Southern Africa

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Dar es Salaam, Tanzania and Heading South through Tanzania (16th – 19th September 2010)

After 4 days chilling out on the beach in Zanzibar, we caught the ferry back to Dar es Salaam. As the previous boat unloaded and we waited to board, we wondered if the coffin, the fitting lady and what looked like a dead person being carried off the previous boat were a good omen. Luckily, apart from a slightly rough sea and some seasickness from fellow occupants, the journey was not too eventful. On arriving back in Dar, our plan had been to get the 24 hour train to Malawi. Unfortunately, this was sold out, so we looked around for other options. We had already planned to join an overland tour group later in our trip, from Victoria Falls to Cape Town, and we realised that the same tour would also be in Dar, heading the same way as us. We decided to hop on for a couple of days to get ourselves through the rest of Tanzania and into Malawi.
It took two and half days to get from Dar to the Malawi border - so we were glad that we hadn’t gone for the local bus, which advertised a 12 hour journey, presumably at break-neck speed! We travelled through Mikumi National Park and camped in what seemed like the middle of nowhere for consecutive nights before finally reaching our next country.

Chitimba and Livingstonia, Malawi (20th-21st September 2010)

Chitimba Beach Camp had a great location on the shores of Lake Malawi with a nice beach and good views of the surrounding hills. As we had been pretty lazy since finishing our Kilimanjaro trek we decided it was a good idea to sign-up for a walk the following day, from there to Livingstonia, some 800 metres up in the hills. Eight of us embarked on the journey and within half an hour most of us were wondering why it had seemed like such a good idea. Despite starting the walk at 7am it was roasting hot straight away and no matter how much sunscreen we applied it sweated off in no time at all. It was 16km up the hill to Livingstonia, a remnant of Malawi’s colonial past and named after Dr David Livingstone. The town at the top was very pretty and we enjoyed a welcome lunch break overlooking the hills, whilst congratulating ourselves on making it to the top and counting our blisters. Most of us were walking much faster on the way back down, if only to get to the bar quicker.

Nkhata Bay, Senga Bay & Lilongwe, Malawi (22nd-26th September 2010)

Nkhata Bay was like St. Lucia according to the Lonely Planet. Now, we have never been to St. Lucia but we certainly hope it would appeal more than this place did. While the views across the lake were lovely, the selection of backpackers hostels left something to be desired. Most seemed to be full of crusty people happy to spend day after day passed out on sofas, generally stoned. We decided to stay for one day only, then make our escape to somewhere nicer along the coast. Unfortunately, we did not escape in time to avoid a night of poetry reading in the bar (where we thought we were going for a quiet drink), where the crusties stood up one by one to read us their creations - “I walk down the road with my brother, I think about corruption… corruption… corruption …” – being one choice number.

We left Nkhata Bay and headed down to Senga Bay, where we found a great spot on the beach and stayed for 3 days. We bumped into the same African Trails truck party on our second night and, as would become a running theme for the next month or so, we embarked on a rather heavy night out. We headed to a beach party where “The Best Band in the Whole of Malawi” was playing. It later transpired that “The Best Band in the Whole of Malawi” had triple-booked themselves, so we were actually dancing to a last minute stand-in act, but it didn’t really matter. The setting was pretty spectacular, with the stage right by the lake and the beach acting as a dance floor.
We spent the following day relaxing by the pool of a local hotel, the perfect hangover cure.

Livingstone, Zambia (29thSeptember - 3rd October 2010)

After catching so many lifts with the African Trails truck, we finally signed up in earnest in Zambia. We would be on the truck for 3 weeks, taking us down through Botswana, Namibia and as far as Cape Town. The truck carried everything we needed: our tents, cooking equipment and food. Along with our fellow truckers, we took it in turns to cook, wash up and act as “security” for the truck. We were lucky enough to have a great group, including a number of Brits, lots of Aussies, a Canadian, a Spaniard and a couple of Yanks. It was great fun to spend a few weeks travelling with the same crowd, having met so many cool people only for a day or so in previous places.
After 2 long days travelling through Zambia in the truck, we set up camp at Grubby’s Grotto in Livingstone, the town on the Zambian side of Victoria Falls. Our “unusual” host, Grubby, did not really believe in being nice to his guests, or even civil, and spent most of the time telling people to f*** off or to perform sexual favours on him. A different approach to hospitality…

Our first night at Vic Falls, we embarked on an organised sunset cruise down the Zambezi River as a group. We saw plenty of wildlife during the first part of the trip but as the sun set and the ‘all you could drink bar’ was put to full use, the tone was set for a rather heavy night. Nick (our driver) had arranged for a cake for Nat’s birthday the following day. It was a lovely thought and a tasty cake but they had misspelled her name, so we all wished Nit a very happy birthday. After the boat cruise had finished, we hit the bar and the night descended into dancing, drum playing, gymnastics and even some swimming. Fully clothed of course.

The next day, Nat’s birthday, started with a hangover as we hauled ourselves out of our tent and packed our stuff together, ready for a quick taxi ride to the Zambezi Sun Hotel down the road. We enjoyed two days of luxury as a birthday treat. The comfy room, swimming pool and incredibly tasty buffet breakfasts and dinners were a godsend after a month and a half in Africa.

We headed off for some morning activities – gorge swinging, abseiling and the flying fox at the Batoka Gorge. Excitement soon turned to fear for Nat as she realised she had to abseil down the 50 metre cliff first. The flying fox was great fun and we each got a couple of turns to run off the edge of the cliff in a body harness before whizzing out across the canyon. The only slight moment of concern came when you stopped and had to hang there as they wired up the ropes to pull you back. The reality of how high you were suddenly hit and you prayed that the harness was attached properly. The gorge swing was last up and we decided it was only right to take the plunge together, in a tandem jump. They kitted us out and explained that we would need to hold each other with one arm and the cable with the other before falling backwards off the cliff edge. The free-fall would then last a few seconds before we were to swing out into the gorge. We bravely threw ourselves into the abyss, and pretty soon Dave’s girly screams could be heard across the border. Any remnants of our hangovers were soon banished.

That afternoon, we set out for High tea on Livingstone Island - supposedly the sedate activity to follow the morning’s adrenaline rush. We were taken by boat out to the island, which sits on the edge of Victoria Falls, and enjoyed a stroll out to the edge and some great views. When they said that you could bring your swimmers for a quick dip we didn’t expect what was to follow. After swimming out towards the edge of the falls we clambered across rocks to the Devils Pool. You then had to leap out - far enough to avoid the rocks in the pool but not too far to the right as you would get sucked over the edge by the current! Sitting in the water some 5 feet from a 100 metre waterfall was absolutely amazing and something we won’t forget in a hurry (or ever do again, Brenda!).

Kasane, Maun & the Okovango Delta, Botswana (4th – 8th October 2010)

After a few great days at Vic Falls, it was time to head to Botswana. We headed back to Grubby’s, loaded ourselves into the truck and headed down to Maun, which would be our base for a trip into the Okovango Delta.
To get to the Delta we were driven out of Maun, where we soon turned off road and into the scrubland. Before long we were driving over sand banks and through the water, headed for the polling station, where we jumped into small dugout canoes. There were two of us to each canoe, plus a poller who would guide us towards our final destination, an island in the middle of the Delta. It was really hot out there and with little shade but for the trees, we tried to relax in the midday heat.

Once in the Delta, we were taken on guided walking safaris of the surrounding area, where we saw plenty of zebra, wildebeest, elephant, giraffe and buffalo but, rather thankfully as we were on foot, no lions. Later that evening, we cooked dinner on over the fire then chilled out for an evening under the stars. After dinner, the guides and pollers got together to sing for us. They were obviously well practised and were incredibly good, throwing in harmonies and even some dance routines. Unfortunately, they then expected us to reciprocate. Given we were a bunch of 18 people between the ages of 23 and 37, mostly female and hailing from the UK, Australia, the US and Spain, we were a bit lost for material. We treated the Botswanan pollers to renditions of “Grease”, “I Will Survive” and (perhaps the highlight) the “Home and Away” theme tune. Shocking stuff. They seemed happy enough though and whooped and cheered politely when we had finished (or perhaps to stop us – hard to tell…)

Nat wasn’t keen on the sleeping arrangements in the Delta, as our tent was quite close to the water which was inhabited by plenty of hippos and crocodiles. Even Dave had to admit that the heavy-sounding footsteps not far from the tent at 3am were somewhat concerning. Thankfully we survived to tell the tale the next day. The next day we were dicing with danger again as our pollers took us far too close to some fighting hippos, in the same dugout canoes (essentially a tree trunk with a hole in it). Exciting but a little scary given these creatures kill more tourists than any other creature!

Rundu & Etosha National Park, Namibia (9th-12th October 2010)

We crossed into Namibia from Botswana via the Capiri Strip and headed for Rundu camp. Given the size of Namibia this was just a one night stopover before heading for the highlights of the country.

Etosha National Park was great, not just because we saw plenty of animals, of which rhinos were the highlight, but also thanks to the amazing landscapes that we encountered. The clay pan, much like the salt pans of Bolivia was amazing. We made sure to take the obligatory silly photos which you’ll see on this page somewhere.
The Skeleton Coast was quite bizarre. Mile upon mile of rugged coastline, with the wind whistling across the sand and shipwrecks scattered up and down the coastline. We also stopped off at the seal colony and got to realise how smelly these creatures are.

Swakopmund, Namibia (13th – 16th October 2010)

We were all quite excited about spending four nights in one place, particularly somewhere that resembled civilisation. We spent four nights here in dorms and pretty much had the time to ourselves.

Swakopmund is a bit of an adrenaline centre and the one activity the entire group decided to try together was sandboarding. We both tried stand-up boarding, which was great, apart from the slog of walking back to the top of the dune after each run (apparently lifts wouldn’t be environmentally friendly…). We both also got to try lie-down boarding, so we threw ourselves straight down the largest dune, face first on a piece of plywood, to see how fast we could go. The speed gun recorded speeds over 70 kph for both of us – an incredible rush. Unfortunately, our brave but somewhat misguided attempts at the only “jump” on the dune were not quite so successful. Nat’s wipe-out was so spectacular that she received a cheer from everyone on the dune. Luckily it was only her pride that suffered any serious damage.

Dave went quad biking another day and tried his best to emulate Rik Mayall and Ozzy Osbourne by stacking it over a sand dune. Luckily, while he flew over the bike, the bike fell the other way and the only injury he suffered was where his hand went straight through the clutch. Feeling that we may have been pushing our nine lives by this point, we decided to hold back on the adrenaline activities for a while.
To add to the adrenaline fuelled activities, Swakopmund also had great restaurants and nightlife. We had some great food (Dave managed to eat Springbok, Oryx and Zebra, all in one sitting) and some even better nights out.

Soussevlei & Fish River Canyon, Namibia (17th – 19th October 2010)

We got up before sunrise to jump in the truck and head for Dune 45, which is the highest accessible sand dune in the area. Some of the dunes here reach 300m, the highest anywhere in the world. The trek up to the top was tiring, as sand always seems to be, but the views were amazing.
We also managed to fit in a visit to Fish River Canyon, the second largest canyon in the world, behind the Grand Canyon. Pretty spectacular stuff.

Trawaal & Stellenbosch, South Africa (20th – 23rd October 2010)

We spent two nights at Highlanders Vineyard and Campsite, where the Scottish hosts treated us to wine tasting and a great dinner cooked on the bbq. As is generally the way with wine tasting, we didn’t stop after the initial tasters and, later that night, Dave decided to take on one of the drinking challenges that were proudly displayed behind the bar. He beat the record (of course), but may have beaten himself in the process. However, any promises of a detox were short-lived, given that the next destination was Stellenbosch.
Our last two nights on the tour were spent at a backpackers in a pretty part of Stellenbosch. It was a great feeling to know that we wouldn’t be camping again for weeks. Saturday was spent tasting wine and cheese in and around Stellenbosch, Franshoeck and Paarl. We stopped off at four vineyards and made note of more really good wines which we plan to buy when we get home.

Vuyani Lodge, Hoedspruit, South Africa (24th – 28th October 2010)

After saying our goodbyes to the truck crowd, we flew up to Joburg and headed to Vuyani Lodge for 5 nights of luxury, thanks to an amazing wedding present from Beth and Bernie. Upon arrival at the lodge we enjoyed an amazing dinner and looked forward to a good night’s sleep in a comfortable room. The lodge was amazing and we had a great time relaxing, using the pool and jacuzzi and gorging on three great meals every day. Each morning and evening we had the chance to do a game drive on the private estate and saw plenty of animals, the highlight being two white rhino on the last evening. The game drives were the most civilised we had experienced, with a stop mid-drive for a glass of wine and some nibbles to watch the sunset! We also drove ourselves around Kruger National Park, where we realised that seeing animals up close and personal from the window of a self-driven Mazda 2 is a very different experience from seeing them from a well-armed safari truck!

We also explored the area around the Lodge and drove ourselves up to God’s Window, a viewpoint across the Blyde River Canyon, the third largest canyon in the world. It’s about time we went to see the largest canyon.

Mozambique (29th - 30th October 2010)

After developing a puncture in the Kruger area, our ambitious plans to drive to the Mozambique coast were cut short. We made it as far as the border, heading to Maputo, the capital, the next day. Whilst there wasn’t an awful lot to see in Maputo, it was pretty enough and we had great seafood that evening at one of the restaurants along the coast.
From Maputo we headed up to Tofo, an amazing arc of white sand beach. We spent a couple of days chilling on the beach, staying in a reed hut at the top of the dunes. Our hut was fairly basic and electricity in the whole camp was somewhat sporadic. Nat managed to time a midnight trip to the shower block (with no torch) perfectly, where the power went off, leaving her in the pitch black, with no idea where she was or how to get back. Thankfully, it was a short power cut, so she didn’t freak out too much.

Our last night in Mozambique, after much hunting for an available room and a slight panic that we might have to sleep in the car, we eventually found a random motel to crash in before setting of for Swaziland the next day.

Swaziland (3rd – 4th November 2010)

Swaziland is a very cool little country. We headed to the pretty Ezulwini Valley, where we drove around the mountains and went for some nice walks. We seemed to have been followed by thunderstorms since Joberg and Swaziland was certainly no exception. We got caught in one storm when driving through the valley, where it seemed like the lightning was hitting the ground only metres away from us. Later that night, we watched from our hostel as the night sky was lit up every few seconds and thunder clattered around us.

Lesotho (5th – 7th November 2010)

We had one night in a small town called Kestell after driving across from Swaziland. Lesotho was next on the list and we headed straight for a recommended spot, namely Malealea Lodge. To get to the lodge, we drove through the aptly named “Gates of Paridise Pass” where the views were breath taking. We got down to Malealea Lodge, where we spent our time chilling out in the amazing countryside and walking down to Pitsburg Gorge, passing the goat herders and farmers on our way down to the rock pools at the bottom of the gorge. The whole area was incredibly unspoiled and the quietness is something that you don’t experience very often. Once again, the power was somewhat unpredictable, and with immaculate timing, Nat managed to time her trip to brush her teeth to coincide with another power cut, leaving her stranded in the pitch black for the second time in a week!

Johannesburg, South Africa (8th – 9th November 2010)

We headed back to Joburg for our flight out, unable to believe our African adventures were almost done. We had a couple of days in Joburg, staying with Kirstin, an ex-colleague from UBS, and her sister at their place in Sandton. It was great to catch up and to enjoy some home comforts after so long on the road. We enjoyed our last day in Africa with some western-style shopping and a great dinner. It’s hard to believe we’ve been on the continent for almost three months.

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