31st July. Lusaka, Zambia

31st July. Lusaka, Zambia.
This city has been quite surprising. Lilongwe was like a little village that expanded upon itself but Lusaka is full of malls, modern shops and so very clean. Prices are getting close to Australian prices but the incomes must be higher as the people are well dressed and seem to spend a fair bit of money on their appearance. Plenty of cars in the city although once you get away from the metropolis they thin out. Zambia has one of the lowest people per kilometre in Africa and a lot of the country we drove through today was devoid of villages and locals.
We made it to Lusaka, a distance of 550kms, nursing a bulging back tyre and the spare as good as useless. It was a case of 80kph with anticipating a blow out at any time. Quite good driving at that speed; it gives you time to look around if there aren’t pot holes to contend with.
The camp site is 10kms out of Lusaka, a large camping ground with chalets set around the verge. We were surprised to see a herd of zebras wander across the camp ground to settle on a bit of green grass between a couple of chalets oblivious of the people around them. A pity a couple of silly yapping dogs disturbed them and set them away.
We finally drew ahead of Chris & Janet, the English couple we first met up with in central Tanzania. We have met up again 6 times but as they have a lot of time to kill I doubt we will see them again on this trip. They were the couple that drove to the North Cape in Norway before heading south. A lovely couple of similar age and with similar interests. While on Lake Malawi they said they had never had had a meal of fish cooked with the scales on. This is a favourite of mine as I always feel removing the scales is sacrilege as it’s the scales that hold all the juices in. So they (Chris) cooked the first course and dessert (Chris) while we cooked up new spuds, ratatouille and 4 tiger fish bought from the fishing boats after they had come in from fishing off the Mozambique coast. It was a delicious meal washed down with the ‘best’ cask of Sth African red available in Malawi (the only one)..
Still a long way from the end of this trip but we were discussing yesterday on the lovely attitude the local people have. There hasn’t been once when we have felt threatened or ill at ease with the locals. Sure, we haven’t gone out of our way to meet them on their own terms but when we stop on the side of the road for morning tea or lunch, the locals passing by always give us a wave, break out into a broad smile, and if are close to hand, give us the African hand shake and are delighted if we reciprocate. For the uninitiated it’s a case of shaking hands as usual, then clasping each other’s thumbs, then finishing off with another ordinary hand shake where the hands virtually slide off each other’s palms. It ‘s just a little more personal than the ordinary handshake.
1st August. Livingstone, Zambia
A long drive, 470kms, with the last 60kms a mass of magnificent pot holes. A side road has been formed alongside the tarmac that usually is the better route to take.
Livingstone is the base in Zambia for visiting the Victoria Falls. Also the base for the thrill seekers to satiate their lust with bungey jumping, white water rafting, paragliding, jet skiing and everything else that tickles your fancy. We are staying at a camp site not far from the falls and will visit them tomorrow.
The tyres I had fitted in Lusaka were a narrower tyre than what I had on but were the same depth and radius which I believe are the important thing in an all wheel drive vehicle. Pleased to say it seems to be travelling well. From here we cross into northern Botswana visiting the Chobe NP then into the Caprivi strip, part of Namibia that featured so much in the civil war in Angola. It is a thin strip of land, part of Namibia that stretches for some 400kms before coming into Namibia proper. Looking forward to Namibia, so many people have told us how lovely it is but we are starting to think we are running out of time to visit everything we should there. We have met a couple from Brisbane here at this camp site that have hired a 4x4 from Kea SA that has a great arrangement fitted on the back of a Toyota Hilux. Another food for thought.
This trip started off as a twice in a life time trip for us, something to remember in or dotage. But you may have picked up by now that it has become much more than that. It has opened up so many opportunities in what is possible with regards further travel. We have met so many people who have made their self drive travel part of their lives. From Will & Gunilla, a German/Norwegian couple whom we met in Nairobi in their massive MAN truck, they have sold up everything back in Germany to do nothing but travel. They have been on the road for 11 years, he is almost blind and they want to make the most of it before he loses his sight completely. To Anne & Keith the couple from Narromine who have bought a Hilux in Namibia and come over every few months to see more of Africa. Keith is an ex Qantas 747-400 pilot, has had a couple of health scares but again, wants to make the most of it. Henk & Mariannne, a Dutch couple we met at Lake Bunyoni in Uganda, another couple who travel for 3 months then fly home where Marianne works for 3 months then back they go to pick up their Toyota and off they go again. I think we have met more people from the Netherlands than anywhere. Today we had a surprise phone call from Reidar & Ellen, the Norwegian couple we first met in Luxor and ran into them 5 times after that., They had returned to Norway for a few months after leaving their Land cruiser in Cape Town ready for their next visit. Completely out of the blue, it was lovely to here from them, all they wanted to know was where we were and how we were going. So many lovely and interesting people. It’s a way of life alien to so many people, usually they are happy to travel around Australia 4 times. Yet there is so much they can do if they just step out of their comfort zone. As some Greek philosopher said ‘The first step of any journey is always the hardest.’
Enough waffling: today we visited the Victoria Falls. Like The Taj Mahal, Uluru and the pyramids you know all about them, know there will be hordes of tourists, yet when you get there they are just awe inspiring. So much water channelling over so many parts of the 1.2km wide falls it is just breathtaking. Upstream where the water is more subdued we found a picnic table on the edge of the water. There was a sign saying a permit had to be acquired as that area was part of the national park. There were 2 guards there to police the rule. After asking them if it would be okay if we had a quick picnic lunch there the senior bloke thought a while and agreed. I think he wanted a bit of a bribe, but after we had eaten we made up a couple of sandwiches and took it over to them. Broad smiles broke out and we departed with everyone feeling a win/win situation had occurred.