Blogs from Livingstone, Zambia, Africa - page 26

Advertisement

Africa » Zambia » Livingstone July 27th 2007

Welcome to Zambia...that was the first thing I saw when I flew from Joburg to Lusaka, the capital of Zambia. It certainly was an interesting welcome. I have a Lonely Planet travel book that told me a Zambia visa cost 25 USD. Great- I saved 25 USD in cash just for this trip. I got off the plane and went to the customs desk and they said 100 USD. WHAT? I don't have 100 USD in cash, what am I supposed to do. Well good thing I had enough Rand with me, because at the airport they didn't take a mastercard, so I changed my money from Rand to USD and got my visa. I have it for 3 years so I think I should come back to get my money's worth. Apparently LAST YEAR they ... read more

Africa » Zambia » Livingstone July 20th 2007

In the afternoon in Chobe we went on a sunset cruise. We were able to see elephants, crocodiles and hippos amongst others. The cruise was very peaceful and we were able to meet some of the new people who we would share the second half of the Acacia trip with. The next day we drove into Livingstone where we would be staying for the next few days. Before we arrived at the campsite we visited Victoria Falls, one of the seven natural wonders of the world. It was truly stunning - while we only saw one third of the falls, it was enormous. We walked along the opposite side of the gorge and were soaked from the spray 200m below. When we arrived back at the campsite we booked the activities which racked up a whopping ... read more
Victoria Falls
Gorge Swing

Africa » Zambia » Livingstone July 20th 2007

So there I was standing on the side of the road with the contents of my backpack disgorged on the new asphalt. There was a very animated man running in circles with a Zulu spear held high above his head. His war cry filled the air, “Contraband, Contraband, Contraband!” The officials had decided to search the whole bus and I was not the only one standing there with all of their possessions strewn about, but it was my backpack that had produced the spear. It was clear that the officials had found what they were looking for, because they stopped paying attention to everyone else and concentrated on me. At first I had thought that there was some rule about carrying a large, bladed weapon across the border, but I knew that was not the case, ... read more
Lost in the Mist
Look What I Am Doing Mom!
A Crocodile Smile

Africa » Zambia » Livingstone July 20th 2007

PICTURES ANOTHER TIME, SORRY In the afternoon in Chobe we went on a sunset cruise. We were able to see elephants, crocodiles and hippos amongst others. The cruise was very peaceful and we were able to meet some of the new people who we would share the second half of the Acacia trip with. The next day we drove into Livingstone where we would be staying for the next few days. Before we arrived at the campsite we visited Victoria Falls, one of the seven natural wonders of the world. It was truly stunning - while we only saw one third of the falls, it was enormous. We walked along the opposite side of the gorge and were soaked from the spray 200m below. When we arrived back at the campsite we booked the activities ... read more
RECOVERED
Sunset Cruise

Africa » Zambia » Livingstone July 1st 2007

Today we said goodbye to Victoria Falls and made the journey down to Cape Town. You'll notice that we have skipped a few days in the blog, so I'll update you on those. We arrived in Zambia on the 29th of June and headed to our hotel very near the falls. When we arrived, we were greeted by some locals doing an African dance (with accompaniment from two small English boys). The hotel itself was large, but - as we found out over time - a bit of a tourist trap. OK, scrap that. It was entirely a tourist trap. We were severely disappointed with the hotel, which was asking for $16US for a BLT sandwich. One highlight of the hotel was that we discovered Savanna Cider. It's a must try if you are ever ... read more
Rainbows in the mist

Africa » Zambia » Livingstone June 1st 2007

Arrived in Livinstone yesterday.. wanted to take the 8am bus.. but woke up at 5am somehow.. so what the heck.. pulled myself out and went to the bus station and took the 6am bus.. bus ride is 6hrs.. including stops along the way.. and cost 75,000 kwachas (1usd=4000kwachas).. so i guess travelling in southern africa is not that cheap as well.. Arrived in Livingstone around 1230pm.. went straight to Jollyboys Backpackers.. wow.. this is the nicest backpacker hostel i've ever ever seen! dorm bed cost just US$6 - 10 a night.. pending on dorm size.. and they have a swimming pool.. jacuzzi (not heated.. aw.. c'mon.. what u expect for 6 bucks?).. free pool table.. free ping pong.. too bad internet is not free.. haha.. bluddy nice environment with lots of sitting cushions.. and they ... read more
Jollyboy backpackers
The lookout tower at Jollyboys
The pool and bar at Jollyboys

Africa » Zambia » Livingstone May 13th 2007

Happy Mothers Day to our Mom's Gilma and Darlene. We wish you were both here sharing this experience with us. On our way back from Victoria Falls this morning we picked up gifts from the local village people - that was pressure shopping like no other! The falls were in all their glory - blue sky, very high "smoke" from the off spray, double rainbows - beautiful!!! This is what David Livingstone had to say after is first sighting: "After twenty minutes' sail from Kalai we came in sight, for the first time, of the columns of vapor appropriately called 'smoke,' rising at a distance of five or six miles, exactly as when large tracts of grass are burned in Africa. Five columns now arose, and, bending in the direction of the wind, they seemed ... read more
Love these little guys

Africa » Zambia » Livingstone May 11th 2007

After an overnight in JoBerg we are off to catch a flight to spend two days in Victoria Falls - I'll have to see if we have internet there. If not, we will be in London in a few days and I'll catch up.... read more

Africa » Zambia » Livingstone May 11th 2007

Wow - another amazing place. The people really are very kind here and the hotel is beautiful. A short 5 minute walk from our room to the top of the falls. The river is running so high now that it looks like a giant plume of smoke from the spray of the waterfalls that you can see for miles away. We are having a good time playing with all of the monkeys that hang out side of our room waiting for Ben to come out to join them. We also see lots of Zebras wondering about. We went on a sunset cruise of the Zambezi River on the African Queen. It really was a sunset of a life time....stunning. We spotted waterbuck, hippos, crocks, impala and loads of birds. I met two separate gals on ... read more
Suset on the Zambezi River
Zebra's on the Grounds
mist off the falls with rainbow

Africa » Zambia » Livingstone April 24th 2007

Very short stay in Zambia, it also included a hop over the border to Zimbabwe for 1/2 a day to ride an elephant which was fantastic, we fed them too and saw very young ones too. The youngest was 2 months old and had been rescued when it's mum was separated from it by poachers. The main stop in Livingstone was the Victoria Falls which were awesome. We got soaked walking through them. but it was definitely worth it, cant wait 'til Niagara! then we got split up from the group we had been with all along to go to Jo'Burg with a new group. The others were mostly going to Nairobi. We went on another Game cruise but it was messy, our tour guide got thrown in and everyone got very drunk. A couple of ... read more




Tot: 0.139s; Tpl: 0.006s; cc: 8; qc: 88; dbt: 0.0842s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1; ; mem: 1.3mb