mechanic and the car is already playing up. We stopped off at the side of the road and Charles spent some time looking at the engine, topping up the fluids, the decision was made to get to Pioneer Camp and make a judgement from there - getting there Charles though it might be the fuel pump! It was back into Lusaka for him to find some sealant to try and fix tomorrow! Fingers crossed! 

#africa #overlanding #travelling #thisisafrica #zambia #Livingstone #victoriafalls

Zambia 2

We stayed at the Water front lodge for another 3 nights, in that time the boys managed to fit the parts to the cars, tinker and fix ongoing problems (our oil leak.. Which is still there a week or so later!). On the Saturday evening we had heard there was a wedding at the lodge, we had showers and decided to check it out (I think we were hoping for some freebies), sadly we saw no wedding but we did manage to watch the rugby.. You win some you loose some! As we were sitting there we got chatting to three bush pilots, two South African and one British. Drinks soon got flowing along with stories of their adventures.. They fly out wealthy tourists to go spend their millions in the national parks! They were very interesting, and a good laugh.. One drink led to another, one pizza led to 7 (including crocodile pizza), which ultimately led to the moonshine we had been given from Andrew in Angola. In one of my more sensible life decisions, Mandy's aswell, we decided to duck out of those shots .. We were both in bed by 10. The boys came back at about 12, raving about a good night.. Charles was most proud he had only done one shot of moonshine, Rob was proud he had done a lot more (however asking him that in the morning I think he changed his mind).

Morning came early, 6am to be precise.. Mandy, Charles and I were doing the microlight flight. We had heard Rob and Dad rave so much about it and we were lucky enough to be able to do it - we were very excited! We arrived at Batoka Skies air field and the micro lights were all ready to go. I went first and my pilot was German - I cannot remember his name! I was strapped in, headphones and helmet on, and before I knew it we were on the runway. My pilot was chatting away, he had done the same trip as us but been in Zambia for 15 years now, as we got to the end on the runway we were off. Into the skies so quickly without a second thought! The view was awesom, I don't know enough describing words to illustrate the sight below - the view, the skies and the warm breeze rushing last. We flew towards the falls, as they got nearer and nearer you could see the geography of the land, the zigzagging of the river and the huge gorges. We flew over, and around the falls. To see the falls from ground level and then the sky was just breath taking - the rainbows and the shadow of the microlight on the spray! My pilot dipped down so we were in the spray - I just couldn't stop laughing. We came back out the falls and over the Zambezi national park in the Zimbabwean side - I saw hippos, buffalo and a fish eagle nest. Being above them gives you a completely different perspective! Landing, I waited for Charles and Mandy - they too had an awesome time, they had also seen elephants and other animals. I think different pilots like to show their 'student pilots' different things.. For them more focus on the animals, mine the falls in more detail! Everyone had such a good time, Rob (in his slightly fragile state) had been taking photos and video. Sadly we had rather a long wait for our videos.. Short staffed and very busy, but we were back at the Lodge by 11am. What a morning! We spent the afternoon in the Livingstone museum, an informative place but could have done with a bit of love and care. There was a lot of information to read, however their animal section was fascinating. Worth a visit! Coming back I think we were all rather shattered, it was fire and bed! 

We moved back to Jolly Boys on the Monday - it was slightly cheaper to stay there, and now we had no work to do we didn't need the space. We arrived and next to us was another overland Toyota.. Coming out of the reception there was a bit of mutual love between Charles and the owners, Rob and David (I will call him Rob2 to prevent confusion). Rob and Mandy arrived, and soon the boys were talking cars and mechanics.. Charles and I snuck off to the bar to talk about our plans, only surfacing when we had come to a decision (see other blog for decision!). That evening we spent time chatting to David, Rob2 and Bastian (a guy who had been back packing and had got a lift with Rob2 and David). We also met the founder of Bhubesi Pride (www.rugbyinafrica.org), a charity who travel round Africa with volunteers training local children how to play rugby - a really interesting guy and he said on the Wednesday we could go and join in. The boys were extatic and the decision was made we stay in Livingstone till Thursday! Tuesday was spent dopping about - the boys helped Rob2 and David fix their car and change their roof tent around. We bought some more car parts, mainly things that Rob already had and we needed due to separating. 

(Boys sorting out the tent)

Wednesday came around quickly.. Rugby day and also our last night with Rob and Mandy.. We had decided on a braai so a trip to shoprite was in order for alcohol and food. Surprisingly nothing was touched till after the rugby. We turned up at the field at 4pm and instantly their coaches got the boys involved in touch with about 30 children.. It was great to see them smiling, joining in, and also the talent of some of them! I think some of the children could run circles around the boys! Training session over and it was time for 7s with their 1st team.. Rob, Charles, Rob2, David and three of their volunteers walked out onto the pitch to 7 of the Livingstone team.. They all had kit on and looked far more healthy and fit (7 months of travelling doesn't lend itself so well to exercise!). However they all did well, it ended up with them winning, but by only 2 points, and no injuries or passing out.. Result!! We arrived back at Jolly Boys at 7, and after a quick dip in the pool the alcohol came out.. By 8pm 2 bottles of vodka had gone .. Shots for us and who ever was unfortunate enough to walk past us.. By 9pm the brandy came out.. Mandy and myself started the braais but for the boys it was a little too late.. Somehow Mandy and mself were fine.. (Possibly less vodka.. I had been showering and chatting to our neighbours), we slowly watched the boys crash and burn.. David was the first in bed.. Then Bastian, Then Rob, then Rob2.. Charles was no where to be found for about 3 hours and he turned up behind the trailer asleep.. This left Mandy and myself to cook and eat three chickens and a boerworse.. We struck gold! By 11pm all the boys were tucked up around the campsite and we were drinking Amerula under the stars on their platform.. Romantic! It was a sad moment, the last time we would be doing that in a while.. A happy one because we had out lasted the boys! 

We woke up the next morning to hangovers a-plenty, the flower beds suffered as well.. I won't divulge in too much detail what from! 6 out of 7 of us managed breakfast.. Rob2 couldn't get out of bed..! For Charles and I, it was goodbyes all around.. We hit the road heading for Sinazongue at the south of Kariba Lake. We arrived at Lake View Lodge to stunning views across the lake.. We set up camp and were given the use of the luxury lodge for showers etc! All the perks of high living at camping costs... Included was the use of the balcony over looking the lake! There wasn't much wildlife as we sat down to spaghetti bolonaise but we had heard there was crocodiles! Fingers crossed! The next day we went for a hike, we managed about 5 miles around the dam, stopping off at a campsite/school for a drink next to the lake. We saw lots of birds but still no crocs! In the afternoon we spent time in their pool overlooking the lake and relaxing.. Hard life! Despite the lack of wildlife the scenery was stunning and we were looking forward to seeing the north of the dam in a couple of days.

(Playing cards in the tent to get away from the Mossies)

To get to the Siavonga (North Kariba) we had to do a loop back through Lusaka. We stayed back at Eureka camp where just going up the drive we saw zebra, giraffe, Impala and roan..! Just amazing! We arrived back and settled in, chatting to Anna and Gerard who we had met the first time there! We sat down to G&Ts, a braai and some cake brought over by someone we had been chatting to on an overlanding bus! It was a lovely evening, chatting and swapping stories! Back in the tent Charles got out to find something from the car.. Literally behind him were two huge giraffes! Amazing what you see in Africa! 

It took us 4 hours of hills and winding roads to get to Eagles Rest Campsite. The view was spectacular over the Kariba, and the animals fantastic! Across the lake were hippos, crocs and so many birds! We spent the afternoon being thoroughly amused by their antics. As it got dark and we were eating dinner we watched the hippos come out to graze below us. 'I bet they will be in the camp site', Charles joked.. Sure enough, 20 minutes later there were two hippos snorting at us about 10m away.. They were very placid, but we did go and sit in the car. They got bored of us and moved on, a definite highlight of my day! The second day we drove to Kariba Dam.. Wow!!!!! I will put the photos of the statistics of it.. I just cannot describe how huge it was, and the amount of water! Just wow!

Kariba Dam

Leaving Kariba we wanted to head towards south Luangwa national park. To do this again we had to linchpin around Lusaka, this time we had to go through it! Back we went, the police were out in full force today.. We were driving through a town going probably about 43km (I know this because I often look at the satnav speed as we go through villages). We were waved down by a police officer who told us we had been speeding - 56km. Both Charles and I could quite believe we had been going that fast but got out the car and went to look at their monitor.. An ancient speed camera! We said to them basically if your machine says we were speeding then we were, however all they wanted to do was chat.. 'Oh your tourists? Where are you from? Where have you been? You should make a flag tshirt'.. They let us off without a fine.. Phew! The problem after that was going out of villages they don't mark in increase in speed limit so you are often left wondering what the speed is! Oh well! We got to Lusaka with more police checks (just insurance checks) and stopped off for food. As we pulled away from shoprite Charles groaned.. White smoke.. Same smell as Rob's in Congo. My heart sank.. Great! One week away from our resident mechanic and the car is already playing up. We stopped off at the side of the road and Charles spent some time looking at the engine, topping up the fluids, the decision was made to get to Pioneer Camp and make a judgement from there - getting there Charles though it might be the fuel pump! It was back into Lusaka for him to find some sealant to try and fix tomorrow! Fingers crossed! 

#africa #overlanding #travelling #thisisafrica #zambia #Livingstone #victoriafalls

Zambia (the first two weeks).. In photos and poetry

My last blog didn't have many photos in, I have now managed to get some (thank you to all of those who sent some to me!). I also mentioned a poem my Dad wrote about the week with us - it used to be a tradition at Christmas that my Grandfather would read one out - it was nice to have one to end our week together! The last verse was a little addition I attempted! 

Lesley's camping trip with a diff-erence!

Lesley's first camping trip. 'Oh bloody 'ell'

We travelled from Jo'burg, with Rob and Ronel.

At Marakele we stopped, our very first night.

In the morning, a lone ostrich came out, just at daylight.

We travelled to Botswana, over the Limpopo river,

Wasted no time at the border, our visas to deliver.

On to Zambia, with haste, but stopped for speeding,

And 'oh dear', missed a cow on the road, that was feeding??

To Livingstone we came, Pith Hats all gleaming, 

In Jo'burg you could hear the sound of Cat screaming.

Birthdays were celebrated, many beers drowned,

To bed we all went, sleeping so sound.

Victoria falls, how amazing, and the bungee drop.

A trip on the river, the drink would not stop.

Canoe trip on the Zambezi, with lunch taken in style,

Keep your eyes on the water, watch out for the crocodile!

On the Kafue, on the dirt road.

Lots of tsetse came with us, by the shed load.

Hippo bay came next with its lake, just amazing.

Sunset and sunrise, with its hippos all grazing.

Kasabushi next, luckily lit the boiler with wood, 

Spam fritters for supper, my word were they good?

River boar cruise, hippos, mist and sunrise,

We came to the campsite and found paradise.

Onto Lusaka, eureka camp,

No need that night for agas filled lamp!

Then head for Livingstone, full steam ahead..

Oh dear, Rob's discovery was almost dead.

Ernest and Watson tried their very best,

Rob's patience, I think, put to the test.

Moorings camp site, just as lovely,

Just hope that we see the boys in their discover-ly!

Almost back where we started, and staying with Jenny.

With tales of our adventure, oh yes, there are many!

We've had such a great time, and seen so many sights.

But one thing we won't miss is those tsetse bites! 

Back to England you are, in the sunshine (?!)

I guess we will go back to speaking on face time.

The week spent you will be so hard to beat..

But we'll remember every time we have a braai and meat! 

(A home made card from my favourite people - sent via parents post!)

(Mandy, Charles and me before our bungee!)

(Wet selfie after going in the spray at Vic Falls)

(On the sunset boat booze cruise)

(Relaxing during the lunch stop)

(Last morning photograph!) 

#africa #overlanding #travelling #thisisafrica #zambia #victoriafalls #livingstone #kafue #family

Onwards from here..

In my last blog I wrote we had a lot of decisions to make in the upcoming days.. Our plans have changed so many times already, countries we want to visit, time and the order we visit them due to costs and route restraints. Money is sadly also becoming a factor! 

We want to visit another 8 countries; Uganda, Tanazania, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Mozambique and of course South Africa. The problem with some of them is visa costs.. Here is where is gets complicated!! Charles has duel nationalisty.. British and South African, at the moment he is travelling on his British passport because throughout Western Africa it is the easiest to do. However.. Now we are down south, Charles' South African passport allows free entry to all the above countries apart from Uganda. The catch is that on the land borders countries are reluctant to let him enter on a different passport to the one he left the previous country on due to the paper trail (yes all of a sudden Africa cares about the paper trail). This means that currently if we go to these countries Charles will pay British (double to include me) prices which are expensive and as follows..

Uganda - $100 per person (including South African citizens)

Tanzania - $100 per person (free for South Africa citizens) 

Malawi - $75 per person but this keeps changing (free for South Africa citizens) 

Mozambique - $50 per person ($100 for multiple) (free for South Africa citizens) 

Zimbabwe - $55 per person (free for South Africa citizens) 

Botswana - free

Namibia - free

South Africa - free 

As you can see if we could change Charles' passport we would spend a whole lot less on visas, and we think this maybe possible if we go to South Africa and then back out on his South African passport. However as we are currently in Zambia we are in the middle, but nearer Uganda which is where we want to visit! Chatting to each other we came up with some options..

1. Travel on the British passports up to Uganda and just deal with the costs..

2. Travel Namibia, Botswana, dip into South Africa to change the passport, then Mozambique (multiple entry), Tanzania (multiple entry), Uganda, Tanzania, Malawi, Mozambique Zimbabwe and then South Africa. 

3. Do all the southern countries, then fly to Kampala from Jo'burg once we get to South Africa. 

4. Speak to Zambian immigration and see whether we can extend and upgrade my visa to a multiple entry. Drive down to SA quickly through Botswana. Back up to Zambia to do the northern parts, through Tanzania to Uganda, back through Tanzania, Malawi, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswna , Namibia and South Africa. 

Just too many decisions...  Moved from the waterfront hotel in Livingstone to the Jolly Boys with a plan to have made a decision by Monday evening..!

Monday!

Having checked back into Jolly boys in Livingstone, we met two guys travelling from Mozambique who told us northern Mozambique is a no go at the moment due to civil war. We sat down with a beer, or two, and decided due to visa costs using the British passport we could not do everything. After lots of deliberation, and different ideas we came up with a plan.. 

Zambia

Malawi 

Mozambique 

Swaziland 

SA - Kruger park for 1.5 weeks (please let us know charles friends and family if you would like to join us!)

Zimbabwe 

Botswna 

Namibia

South Africa 

Fingers crossed this works...  We are putting some money away for when we get to South Africa to possibly fly to Uganda and see it then. Sadly a limited budget means making sacrifices. 

We are going to stay in Livingstone till Thursday and start making our way up through Zambia - Kariba dam and some of the national parks! Looking forward to seeing the northern part! 

Onwards from here..

In my last blog I wrote we had a lot of decisions to make in the upcoming days.. Our plans have changed so many times already, countries we want to visit, time and the order we visit them due to costs and route restraints. Money is sadly also becoming a factor! 

We want to visit another 8 countries; Uganda, Tanazania, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Mozambique and of course South Africa. The problem with some of them is visa costs.. Here is where is gets complicated!! Charles has duel nationalisty.. British and South African, at the moment he is travelling on his British passport because throughout Western Africa it is the easiest to do. However.. Now we are down south, Charles' South African passport allows free entry to all the above countries apart from Uganda. The catch is that on the land borders countries are reluctant to let him enter on a different passport to the one he left the previous country on due to the paper trail (yes all of a sudden Africa cares about the paper trail). This means that currently if we go to these countries Charles will pay British (double to include me) prices which are expensive and as follows..

Uganda - $100 per person (including South African citizens)

Tanzania - $100 per person (free for South Africa citizens) 

Malawi - $75 per person but this keeps changing (free for South Africa citizens) 

Mozambique - $50 per person ($100 for multiple) (free for South Africa citizens) 

Zimbabwe - $55 per person (free for South Africa citizens) 

Botswana - free

Namibia - free

South Africa - free 

As you can see if we could change Charles' passport we would spend a whole lot less on visas, and we think this maybe possible if we go to South Africa and then back out on his South African passport. However as we are currently in Zambia we are in the middle, but nearer Uganda which is where we want to visit! Chatting to each other we came up with some options..

1. Travel on the British passports up to Uganda and just deal with the costs..

2. Travel Namibia, Botswana, dip into South Africa to change the passport, then Mozambique (multiple entry), Tanzania (multiple entry), Uganda, Tanzania, Malawi, Mozambique Zimbabwe and then South Africa. 

3. Do all the southern countries, then fly to Kampala from Jo'burg once we get to South Africa. 

4. Speak to Zambian immigration and see whether we can extend and upgrade my visa to a multiple entry. Drive down to SA quickly through Botswana. Back up to Zambia to do the northern parts, through Tanzania to Uganda, back through Tanzania, Malawi, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswna , Namibia and South Africa. 

Just too many decisions...  Moved from the waterfront hotel in Livingstone to the Jolly Boys with a plan to have made a decision by Monday evening..!

Monday!

Having checked back into Jolly boys in Livingstone, we met two guys travelling from Mozambique who told us northern Mozambique is a no go at the moment due to civil war. We sat down with a beer, or two, and decided due to visa costs using the British passport we could not do everything. After lots of deliberation, and different ideas we came up with a plan.. 

Zambia

Malawi 

Mozambique 

Swaziland 

SA - Kruger park for 1.5 weeks (please let us know charles friends and family if you would like to join us!)

Zimbabwe 

Botswna 

Namibia

South Africa 

Fingers crossed this works...  We are putting some money away for when we get to South Africa to possibly fly to Uganda and see it then. Sadly a limited budget means making sacrifices. 

We are going to stay in Livingstone till Thursday and start making our way up through Zambia - Kariba dam and some of the national parks! Looking forward to seeing the northern part!