Botswana, Zambia and Zimbabwe

On Sept. 23rd we were in Thebe River Safari Lodge outside Chobe National Park in Botswana. We'd come quite a way since we left Lilongwe a week ago on the 16th. My mom was kind enough to drive us the hour and a half to the Zambian border, which we luckily managed to pass through without issue. We were a bit afraid that the same immigration official would be there to hassle us, but he was luckily not.

We strangely enough met a couple travelling to Livingstone, Zambia, who happenned to be on our overlander tour, so we hopped on the bus and took off to Lusaka. We left Lilongwe around 6am and arrived in Lusaka at about 7pm or so. Quite a long day, but it was interesting to see a major city complete with gas stations, traffic lights, and Subways. We decided that, given every Tuesday is 2 for 1 pizza night, there was no better way to recharge than a couple of delicious pizzas from the gas station. It was a excellent decision. But we soldiered on the next day, leaving around 9am and getting to Livingstone around 6pm. Not too bad, considering some of the other travel times we've had so far.

The first day in Livingstone, Thursday the 18th, we walked down to Victoria Falls from the Zambian side, took a little hike to the Boiling Pot, where the white water rafting starts, and walked across the falls side of the gorge as well. The water was quite low, so we only had a few small streams to cross, but given that there was a 300ft dropoff quite nearby, it made us a little nervous. Then we saw the rescue operation. Apparently a local fisherman had been missing for 5 days, and they were looking for his body in the falls itself. So there were about 40 people milling about, 1 guy with a harness and a helmet, strapped in 4 different ways, and to top it off, a standard metal ladder you would use to change a light bulb. They tied a rope around it, dropped it in the falls, and called it good. The actual rescue guy went straight down it over the edge of the gorge. Quite interesting to watch, but we never heard the outcome.

The next day we headed over to Vic Falls, which is the town on the Zimbabwe side. We watched our newfound friends, Max and victoria, jump off the bridge and swing out in the gorge swing. Later on they did the bungee jump and the zip line. I've personally already done the bungee, so I had nothing to prove and Erin was not about to be talked into it. It also didn't help that the night before ended up being quite a long one. So standing in the beating sun watching people jump in between the frequent trains crossing the bridge, we decided that we had to leave before we lost our lunch. So off to Zimbabwe!

Friday was so incredibly hot that we basically did nothing other than recover from the previous day/night's activities by swimming and watching some TV. Nothing quite like relaxing to make you feel better. Luckily we were forward-thinking enough to book an activity for the next day. So, at 6am, crack of dawn, we woke to head out on a horseback safari. We walked among elephants, cape buffalo, waterbuck, bushbacks and impalas at incredibly close range. With the exception of the elephant. He didn't like the horses too much. And Erin's horse didn't either. I say the fear was equal in between Erin and her mount, but that's okay. Erin apparently hasn't ridden on a horse in 15 years or so, and we were on the "experienced" ride. Experienced might have been a bit of an exaggeration, but no harm to foul.

We came back from the ride and grabbed some lunch, then headed to a local bar, where we met a couple of vendors who normally sell bracelets, necklaces, etc. But as they said, it was too hot and no one was buying anything. So they took a respite in Hunter's Bar, where we quickly became tenuous friends. They invited us to go to a soccer match the next day. We said we'd meet them at 1pm. It didn't quite work out that smoothly because in between that time and the next day we had to meet the overlander group that we would spend the next few weeks with and see Victoria Falls from the Zimbabwe side. Both went fairly smoothly, and I was very impressed with the Zim side of the falls. Much better viewpoint than the Zambian side. You were basically across from the monstrous flow of water falling 300+ feet into the abyss. You could even dangle your feet over the edge and watch in wonder as erosion and nature worked before your wide eyes.

From there we headed back to town, grabbed some lunch and met our local friends, Paulo and John. John had been waiting at the bar since 1pm and it was 2:30, so he was already quite well along the way to full inebriation. Luckily Paulo was sober, so we headed out all together. We were completely unsure of what was going to happen, what the game was going to be like at all, but we were excited. We had grabbed a bag of food to give to John, who has two kids, so we passed by his house and dropped it off with his wife. Then it was off to grab a couple of beers and head to the game. The first two stores we went to were completely out of beer (and most other items as well), but the third try was successful. Then we moved to the complex, paid $2 for each of us, and sat down to watch the game. There were probably about 3,000 people there, but only two nonlocals, which were Erin and I. The game was a zimbabwe division 1 professional match, and so the level was actually impressive considering I was only expecting a kickabout. We made it to the local bar at halftime to connect with the hometown crowd, drink Chibuku, a millet beer drink with the millet and sorgum still in it. Yum. Sweet, chewy beer. Tough to beat.

Then we all took off on the next day to head to Chobe National Park in Botswana. We opted out of the nighttime sleepout there, but made sure to catch the morning game drive to see some hippos, elephants, impala, kudu, crocs and waterbuck. Then the night river cruise on the Chobe river was excellent. The cruises are often better than the drives because you just sit on a comfortable houseboat and drink beers or cocktails while watching elephants cross a river. Tough to top.

Today, we have done nothing but drive from Chobe to Maun. 630km is quite a bit on these roads in a large truck. But we made it. Tomorrow we'll be heading into the Okavango Delta for some makora (wooden canoe) rides, spending 2 nights in the park, coming back to Maun and doing a scenic flight in a single prop cessna. Should be exciting.

We'll write again when we get back to the modern world of the internet.

Oh, and as a final note about the overlander, I'm very tired of cheese/ham sandwich on bad bread. Tough chicken just isn't that good if you have to tear off with your teeth. But I'm not complaining.