What's a risk assessment? Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Namibia & South Africa

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Another summer, another trip, it's a thankless task but a cross I bear without complaint, you're welcome. This year I returned to Africa to take in 5 countries: Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Namibia and South Africa. Some were new to me, whilst I had flirted with some in the past so I was keen to get back and take them for a proper ride-only I'd be sure to wear protection in this region. I embraced the old age I have reached and used the same overland truck as last time (Africa Travel Company) and headed off.



South Africa

The trip began and ended in South Africa 35 days apart, however for the sake of continuity I'll blog them at the same time. I flew into Johannesburg but having seen it on a previous visit I wasn't bothered about the fact we left the next morning, it seemed just as cold, menacing and racially divided as it was 4 years ago. Further disappointment awaited with Kruger Park which despite its billing as South Africa's must see wildlife destination sadly failed again to impress me. There's probably a bit of travel snobbery involved in having seen so much on other safaris and of course wildlife spotting is very much pot luck in such a large park-imagine driving around an area the size of Wales and trying to find some lions, I struggle to find a parking space in my street let alone a leopard. We covered a fraction of the 19,000 square metres and only managed to spot 1 lion and a lot of elephants, giraffes, zebras and impalas etc, but the big cats and rhinos eluded us despite dedicating 7 hours to the cause. The night time game drive was a feast only for lovers of vegetarian animals and overall unless you dedicate 2-3 days to it then you can leave cup half empty. On the final leg of the trip we crossed the Namibia/SA border and enjoyed a relaxing camp spot on the Orange River (also called the Gariep) where we canoed for a few hours amid the mountainous scenery. Following this was a stop at Cederberg Mountains, an area known for its wine farms and vineyards where we sampled the nectar of the Gods and discovered it ain't half bad, sadly it also leaves more than half a hangover. Finally we reached Cape Town, a city that is easily one of my favourite in the world, the view coming in from the coast of the city nestled in snugly against the open arms of Table Mountain, with Lions Head standing guard on the right and Robben Island twinkling away in the middle of the bright blue waters makes me unequivocally fall in love with it every time. All those things are more than worth visiting, as is the V&A Waterfront, Camps Bay and I especially recommend the Bay Harbour market at Hout Bay at Friday nights, or just wander the boutiques and bars of Long Street. Either way Cape Town is a must see



Mozambique

The border crossing to Mozambique was painless enough, well it was in terms of cavity searches and queues but not on the wallet as it costs $70US to enter, Mozambicans trying to take us for more money became a recurring theme. Despite it looking a thin slither of land it still took us 9 hours along bone jolting roads to reach the coast, which gives you some insight into the vastness of Africa in general as well as the amount of pot holes that scar the roads, the tarmaced ones were barely better than the dirt roads. The landscape and way of life was slightly different and more traditional than that of South Africa as we passed hours of endless open plains dotted with nothing more than grassy shrubs. Interspersed amongst these were fields of either freshly tilled earth or vegetable patches, each with its own small fenced off 'village' belonging to one family that contained just a few houses made of either cheap concrete, corrugated iron, wood, or simply mud and straw. All had a common theme though: young children would stare open mouthed at us or wave enthusiastically, while others were oblivious to our passing as they played with broken remnants-toy trucks made out of milk cartons or coke cans occupied most whilst tyres and sticks amused others. Women carried on dutifully either working the fields or wandering with babies strapped to their backs-and sometimes doing both, whilst awnings were bedecked with listless men having casual conversations in Portuguese while draped over plastic chair or floors. The blissful monotony was broken only by the occasional town with busy streets selling everything under the sun, women scurried about wearing headscarves that technically symbolises marriage but I imagine also lessens the blow of the load they carry precariously atop their heads. In scenes reminiscent of lions it seems they scurry about and lug the shopping home whilst guys huddle in groups having lazy discussions, presumably about anything other than shopping. The markets were bustling and sold mainly vegetables and bread or fresh fish on the coast, while pick up trucks doubled as taxis and crammed in passengers to ferry them to and fro. The traditional way of life and Africa of your mind still exists here, the village life and living off the land, dowries for marriage and tribal chiefs, even if it is being eroded slightly by the sight of mobile phones and televisions.There was little variance between these scenes across all the countries we saw, it's impersonal at times but I still love watching the world go by my window and observing daily life occurring.

Eventually we reached Inhambane on the Mozambique coastline and stayed in Praia de Zavora Bay. This was also the first of what was to be many occasions when we had to dig/pull a stuck truck out of the sand, but eventually we got to enjoy the sweeping coastline, sandy beaches and dancing palm trees. Resisting the ludicrously cheap beer (for the time being) a few of us booked on to do a scuba dive in the turquoise water which were reputed to be amongst the best in the world. The dive ratio was actually nowhere near that as visibility was only a few metres but we did see a fair bit including reef sharks, manta rays, lion fish, huge lobsters and a wide array of fish of all colours and sizes. While on the boat we completed an 'ocean safari' and spotted some humpback whales from far away and a few dolphins up close who came alongside the boat to suss us out. After a further saunter up the coast we set up camp for 2 nights at Vilanculous, which is the stepping stone to the 3 main islands of the Bazaruto Archipelago and even prettier than the previous stop. Here we spent more time on beaches playing games to pass the time (it's amazing how many hours you can waste with a coconut and lines drawn in the sand)or simply stared at the dhows with their bulging sails cruising the jade coloured Indian Ocean. Eventually we raised the pulse rate enough to charter a boat to bounce and rattle us out to the archipelago, a world renown set of islands covered in soaring sand dunes which gave great views of the turquoise waters. We spent 45 minutes snorkelling the coral reefs which gave much greater visibility than the previous scuba dive and pretty much the same abundance of fish but without any 'wow' marine life like turtles etc. The water was choppy and tepid at best but overall a good day out.



After a long day traversing the heart of the country and a brief stop at a sketchy border town we left Mozambique with mixed feelings. It was good to visit a place nobody really goes to that is even off the backpacker route and interesting to see the way of life there, the coastline was idyllic and the local beer cheap yet tasty. But there is a definite undercurrent of scams and shady characters here that I haven't really experienced in other African countries with quite the same frequency. Whether it be the dodgy traffic police stopping us on every road for a bribe, or barmen 'innocently' forgetting your change, the bus drivers changing routes and leaving backpackers stranded or the fact that on both snorkelling trips we were not delivered as promised and argued with; you are never entirely hassle free. You know a country leaves a slight taste in the mouth when you are pleased to leave it in preference of one run by Robert Mugabe.



Zimbabwe

Although I suppose we should have known better, if the police presence and road stops were regular in Mozambique they were ever present in Zimbabwe, if nothing else their persistence in wishing to administer a fine/bribe is to be admired and our driver paid more than once. Passing through the country itself was very similar to Mozambique and I couldn't really differentiate between the two as the rural way of life and look of the place was seemingly identical, although the main cities were much bigger and there was a noticeable increase in the amount of richer white people around.

We first spent 2 nights in the lovely surrounds of the Antelope Park near Gweru, although that name is deceiving as it's primary focus is lions and also had elephants wandering through the camps. They have an interesting conservation programme with an ultimate aim of releasing lions bred in captivity into the wild, this has never been achieved before so a success here would have huge benefits to their dwindling numbers. The park offers a range of activities but I opted for the lion feeding, which involved standing one side of a worryingly thin looking chain fence with our cameras poking through the holes while a dead donkey was placed just 2 feet away on the other. They then released a group of male lions from the other end of the enclosure to charge at the food, where they proceeded to fight over the remains before triumphantly dragging away whatever piece of the carcass they managed to win-in essence it was like watching lunch time in school. The aim of this is to establish dominance and find out which is the best candidate to be an alpha and therefore more likely to survive the release-the other purpose is to scare the life out of the watching tourists as they charge at the food/us with every sinew straining and teeth bared. The initial impact and hit portrayed their enormous power, whilst their growls and occasional jump at the fence ensured we didn't get any closer. There's always a loser and one lion is left licking its lips cursing the fact it is way down the pecking order-a position I realised I'd be sure to occupy if I ever found myself a lion. The stench of the dead donkey had a few of the more hungover close to seeing their breakfast again but at only $24US I'd say it was more than worth it and a great chance to see these apex predators in action.

Later that day we joined some lionesses on a night encounter to see the real thing in action. In the wild it is the females who do the hunting so we took 4 of them out to see what fast food they could catch. These lions have been bred in captivity and so see the handlers with us as their alphas, the 3 totally open jeeps and 4 lionesses literally moved as one pack, the ladies simply trotted alongside and amongst us responding to the handlers' whistles while the full moon ensured we had great views of them. For such massive animals they barely made a sound and it was a thrilling and captivating sight to glance to your side and suddenly see such huge beasts padding along merely inches from you. Spotters with huge lights searched for prey to point out to the lions who would then make chase and kill. Sadly, despite seeing 5 million boring vegetarian animals on our game drives we could barely find any on this night-they must've all been off making tofu or something. Even when we did see some eyes glinting in the distance the lions were either too far behind or not downwind to notice the scent. We even lost the lionesses a few times as they sprinted off chasing something or simply lay down to take a break or maybe paint their nails, either way despite massive persistence by our guides and 4 hours in cold conditions they never did make a kill. Ultimately it was a surreal and slightly manufactured experience but a really interesting one and recommended (it cost $90US); if the lionesses had made a kill it would have been perfect so the lack of it left a slightly anti climatic feeling. It also served to remind us that you can't really rely on women to get a job done...



We spent a brief overnight in Zimbabwe's second largest city Bulawayo, where not content simply hunting with lions we decided to go and walk with some rhinos at Motopos National Park, surreal activities like this seem almost normal over here. We proceeded on foot to track the rhinos all the while ignoring the fact that the animals in here were wild and included leopards and elephants. After a long walk under a baking sun some gun toting rangers pointed out a pair of rhinos to us that we had just walked right past, it seems a one tonne animal can be difficult to spot. The rhinos seemed camera shy so there ensued a game of cat and mouse before we eventually got up close and personal, a mother and it's calf no more than 10-15 metres away from us. In order to prevent poaching their horns have been removed but the sheer size and menacing stare was enough to keep us stepping lightly as they can weigh up to 2000kg and run at 30mph. It was a good experience to be so close to these magnificent animals, the calf was inquisitive and I expected the mother to be more aggressive but she seemed wary yet content with our presence, she wasn't even cranky about being a vegetarian or anything.

Next we visited Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe's largest at 14,000 square kilometres and recently in the international news as we arrived the day after the story broke of their male lion Cecil being shot by an American dentist. That idiotic trophy hunter denied us the chance to see such an icon although we did get some alternative takes on the issue from some locals that gave an interesting insight(it centred around tourist money and sustainability but is too long to type here).We saw a fair variety here which helped the completion of my African wildlife bingo card when some honey badgers wandered through our camp, but the highlight was the small watering hole where in one scene like something out of a National Geographic documentary there were elephants, hippos, crocodiles and zebras all clustered closely, it just missed the presence of some big cats like Cecil really.

Eventually we reached Victoria Falls, a place I had seen and blogged about 2 years ago so I'll save you the sweeping rhetoric, the 'smoke that thunders' was still 1700 metres wide and 100 metres high, still one of the seven natural wonders of the world and still bloody impressive. You can do an array of activities here (including the bungee jump now infamous for snapping-I'm guessing their risk assessment didn't cover checking the cord) but as I'd done lots of activities here previously I opted for some slightly more random things this time such as a 'lunar walk' to see the falls at night, which was fairly pointless because at nighttime it's dark and you can't see much. At least I've now seen the falls during the day, night and from above. I was also talked into playing a round of golf-which I am absolutely useless at and therefore hate. But at least the company and course was interesting as it's inhabited by a lot of wild animals meaning you had to play around springboks, impalas, monkeys, warthogs and crocodile infested water hazards. At times I nearly opted for the water rather than continue playing. We also visited the village of our cook Avel which was a fascinating insight as we finally got to see inside the houses we had passed for so many weeks. They reminded me of the Welsh Celtic roundhouses at home, although each had its own purpose and were very cool despite the strong sun. The children enjoyed the simple novelty of items like balloons, whistles and footballs which we brought but will hopefully also make use of the school stationary we provided, I'm a regular Saint me. Overall I spent 3 nights in Vic Falls, there was lots of relaxing and activities but also plenty of good times, from playing 'shithead' to drinking games and dancing at Shoestrings, to casinos and nights out, or meals at the Carnivore restaurant where I finally got my revenge on the vegetarian eating lion-avoiders by eating pretty much all of them, (for the record , oryx, warthog and buffalo are very tasty while worms are not). Sadly it was also bittersweet as it meant saying goodbye to my first group as we all went out separate ways, as did the banter, in-jokes and great personalities, easily my favourite touring group I've met.

I left Zimbabwe a lot more enlightened and with lessons learnt, I thought I knew all about the poor standard of living, the heightened inflation and wheelbarrows full of cash needed, the mind boggling figures that 1 in 4 people have HIV and life expectancy in the country being just 40, of the staggering figure of 93%!u(MISSING)nemployment and the omnipotent presence of Mugabe still clinging on to power in his 90s and siphoning off $2billion in the process. And all the above was true, but I realised I was tarring all Zimbabweans with the same brush, they are actually laid back and great people, quick to help and friendly. They don't represent Mugabe and he certainly doesn't represent them, plus the country has some real highlights so I'd recommend a visit highly.



Botswana

After a slightly longer border crossing due to disinfecting our flip flops (admittedly I was looking a little scruffy after 2 weeks camping but they are actually very paranoid about foot and mouth here) we drove to Chobe National Park. Again it was somewhere I had been before but it is much smaller than Kruger at only 11,000 square metres, resulting in an abundance of wildlife condensed into a small area and centred around a river-I saw plenty previously and did so again this time. Our trip involved 2 game drives and a river cruise along the serene waters and it seemed you couldn't move without falling over animals of some kind. Elephants dominate the park-in fact Botswana has more elephants than any country in the world and they flourish in Chobe-and seeing a herd crossing the river before your eyes or strolling metres from the jeep was special, but there were also plenty of crocodiles, hippos, buffaloes, giraffes and many other protein avoiding animals. Once again the highlight were cats as we got to witness a group of 6 or 7 lions tucking into a buffalo-mirroring my trip from last time-and we also 'sort of' saw a leopard but it was hiding in a bush and refused to flash itself for the waiting paparazzi. Again this could all be simple pot luck but the sheer amount of wildlife in such a small park seems to almost guarantee happy customers. Camping within the park was also memorable for the freezing temperatures (for those currently packing-Africa is very warm by day and freezing at night/when putting down tents at 5am) and the fact you couldn't leave your tent at night lest you be eaten by something. I opted to cross my legs all night instead rather than the defecating in the corner option.

Finally, we visited the Okavango Delta, a huge expanse of water which flows down from the highlands of neighbouring Angola, the water covers up to 15,000km and doesn't flow into a sea, it therefore has nowhere to go so it spreads out like a searching hand across Botswana to form the worlds largest inland delta-a stark contrast to the arid Kalahari Desert we skimmed past just below. The resulting waters attract all manner of wildlife including most of those already mentioned/insulted. It is inaccessible by roads so we spent 2nights/3days in the delta being ferried amongst the reeds across shallow waters on mokoros-traditional dug out canoes led by polers, although those helpful conservationists have helped to ensure the canoes are now fibre glass which removed the traditional aspect somewhat. The days were fairly relaxing and interspersed with swimming (the crocs are small you'll be fine they said...) trying out poling (years of playing with large members failed to serve me well here...) and long game walks to find animals (lions and leopards tend to not like water you'll be fine...) I'm not convinced risk assessments are high on the agenda in Africa. Despite a total of 8 hours across 2 days wandering the wetlands our grand total was 2 elephants, 3 hippos, 1 giraffe, 1 ostrich and large groups of zebras/wildebeest, oh and birds-but if you like that sort of thing you probably don't belong near my blog. At night we watched more of the stunningly vivid sunsets that are the norm in Africa then sat around a campfire gazing at the wonderfully starlit sky or were serenaded with traditional songs by our guides. The best way to view things is usually from above so I signed on for a trip in a 6 seater plane for $100 where we got to see the delta in all it's glory. From above it looks a lot less wet than expected-the green reeds hide the brownish water and there is a lot of yellow grasslands-but we saw a lot of animals including elephants, giraffes, hippos, crocs and the veggies. It was a novel experience to see them from above although the plane moves pretty fast so decent pictures are hard to come by, as is keeping your cool with the sharp turns and near inverted arcs making life interesting. Overall I think our particular Delta trip was overpriced at $170 and there weren't as many animals as expected, but the delta was a peaceful and relaxing time. The silence of the place away from roads and the clutches of technology or social networks is broken only by animals calling in the distance, a fire crackling or the plodding of a canoe and it was a worthwhile change of pace. Botswana is stable thanks to its diamonds and so is the economy, they have good education and health systems which all contribute to a successful country, the people are outgoing and friendly and they alongside highlights such as Chobe and the Okavango make it a great place to visit.



Namibia

Namibia was a country I had long wished to visit, in fact going through here was one of the reasons I chose the trip so it was pleasing it delivered. We started at Etosha National Park which covered a huge area of 20,000 square kilometres, it's name means 'great white place of dry water' which to be honest sums it up perfectly, the emphasis was very much on the dry as it was a barren and desolate place centred around a huge salt desert that covered 5,000 square km alone. The saline desert brought to mind the salt pans of Bolivia and you could take the same weird photos using the perspective it provides. The dry and rocky surrounds means the park has man made watering holes which cheapens it a little but does provide good opportunities to see some of the 114 mammal species and we saw a fair few of these including lions, hippos, elephants, giraffes plus some jackals and hyenas etc during the 2 game drives here. We next travelled through the Brandberg region which gave good views of the huge sandstone plateaus-the largest looming at 2573m high-and if nothing else helped to break up the monotony of the dry sandy landscape. We made a brief stop at Spitzkoppe to view some rock art put there by the San people around 2000 years ago. Their ability to paint hunting scenes using blood and ostrich eggs on an overhanging wall was impressive although the only pictures you could really see due to weathering were from 200 years ago so it was a slight cheat but an interesting diversion.

Eventually, and for the first time we reached the western coast of Africa at Swakopmund which sits on the Atlantic Ocean. It was founded by the Germans in 1892 and still retains its colonial influence (in other words it's stuffed full of German kitsch and coffee shops, plus a whole load of Germans or South Africans). It does have a pretty beach with a promenade and some nice restaurants (where we ate at the Italian themed Neopolitans which randomly doubled as the nightclub) although at times it was a bit of a ghost town and retained a slightly menacing air about the place-I saw 2 fights and one racist rant within just a couple of hours in the club. However, the main draw card is the range of adventurous activities you can participate in such as sky diving and deep sea fishing and these didn't disappoint. I opted for an adventure package through the Namib desert which was 3 hours of quad biking interspersed with wildlife hunting (we found a sidewinder snake, chameleon and spider) and sand boarding. The dunes were steep and undulating while the guides were full throttle which all made for some hair raising fun and was quite frankly bloody fantastic, it remained the highlight of most peoples tour.

From there we continued south and further into the Namib-Naukluft Park to see what is reputed to be the oldest desert in the world. At Sossusvlei we made our calves scream by climbing to the top of Dune 45 which was worth it as we had great views across the desert which stretches 2000km from South Africa to Angola. It was impressive to stare at the Mars like landscape with its red, iron filled sand and dunes soaring over 300metres high; whilst the wind, light and colours constantly shifted. I particularly enjoyed the Dead Vlei (low place) which was a barren area that surprisingly once belonged to a river until the shifting sand cut off the water. What remains is a sun baked arid space, startlingly white and bright sandwiched between two huge dunes with only blackened skeletal trees for company, the contrast in colours and the starkness of it was wonderful. Finally here we visited Fish River Canyon, which at 161km long, 27km wide and 550metres deep is the second largest canyon in the world after the Grand. Born from a mix of tectonic activity and water erosion the canyon has walls and cliffs that are a mix of layers and colours that are easy on the eye and certainly grand in scale, plus a meandering river that bends so perfectly sharp at a place called Hell's Corner that it must surely have been put there purely to impress. If I was judging I think Fish River is more aesthetically pleasing but the Grand wins for sheer size and presence so I'd probably give that the edge, but it's close. Overall Namibia was a pleasing end to my southern odyssey, a combination of landscapes and people with natural wonders thrown in, from deserts to seas and wildlife to canyons it is well worth a visit.



In fact the whole Southern region is well worth a visit, while I would definitely have to say this trip didn't compare with the Eastern section(it just can't compete with the Serengeti, Ngorongoro, Kilimanjaro, gorillas etc) it had more than enough to hold the attention. National parks, jeep safaris and picture book animals hold the most sway, although to be honest after 11 national parks and some 18 game drives in Africa I have reached saturation point, I guess everything has a limit before it becomes repetitive (naked ladies aside of course). ATC delivered again for me and I feel it's a good company to experience Africa with, the crew and groups on both were great and really contributed to the experience overall. The region was one of contrasts; at times the landscapes veered so much I thought I was bouncing from one planet to the next rather than regions, at times I thought I was in other countries with the amount of Germans and tourists present in Namibia, and at other times I thought I was in a different century with the racism and divisions that are still evident. But all these factors alongside the many natural and animal wonders here are what make Africa worth the visit, it is like no other continent I have visited and the images of the countries and the smiling faces will live with you long after the t-shirt tan fades.

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Photos

Chobe National Park
lionesses feeding on a buffalo

Okavanago delta
Sunset cruise to hippo pond

Antelope Park-Gweru
Feeding time for male lions

Praia de Zavora Bay
Inhambane

Table Mountain, city in front and sea
Taken on the drive in from the West

Chobe National Park
elephants and crocs in close proximity

Swakopmund quad biking
(I was having too much fun to take pics of the biggest sand dunes)

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[D MJ Binkley]

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