Not a country on many peoples holiday lists, I should imagine.
The border post between Zambia and Malawi was housed in one building, with a set of desks to depart Zambia and another set to enter Malawi. I think this is the first time I’ve come across this set-up at a land border.
We were at the border for a while, mainly waiting for the truck to be cleared, but we eventually set off into Malawi. My first impressions were that the villages seemed bustling (and more solidly built than in Zambia), there were some quite fancy brick houses with fences and security quite close to the border, and then eventually the scenery gave way to hills as we approached a national park.
The road up to the national park was ok but as soon as we entered the park, it deteriorated significantly. We were merely driving through the park but did spot a family of elephants including a small baby elephant less than a year old (which you can tell as it will still fit underneath its mother’s body whilst standing).
The potholes were truly incredible and the road got increasingly dusty. As it was quite warm, the ‘air conditioning’ in the overland truck (opening the windows) meant the dust was in the truck and, increasingly, in my lungs. I soon developed a hacking cough.
By the time we arrived at the accommodation in Ngala on the shores of Lake Malawi, the sun had already set. Fortunately we were staying here for 2 nights and I had given myself the day off the following day to relax after a week of long and bumpy drives since Vic Falls.
I also needed to do a bunch of admin as, due to upcoming travels to Canada, I have had to cut short my Africa trip, and my intended travel to Uganda to see chimps and gorillas will not go ahead. I used the occasionally solid WiFi to arrange the cancellation and rearrange my flights. The battle with my insurance company will come when I get home…
Ngala is on the shores of Lake Malawi, one of the largest lakes in the world. Big enough that you can’t see the other side, and you get waves crashing in to the shoreline. After my admin was dealt with, I spent the rest of the day under the shade on the beach, reading and relaxing. I was very glad of this day to rest up and recharge my batteries for the rest of this trip.
The usual early start the next day as we drove north. The roads were somehow even worse, but we still past more colourful villages. As we drove, I noticed a lot of the villages had water pumps, and there were satellite dishes and football posts everywhere, and so many people wearing football shirts. Football is like a second religion here.
Driving through the villages, there were lots of cries of ‘muzungu muzungu’ from the children – they were excited at seeing the white people in their villages!
The scenery became more dramatic with the land rising steeply by the lake as we arrived at Chitimba for an overnight stop. It was so beautiful on the beach at sunset, with the mountains in the background.
Our brief visit to Malawi concluded the next day, on possibly the worst roads so far – the truck needed repairs when we got to Tanzania! Overall I thought Malawi was a very pretty country, and I’m certain I wouldn’t have got here without doing this overland trip.
Onwards to Tanzania and an immediate change in the quality of the roads!
I’ve been to Victoria Falls before, about 3 and a half years ago, in a yet-to-be-written post. At that time it was November, and the river flow into the falls was fairly low. Now it’s June, the rainy season has recently ended and there is so much water in the falls that you can see the misty spray from quite some distance away.
The border crossing from Botswana into Zimbabwe was relatively straightforward (and the process has certainly improved in the last 3 years, the visa was handwritten last time, this time it’s a little sticker with a QR code). We arrived at the hotel in Victoria Falls at lunchtime. I had a light lunch as myself and 2 others were going for High Tea at the Victoria Falls Hotel in the afternoon. Absolutely delicious and with the spray rising from the falls as the backdrop – idyllic!
High tea at the Victoria Falls Hotel, featuring the falls in the top left
Dinner that evening (my 4th meal of the day!) was local Zimbabwean food cooked by a ladies cooperative. There must have been at least 15 things to try so I only took a little bit of each, apart from the worms!!
Later that evening we enjoyed a local dance show, Simunye theatre, which told a story of community and belonging in Africa. I loved the dancing and the puppetry.
The next morning I went to view the falls properly. Quite a steep entrance fee to the park, $58 USD, thankfully the card machine was working! (Not always the case in southern and Eastern Africa as it turns out…)
There is a walking route with various lookout points along the side of the falls. There really was so much more water here than last time. If I’m honest I was a bit underwhelmed last time but this time definitely made up for it. I was also extremely glad to have brought a plastic poncho with me as, at various points, the spray was so vociferous it was like having several buckets of water tipped over you!!
After getting soaked and drying off, we looked for somewhere for lunch and happened upon a lovely riverside restaurant (Baines restaurant) where we had a nice salad and refreshing mocktail.
After lunch I headed back to the hotel as I was transferring over to the Zambian side of the falls that afternoon, to Livingstone.
This marked the end of the first leg of this trip, all the way from Cape Town. A driving distance of approximately 3,500 miles in 20 days. Whilst a couple of people from the tour were continuing on with me, most people were leaving the trip here.
We crossed over to Livingstone, Zambia in the late afternoon and arrived at our riverfront hotel, where again I could see the mist and spray of the falls in the distance. The next leg of the trip didn’t officially start until the next morning so I spent the evening with a couple of glasses of vino at the riverfront bar.
An early start to meet the new crew in the morning – pre 7am. After some formalities we hit the road towards Lusaka. As we drove east, the scenery changed from bush, to small colourful villages, and eventually some hills. It feels like a long time since I’ve seen hills as what I saw in both Botswana and Namibia was largely flat open desert and savannah.
After a long, bumpy driving day, we arrived at our overnight accommodation just south of Lusaka.
Another early start the next day to beat the traffic as we drove through Lusaka (actually not busy early on a Saturday morning) and continued east along the Great East Road.
The scenery became more dramatic as we entered the Great Rift Valley, and our bumpy ride was increasingly accompanied by lots of fires in the bush and on the hillside as the locals make charcoal. That, along with the dusty roads, started to irritate my throat.
After another long driving day, we overnighted in Petuake as we were continuing east to the main sight in Zambia on this itinerary, South Luangwa National Park.
We eventually arrived at the park after a 3rd long driving day, though we did arrive in time for a spectacular sunset over the Luangwa River. This was the first place on this leg where we were staying for 2 nights, in some actually very solid safari tents with en suite bathrooms, flushing toilets and a lukewarm shower.
The following morning I chose to do a walking safari, which were pioneered in Zambia. We were accompanied by a guide and a young gentleman armed with a gun in case we encountered any animals which may have harmed us. Thankfully the gun was not required! We learned about the trees and plants and termites. And we saw a lot more animals than I was expecting, including wild (painted) dogs which are a very rare sighting. The guide even said that in his 15 years of walking safaris, he’s never seen wild dogs during the safari!
Wild dogsZebrasBaboon
We were back at the camp for lunch and had a bit of time to relax in the afternoon before we had a sunset safari drive back in the park.
A lot of the ‘usual’ animals on our evening drive. We were just about to stop for a sundowner when the driver spotted a few jeeps parked up obviously looking at something. We headed off to see what was happening, and when we got to the other jeeps there was a leopard peeking out from under the front wheel of one of the other jeeps. She was eyeing up a lone impala. We must have watched for a good 20 minutes as the leopard patiently watched the impala, slowly moving into a ditch to remain hidden. I think the impala could sense the danger as it did eventually move out to more open land. The leopard then settled into the ditch to regroup, and we left to have our belated sundowner drinks in the dark.
The night sky, however, was a bonus. Venus, Jupiter and Mercury all visible in a relatively straight line, and as the sky got darker, many more stars appeared. Living in a city suburb with a street light right outside my front door, I don’t often get the opportunity to see the night sky like I have done throughout this African adventure. It really is spectacular to see. And despite having my DSLR camera with me, I’ve yet to capture a good view of the night sky here on camera.
The following day was another pre dawn start as we headed towards Malawi.
I really enjoyed South Luangwa, but you have to be prepared for some long journeys to get there. The roads in Zambia are not the best, lots of potholes which slowed us down considerably (though Malawian roads would prove to be even more challenging!!), but it was interesting to watch the scenery change and to see the colourful villages as we headed through the country.
Crossing the border from Namibia into Botswana was relatively straightforward – unlike most of the countries I’m visiting on this trip, I don’t need a visa.
We had quite a long driving day on a fairly terrible road to the town of Maun which is a gateway town for the Okavango Delta.
An early start the next morning for a scenic flight over the delta which was very picturesque, even if it was quite difficult to spot the animals!
In the late morning we then set off into the delta in an open 4×4 down a long, dusty and bumpy dirt road. After a couple of hours, our driver slowed down a bit as he had spotted lion footprints in the sand on the road. And then just a little further up, we saw 2 lions feasting on a very dead giraffe. At once both the most incredible and gruesome sight I’ve seen.
It felt like it was staring right into my soul
We continued into the delta and after a short game drive we arrived at our tented accommodation for the next 2 nights. I am not much of a camper but I could get on board with these tents, very roomy with actual beds and en suite facilities consisting of a chemical toilet and a bucket shower.
After a delicious dinner and warming up around the campfire (I have misjudged the evening and night time temperatures – it is cold!!) it was an early night before a 5.30am wake up call for a full day of activities the following day. We all got bush babies (hot water bottles) to take to bed which were definitely needed!!
We had a morning game drive the next day, lots of elephants, giraffes, impalas, zebras, and fluffy and colourful birds. We also had 2 flat tyres in the space of 10 minutes which was quite exciting considering you’re not meant to get out of the vehicle when on game drives!! Thankfully no animals nearby and our driver was very adept at changing the tyre.
After lunch and a short rest back at the camp, we embarked on a mokoro trip along the waterways. Mokoros are traditional canoes which were carved out of wood, though the ones we used were made from fibreglass. They are propelled by one guy with a long pole, almost like gondolas. It was a supremely peaceful way to spend a couple of hours, meandering up and down the river, watching the flies and insects darting in and out of the water, a few hippos and the occasional bird in a distant tree.
On the way back we saw an awesome sunset, with all the trees silhouetted against the orangey pink sky, just stunning.
Dinner that evening followed by another bush baby. I’d also doubled up on the duvet and blankets and was, frankly, a bit too warm that night!!
Another early start the next day to drive the 5 hours back to Maun to be reunited with our overland truck before continuing on for another nearly 7 hours to our next lodge near Nata. Such a long day. This lodge was called Elephant Sands and had a watering hole. As we were eating dinner in the evening, an elephant came for a drink which was so cool to see.
Back on the road early the next morning as we headed to our last stop on this brief visit to Botswana, in Chobe. This was a relatively short driving day and we were at our accommodation in Kasane by lunchtime.
In the afternoon we enjoyed a river cruise where we saw lots of elephants walking and bathing along the river, a few crocodiles and hippos. This was the first time I’d seen the hippos out of the water. Lots more bird life and we also caught an awesome sunset before returning to shore.
This was such a brief visit to Botswana, only 5 nights in total but so much great wildlife viewing, and some incredible sunsets.
Next up, an overnight in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe before onwards to Zambia.
We left a misty and foggy Swakopmund after breakfast and drove up the coast. Not that we could see anything… We did stop at a shipwreck which this stretch of coastline in notorious for. The ship was wrecked in 2008 and is still bobbing away just off the shore.
We then turned inland and arrived at our next accommodation at Daureb Isib in time for lunch. This accommodation is very near to the Brandberg mountain and in the afternoon we drove to the mountain and had a 3 mile round hike along the riverbed to see some cave paintings, the most famous of which is the White Lady. It’s really incredible to think of the age of these paintings. They reminded me of some similar ones I saw in Matobo in Zimbabwe.
Brandberg mountainThe White Lady in the centre
After dinner that evening, I attempted some night sky photography but we’re approaching a full moon so it wasn’t super-successful…
A 9am departure (such a luxury on this trip, it’s often been pre 8am and earlier), for a bit of a drive day to our next stop just outside of Etosha National Park.
We made a couple of stops along the way, and I bought a small local artwork to go with my increasing collection of local paintings from my travels. The bonus is that flat things are easy to carry!
We arrived at some very nice lodges about 20 minutes from Etosha in the late afternoon. I’ve generally been impressed with the quality of accommodation on this trip. In southern Namibia we stayed in a couple of basic motels in places where there wasn’t much going on but, in the Namib desert, the previous night at Brandberg mountain and at Etosha, they have been quirky and interesting and very comfortable. More upgraded than G Adventures or Intrepid in my experience.
We had a full day game drive in Etosha National Park the next day. The park opens at sunrise (about 7.30am) so we were up early and ready to go.
We stopped at a couple of watering holes to start with which had quite a few animals getting their morning drinks before heading out for a day in the bush and savannah.
Springboks seemed to be the most abundant animals in the morning but there were also plenty of zebras and a few giraffes.
The highlight of the morning was a black rhino having a drink and finding some food in a muddy patch. I’ve been fortunate to see a lot of different animals on my previous trip to South Africa and Zimbabwe but this was my first black rhino which was really cool to see.
We carried on deeper into the park, to the salt pans which are currently dry. Not much wildlife to be spotted there. After lunch at the Halali rest stop we headed back the way we’d driven in the morning.
It seemed like there were much fewer animals about at this time, perhaps from the heat of the sun. We stopped at another watering hole for a while, there were giraffes, zebras, kudus, impalas and springbok all waiting their turn at the watering hole. And then, far in the distance, 3 bull elephants very, very slowly emerged. We must have waited a good 30 minutes to see if they would come down closer to the watering hole. They eventually started moving, slowly, but we had to leave in order to make sure we’d be out of the park before sunset.
Elephants emerging from the distance
I was feeling a bit disappointed that we hadn’t seen many elephants, especially as Etosha has a lot of them. And then, again when we had driven for quite some time without seeing anything, suddenly in the middle of the road was a family of elephants. We had to stop as they were blocking the road! Really special to see, and they got quite close to our 4×4 which was exciting and nerve-wracking at the same time!
After that it was time to head back to the lodges for dinner and a rest as it had been a long, but exciting, day.
The next day we had a leisurely start as, for some people, this was a changeover day in the trip. We were waiting for some new people to join us, who were being driven the 4ish hours from Windhoek, and then the people leaving us would be driven back to Windhoek. After we’d all had lunch together it was time to say farewell to our new friends who would be leaving us. It’s always amazing to me on these trips how soon you become a family and develop friendships with people from all over the world who I only met a few days ago. And it’s always bittersweet to say goodbye. My trip in Africa is 8 weeks so I think I’m going to have a few more of these hellos and goodbyes before I leave.
After lunch, those of us continuing the journey headed back to the park for a drive through and out through the eastern end. Having seen relatively few elephants the previous day, the park seemed to be teeming with them on this afternoon. Again we were on a deadline to be out of the park before sunset so there wasn’t quite the same opportunity to sit and watch the animals as the previous day but it was still very cool to see the animals, even briefly.
We exited the park with about 20 minutes to spare and still had another hour or so to go to our next accommodation in Tsumeb. This stop was just a quick overnighter as we arrived late and left early for another long drive day. We were heading to our final stop in Namibia, at Divundu on the Kavango River, and fairly close to the Botswana border. Namibia is a vast country and, as you’d expect on a long overland trip, there have been a few long drive days to get between highlights. This day was one of those. Thankfully a tarred road the entire way (not always the case, especially on our way to Fish River Canyon and the Namib desert), but it was late afternoon by the time we arrived at our accommodation on the banks of the river.
We enjoyed the evening watching the glowing orange sky as the sun set over the far bank of the river. The sunsets in Africa really do seem to hit differently. Brilliant orange and bright red skies. Beautiful.
We started our last full day in Namibia with a breakfast cruise along the river, looking for hippos and crocodiles. And we were successful! We could actually hear the hippos through the night and they sounded incredibly close, though we convinced ourselves that it was just the sound travelling in the quiet surroundings.
I love how hippos just hang about partly submerged in the waters, peacefully bobbing underwater from time to time. Seems like an idyllic existence.
On our way back to the river bank we spotted a crocodile hiding on a small island behind some reeds. It seemed to just be resting and didn’t move at all despite the sound of the boat’s engines. There were also loads and loads of birds flying over us in formation, which looked spectacular against the perfectly blue sky.
I spent the rest of the day relaxing at the lodge whilst some others in the group did an afternoon game drive to nearby Mahango area. I’ve decided that as I have many more opportunities to see wildlife in the coming weeks, I could miss out on this one and enjoy a bit of downtime and relaxation.
I am back underway on the next part of my sabbatical travels. I arrived in Cape Town late morning after a long flight via Istanbul from Manchester, and was greeted by Table Mountain in all her glory. It was such a beautiful, clear day and as I assumed the next couple of days would be the same, I didn’t bother taking a photo…
I spent the first day napping and relaxing after the journey. I’ve been to Cape Town before (in a post which has been sitting in my drafts for about 2 years!! I may yet get round to finishing and posting it), so I didn’t feel in too much of a hurry to be out and about seeing things.
I had booked a full day wine tour to Stellenbosch, Franshhoek and Paarl the following day. There were only 2 others on the trip so we managed to squeeze in an extra stop in the colourful Bo-Kaap neighbourhood in Cape Town at the start of the day. This had been on my list to do so I was glad to be able to see it.
It was a very cloudy day with lots of low cloud hanging over the mountains. As we drove out towards Stellenbosch, our driver bemoaned the weather as apparently we should have been able to see some lovely scenery…
We were at our first tasting at 9am, 2 whites and 2 reds plus some biltong. Not a bad way to start the day!! The weather had lifted and after stops in the pretty towns of Stellenbosch and Franshhoek, both of which reminded me of other towns in wine producing areas elsewhere in the world, we had a short ride on the Franshhoek wine tram before stopping at the next winery for lunch and 3 more wines. The final stop was in Paarl for 4 more wines to round off the day.
On my final day before the tour started, I took the hotel shuttle bus to the V&A Waterfront, in the pouring rain. After wandering around the shopping mall, I ventured out in the rain towards the contemporary art museum, which I had been to on my previous visit.
After lunch and a further wander (it had just about stopped raining at this point but still no sign of Table Mountain), I headed back to the hotel in time for the evening meet up prior to the tour starting in the morning.
I am travelling on this trip with Nomad Africa. Overall it’s 8 weeks but it’s split into 3 sections, the first of which is Cape Town to Victoria Falls.
We left Cape Town bright (well, still cloudy) and early the next morning, and started with a brief stroll at Blouberg Beach where you’re meant to be able to see a lovely view of Table Mountain from across the bay. We could barely see the sea, let alone anything else! We continued to head north, with a stop off for supplies at a supermarket before stopping for lunch at a gas station on the Cape Namibia highway. Thankfully by this time we had escaped the clouds and it was a warm and sunny day.
As we continued to head north, I was struck by the landscape with these wide open vistas, huge skies and then later, craggy mountains as we headed slightly inland.
We are in rooibos country and we stopped at a place that sold rooibos tea, had wine tasting and was growing citrus! I quite like rooibos, and after an hour or so in the sun chatting with my group, we were then on our way to our overnight stop just outside of Citrusdal, in the Cederberg region. There are lots of citrus trees growing in this region, and the place we stayed produces 1500 tonnes of fruit per year for export, alongside its camping and accommodation business.
The next day it was a long driving day to the Namibian border. I was glad I’d arranged my e-visa online beforehand (though the website was fairly temperamental) as it took us all quite a long time to get through the border. Namibia is my 50th country, and I’m sure it will be a good one.
We arrived at our accommodation on the banks of the Orange River just as the sun was setting in a glorious red sky.
We started our exploration of Namibia the next day with a drive to Fish River Canyon, a vast canyon, definitely on a par visually with the Grand Canyon with the added bonus of significantly fewer people! We had a short walk along the edge of the canyon, which meandered sufficiently to get lots of different views of the canyon. You can never quite capture in a photo what you can see with your eyes, it really was spectacular. We then had lunch before continuing our journey north to our overnight stop at Keetmanshoop.
Onwards the next day, towards the Namib Naukluft national park. On our way, we stopped at Quiver Tree Forest where all these trees are apparently growing out of the rocks. We also stopped at Giants Playground where all these boulders appear to have been very carefully placed in various formations, but it’s all completely natural weathering of the stone.
The landscapes on the driving so far have been vast, and surprisingly green. There were rains at the end of April which have caused grasses and other bushes to spring forth which means Namibia doesn’t quite look as I’d imagined. There was more grassland as we headed west towards the Namib desert, and then suddenly there were flowering bushes, mostly yellow flowers interspersed with orange-coloured bushes. It’s so interesting to see not only the landscape here but the flora and fauna too, which is adapted to survive in some harsh desert conditions.
We stayed overnight in Hammerstein before a very early, pre sunrise, start the next day to explore the national park. The park gates open at sunrise, and we joined a long queue to get into the park. We then drove the 45kms to Dune 45 for an early morning hike up an enormous sand dune with a bunch of other tourists. The colours at this time really took my breath away. Extraordinarily red sand dunes with the backdrop of a beautiful clear blue sky. I couldn’t stop myself from just staring at the dunes and the colours and trying to take it all in.
Hiking up a sand dune is quite hard work. The firmest sand is on the ridge, which is fairly narrow, and this dune rises more than 100 metres. It was also surprisingly windy, and I lost my nerve at a flat section about two-thirds of the way up and called it a day.
After that it was time for breakfast before continuing on to the Sossusvlei pan, with yet more red dunes, and Deadvlei, where trees in the pan appear to be petrified, which makes a very striking photo with the red dunes and blue sky. I am certain there is a very similar image which pops up on Windows desktop backgrounds…
After a final stop at Sesriem canyon, we headed to our next overnight stop in the desert. I have to say the rooms we stayed in at this place were stunning, and the nicest accommodation so far.
The next morning started with a super-interesting desert drive and talk about animals and insects that live in the desert, as well as the bushmen, or san, peoples who live off the land here. We had not nearly enough time but everyone in the group found it to be enormously enjoyable.
We were heading northwest towards Swakopmund, and passed through the Tropic of Capricorn along the way, as well as the Moon Landscape, which certainly looked different to what we’ve seen so far in Namibia. It was a long and very bumpy drive to Walvis Bay for a breezy lunch by the sea before we rolled into Swakopmund in the mid afternoon. We are here for 2 nights and have a free day for an assortment of optional activities but I am taking the chance to have a quiet day strolling around the very German-feeling town, doing my laundry and catching up on some admin.
I’ve hugely enjoyed Namibia so far, the scenery has been absolutely spectacular, we have seen some awesome things, and I’m sure this will continue as we head north towards the wildlife…
catsgreatadventure 