ZAMBIA
04.06.08 - It was dark when we got up to be at the gate of South Luangwa Park for opening time at 6am, we paid our $75 for car and 2 people and what a fantastic day. Within the first 20 mins we saw two female lions with cubs and two juvenile males this was a good start and our luck continued through the day, we later saw a pack of African Wild Dogs sunning themselves on a dried up river bed, and saw plenty of game. We decided to stop for dinner overlooking a dried up lagoon that was absolutely full of animals. We sat there for about an hour having lunch and a couple of beers with Taryn keeping a constant vigil for anything that my be trying to sneak up on us, all at once there was an almighty ruckus from the woods at the other side of the lagoon with animals of all kinds running out. We all rushed for our cameras thinking something was coming out, but nothing came and after half an hour of screeching all the baboons ran back into the woods closely followed by the elephants who we think went in to restore order as very soon after all was silent again. Went for a final drive around some rougher tracks finishing up in an idyllic glade with some huge elephant and giraffe, they seem to grow much bigger here than any where else in the park, had to do some major off road driving which Troy and Alan thoroughly enjoyed. So it was back to camp and a dinner of steak and chips cooked on the BBQ. Whilst sat having our meal with Alan & Taryn, not 10 yards away a huge Hippo wandered past taking a moment to stare before realising you have to be an alcoholic to join our group he then went merrily on his way. To bed that night with the sound of Hippos grazing and Hyenas whooping.
05.06.08 - Went to the toilet at first light, passed Taryn on my way back she then calls after me to ask if I had seen the elephants ‘what elephants’ I say, then she points to the toilet block where there are 4 elephants wandering around next to it, how I missed them I will never know! We spent our next 30 mins taking pictures and manoeuvring ourselves out the way as they proceeded further into camp. As the elephants left we made breakfast and the monkeys descended on us (now we know where the idea for the film Gremlins came from) in, on and around everything managing to pinch some toast from the fire and a boiled egg whilst it was boiling, it was 20 mins of mayhem but good fun. Once the monkeys had left the rest of the day was pretty relaxed just doing life’s everyday chores of cooking and cleaning. Sat down around the camp fire in the evening, with the Hippos chomping grass around us, whilst listening to tales of the village and bush life from the camp guard.
06.06.08 - Decided to take the Petauke road to Luangwa Bridge instead of back tracking to Chipata, chatting to people at the camp they said it should be doable by now after the rains but no one has come through that way in the last couple of months. The road turned out to be very interesting, a few shallow river crossings, a few dry river crossings and a few crossings where the bridges had collapsed. 90% of the road can be described only as a track mostly uneven rutted ground and tall elephant grass brushing the sides of the car for long stretches. There are a few steep rocky bits but on the whole not too bad, the only time feeling nervous while driving through the bush fires. One annoying part of the drive was the swarms of tsetse flies, some even managing to get in with the windows up tight (it’s a Landrover!) We didn’t make it to Luangwa Bridge as it took 9 hours to do 170km so ended up staying at the Zulu Kraal Camp in Petauke and having a very early night.
07.06.08 - After the long drive of yesterday decided on a short drive to Luangwa Bridge Camp instead of pushing on to Lusaka. Drive was mostly on good tar and reached camp around lunch time. Spent the rest of the day relaxing in the sun, with Troy and Alan slowly getting drunk on very expensive beer.
08 to 09.06.08 - The drive to Lusaka was also very easy on good tar, first stop the Ocean Basket where we had some lovely fish and chips. Quick trip around the supermarkets where I thought I had died and gone to heaven when I found orange breezers something I have not had since Italy. Shopping done it was then off to Eureka Camp which is situated in a small game park so as we drove in there were Zebra walking around the camp. As we have gone up in altitude again the evening was very cold and we spent it huddled around the fire watching the wildlife walk around our car, very cool. As the place was so nice we decided to stay two nights, spent the following day relaxing and watching the animals wondering by.
10.06.08 - The drive from Lusaka to Livingstone was good apart from a sting in the tail with the last 80km being massively potholed, so we ended up reaching Livingstone much later than we had anticipated. Had originally thought we would camp at Fawlty Towers but upon arriving were told they cannot cater for roof tents, so we drove a bit further on and ended up at Livingstone Safari Lodge. By now it was starting to get dark we set up, cooked and all feeling tired from the long drive had an early night.
11.06.08 - Left pretty early so we could spend the day at the falls, when we arrived we saw a few people coming out soaking wet, but stupidly I thought that they had obviously got themselves wet on purpose so we left our waterproof trousers and boots in the car and only went in with a waterproof jacket each. The first part of the walk was nice and dry and the falls looked spectacular, however as you walk closer it starts to get a bit wet, then you reach the bridge, we got absolutely soaked the spray is huge and there was no way of avoiding it, our trousers were stuck to our legs our trainers were squelching and all I could think about was my waterproofs I left in the car. We walked to the end and watched a few people bungee off the bridge that connects Zambia and Zimbabwe. Then it was back across the bridge for another soaking and then a long walk around the rest of the falls trying to dry ourselves out in the sun. Thought we would try the Waterfront campsite tonight as they have a booking office for the different activities and are right next to the microlight centre. We could not book our flights for the following day but managed for the day after, Troy and Alan booked to go fishing the following afternoon. Waterfront camp is big with good facilities but it is also popular with overland trucks so can be busy & noisy; luckily we managed to find the last 2 pitches.
12.06.08 - Had a lazy morning, doing the usual washing and tidying. Unfortunately Waterfront has a massive mosquito problem so having a shower was a bit like King Kong at the top of the empire state building! Troy and Alan set off at lunchtime with the promise of bringing back some fish for dinner. With full confidence in Troy’s ability I set about making a stew just in case they came back empty handed! It was dark by the time they came back and sure enough they did not coming bearing fish, although Troy does claim to have caught three although they only had a picture of one.
13.06.08 - We had to be ready to leave at 7am, so was still dark when we got up and very cold. Got dressed in our thermals and as many layers as we could manage, and set off. There was another four people going up and there are two microlights, they all went first but luckily were only doing the 15 minute flights so the wait was not too bad. Taryn was next who has not done a flight before, we were both doing the 30 minute and Troy was doing 15 minutes. Then I went up, first they fly over the falls which are huge, you really cannot get the sense of the sheer size of them from the ground and we would undoubtedly say a flight is the best way of seeing them and it was an absolutely amazing sight. After doing a few circles of the falls we then flew over the Zambezi National Park to try and do some game spotting where we did manage to see quite a few different animals. Then it was back to the airstrip where I just landed as Troy took off for his flight. When we were all done it was back to camp where we spent much of the rest of the day making the most of their rather slow but free wifi.
14.06.08 - Another day, another country. We were stopped on the road out of Livingstone and told we had to pay council tax and that if we didn’t produce the receipt for this at the border we would be sent back. Not ever having heard this before and not really trusting a guy on the side of the road we told him we would not pay and drove on. When we reached the border we were asked for our receipt by one guy but when we told him we didn’t know what he was talking about he just waved us through. Had been slightly worried about this border as you have to take a ferry across, however everything went quickly and smoothly the Zambian customs was easy, then we got straight onto the ferry and then the Botswana customs was also easy. We had eaten or cooked all our meat as had read you were not allowed to take it in, however no one actually checked or even asked us if we had anything so we needn’t have worried. Drove into Kasane as we needed money, food and fuel as we had not wanted to buy anymore in Zambia. Money and food was no problem but all the garages had run out of diesel. The next garage was 120km away in Pandamatenga, we set off worried that we would not make it as had very little in the tank and empty jerry cans, Alan was ok as had just put his last jerry can of fuel in. Luckily the road was very good and we managed to coast into the garage on fumes. After filling up we drove to Panda Rest Camp which is owned by Angela & Chris who is friends of Taryn’s. The campsite is huge with individual sinks, tables and BBQ’s and probably the hottest and most powerful showers we have had on the whole trip. We were very lucky in our timing as they were having a party there that night for one of the locals 70th birthday; they had a huge buffet and an excellent live singer. We soon joined in having far too much to drink and dancing around the camp fire, we have wanted a good night out for quite a while now and this was just what we needed. The singer was amazing and we soon had him doing requests, it was a brilliant night and we finally stumbled to bed around 2am.
Final thoughts: For UK citizens visas are very expensive, also charging you carbon tax the price of diesel and food make Zambia expensive. On the positive side it is friendly it has some beautiful areas of wildlife, excellent campsites and of course it has Victoria Falls. A fun filled hassle free place, that we would recommend anyone visit, especially Flat Dogs Camp which we loved.
