KWANDO - the new truck

It is time to leave Zambia and we started our last day by joining our new tour group. The eight of us continuing to Cape Town have joined 3 people that started their trip in Johannesburg, plus another 6 people just starting out. There is a more international flavour to this truck with 2 Germans, and 2 Dutch adding to the mainly English group. Our new tour leader and driver (Jacques & JP) are both South African and set about explaining how the truck works. First things first, girls are not to lift anything heavy! Good news for Claire, bad news for Steve who is put in the 'dog's body' group for the next 3 weeks. The rest of us rotated through the standard cooking/washing/cleaning duties as before.

Before leaving for the border we took the opportunity to also visit the Zambian side of Victoria Falls. Unlike in Zimbabwe where we were able to see the face of the falls, from Zambia we were able to look down the length of them. We had heard that you could almost walk along the top of them but when we tried, there was an armed guard preventing us. Back on the truck we headed on towards the border.
Zimbabwe is on the left side
Wise words!
The bridge that spans Zambia (left) to Zimbabwe (right)

This border is actually a river crossing where the Zambezi River meets the Chobe River. While crossing you can actually see four countries, Zambia to the north (behind us), Botswana to the south (ahead of us), Namibia to the west, and Zimbabwe to the east. If we had been on foot the crossing would have only taken around 30min but it took over an hour for the truck to make it across. The other side is literally river bank so we waited in the shade of trees until JP and Kwando arrived. At camp there were 2 other Acacia tours there. Our old truck (Limpopo) was continuing down to Johannesburg with the 3 remaining people, as well as a small group tour that was also making its way down to Johannesburg. This was the last time that we would see Fiona and Blessed, but we would travel alongside the small group for another couple of days. This particular camp site (Thebe River Safari) had been recently flooded and was in the final stages of rebuilding the pool and bar that a wayward Hippo had destroyed.

Up very early the next morning for a sunrise game drive in Chobe National Park. Unlike the game drives in Kenya and Tanzania the group stayed together in an open sided vehicle with bench seats. A couple of other peolple from the camp site joined us, so we had about 25 on vehicle. It was freezing! The windchill kicked in as soon as we started driving and it was at least an hour or so before we felt any heat from the sun. We were very jealous of some of the other groups going in that had blankets with them. Once in the park we headed straight for the river and found a large herd of Hippo. It was nice to see them a bit more active then those we have already seen. The remainder of the drive was uneventful. We saw lots of evidence of animals but none of them in person. We were quite relieved to return to camp and warmth, expecially as JP had cooked French Toast for us!

We think these are Rock Dussies. Whatever they are they are very cute.

That afternoon, we headed back to the river for a sunset safari cruise. It was with relief that we saw quite a variety of animals, including birds, crocodiles, giraffes, monkeys, buffalo and of course hippo. Finally we saw some hippos out of the water and they capture alot of photo time as everyone tried for the 'yawn'. Sunset topped off a great afternoon on the water.

Believe it not but this is the moon. We've never seen it so big or orange!

The following morning it was up at the crack of dawn again. This time it was for a 9hr day of driving down to Maun, and the Okavango Delta. Alot of that time was spent on a 100km stretch of 'road' that was ridiculously potholed. JP had a go at driving on both sides as well as the shoulders but nothing made it any smoother. At a supermarket stop Claire discovered the Botswanan version of Lamingtons. Naturally she bought it and the comment was 'I am sure it would have tasted great the day it was made'. Apparently it was rather stale.

Livingstone again...

The day we went to Zimbabwe was the last official day with the people of this truck. In tradition we headed out for a group dinner at Funky Monkey (a pizza place recommended by Lonely Planet). Sadly a couple of people missed the dinner as they were caught in an 'elephant jam' just outside the campsite gates. As well as the girls getting stuck on the wrong side of the gates, it meant that our taxi's couldn't get in to pick us up. The only option for us was to head through the electric fence into the fancy lodge style hotel that was next door and meet the taxi there.

The road leading to the camp gates.

The last full day at this campsite was an easy one for us. Lazing by the pool and sifting through some of the photos as well as starting to plan activites for our time in Cape Town. That afternoon we had our elephant safari! Our elephant encounter started a little earlier then we had expected. Just after we drove out of the camp gates, a femal elephant lumbered straight past us heading for the gate. The attendants quickly closed them and all the traffic on the way in, settled in for a wait. We got the impression this happens pretty frequently!

The safari was great. All the elephants used by this company have been rescued from Zimbabwe. Our elephant was called Mushimba and she was 25 years old. Her 5yr old baby was also there but was still in training for passengers. The smaller one kept coming up to Claire and touching her leg with its trunk. Each elephant has a guide that sits on the neck and then we sit behind the guide on the elephants back. Surprisingly the skin of the elephant was quite soft but the hairs are very wiry and scratchy. During the ride we were taken alongside the river about 10kms from the drop of the falls, crossing some of the shallower sections to the nearby islands. The elephants obviously don't like getting their tails wet as they were all raised to just above the water level. We were hoping to see some wildlife during the ride and 4 crocodiles were the highlight. Impala and mating chimpanzees rounded out the safari. After the ride we had the opportunity to feed our elephant, and she was definitely hungry. Unlike the others who waited patiently for you to place the pellets into the trunks, Mushimba would use her trunk to search you for the food. She had quite a light touch but was very insistent.

A section of the river that we crossed.

One of the crocodiles, quite alot bigger then the one we saw when rafting!

The feeding frenzy starts

What a way to end our time with Fiona, Blessed and everyone else on 'Limpopo'. Tomorrow we board our next truck....

Livingstone


When we arrived in camp it really hit us that we were at the half-way point of the trip. In a couple of days time we were going to be packing up our bags and tent and moving to a new truck. We'd be saying farewell to many of the people we had just become friends with and starting all over again with new tour leaders and a few new people. Sad in one respect and exciting in another. Having to live in such close quarters with everyone it is amazing how quickly you become a 'family' and develop routines.


First impressions of the camp at Livingstone - it is huge!! There are so many different tour companies here, some of which we recognised from the road, but even more that we have never heard of. The accommodation is quite varied, from the camping we are used to right through to luxury bungalow style cabins. It was a bit of a challenge to find a vacant space that was large enough for us and the truck and still be resonably close to any of the shower blocks.


As soon as we had the tents up we went to a briefing of the activities on offer. We had looked into this before we left England and budgeted for the extra cost. In the end we decided to do the Sunset Cruise as a group, White Water Rafting, and Elephant Riding. Claire was quite keen to see Victoria Falls from a Microlight (think lawnmower engine attached to a couple of seats with a wing above you) but since Steve wasn't keen we decided for a scenic flight on a proper plane later on in the trip.


The cruise was definitely a good time and included dinner and drinks, but mainly drinks. Sunset was amazing and we even saw some animals. Before we had even left the pier a crocodile was spotted and shortly after we started to see the heads of hippo's as they surfaced for air. During the cruise we also saw elephants, and giraffe. When we returned to the camp, there was a 'disco' but it seemed only our truck decided to attend. Oh well, we had a great night!
Our tour group and leader

Claire with Fiona - the aussie tour leader

Sunset down the Zambezi

Elephants walking along the bank

A few of the girls from the truck

The next morning it was time for White Water Rafting along the Zambezi. 7 from our truck had deicided to take on the challenge of the full day experience and a couple turned up with sore heads. The safety briefing was short and sweet - Wear a helmet and life jacket, if you flip keep hold of the rope, and finally, if separated from the boat stay in the middle of the river and keep your feet in front of you (apparently that is beneficial if you hit one of the rock walls). The paddles float so no need to worry about those. The start point for the rafting was also the entrance to the Victoria Falls viewing platforms. It was this point that we realised that Zimbabwe was only a few metres away and our lifejackets had ZAMBIA printed on the back of them. The walk down into the gorge took forever and we were glad that we had kept our shoes with us.

Top of the gorge. Zambia on the left, Zimbabwe on the right. You can also see rapids 2 and 3.

Our boat with guide Scotty

Eventually we found the boats and were told that we were doing a 'wet start'. This meant that we had to jump off the rocks into the water (about 5 metres) and be dragged into our boat. Any remaining sore heads from the night before were quickly cured as the water was freezing! The next few hours were action packed as we attempted 8 of the first 10 rapids before lunch. The ones we missed out were Rapid 1 which was deemed too difficult (thus the wet start) and so was the 6th, although it was amazing to stand on the bank and watch the safety kayaks go through.

Claire some how managed to find the water 3 times that morning. The first incident was in flat water between rapids when she lost concentration laughing at someone else's misfortune, and was rewarded with a quick dip and blood nose. The second dip was on the hardest rapid of the day when she managed to flip over the back, travel under the boat and pop up at the front, looking absolutely terrified. Luckily the boat had been pushed up against a rock and Steve and Mike in the front spots were able to pull her back in. Amazingly her paddle was still in her seat! The third incident was a deliberate flip by our guide Scotty. Claire found herself under the boat in an airpocket and was able to pop out on the side okay. Steve didn't manage to hold onto the rope whilst underneath the raft, and found himself floating down the river where the safety guys picked him up.

Claire fell out somewhere here...

and reappeared here...

finishing the rapid like this.

This was the next rapid. All survived!

A few rapids later - the boat starts to rise...

notice Scotty pulling on the rope...

remember the safety briefing - keep hold of the rope

looks like only one person was listening...

Steve definitely didn't hold on!

After lunch we tackled another 15 rapids which were slightly easier then the morning. Our guide told us he was going to flip us twice in the afternoon, but as some of the group hadn't handled the first flip very well, he decided to be nice. As we floated down the river we saw a small Crocodile and Claire was glad her nose was no longer bleeding! When we pulled in after rapid 25 we discovered that we had to take a cable car up the gorge to meet the truck. This was an interesting experience as we had to sign a waiver first, in the car the operator left the side doors open (as it was a bit windy) and told us we would probably get a decent bump when the car changed from the vertical cable to the horizontal cable. More then a few were a bit nervous of the height and very relieved to touch solid ground again.

Solid and dry ground!!

In the truck and it was about 30min drive over very rough ground and through a couple of villages back to camp, where we were shown our photos and video of the day. All in all it was a great day, we finished with one blood nose, one twitsted knee, a maybe broken foot and 7 very sunburnt tourists. All of us were exhausted and were in bed at 8pm.

We tried to load the video directly onto here, but it was a little big. Our fellow traveller Dan has loaded it onto Youtube so follow this link:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=eq3dry2rA5U&feature=player_embedded