Goodbye Joburg - Hello Zambia

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Hi everyone,

I know, the entries are all over the place this week and most of you probably wonder where the hell I am now. So let's recap: South Africa, Mozambique, Swaziland and back to South Africa last week. Leaving Joburg and the comfort of my posh hotel was a bit hard I must admit, but another adventure was waiting for me: the untamed river safari in Zambia and Botswana. I flew into Lusaka (Zambia) last Wednesday and met my new group the next day.

Total we are 12 people, about half from Germany and half from the UK - our guides are from South Africa and Zimbabwe, Shyrod and Sifiso, great guys, very laid back and a great sense of humor - which has come in handy considering our truck broke down two days ago and needs to be towed away all the way back to South Africa (we are getting a replacement).

So this is a camping safari as you can see on the pictures, which means we are setting up camp every night and sleeping under the stars. It's actually pretty comfortable and besides the occasional oversized spiders and wandering hyenas, very safe. I am sharing the tent with Nicole, a very cool girl about my age who is from London, we are a good team and our set up time of the tent keeps dropping each time - we plan on beating Steve and Stefan very soon!

We are finding people super friendly in Zambia, lots of smiles, lots of kids waving at us and running behind the truck, feels very welcoming. Until we got to Livingstone we had not seen many tourists, it seems like Zambia is trying to catch up with its neighbors tourism-wise and the negative press that recently plagued Zimbabwe has actually benefited Zambia as a destination to see the Vic falls - not to mention the apparently large number of white farmers who have moved to Zambia. We found the grocery stores very well stocked, even with some imported French cheeses that are slowly but surely starting to tempt me after 5 weeks on the road. More colorful money (Zambian Kwacha) with exotic animals - leading me to think that the US dollar is the most boring looking bill in the world!

We spent our first 5 days in Zambia in some game reserves. I saw more animals in South Africa but it was still pretty cool to see elephants and hippos again. One of the lodges by the river had a hippo that would regularly come out of the water, climb a few stairs and lay down on the cold stones in the shade...right in the middle of the deck conveniently located 10 ft away from the bar - When I walked in I thought it was some sort of sculpture (don;t laugh, they have those big wood hippo sculptures at the craft markets) and walked right up to it, when someone gave me a sign I understood immediately! In Africa, hippos are responsible for the largest number of accidents and deaths.

We arrived at the Victoria Falls a couple days ago and we are all relaxing and indulging in various adrenaline sports. We are staying in Livingstone in Zambia. The Vic Falls are shared by Zambia and Zimbabwe, so you can view them from both sides (Stefan, I got the cool looking Zimbabwe's visa stamp!). The falls are one of the 7 natural wonders of the world and it's hard to argue with such a statement. Because this is the dry season the falls are not as huge as in the winter but on the other hand it's easier to see the waterfall effect now because there is no huge mist and one can stay relatively dry while admiring the falls. People say that in winter the spray is visible 40km away! Here is Livingstone's famous reaction upon first seeing the falls: "Scenes so lovely must have been gazed upon by angels in their flight" -

At 7 am this morning we flew over the falls in an helicopter; amazing and well worth it, from up above you realize the power of this water and it confirmed my decision not to go river surfing yesterday! Our pilot seemed keen on showing off his skills and treated us to 4 excruciatingly steep banks that sent all of our heads buzzing for at least 5 minutes. So much fun that tomorrow I will be flying above the falls again at the same time, 7 am, but this time with a micro flight (wait for the pics!).

Yesterday morning, Nicole and I signed our lives away (literally) and went onto a lion walk on the Zimbabwe side of the falls. There is this conservation center that is trying to reintroduce lions into the wild and they offer a lion walk/encounter. This is how it works: they give you a stick (no joke - see the pics), instruct you to act confident (you know, they sense your fear and might see you as a prey), warn you that they can pounce on your butt and shoulders for fun; and of course if they grab your leg, do not try to pull and use the stick as distraction. Well I am happy to report that none of that pouncing and grabbing and tugging occured and this was one of the most amazing experiences on my trip so far. We walked for about 1h30 with 3 lions, two were 12 months old (120 kilos each - 250 lbs for our US readers) and one was 8 month old. At 12 months old they are pretty darn big, the paws are huge, the teeth impressive and they are able to kill preys such as a zebra. It was pretty hot and these lions, which are lazy creatures, kept wanting to lay in the shade, it was perfect for picture and petting them, the fur is quite soft and there was no smell I could notice - but frankly I was concentrating on exuding that confident-i-am-the-boss-and-not-a-prey energy and it could well be they were smelly (I will ask Nicole). The pics of the lion walk are on the next blog entry, sorry, you have to read the next episode.


Tomorrow we are off to Botswana to Chobe Game Reserve where we are guaranteed to see tons of elephants. Excellent, I don't get tired of admiring them. After that we will be on the water in a canoe getting up close with hippos and crocs.

I am back to Joburg next week for a few days of shopping and pampering, and then it;s off to the spice island...Zanzibar! Can't believe I am finally going to Zanzibar, I have dreamed of this place for years. I am planning on a lot of time at the beach, great seafood, exploring the narrow streets of Stonetown with my camera in hand. Namibia is right around the corner and this I am also very much looking forward to. My brother is joining me there for 2 weeks, we have a 4X4 and will be exploring quite a bit. He is diligently crafting an itinerary for us as we speak (right Laurent?).

So this is it for today. I am doing excellent, I miss running and will get some running shoes in Joburg next week, fyi - I am still trying to put on a few pounds for those of you who have expressed a concern 😊 but it;s a bit hard to get my hands on pastries and ice cream here in Zambia.

Thanks everyone for all your messages on the blog, it's good to know you are all doing great. I am trying to picture you all in SF, Seattle, New Orleans, Berlin, Amsterdam, Paris, LA and NYC etc....getting ready for the holidays and it's hard to believe it;s that time of the year. No xmas tree in sight here in Zambia and that's fine by me 😊

p.s. scroll all the way down to see all the pictures

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Bonjour a tous,

Je sais, la version en Anlgais est bien longue ce coup ci, mais vous avez pu apprecier les photos en descendant jusqu;a la version francaise. Me voici en Zambie aux chutes Victoria. C'est mon deuxieme safari qui a debute mercredi dernier a Lusaka la capitale de la Zambie.
Apres Afrique du Sud, Mozambique et Swaziland je suis en train de decouvrir la Zambie, le Botswana et le Zimbabwe (ok, juste un jour mais j;ai un joli visa colore dans mon passeport pour le prouver).

Je suis avec un groupe de 12 tres sympa, la moitie allemands et l'autre anglais. C;est un safari camping et chaque nuit nous montons notre tente. je partage la mienne avec Nicole, une anglaise tres sympa avec qui je m;entends a merveille, on forme une bonne equipe et on est de plus en plus rapides et efficaces a monter notre tente...je crois qu;a la fin du sejour on va battre les garcons!

Nos guides sont extras, tres rigolos, debrouillards et toujours de bonne humeur: Sifiso est Sud Africain et Shyrod est du Zimbabwe. Ils roulent les "r" quand ils parlent et ca ajoute a leur cote decontracte. Sifiso cuisine et Shyrod conduit. On mange beaucoup de viande et je commence a rever de plats asiatiques et de fromages. Les supermarches de Zambie sont tres bien fournis et j;ai meme apercu un boursin et un camembert qui me faisaient un clin d'oeuil!

Notre camion est costaud et un peu bruyant - enfin, costaud, pas tant que ca....en arrivant a Livingstone il y a 2 jours il a rendu l"ame et devra etre tracte jusqu'en Afrique du Sud! Ca tombe bien car on est dans le meme endroit 3 jours et on en a pas besoin, on devrait nous livrer un autre camion demain pour notre depart sur le Botswana - croisons les doigts!

Jusqu;a present les routes ne sont pas tres bonnes mais tout le monde garde son sens de l;humour et on prend notre mal en patience. On dort comme des marmottes et meme les ronflements des allemands ne me genent pas!

Pour l'instant les chutes Victoria ont ete le top. Magnifique et impressionantes, et pourtant c;est la saison seche et apparament en hiver (Aout ici) on voit la brume a 40 kms. Ce matin on a fait un vol en helico et c;etait fabuleux, on etait 4 dans l;helico et on etait aux anges! Demain je refais ca a 7h du mat en ULM...encore plus de sensations!!
En parlant de sensations, vous voyez sur les photos mon entrevue avec les lions...La aussi fabuleux, j'etais un peu aprehensive, on avait seulement un baton a la main (pour distraire les gros chats) et ces lions avaient 12 mois et pesaient deja 120 kilos et sont capables de tuer des proies telles que les zebres. Pour les enfants qui se demandent...oui les lions sont doux a caresser, non on ne m'a pas griffe et non ils ne sentent pas mauvais 😊

Voila pour les nouvelles, je suis en pleine forme et je continue a voir des paysages extraordinaires, je suis avec des gens sympas et mon rythme s;est drolement ralenti et j;ai du mal a me rappeler a quoi la vie a la grande ville ressemble.... Je serai a Zanzibar fin Novembre et le 5 Decembre mon frere prefere me rejoins en Namibie pour 15 jours d'aventures en 4x4!

Merci pour tous les messages et a bientot
Isa

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Photos

First day in Lusaka, Zambia
not much to do in town - eating a curry

Hippo at the lodge, Kafue, Zambia
Apparently he does that quite often...

Bush walk in Zambia
This is a dead water buffalo

First sighting of the Vic Falls, Zambia
there is a lot more water in the winter