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Zambia

Leaving Malawi, we headed in Zambia. Our first stop was South Luangwa National Park where we did a morning and an evening game drive. There were lots of elephants in the park, as well as hippos, water buffalos, lions, crocodiles, impala, puku, waterbuck, and bushbucks. South Luangwa is one of the few national parks that allow night safaris. This means we were able to see animals that are normally hiding during the day. The highlight was seeing a leopard walking around searching for food whilst he was being followed by a hyena hoping to get any scraps of what the leopard might catch.

After a brief trip to the capital Lusaka, we arrived in Livingstone where Victoria Falls are nearby. The Zambezi River plunges 100 metres down a mile wide chasm, creating one of the most incredible natural wonders of the world. The local name for the falls is 'Mosi-oa-Tunya' which means 'the smoke that thunders'. We spent 5 nights in Livingstone where we viewed the Falls, and did a few of the many activities available.

One of these was "walking with lions" through a programme which ethically reintroduces the offspring of rehabilitated captive-bred African lion back into the wild. The lions are unrestrained and roam free as we joined them on a walk through the reserve, and we were able to pat them. There were only 2 of us doing it, with 4 lion cubs (ranging from 14 to 24 months of age) and 4 staff members. It was a pretty nerve wracking experience, but also pretty special.

If that wasn't nerve wracking enough, I went swimming in the the Devil’s Pool - the most dangerous pool in the world! It is a small lagoon, enclosed by rocks, on the edge of one of the Falls at a height of 103 meters. You can swim as close as possible to the edge of the falls within the pool without continuing over the edge due to a natural rock wall just below the water and at the very edge of the falls that stops you despite the current. It is definitely a surreal experience that had the adrenalin pumping.

A less dangerous experience was doing the "booze cruise" along the Zambezi River at sunset. But being an all-you-can-drink cruise, it was probably the most dangerous activity, but a lot of fun.

Botswana

Crossing into Botswana, we stayed in Chobe National Park. We did a morning game drive and an evening sunset cruise looking for wildlife, but besides some elephants and hippos we did not see many animals. But that is the nature of game drives - some days you can see lots of amazing animals, and others days none at all.

We spent 2 nights/3 days in the Okavango Delta, the world's largest inland delta. Our transport into the Delta was in a mokoro - a traditional dugout canoe which is propelled through the shallow waters of the delta similar to punting. We spent the time going on mokoro rides and walking safaris to spot the array of wetland wildlife. We saw a lot of birds, as well as giraffe, buffalo, antelope, ostrich, elephants, zebra, baboons, tortoises, and wildebeest. We also took a 45 minute scenic flight over the Delta, which was amazing as we got to see the beauty of the Delta as a whole, and also saw lots of animals including hundreds of elephants.

Namibia

In Namibia we spent 2 nights in Etosha Pan National Park. Thousands of years ago this vast saltpan was a lake, till Kunene River changed course and deprived the lake of water. Now the pan and surrounding bush support large numbers and a wide range of wildlife. There are many water holes where we could observe animals such as elephant, lion, giraffe, zebra, oryx, ostrich, springbok, and jackals. The highlight definitely being watching the giraffes drinking by awkwardly splaying their forelegs to the side or bending their forelegs at the wrist joint, then bolting upright if they got spooked.

After leaving Etosha, we spent a night at Kamanjab Cheetah Farm, a 7,000ha farm, home to both tame and wild cheetahs. Unfortunately, some farmers in Namibia shoot cheetah because of their tendency to raid stock, particularly where their natural prey species are scarce, or absent. However the Cheetah Farm, a non-profit organization, takes in many cheetahs bought from farmers to prevent them from being killed and aims to conserve these cheetahs in a natural environment. We were able to pat the tame cheetahs, and watch the wild ones being fed.

We stopped briefly (due to the overpowering smell) at the Cape Cross seal reserve, the site of the largest breeding colony of Cape fur seals on the Southern African coast. We were there at the peak of the breeding season and there were as many as 200,000 seals on the beach.

We spent 4 nights, including Christmas Day in Swakopmund, a German colonial town located in the middle of the desert and adjacent to the ocean. Here we got a break from sleeping in a tent every night, and we stayed in a dorm room. Christmas Day was spent lying on the beach - a nice relaxing day.

We next stayed in the Sesriem Canyon, which begins as a small deep cleft in the ground then widens till it opens out down on the plains. We also visited the Namib Naukluft Park in the Namibian Desert, famous for its massive thousand foot high sand dunes. In particular Dune 45 which stands over 170m, and is composed of 5 million year old sand that was brought by the Orange River from the Kalahari Desert.

After overnighting in the desert we camped in Fish River Canyon which is 160km long and 550m deep and second in size only to the Grand Canyon. Our last stop in Namibia was the Orange River, which forms the border with South Africa.

South

Lioness

Africa

Crossing the Orange River we arrived in South Africa and spent New Years Eve in the citrus growing area of Citrusdal. We stayed at a citrus farm, and had a great night with good food, drink, and lots of singing and dancing.

We ended the trip, and 10 weeks and 10,000km on the truck for some of us, in Cape Town. I stayed on for an extra week and explored the city and did a few activities. A few of us did a wine tour in Stellenbosch, went to Table Mountain for sunset, and went cage diving with Great White Sharks. The diving with sharks was an amazing experience, that has been on the top of my list of things to do.

10 weeks was a long time on the truck, especially sleeping in a tent most nights. But it went surprisingly quick. I made some great friends, had amazing experiences, saw beautiful animals and scenery, and made memories for life. I love Africa!

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