BootsnAll Travel Blogs

so after a night in Zambia, I decided that as I had to get out (visa ending) I might as well get the bus to Windhoek, with Rags……so a quick booking for Intercape buses on the ‘net and 2 hours later we’re sittingon a Mainliner bus…..on a 20 hour bus trip!

We managed to see 2 ellies on the way thru the Caprivi Strip (corridor belonging to Namibia between Angola and Botswana) …these proved to be the only ellies I saw in Nam :^( Me and Rags also had a bit of a moment at an Animal Disease checkpoint: basically you have to get out of the buis and walk across a pad impregnated with some kind of chemical – however no-one had explained that you needed your passport too, so we jumped back on the bus to get them….JUST as the bus drove across its chemical pad and thru the checkpoint…bit of a dilemma now: do we get out, explain to the man with the gun what happened, or just sit tight on the bus?……..we stayed where we were <no problems, phew!>

anyhoo, 20 hours later and we arrived in Windhoek (capital of Namibia) jumped in a taxi with an Irish couple (John and Orla) and proceeded to the Cardboard Box hostel, …where the taxi driver proceeded to drive off with our money before giving us our change!…welcome to Windhoek, eh? anyhoo, the ‘Box’ is a REALLY nice place run by some really nice people too (yes, including Desree <sigh>) I stayed for 3 nights  – only one of which included Rags as she met up with her Norwegian friends (as planend) and did off on a trip and then back to her studies in RSA…WITHOUT ME!!!, anyhoo, I met up with some more Norwegians (what is it with Africa and Norwegians????) and went out for a meal and drinks with my 6 new wives: 3 norwegian nurses, a german kind of teachery thingee, an ozzie and a girl from Salford. We had a great meal at a curry hoos, and then went for drinks at Joes (seems to be the best place to drink in town)…we then gatecrashed a 21st fancy dress birthday party at a nice hotel somewhereorother…which was strange (very strange, actually) anyhoo, I eventually got to bed at about 4am, to we woken by John (Irish fella) at 7 to be told we were off on a 5 day tour in about an hour!

well, man!…what a joke our new ‘guide’ turned out to be: we never actually caught his name, so we renamed him Bob (well actually Orla did) he also had a sidekick called Stephan, who was a nice fella. we off’d in quite a nice smart Toyota minibus to a place where they rehabilitate cheetahs (www.africat.org) and also have areas with a leopard and WILD DOGS!!!! got a fabulous view of the leopard and great photos too! Then we off’d to Etosha Park ..where we didnt see a whole lot and nowt really happened….apart I guess from almost driving over a lioness then scaring off the Wildebeest she was hunting, then driving off-road and getting bogged down…in front of the lioness (who wasnt exactly happy with us by now) we refused to help to dig us out (there was just me, John and Orla on the trip) as the guide had been stoopid enuff to get us in the mess, HE could get us out…2 hours or so later, a bakkie turned up and towed us out. we had a nice trip for the remainder, seeing Twyffelfontain, the Petrified forest, the Organ Pipes, Burnt mountain and a trip around a himba (or Ovahimba) village, where the women are topless!!!!EEEK!!!! this village was an orphanage set up by a Namibian fella we met, who also has the most beautiful lodge for visitors to stay at: it was part of a film set a few years ago and is built in a a marijuana influenced stylee into the huge boulder/rocks of a koppie (he also has an African wild Cat as a pet!)

Back to Cardboard Box and I manged to hire a Bakkie with long range fuel tanks, roof tent, camping gear and spare wheels for £30 per day (normally £60 per day just for a basic bakkie so I was well pleased with that!) and toddled off for a trip around namibia: 1st stop was Swakopmund (so german its unbelievable!) then back to the desert for a night under Bloedkoppie (blood mountain) then off to Walvis Bay & Dune 7, followed by a trip up the Skeleton Coast, thru the SC park, to Palmwag for the night, then to Warmquelle (crossing a raging river with a truck stuck in it enroute) and to Opuwo (watching completely wild giraffe, zebra, Wildebeeste, Sprinbok and Gemsbok on the way) stayed at a lovely lodge there (Opuwo country hotel) then as the roads were washed away I changed plans and drove to the Angolan border to see the Raucana Falls (crap) then to the Kunene river lodge for the night followed by Opupa falls (nice) and then back to Opuwo (getting extra fuel en-route from a traditionally dressed Herero woman in a township along the way) then down to Etosha, where the guy on the gate walked around the bakkie and asked what had happened to me car (it was in a bit of a state by then)

Again, not muxh to see in Etosha (too much rain just lately) then off to the worlds biggest meteorite and then to Tsumkwe to have a day with a San bushman -which was REALLY nice (I’d been looking foward to seeing the San people for months) you know, even in the 21st Century, they still hunt food with a bow and arrow (poison tipped) and eat what they find in the bush (literally). Next was down to the Erongo mountains to see some dinosaur footprints and more bushman paintings and engravings (stayed in the beautiful AiAiba painted rock lodge) then off to town to borrow a nice ladies husbands pc to burn some DVD’s. Next it was off to Philips Cave to see MORE bushman paintings and the Bulls Party rock formations . That night I stayed at Spitzkoppe mountain rest camp – RIGHT underneath the mountain which was VERY chillin and atmospheric. up early and a trip to Sesriem canyon (in the rain) ready for a trip to Sosussvlei and Deadvlei in the morn. 5am start and out of the camp as the gate opened at 5:30. an hours drive later and I was in Sosussvlei to watch the sun rise over the dunes (after climbing the wrong <read STEEP> side of a dune only to realise the error of my ways as I got to the top!) then after sitting there for an hour or so, I moved over to Deadvlei to see the calcified trees in the valley (FABULOUS PLACE) . straight after that I drove down to Ludicrous (I mean Luderitz) and had a Luderitz salad and cappucino at Ritzis cafe, then styaed for 2 nights at Shark Island campsite…with the craziest security man in the world (pished with a sawn off Russian shotgun) . didnt do much here, but need to rest after all teh driving (I did go to Kolmanskop ‘ghost town tho) Next was down to Rosh Pinah to get into the Fish River Canyon…cept the road had been washed away so I had to drive the 250km BACK along the road and then drive another 300km to go ALL the way around and into the park from the other side!..I wass so knackered when I got there that I stayed at the Canyon Mountain Camp (lodge) overnight (which was nice) then did the Canyon proper the next day …fabulous place and the 2nd biggest canyon in the world (to the grand Canyon, naturally). stayed at the Canyon Road House the next night and then off to the Quiver Tree Forest and giants Playground the next day, stayng at Gotchas that night. Next day was the end of my 20 day tour of Namibia…but I think I did pretty well: saw most of the sights and travelled for almost 6000km!

so, we crossed the border and stayed at Shoestrings hostel in Victoria Falls …nice place though pretty empty (we’re in the rainy season remember so not a top tourist time)

First things first: Money changing!….there are 2 options: No.1 the official way ~ change 1 US dollar for 30,000 Zim dollars. or no.2 blackmarket ~ change 1 US dollar for 2,000,000 (yes, MILLION) Zim dollars! …we opted for no.2 ;^) So with money changed, its time for some sightseeing:

The view of the Falls from the Zim side is fabulous! you get a ‘frontal’ view of the Falls and can walk along the length of them (tho from the other side of the gorge)..incredible sight right the way along..and we got to see a rainbow from Danger Point too…which was nice. Downside is you get absolutely sodden! Again though: a sight not to be missed if you ever get here (the choice is yours as to whether you wanna see the falls in full flow or fairly quiet )

We also had a walk to the train station to try and get the train down to Bulawayo – sadly the train was full so we must stay another night in the hostel and try again tomorrow (another couple of guys we met have been trying for 5 (I think) days to get on the train!!!)

so, next day and back to the station to catch the ticket office early….cept it didnt really matter cos it didnt open on time (Africa time, remember) Eventually we got to the front of the queue to be told by the fella behind the window that we had to go to the OTHER window!…we got to that window and booked our seats, but couldnt pay cos they wouldnt acceptUS dollars. We returned later with the Zim dollars and assured the woman that we had paid the official rate (oh yeah!) so she let us on.

We waited early for the train that evening (all trains in Zim are night trains for some reason) wondering what the compartment would be like (its a sleeper) expecting the worst, we got a reet shock when we got on board to find a 1920’s compartment with polished wood and green vinyl and even a fold down sink!!! LUSH!!!!! unfortunately there was no lights working so we had to get moved to another compartment which was simliar, but in laminate instead of polished wood…still nice tho….apart from the smell (we were next to the toilets……..which consisted of a fold-down loo seat above a hole in the carriage floor!…..nice!) our 14 hr trip also turned into 19 hours too, due to a long overnight stop in the middle of nowhere

As soon as we got off the train we headed for the ticket office to book the train back the next Monday…they wouldnt sell us a ticket till the next day tho :^(

We also got a bit of a shock trying to get into a hostel: the ‘Lying Planet’ advised that prices were $3-4US pppn….however this turned into $70US pppn!!!! eventually we stopped in the Berkely Place for $25 per room phew! we had a walk around the city, which is kinda nice with a fairly modern feel and very safe feel too – sadly the shops have VERY little products in them…th food shops are virtually empty, however we found a nice coffee shop that sold good cappucino and DOUGHNUTS!!!!! WOOHOO!!!!!!!!!!!

Back at the ranch we changed some more money: $60US (in 2 notes: a $50 & $10) and got Z$120,000,000 in exchange…unfortunately the highest denomination note you can/could get was a $750,000 and I didnt get many of them, so I ended up with a whole block of notes to carry around!…it was the equivalent size of carrying 4 bags of sugar around!!!

..I mean where are you supposed to put it?…you cant get it in yer wallet and pockets aint gonna help!…and at the end of the day it was only $60US

Next morning we were at the train station for 7am to join the mahoosive queue for tickets…after 2 hours of not moving (mainly cos they decided in their infinite wisdom to let the Botswana queue move first and that was the whole length of the station!) so we gave up and got a taxi to the bus station for the bus to Masvingho (sp?) The taxi was probably the worst taxi in the world: no dashboard, doors that wouldnt open or close from inside and the worst sounding engine too, however the driver was canny and one he dropped us off he walked with us to find the right bus queue (another queue) an hour or so later and the bus arrived and we ended up right at the back!….amazingly we all got on (even though we were kinda pushed to the middle due to being ‘foreigners’ I think…..or maybe its cos Rags is blonde…who knows

The bus ride was another epic taking for ever to get there (the driver got out at one point and had his tea in a roadside cafe style thingee!) oh, and Jospeh that I was sitting next to spilled some of the diesel he was carrying home for his dads car and it covered the bottom of my bag and also my cap…which was nice :^( It was kinda funny too watching the locals go mad to buy tomatoes from the roadside sellers at the bus stops as we went along (they had underpriced the toms badly so everyone was trying to buy by leaning out of the windows with plastic bags, whilst the seller girls were running around like mad eejjits trying to cope with the demand!

Anyhoo, we got to Masvingho(sp? again) and jumped on a minibus to Great Zimbabwe (with Josephs help to organise) the ride was OK except it was getting late and we were concerned that we wouldnt get into the site as it was supposed to close at 7pm. Anyhoo, another story showing how incredible the Zim people can be:

as we got off the bus nr. Great Zim., I was trying to get off the bus with 2 bags and my hoodie and Rags fleecy jacket…as the bus drove off leaving us at the roadside I realised that I’d dropped her fleecy on the bus!…dammit! I apologies and we kinda tried to lok on the +ve side in that the guy who gets it could sell  it, keep it or give it to his girlfriend. So, 2 days later we were back at Masvhingo (sp for the last time) sititng on our bags in the bus station waiting for or bus when this guy appears and hand us the fleecy, saying how we had left it on the bus!!!!!!!  AMAZING!!!!!! I cant inmagine that happening ANYWHERE else on the planet, but for it to happen in Zim with the poverty and struggle those guys are having was just….AMAZING!!!

Anyhoo, back to Great Zimbabwe: we walked along the road and passed a craft market where the ladies shouted over the direction we needed to walk (we hadnt asked, I guess we just looked lost!) and from there we walked thru the main lodge to the campsite, where we found the guy that ran the place…he asked us how much we wanted to pay, so we agreed on $25US…for a lovely thatched lodge with 2 twin rooms and 2 more beds, plus TV!!!! and a shower AND a bathroom!!! Fabulous!

WE retired for the night and then got up early to get brekkie at the main lodge which was nice, but expensive. Then we headed down to the ruins of Great Zimbabwe – the place that gave the country its name on independence . The ruins were abandoned about 500yrs ago, leaving stone walls and towers on and around a hill very atmospheric place. This is also the place where the stone birds were found which are now the Zim emblem (the birds are actually in the museum on site too) We sat on the Kings balcony and watched over the masses below us (OK, there was 4 other tourists sitting down there, but I was KING FOR A DAY!!!!)

theres also a seperate ‘area’ which was built for the kings many wives: and for no.1 wife in particular – she got a stone tower to watch the king from (so the story goes)

we went back to the main lodge afterwards and paid a kings ransom to get ourt laundry done (that’ll teach me….pride before a fall and all that) then we had a quick beer and had a chat with a local chief who introduced himself as chief ‘Bonnyface’! nice guy who was very keen to make sure we were happy in his country

Another nice story from Zim: we we sitting in the bar that night having literally a couple of beers cos we had just about run out of dosh, anyhoo, the bar staff knew this as I had checked the prices with them and then paid partly in Zim dollars and partly in SA Rand that I had kicking about in me wallet…so a little later the barmaid comes over with a tray with some strips of fried beef and chillis for us to snack on!..they’d obviously taken pity on us!  how nice????

Anyhoo, enough of the stories from Zim, we got back to Bulawayo without too much grief and spent the night in Berkely again. Next morning we queued for 6 hours!! to get a ticket for the sleeper train, only to be told as we got to the till that there were no tickets left!!! I still think we were shat on there (the ‘fat controller’ had a word with the ‘teller’ just before we got there) so ANOTHER night at Berkely followed by a 5am start to get a taxi to the bus station out of town to get the bus up to Vic Falls. another (!) epic bus ride got us there without too much grief and then a taxi to the border and another to Fawlty Towers and we were back in Zambia

another fairly uneventful bus ride took us from Lusaka to Vic Falls (nowt happened in Lusaka...sadly) where we arrived with smoke billowing from the side of the bus and the driver struggling - from the last 30km- to engage any ... [Continue reading this entry]