Overland Adventures; Vic Falls-Cape Town

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sooooo, this is gonna be a long time sat in this seat i reckon. the English may get a bit iffy towards the end too! (and prob the middle!).

My last entry ended with the arrival at Cape Town for New Year. allow me to summarise events... stayed in a place called Muizenburg with ze 2 Germans girls again (same as Christmas). went out to a club called La Med, met some people, got a lil tipsy, watched sunset on Camps Bay beach with a bottle of Bubbly, went to a bar in Kalk Bay called Polana's, slept. The Next couple of weeks after this have been spent seeing the sights and sounds of Cape Town, notably Table Mountain, Robben Island, and the museums and galleries. After all of this sight seeing, i found myself on the balcony of the Hostel wondering where and what i would do next. not quite ready to move onto Asia just yet, and with a month left on my visa, i started to investigate... i spent the next week crashing on a mates sofa (Lexi, a girl i met in Coffee Bay), and it was here that i finally booked my overland tour. The only problem was, it started in Livingstone at Vic Falls, about 3 hours north by plane! in a effort to save money, i caught the bus from Cape Town to Jo'burg (an overnighter that takes 20 hours!!!) I stayed in Jo'burg for another 6 nights with some very hospitable friends (thanks), before catching a flight to Livingstone (on BA!).

Plane was a smallish jet, with only a handful of people on board so we got to spread out, and make the most of the free booze. on approach to Livingstone airport, the pilot mentioned a little treat out of the left hand window, so we all moved across to get the most amazing birds eye view of the Vic Falls. the size does not really comprehend until you see it from above, but at over a mile wide, it is HUGE!!! also interseting, as i later found out, that this is the 9th (i think), Vic Falls. you can see from the pics the way the river zig-zags... well the falls are retreating up the river due to the massive erosion!

Livingstone

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i go straight to the Jollyboys backpackers, the official tour starts in 2 days, so i have somet time to myself first. i took the free shuttle to the falls with a few others for a little walk about. they sell you rain macs, but we though how wet can it possibly be... 1 hour later, i am as wet as wet can be (wringing my socks out kinda wet), and my i-pod, in my "waterproof" bag is broken! The view of the Falls from the Zambian side isnt as vast as that from the Zimbabwean side, but it is still v impressive. the scale, the power and the amount of water is unbelievable! not sure the pictures really do it justice. we walked to the top of the falls too, and you can get pretty close to the edge. in times of lower water you can actually swim out to the edge and sit in pools at the top of the drop off.
I'd already arranged to do the white water rafting with the group on the tour, and the next day i went early in the am to meet them all at the camp site. pretty daunting meeting 25 people who have been travelling together for the last 4 weeks... we got picked up, and taken to the rafting start. due to the waters being so high, you cannot do rapids 1-10 (1 being right at base of the falls), so we go straight to 11 and go through to 25. the safety briefing is, erm, brief, and once kitted with helmet, life jacket and oar, we headed down into the valley. 2 rafts, one was for people who wanted an easier time, the other was for the more adventurous. I, of course, picked the adventurous one. the raft was called "SHIT HAPPENS". The next few hours were the most fun ever! the anticipation on the approach to each rapid is intense. we were riding rapids upto grade 5, about as rapidy as rapids get. 6 of us in the raft, plus the guy in charge who tells you what to do. we did the first rapid fine, although you constantly feel like you will fall out as you are just perched on the side of the raft, nothing to hold onto. on the 2nd, we lost a girl overboard. all scrambling, we got her back on swiftly. few more fine, then we hit a minor grade 4 rapid, the raft went down in a dip in the water, then hit a HUGE wake, and the whole thing flipped over, tossing us all off into the Zambezi! i came up under the raft, which is an odd place to be, especially as there isn't much air, and found my way to the right side. the guide flipped it back, and on we went. a few swims, another monumental flip, and some more rapids later we got to the end of the trip. def one of the best experiences ever! some of the group opted for the jet boat ride too, i however took the purpose built cable car back up the valley side to lunch. the views back at the top of the Valley are amazing, and its weird to think that on one side of the river is Zambia, the other Zimbabwe and in the middle, crocodiles!
That night, after a few beers on the truck, we ended up going for a booze cruise on the Zambezi. a lot more sedate than the rafting, but here you pay $40US, and get all you can drink and eat on the river. a Few hippos wallowing in the water make it all the more interesting. back on dry land, i managed to somehow lose my flip flops and end up in the pool fully clothed. a good way to break the ice with the rest of the group i felt!! the following day was spent in Livingstone town; a town that is profiting from the decline in Zimbabwean tourism, but is not really that geared up for the influx of tourists.

Okavango Delta

we drove across the border, and ended up at a camp site on the edges of the Chobe National Park. i decided to chill a little while the majority went on another river cruise (no booze). early start the next morning for a long drive day to the Okavango Delta. The Okavango Delta is one of the world’s largest inland water systems. It's headwaters start in Angola’s western highlands, with numerous tributaries joining to form the Cubango river, which then flows through Namibia (called the Kavango) and finally enters Botswana, where it is then called the Okavango.
once here, we signed up for the Makuro trip into the delta. and... after some thought, the scenic flight over the delta. the next morning, we get picked up and taken to the edge of the delta. the polers (the guys and girls that "pole" the dug out canoes known as makuros) are all waiting for us, ready to take us 1.5 hours into the delta. we climb in, 2 to a makuro plus poler (we had HEAD poler Samual), lay back and enjoy the complete peacefulness of the delta as we glide through the reeds to the island where we will be camping.
the island is a pretty vast, although we just camp on one corner. the fire is lit, the long drop (bush toilet) is dug, and we chill out by going for a swim in the hippo and croc infested delta. the water is soo pure you can drink it. pace of life in the delta is pretty slow, and apart from a bush walk that afternoon just before sunset, there is little to do. we play some cards with the polers, and generally relax!
The next morning is an early start, we get poled to a diff island, and do a 5 hour bush walk, trying to track the big game. we don't see a great deal of big stuff, but a herd of wilderbeast and some zebras were spotted. back at the camp, we give poling a go. harder than it looks to steer these things, but a good laugh cruising round the island. the evening just before sunset is spent at a Hippo watering station. 2 hippos that ended up fighting, disappearing under water, then re-surfacing closer to the makuros than we would have liked was enough to scare even some of the polers, let alone us. once back at camp, the fire flies were out in force lighting up the reeds on the edge of the island, and the rest of the group practised a song to sing to the polers while myself and two others cooked the dinner. after dinner, the polers performed some local songs, and we attempted one back, to some sort of success. the highlight was probably when one of our group, slightly inebriated, sang a pretty damned good version of Nessun Dorma.
next morning, there is another early game walk whih i must admit i slept through, before we had breakie, packed up the makuros and poled our way back to the shore. In the afternoon we made our way to Maun airport where we took a scenic flight over the delta. its from here that you get an idea of the scale, and the fact that not far from where we were actually camping, there are HERDS of Elephants, Buffalo and Giraffe. also, most of the watering holes seemed to be filled with Hippo's!

The next 3 days were spent driving our way to Namibia. we first camped overnight in a very tranquil place (name forgotten, sorry) where we did a bush walk that took in some bush paintings on the walls of the rocks and caves. it was here that the next morning, while attempting to sort out the shade for the "beach", (the beach is the name for the area inside the truck, where it was possible to pull the tarpalin on the roof back to open up the top of the truck and stand up), that i had a run-in with an acacia tree, causing me to rip up my t-shirt, and my arms, and my chest, and my head... quite funny now, but slightly painful at the time. we camped at a giant baobab tree this night, another one of our bush camps. the tree has a diamameter of over 20m!! after dinner i was given the "crocs". a bright orange pair of crocs, given to the person who has done something, on the whole, pretty stupid that day. the deal is you have to wear them everywhere for the next 24 hours. after more driving, we bush camp n the side of the road, in God knows where, couple of glasses of wine later, the heavens open and it does not stop raining pretty much the entire night. the whole group decamp to the truck for some drinks where it all gets a bit raucous before myself, Tom, Jono and Anna head to the "club". thats the name of my tent, where we continued partying, waking most people up, and T-Money's (Tom's) dancing, nearly brought the house down, literally!

Namibia

so we leave early in the am, and drive along the border of Angola and Namibia to the north east gate of Etosha National Park. Etosha, which was declared a game reserve by the German kolonial administration back in 1907, covers an area of more than 22 000 sqkms. In its centre lies a vast saltpan surrounded by grass and thorn savannah, Mopane bushland in the west and dry forest in the north-east. About two million years ago, this area was an enormous lake, fed by the Kunene river. However the lake slowly dried up because over time, the river changed its course. we do an early game drive to the first rest camp, where on the way we see lots of giraffe's towering above the trees. after some breakfast, more drives take in lions, wilderbeast, zebra abd some more smaller game. The rest camp we stay in has a cool flood lit watering hole to one side of it, so when it gets dark, and after dinner, we make our way there to sit and hope something big comes along. it doesn't... but thats not the point! it then rains heavily, i get completely drenched, and the following morning most of the tents are floating!!
we do another morning game drive out of the park, and exit early morning. due to the fact that we are in rainy season, it is harder to spot big game as they have so many options of where they can go to drink. we drive through the day, stopping off at a small town for some cakes and a decent cup of coffee.

we end up staying in a place called Cheetah Park. the family here have adopted cheetahs and taken them in. Namibia has the highest number of cheetahs in the world, and here they cause a problem for local farmers. instead of the farmers shooting and selling the dead animals, the family come and take them away, and pay the farmers. at the house, there is a young giraffe roaming free outside that kindly sucks your thumb if offered up, and in the back garden they have 3 wild cheetahs, and 3 dogs. they are pretty docile, and allow you to stroke them. they get on pretty well with the dogs too, but the cheetahs are def in charge. after a few snaps, we drive round to the camp site, chased by the giraffe. tents are put up, then we load ourselves onto the back of a trailer to go feed the more "wild" of the cheetahs in the paddock. there are approx 20 in all, and once we stop, the guys get out and throw pieces of donkey to the cheetahs, who aptly sprint in, tussle for it, then sprint off with their dinner. apparently they go through abot 2-3 donkeys per week feeding the animals, all bought from the local farmers thus making it more profitable for them to sell the cheetahs, rather than shoot and kill them. back at camp, we have dinner in the rain with afters of cake as its Mel's (tour leader) birthday. in the bar, the boys who run the farm entice us into drinking games and other such things. (basically they just wanna pull the girl on the truck). one of the forefits entails wearing an old army metal helmet, marching roun the pool table while being beaten on the head with pool Q's, then saluting a wart hog's arse in the wall, which has a an attachment allowing a shot of prickly pear moonshine to flow through, and into your mouth from its bum. not pleasant taste thats for sure... the night continued on a similar thread, with some of the guys pulling an all nighter, before tucking into two bottles of wine the next morning on the truck at 8:30am!

Spitzkope
The "Matterhorn" of Africa, so named for its sharp point at the top. we bush camp here, and before sunset, myself Jono and T-Money climb one of the mountains to get some good views and pictures. a HUGE cobra later, we reach what is far enough for us in the failing light, have a group hug (Brokeback style), and head back down. easier said than done, with some big jumps and falls required! we eat under the stars again, in what will be our penultimate bush camp of the tour.

Swakopmund

we arrive midday after the drive from spitzkope, and first we get the dvd of all the activities available here. adrenalin centre for namibia, skydiving, sandboarding, quad biking etc are all available here. i sign up for the sandboarding and go-karting. the town is an old German colony, and the influence is still pretty dominant. we have a day to relax, and the nighttime is to celebrate Mel's birthday properly so we all head out for a big dinner, where i opted for the Bushman's mixed grill, (Spingbok, Oryx, Kudu and Ostrich). best grill ever tasted if im honest. but a serious cas of th "meat sweats" ensued...
next day, after a LONG night of boozing.. (def a theme of the trip), we get up early to head out into the dunes for some sandboarding, choice of standing or sitting. Having never snowboarded beforein my life, and only briefly wake-boarding (more falling then boarding), i thought i'd give the standing-up option a go.
kitted with boots and a helmet, we head up to the top of a HUGE dune, the walk is enough to induce huge amounts of sweating before we even start anything. from the top, it looks very imposing, and steep to say the least. with a few pointers though, i'm soon doing a semi-boarding, semi-fall-over-and-push-yourself-back-up-again move down the dune to the bottom. its GREAT fun, and you do get the urge to keep going and going, trying more turns and getting more speed each time, but the walk back UP the dune is sooooo tough, a few ride down are more than enough. we switch to the lay down boards for one quick run down the BIG dune, with a couple of natural jumps on it. i clocked a speed of 68kph, laying on a thin sheet of wood sliding down this dune with no real methods of steering or stopping...
the final run down the dune, was standing up again, and attempting the jump. although you are angled and pointed towards it, and it is pretty small, it seems bloody huge when you are going over it with your legs attached to a waxed up slippery board. i stacked it of course, but the sand is nice and soft, so a gentle landing, then board the rest of the dune.

Sossusvlei

The Sossusvlei, in the heart of the Namib Desert, is a huge clay pan, enclosed by giant sand dunes. Some of the spectacular hills of sand are, at a height of 400 metres, the highest in the world. Only after a heavy rainfall, which is a rare event in this area, does the vlei fill with water. As the clay layers hardly allow any water infiltration, a turquoise lake will remain for quite some time. The dunes of the Namib desert have developed over a period of many millions of years. It is thought that the vast quantities of sand were deposited into the Alantic Ocean by the Orange river. This material was subsequently moved northwards by the Benguela current to be dumped back onto the land by the surf. A local bushman took us on an amazing tour of this area, early in the morning before it gets way to hot to be in the sun. he found and caught lizards, unearthed spiders in their nests underground and showed us how he could track and distinguish the footprints left by his own family... and then also jumped down a HUGE dune in 5 steps. Jono and T-money tried to replicate this, but after the first jump, they both ended up rolling down most fo the rest of the dune!


The Fish River Canyon

It is the second largest canyon in the world and the largest in Africa. It features a gigantic ravine, in total about 100 miles (160 km) long, up to 27 km wide and in places almost 550 metres deep. its hard to comprehend the scale of those numbers, and im not sure the pictures do it justice, but believe me, this place was immense. as far as the eye could see... and then some. we did the obgligatory bloke thing whch was to throw some stones into the canyon and listen to the noise (eventually). we got a lil carried away when 5 of us rolled a, boulder i guess, to the edge and let that rip. stones didn't seem to cut the mustard after that...

(in between all these places was of course LOTS OF DRIVING. forgot to mention it...)

South Africa

(home!?!)

we crossed the border back into South Africa, and after a couple of days driving, we were in Stellenbosch.
The Stellenbosch, Paarl and Franschhoek valleys form the Cape Winelands, the largest of the two main wine growing regions in South Africa. The South African wine industry produces about 1,000,000,000 litres of wine annually. of course while were here it was the first real taste of civillisation again, so we all indulged ourselves a lil too much, some more than others (right Money?). of course we did the wine tours which were beautiful, but after the 2nd winery, most of the wine "tasting" goes out the window, and more wine "drinking" is done... quote of the trip happened in the first winery when T-Money ask the lady behind the wine tasting counter what beers she has... "this is a winery sir..."

Cape Town

standing with our heads out of the top of the truck all the way into town, we arrived back in the Mother City a lil windswept, with the most rediculous array of moustaches, beards and haircuts... the trip was an amazing experience, and along the way i met for sure some life long friends. looking forward to abusing their hospitality when i FINALLY leave Cape Town and continue my travels. sorry for such a LONG blog, will kepp em shorted next time for shizzle! x

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Photos

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Vic Falls from the plane. see the zig-zagging, thats the falls retreating, once every 10,000 years or so.

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cable car after the rafting

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The Hippo pool in the delta

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The view from the makuro

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flying over the Okavango Delta, heards of Elephants!

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sunset on the Zambezi