Got my visas for Botswana and Namibia!

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Good news and bad news! Good news is as above stated in the title.. bad news is that I won't be able to catch Mr Melvin Ng leaving for his Beijing posting in mid-June...

Was initially thinking if i can't get the namibian visa, then i'd probably head south from Zambia to Zimbabwe and then straight into South Africa.. and then I'd probably arrive home somewhere before the 16th, when Mel will be flying off.. so looks like my return date is still set on the 26th.. Sorry Mel.. but i'd be visiting you some time in BJ i guess.. Huang Zong!

After two long days on the road.. I'm now in Lusaka.. Crossing the Malawi-Zambian border is relatively ok.. but I think the Zambian officers are a bit more picky.. and can make things difficult.. Just smile smile laugh laugh ok ok.. then ok already.. They asked to see my yellow fever certificate.. yay, finally have chance to use it.. haha.. After crossing into Zambia, you arrive at Chipata and then after another day of driving, you'll reach Lusaka.. Stayed at the Eureka camp last night.. the campsite is next to some woods.. where you can supposedly see giraffes, zebras, buffaloes and those deer-things.. took a walk in the evening.. only saw some impalas..

Broke off with the overland truck in Lusaka this morning to get my visas done while the rest of the crew go off for the house boat option in Lake Kariba.. The houseboat option cost US$125, which incl. 2 nights stay, full board.. well, not planning to spend that money anyways.. but supposedly you will cruise past crocs and hippos etc..

What surprised me today was.. i managed to get both visas in just one morning!! Went to the Namibian high com.. reached there around 9.. and was told "today is not a visa day, come back tomorrow.. " so i asked, if i come back tomorrow, can i collect the visa on the same day? the answers was most likely no.. so i put on my pitiful and troubled look.. and told them i'm on this overland truck.. and they'll leave on friday morning.. so i die die must get before friday.. so the recep got the officer to talk to me.. after some good chat.. she asked me to fill up the form.. 2photos.. and USD 30.. and i waited about 1hr and they returned my passport with the visa bestowed upon in.. wow..

Time then was about 1030am.. so i thought.. maybe i can get botswana today too.. so i took a cab to bots high com.. and same thing.. fill up form.. and waited till high com was free.. and went into the commissioner's office for interview.. His Excellency was very interested about Singapore.. and i told him about our COE and newater and things and he enjoyed it a lot.. chatted quite abit while he approved and stamped on my passport.. but oei.. Botswana visa is FREAKING expensive!! It costed me 506,000 Zambian Kwacha.. 1 USD=4,000 Zkc.. so this visa costed me USD126.50 !!!! knn.. more expensive than Sudan.. but actually Sudan cost USD134 including 'registration'... so Sudan still win..

So in one morning.. i got 2 visas.. how miraculous is that? So now i have quite some time.. the overland truck will arrive in Vic Falls, Zimbabwe on Friday evening.. i initially budgetted 2 days to get my visa.. leave for Livingstone, Zambia on Friday morning.. spend a night day.. Sat morning go see the falls on Zambian side, then cross over see the falls on Zimbabwean side.. and then join the truck.. do some bungee jumping and flying fox things across the gorge on Sunday.. hopefully the water leavel is not too high (which usually is in April/May) and i get to do some whitewater rafting.. (the major thing i was looking forward to in this trip! =( ) and leave for Botswana on Monday.. so now it was possible for me to leave for Livingstone this afternoon.. then i remembered the overnight train leaves on Wed night.. the train takes 18hrs officially while going by bus will take 6hrs.. another of those bus faster than train thing.. so i checked around.. and a local told me he took the train before.. and it took him 2.5 days to reach livingstone cos of some track problems.. so i guess i'll stay in lusaka for one night.. leaving for Livingstone tomorrow morning, and stay at Living stone for 2 nights and cross the border on Sat morning.. was initially thinking of heading over to the lake for one night.. but getting tired of moving.. think i'd skip Lake Kariba and immerse more of Livingstone..

Lusaka is the capital of Zambia.. but almost no high rise buildings.. and maybe is a step better than Addis Ababa (which a traveller commented that Addis is not a city, it's the biggest village in the world)(I don't agree 100%, but it's sort of funny).. commercial activity here seems vibrant..

Felt a sense of release when i took the minibus from the campsite into town this morning.. and actually smiled when touts approached me when i went to the bus station to check out the bus schedules.. travelling independently! so nice.. so free.. i guess this will be the last time i join a tour, even if it's an overland truck tour.. We sort of rushed thru Malawi.. only did the coast north of Lilongwe.. when i think the coast south of Lilongwe would be much better, eg Cape Maclear.. saw some photos of people kayaking on the waters.. and the water is like crystal clear and you can see the bottom...

oh well.. pros and cons of joining a tour.. worked out some math, and calculated i'm spending about US700 more in joining this tour compared to doing it independently.. US700!!! but consoled myself in saying that I'm spending US700 for speed, convenience, hassle-free, and safety.. and the Namibian sites are almost impossible to visit on public transport anyways! and oh.. Mmmm.. the food.. we have a full-time chef from the truck company who cooks our meal.. and man.. i'm eating so well now that i think i may be putting some weight back on.. we even had banana custard for dessert last night!! there was one night in Malawi where he grilled steak.. and oooh.. thatr's one of the best meal ever! and i'm having breakfast everymorning.. cereals and milk and toast and jam and eggs and coffee/tea/hot chocolate... lunch is usually simple.. sandwiches with ham cheese tomato onions lettuce etc... dinner is the big one.. we get pastas.. roasted lamb.. fish fillets.. etc.. gawd.. must cut down on my portions already.. so i guess the extra US$700 is not really a waste of money.. at least that's how i console myself..

Going to stay over at Kuomba backpackers tonight... and leave for Livingstone tomorrow morning.. Will try to upload the photos sometime today.. cheers!

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Photos

Lusaka Bus Station
Where i took a bus to Livingstone..

Waiting for a minibus to the city outside Camp Eureka
It was nice.. waiting for the bus with locals..