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ZAMBIA
'........on sights as beautiful as this, angels in their flight must have gazed.'
David Livingstone on the Victoria Falls
30th July
We drove to Kazungula from Kasane today to catch the ferry across the Zambezi into Zambia. Although the crossing only took 5-10 minutes, we had to wait about an hour for the ferry, as there were a number of lorries waiting to cross as well. The officials for the paperwork and visas on the Zambian side all had a sense of humour and were very helpful and we were soon on our way.
We drove the 70 kilometres into Livingstone and camped at the excellent Marumba Lodge and Camping, in a beautiful, quiet location by the river with a restaurant and bar. It was also on the edge of the Mosi-oa-Tunya National Park, which meant that we often saw elephants only a short distance away from our campsite but with a fence in between. We met Clive and Judy there from Fish Hoek on the Cape Peninsular and really enjoyed their company, sharing travels and reminiscing about the many places we had visited or stayed at in South Africa.
31st July
The Victoria Falls straddle the border between Zimbabwe and Zambia and are regarded as one of the seven natural wonders of the World. The volume of water flowing, depends on the time of the year but when it is high between February and July, the spray can be very dense.
David Livingstone heard about the Falls in 1851. He set off in 1855 to find them, with a group of indigenous people from the Falls area and made the first European sighting of them. He named the Falls after Queen Victoria but the local name can be loosely translated as 'The Smoke that Thunders.' There was a large statue of Livingstone by the path that led down to the Falls.
The Falls were certainly magnificent, with wonderful rainbows and dense spray in places.
From above, the Zambezi flows sedately, until just before it reaches the Falls where it then roars over the edge, crashing far below into what looks like a huge, bubbling cauldron filled with white 'smoke' that drifts up and away. Paths and a bridge took you to various viewing points upstream and downstream, the noise was tremendous and you had to be prepared to get wet! We walked over the Victoria Falls Bridge toward the border for Zimbabwe and watched some brave people bungee jumping off the bridge. This 111 metre jump is said to be the second highest in the world! As our ticket for the Falls was for the whole day, we returned again in the late afternoon when the light was different and the rainbows had changed and the spray was even more dense, making it really difficult to walk over the little bridge without getting soaked!
The parking area near to the entrance for the Falls, was full of market stalls selling local crafts and I bought two, small pictures made from banana leaves. The Zambian people appeared warm and friendly with big smiles and a real sense of humour.
Later, we drove into the town of Livingstone for coffees at the Zigzag Coffee House and in the evening shared a meal with Clive and Judy. A great day. The Falls have been breathtaking and I certainly hope that we will return to see more of Zambia, after we have visited Malawi.
1st August
Another new month and Happy Birthday Jonathan, we hope you have a great day!
We said our goodbyes to Clive and Judy and then also met Paul and Metta at the Reception as we were leaving. They were a Dutch couple, driving slowly back to Holland in their Series 3 Land Rover after living and working in Cape Town for some time. We hope to meet up with them in Mozambique later on if our journeys cross.
We returned to Botswana via the ferry again and camped once more at Chobe Safari Lodge where we enjoyed another great buffet meal in their restaurant.
2nd August
We took the tarred road to Francistown which took us along the edge of three, unfenced, forest reserves where we stopped at the side of the road to watch a large herd of elephants feeding through the trees. We passed huge fields of crops, including sunflowers and people were cutting tall grass and making bundles to sell at at the sides of the road.
Through Nata and our second veterinary check point, where we had to dip our shoes and also drive through disinfectant. Had we got any meat? Before we could answer, the official decided that he wanted to inspect the inside of our fridge himself and discovered our packet of rump steak, our dinner that night! No matter how hard I tried to talk him round, according to the rules and regulations, red meat was not allowed to pass through this check point, so I could either put it in the bin, throw it in a pit of sand, OR, I was allowed the option of starting up a braai at the side of the road, cooking it and then I could take it with me! We didn't have time to do this, as at that point, Francistown was still some distance away, so after a last effort with the 'boss', we had to dump our tea for tonight which was very frustrating!
We camped in the grounds of the Marang Hotel just outside Francistown where it was very cold and we had to get the water fixed from being barely warm to hot! Before leaving we used our jump leads to help a fellow traveller start his Toyota!! There is always a lot of competition between Toyota and Land Rover enthusiasts in Southern Africa for overland travel. Toyota drivers are always amazed that our Land Rover has not let us down as they believe them to be very unreliable, so when we had to help out a Toyota, we found it amusing. Even the owners took a photograph!
3rd August
In Francistown we found a Cape Union Mart shop and came away with new head torches each, badly needed as our original ones had been letting us down ever since the beginning of our journey. Our last campsite before entering South Africa again, was at Palapye on a very nice site behind the train station
OUR 2ND BLOG ON ZAMBIA WHEN VISITING THE SOUTH LUANGWA NATIONAL PARK, CAN BE FOUND IN OUR 'MALAWI' BLOG, WITH PHOTOS OF THE PARK IN THE ALBUM 'SOUTH LUANGWA NAT. PARK, ZAMBIA'.
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