Zambia and Zimbabwe - 17 to 27 October 2013

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Another long blog again as internet access is difficult in the areas we are travelling through - this one covers our time in Zimbabwe and Zambia.





We left Botswana crossing the mighty Zambezi River by ferry and headed into Zambia, we were to cross this river many times during our stay in the country. Zambia is a thinly populated country with a large percentage of its land designated wildlife reserves with open unspoiled woodland and floodplains attracting large numbers of wildlife. Zambia borders six countries - Congo/Angola/Namibia/Tanzania/Malawi and Mozambique. Acknowledged as one of the safest countries in the world to visit, its very welcoming people live in peace and harmony and we encountered this throughout our travels. Here, in the warm heart of Africa we found so many warm smiling faces everywhere. It is also notable for the spectacular Victoria Falls which it shares with the neighbouring country of Zimbabwe. The falls are located at Livingstone in Zambia and the town of Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe - in different countries yet so very close.





At the Zambian border we purchased a double entry visa as our guide Peter said that to see the falls at this time of year in Zambia was impossible as it was completely dry. However the water flow on the Zimbabwe side was more impressive and he agreed to take us across to his native country (he was brought up in the town of Victoria Falls), even though our tour did not include the crossing into the country.





We set up camp at The Waterfront, Livingstone on the banks of the river and Press our driver drove us to the border crossing so that we could cross into Zimbabwe. Officially the Republic of Zimbabwe (previously Rhodesia) it is a landlocked country located between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia to the northwest, Mozambique to the east and its capital city is Harare.





After completing yet more forms at the border we set off on foot crossing over the bridge which spans the two countries. Half way across a group of tourist were trying the ‘swing bungy jump’ off the bridge - we stopped and watched one young man scream his way down before deciding yet again that this was not for us. So we walked on and crossed into Zimbabwe and a little further on we entered Victoria Falls, Mosi-Oa-Tunya National Park. We walked along the pathways and had excellent views of the falls from the various lookout points. It was such a hot day and the spray from these magnificent falls was very welcoming, although a bit of a pain trying to keep the camera dry to get good photographs, but so worth the effort of getting here. We had lunch in the Falls restaurant and the food was excellent. Peter then arranged a small bus to enable us to tour ‘his’ town where we met his brother who joined us for the day. We walked around a huge craft market with only us there but lots of vendors trying to sell their goods - not many tourist around and too many shops selling the same goods but an experience nonetheless. We later stopped for afternoon tea at the Victoria Falls Hotel. A grand old colonial hotel with interesting art work, some old maps of Rhodesia as well as paintings and photographs, many of bygone royal visits. At the back of the hotel there was a wonderful view out over the bridge topping the falls - a truly lovely setting. Some of our group had afternoon tea on the terrace but we gave it a miss as time was limited.





We enjoyed our short time in Zimbabwe and later in the day we left the country as we had arrived, on foot, crossing back over the bridge and back into Zambia at the border post. So that day we had visited three countries in one day, Botswana, Zambia and Zimbabwe - a truly memorable day for us.





Victoria Falls was discovered by David Livingstone in 1855 and named after Queen Victoria. Described by the Kololo tribe living in the area in the 1800’s as ‘Mosi-oa-Tunya’ - ‘the Smoke that Thunders’ due to the falling water that sends spray clouds high into the air, the falls are one of the seven natural wonders in the world and also the largest and perhaps most beautiful although some of our fellow travelers said that they thought Igassu Falls in Argentina were more spectacular. However at the time we were visiting the water was at it lowest but the Zambezi River is over a mile wide and plunges into a vertical abyss across its entire width when in full flow so must be very dramatic at the right time of year. Columns of spray can apparently be seen from miles away as 546 million cubic meters of water per minute plummet over the edge (at the height of the flood season) over a width of nearly two kilometers into a deep gorge over 100 meters below. The wide basalt cliff, over which the falls thunder, transforms the Zambezi River from a wide placid river to a ferocious torrent cutting through a series of dramatic naturally cut gorges.



The next day we took a flight over the falls this time getting a brilliant aerial view which was spectacular, with clouds of spray rising high into the sky any numerous rainbows shining up through the centre of the falls. If you come here I would recommend this flight as even though it only took 15 minutes it was so worth doing. The next morning we said goodbye to our second tour group, apart from Claudia and Niels and we had dinner with them that night before also saying goodbye to them the following day. It was sad to say so many goodbyes but it was time for everyone to move on. We will always remember this group as the ‘Eeehh Group’ and if any of them read this they will know what I mean.



So we were about to start our third safari tour in Southern Africa, taking us from Zambia to Malawi and into Mozambique before heading back into South Africa. The Sunways tour, Trade Route followed many routes of passed trade throughout Southern Africa. Our new group like the last were also of mixed nationalities but we were the only ones from the UK this time - Wiebke, a vet from Germany, Silke and Jans also from Germany, Tanya and Bodo a young married couple (doctor and nurse) from Switzerland, Jake and Sonja from Belgium, Anne and Brian from Australia but born in SA and well travelled Edwin from Holland - ‘oh no not another Dutch man’ but I am sure he will be as nice as Guido on our last tour!!! The group was also a large range of age groups with some in their 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s and us in our 60s - should be an interesting 20 plus days..........and it was................... The tour guides were Jeff from South Africa and young Jacob from Zimbabwe. The first day started with a visit to Victoria Falls but from the Zambian side not Zimbabwe and as we had seen the falls from the latter we though we would join the group to see what it was like from the Zambian side. However although there are spectacular cliff faces the falls really are extremely dry on this side with only a trickle of water, so we are glad that we had viewed them a few days ago in Zimbabwe and also had the opportunity to see them from the helicopter flight which put it all in perspective.



The next morning we arose early and Paul showed some of our new group how to take their tents down, we were quite ‘old hands’ now and our hands had hardened to this daily chore.........the gardening gloves we purchased helped though........... We set off in a 12 seater red bus, the same bus we had on our first tour (looked like a fire engine) from Cape Town to Maun but this time we were a full load of people and it was rather cramped. Particularly as everyone had to have their own water supply, so the bus was always full of 5 litre bottles of water which often bounced about as we drove over the rough roads as well as everyones backpacks etc.



We had a full day’s drive through the rolling Miombo forested hills of southern Zambia to the Kafue River where we camped overnight. We noticed the dramatic change in countryside, there were more villages and many more people than we had seen in Botswana. All were still living in thatched homes close to the roads (tracks) but some of these had brick bases rather than wood and mud. The bricks were being made in large furnaces alongside each village. Every village was selling bags of charcoal stacked into bags alongside the road and large areas of bush were being burnt. Zambia’s deforestation rate is alarmingly high and environmental experts have warned that the forest’s risk becoming deserts in the next fifteen years, going by the current rate of deforestation. We asked, ‘why are people cutting trees indiscriminately’, and were told that there are several reasons, clearing land for farming being one but logging for timber and cutting trees for firewood and charcoal was the main reason. About 90% of the population of Zambia use charcoal related sources of energy, making charcoal burning a lucrative business venture and major source of livelihood for lots of people. Also only about 25% of the country’s population is connected to electricity and this as well as an erratic power supply means that most communities have to resort to charcoal as the only source of energy. One would think that there is enough fertile land to maintain the requirement - after all, for many rural households, earning a living from farming and selling firewood and charcoal are the only essentials of survival in this very difficult environment. We noted that there was not many other sources of providing an income, with very little agriculture and no animals apart from large numbers of goats. These were everywhere alongside the roads and we often had to brake to avoid them. Children had the job of looking after the livestock, moving them from area to area so that they could graze. We watched some children pick branches off the trees and put them down for the goats to feed and then when these were gone move them on to another area and repeat the process.



Our journey continued and we stopped in Mazabuka for supplies, some were really hard to find as we have found throughout the area, particularly ice for our coolbox which was the only means of keeping our drinks cool. The bus had its own refrigerator but this was for the group’s food supplies........ so it was quite essential to us travellers to try and keep some drinks cool........we were really fed up with drinking very hot water, even when kept in our specially designed water bottles.



We drove into the Lower Zambezi Valley and spent two nights on the banks of the river in a lovely location. The next day we set off for a full day’s canoeing (did not seem to remember this was in our itinerary). We were hoping to enjoy close up views of animals on the banks of the river as well as hippos and crocodiles in the water as this area is an unspoiled wilderness, with some of the finest game and birdlife in sub-Saharan Africa. We loaded our tents into the front of the canoe (apparently this would keep them stable as the winds were strong) and put our important possessions into large white bins that fitted into slots in the middle of the canoe and set off. It was really hard going trying to keep up with the guides who were in the ‘lead’ canoe and before long I realized with my sore shoulder and arm (nothing to do with age but still suffering with constant pins and needles since we left Lincolnshire many moons ago!) I was not going to be able to cope with rowing this ‘............’ canoe all day. So I had a moan at one of the guides and we pulled into the bank and I joined him and Paul joined got in with Jacob. Both were strong young men, which was a great help rowing on this huge river and as it turned out a very wise decision!



The Lower Zambezi National Park lies on the north bank of the Zambezi River in south eastern Zambia and is the fourth longest river in Africa. Until 1983 when the area was declared a national park it was the private game reserve of Zambia's president which has protected it from the ravages of mass tourism and now remains one of the few pristine wilderness areas left in Africa.



The Zambezi River is also home to the tribal mythical god - Nyami Nyami:

At the end of 2012 it was described by residents of the resort town of Kariba as a “rare spectacle”, when the fabled and legendary Nyaminyami river god is said to have made an unusual ‘public appearance’. According to the traditions of the Tonga people that live along the Zambezi Valley, the Nyaminyami is a river god that lives in the mighty Zambezi River. The legendary creature is believed to have the torso of a snake and the head of a fish. The Tonga people believe that Nyaminyami was separated from its feminine partner during the construction of the Kariba dam wall. It is further alleged that the frequent earth tremors felt in the area since the wall was built are caused by the spirit as it makes efforts to reach his partner. In the past, the creature is reported to have been sighted as it tried to make its way to the other side of the dam wall in search of his dear loved one. Local tradition states that the two Nyaminyami’s are lonely and only the destruction of the dam wall will reunite them. In this most recent sighting of the creature, residents said that the fabled river god ‘revealed’ itself to the residents of Mahombekombe in broad daylight. During a recent tour of the Zambezi Valley, The Sunday Mail interviewed local residents about this strange happening and the majority of the residents in the fishing town confirmed witnessing the appearance of the giant snake-like creature. According to eye witnesses, the river god is said to have slowly snaked its way, in broad daylight, from the shores of the lake before it plunged into the lake’s deep waters - very much fact and not fiction but I will leave that up to you to decide!





Back to present day - we rowed all morning down the river which was quite idillic but such hard work even with the help of our two strong guides before finally stopping for lunch struggling up a steep sandy bank. Believe it or not we had covered 20 kms that morning, some distance and no wonder it was tiring - but we still had another 15 kms to go before we set up camp for the night - did we really sign up for this! We prepared lunch and watched a local lad fishing and when he caught a fish he would toss it up on the bank which was gradually getting covered in little fish - not much of a meal though, as they were very small - hope our supper is a little more substantial.......





After lunch we set off in the canoes again and finally reached Elephant Bone Island where we were going to camp for the night. We all erected our tents before jumping into the river to soak - keeping an eye out for the hippos we had seen down the river and we could still hear nearby We collected firewood from the bush and soon a roaring fire was going. We did have a very nice supper indeed cooked by Jacob before retiring for the night (Spag Bol al Zambia). Obviously there were no loos on the island so if you needed one you took the ‘spade’ and wandered off in to the dark (with head torch) to find a suitable spot. We prayed we did not need to have to get up in the night as the hippos were really nearby..........





The next morning the weather had changed and the wind was really strong so after breakfast when we set off in our canoes it was really hard going. The waves battered against the canoes pushing us in all directions and in the end after about an hour the guides pulled us into the banks and said it was impossible to go on. As we scrambled out of our canoes a group of local women, who had been washing their clothes watched smiling, They were quite amused to see us and probably thought that we were mad to travel up river in canoes in such bad conditions. I had a conversation with a local young girl who had a delightful baby boy which I think was born in May from our translations via hand signals and signs. We waited for a support boat to come and ‘rescue us’ leaving the canoes on the bank which we assumed would be collected later when the weather improved. The local ladies came to wave us off and the young girl was blowing me kisses and waving franticly They all helped to push the motor boat off the bank to get us clear of the reeds and we set off back down the Zambezi. We spotted elephants, crocodiles and hippos as well as coming across a flock of Carmen Bee Eaters which were nesting in the banks of the river as we made our way back to our first campsite.





Overnight it rained hard and the dirt roads were very wet and slippery and at one point our red bus skidding badly sideways but at least we stayed on the track - just. Local women were collecting water from the rivers with massive plastic pots balanced on their heads, but they managed to keep there feet on on the ground and appeared much steadier than our vehicle. Everywhere in this area the villagers water supplies were collected from rivers and streams as not many villages had their own pumps. This was all done by females and even very young children carried water in smaller containers appropriate to their size gradually increasing the volume carried as they grew older so that by the time they were adult balancing heavy loads was quite easy. We noticed that the goats in the villages did not like the rain and were all sheltering under the eaves of the thatched homes being the only dry area. Children and adults smiled and waved shouting ‘how are you’ as we drove past, all seemed very happy to see us, not many tourist in this area, so we were quite a novelty in our big red bus slipping from side to side. We passed through a number of villages when finally we heard a loud bang and the bus started to wobble from side to side with a burst tyre. Why did it have to do it right in the middle of a long straight road with hardly any shade! We had no choice but to get off and Jeff and Jacob had to change the really shredded tyre. This took over an hour as it was one of the inner tyres, so they had to remove the outside one first and in the extreme heat on the hot dusty road this was not much fun for them - the tarmac was red hot. The group all tried to find what little shade there was as we could not really help them.









We finally headed into Lasaka the Capital of Zambia to stock up on a few supplies, it had a friendly vibe and lots of colour and contrasts, from the bustling business centre to the very poor townships on the outskirts of town very much a typical hot and dusty African city. Taking the Great East Road we left the city and made our way into the valley of the huge South Luangwa National Park - a wild and remote sanctuary for wildlife and bird species. There are 400 different birds and 60 different animal species including the majority of big game - lion, leopard, elephant and buffalo, with the only notable exception the rhino which has sadly been poached to extinction, although a reintroduction plan is in hand. The Luangwa Valley also boasts two endemic species the Thornicroft's Giraffe and Cookson's Wildebeest. Some magnificent trees and plants grow in the Valley, amongst the more common ones are the mopane, leadwood, winterthorn, the tall vegetable ivory palm, the marula and the magnificent tamarind tree. There are some awesome baobab specimens and a few large ebony forests as well. Known as one of the finest wildlife sanctuaries in the world we were looking forward to staying here, particularly as the park offered unique walking safaris into the heart of the bushveld. An impressive concentration of both hippos and crocodiles makes the Luangwa River one of the most densely populated in Africa and we were really looking forward to seeing these as well.



It was a long journey in fact most of this tour did entail 'too many' long drives, which were not that comfortable with a full busload of people, plus 12 backpacks, plus everyone's water supplies. Most of the group had at least two five litre bottles of water per person and these we had to stack under the seats as there was no where else to put them. We finally arrived at Wildlife Camp and what a beautiful setting this was, we camped right alongside the river and elephants were just about to cross as we pulled up. Around the camp we spotted lots of wildlife and several Lilac-breasted Rollers (the national bird of Botswana and we had seen many there also). A wildlife ranger welcomed us to the campsite and gave us a briefing on security whilst staying in the bush. He told us that a female elephant had died the day before just across the river from the lodge and we could see her in the distance. A group were going to investigate how she had died but they thought that it would be from natural causes, they were also going to remove her tusks before poachers could do so. They hoped that she had not been shot but poaching is still a big problem in Africa. Later we watched them walk across to the body and they informed us that she had died from natural causes possibly linked to difficulties with a pregnancy. They removed the tusks and as soon as they did the vultures started to arrive in huge numbers. Later in the evening about 10 large crocodiles came out of the water to feast on her body before long she will disappear.





We asked what happens to the ivory and were told that many African governments have warehouses full of elephant ivory, confiscated from poachers as well as the result of natural deaths. There are hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of ivory sitting in warehouses and selling this huge stock pile of ivory legally could be a huge benefit for these cash-strapped governments and a good way to help fund continuing elephant conservation efforts in the future.



Whilst at the camp we undertook two walking safaris and were very lucky indeed with our sightings. A local ranger, called River was to be our guide as well as an armed ranger for our safety. After a safety briefing we set out in single file towards the river and walked along the bank passing the dead elephant across the river which was now covered in vultures and other birds but the crocodiles all darted back to the river as we approached. We enjoyed these walking safaris immensely and learnt such a lot on conservation and ecology of the area from the rangers in-depth knowledge.



We saw a massive group of hippos (about 150) wallowing in the mud, all congregated and maneuvering for the best spot together as the water was so low. River told us that there are more hippos in this park than anywhere else in Africa and indeed it was a very big raft. Whilst we watched a fight started between two males and the noise was deafening as they opened their huge mouths and charged at each other with their tusks. Blood was drawn and it was all over in a few minutes with the loser backing off and going into a shallower pool. River said he had only ever seen one fight before so we were in the right place at the right time and I even managed to get a video clip as well. Our walk continued and we headed away from the river and into the bush where we saw close up views of many other animals including giraffes, antelope and warthogs. River stopped to show us some tracks and we heard this large crash as a leopard jumped down from a nearby tree and darted in the bush, quite a close encounter, a bit closer than we would have liked! We continued our walk and again we were startled as another leopard leapt out of a bush right by us and gave a huge roar and like the first one disappeared into the bush everyone including the rangers jumped about a foot off the ground....... We found out later that these were rarely spotted on the walking safaris - so again we had been lucky to see two or were we!





The next day we had two game drives and spotted a pride of lions with cubs and had really close up views as they walked passed our vehicle. They had killed a huge buffalo which was still nearby and some of them stayed with the kill whilst others went off to the river to quench their first. We watched the young cubs approach the buffalo and their heads disappeared inside the body they learn early how to survive. That evening on a nocturnal game drive it started to rain heavily and although we had a roof on the 4WD truck the wind and rain was coming in sideways so we were given these huge ponchos to wear. We felt sorry for the other half of our group who were in a different vehicle as they did not have a roof and later they told us they did not have poncho either so they were very wet indeed!



A local spotter was in the front of our truck with an extremely powerful light and he was searching the bush for they eyes of animals when suddenly as we turned a corner we stopped, this large male lion was right in our path and walked slowly passed our vehicle. Paul was on his side and he could have reached out and touched it - but he didn’t - and everyone held their breath as it passed by. We were also lucky enough to see two leopards hunting, one was stalking its prey in the long grass crouching down as low as possible and edging forward inch by inch. It is a rule of the park that you switch off lights if one is hunting so we continued and left him to catch his supper. As well as seeing lions and leopards we also saw a small Genet Cat and Civet Cat which we never would have seen without the spotter as he had such brilliant eyesight. He even managed to spot a chameleon in a bush which took us about 10 minutes to locate, even with him holding the bright light on it.



Wildlife Camp also had a small swimming pool and bar which overlooked the river and it was nice to be able to cool down with a refreshing drink whilst watching wildlife go about its everyday business along the riverside. The only downside of the camp was the Vervet Monkeys which were quite a nuisance. You could not leave anything around or they would swoop down and take it away. The dominant male was also quite aggressive and even went for me when I tried to ‘shoo’ him away from our camp kitchen. The manager of the camp said it was a shame but they would probably have to shoot him as they were scared that he would eventually injury somebody - I was afraid of getting bitten as we were not covered against rabies! Even though we had been warned not to feed any wild animals some visitors still do so that they can get good photographs and even whilst we were there we spotted someone doing just that, I will not mention what nationality they were though.



We really enjoyed our stay at South Luangwa National Park, we were so lucky with our wildlife spotting and would have liked to have stayed longer but tomorrow we head out of Zambia and into Malawi, the heart of Africa - see you there.

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