BootsnAll Travel Blogs

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 gears!

a short walk got us to our hostel for the next couple of nights: Fawlty Towers believe it or not!: Rags had already booked here as she was meeting her friends Penny and Olav (sp?) Firstly though we had a sunset trip on the Great Zambezi river in a little cruise boat, very nice little trip with as much alcohol as you could drink (though we didnt drink much, HONEST ma!) ..which we duly did and had a couple of beers…again

next morning me and Rags toddled off to the Gorge where I did a Zip line, Gorge swing and abseil…while cowardly Rags watched and took photos. The zip line was fairly tame, but the Gorge swing was pretty damn good!…basically you step off the side of the vertically walled gorge and drop for 50m in freefall, before the line you’re – hopefully- attached to, takes up the slack and swings you out over the gorge! (the rope is fixed in the centre of the gorge from some rope thingees) its pretty scarey – mebbee’s even more then bungee jumping!

The afternoon’s highlight was a trip to Livingston Island – THIS IS A TRIP NOT TO MISS IF YOU GO TO LIVINGSTON!!! basically you head off to the falls in a little boat with an outboard on the back…then just before you go OVER the falls, the driver turns left and parks the boat in some reeds on the edge of a little rocky island…Livingston Island to be exact – apparently this is where Dr. Livingston landed on his first view of the falls. You’re met by a chappie in white uniform carrying a platter of welcome drinks and who then guides you to a tented table area approx 30m from the top of the falls. the guide then takes you TO THE EDGE of the falls for photos etc.

Dramatic is not the word for it!!! blinkin incredible, I reckon!…sadly we couldnt get to the Devils Armchair which is a pool within the Falls, right up at the edge where – I’m told – the guides will hold your feet as you DANGLE over the edge !!!95+m up above the edge of the Falls!!! Anyhoo, it didnt matter that much as the whole thing is stunning. Then you’re taken back to the tented area where we drank Pimms (me) and wine(Rags) and ate some light canapes etc. how absolutely divine! then got the boat back to the shore

Next morning we had brekkie at ZigZag with Penny and Olav (mmmm cereal with FRESH milk) and then after saying goodbye to them, we did some shopping for groceries (and ear drops…still got the ear infection) then headed to the border with our unofficial taxi driver: Watson. As Rags went thru the border, I got called back to the taxi as Watson was getting grief from the police – I had to assure them that we hadnt paid him and that he had brought us to the border cos he was a friend (Gullible cops?) anyhoo, eventually I got across the border too – after scaring a baboon away from Rags.

so that was Zambia!…bring on Zimbabwe!!!

Rags, David and I left the Ilala at Nkhotakhota and had a reet laff getting ashore and to the hostel: we left the ferry by lifeboat (along with about another 200 others!) but that boat only gets so far and then you either wade the rest of the way to shore (not appealing at 10:30 at night) or you pay some guys with another boat who push that right into shore, once you clambered across form the lifeboat (MUCH more appealing) As we landed, some local women started to sing songs together, under the watchful eye of the poilce (well actually the watchful eye of the civvy driver of the police car, as the cops seemed to be otherwise engaged doing nothing in particular) we also got a ‘guide’ at this point to protect us “from the gunmen”….shades of Chamois here as the ‘guide’ was about 20yrs old and smaller than me. We also asked him later (the walk to the hostel took nearly an hour) about the gunmen “eh?” he answered ” theres no gunmen around here” ….typical

The hostel is just a rest house used by local truck drivers etc. me and David shared one twin room with Rags in another. pretty basic place, but at least it had an electric shower!…….sadly it didnt have any water though as I found out when I tried to shower in the morning. the guy that was kind of running the place brought a bowl of water to ‘shower’ with ….hey ho!

The 3 of us jumped in a minibus for the trip to Salima (in Davids case) and Lilongwe in mine and Rags.

not alot to report from Lilongwe other than we met an american guy who whetted our appetite for a trip into Zimbabwe and who generously gave us some extracts from a Lonely Planet to go with Rags ‘bible’ of info

from Lilongwe we minibused to the border and then thru to Chapata in Zambia, where we stayed at a hostel and met a dutch couple travelling thru to Vic Falls. Rags and me went for a walk to the bus station  to get tickets for the next day: what a nice bunch of people in Zambia!..lots of peoplecame over to say hello, WITHOUT trying to sell us anything and the guys in the bus station were very friendly and helpful, even giving me their phone number so I could check the bus was gonna be OK in the morning!

MEGA heavy rain that afternoon (Zambia are gettting their whole rainy season in 2-3 weeks it seems) and a canny night sitting with the dutchies and then bed ready for another early morning for a long bus ride to Livingstone (Vic falls)

well, we landed at Likoma in the dark at about 8pm, after the locals got off (you HAVE to see how many people you can get in a single lifeboat!) we were collected by 2 boats from Mango Drift lodge…I jumped in the one boat (captained by Lauren) but then jumped ship to the other boat captained by Anthony, where I was met by his plaintive “anyone got a flashlight” call for help, quickly followed by ” this is the first time Ive done this” …all in a California drawl. so off we went, the 20 of us in 2 boats (remember the numbers)

not long later we were still careering aorund the lake looking for the rocks we had to miss(!) fortunately (!!) there was a storm now so the lightning occasionally flashed up the scenery so we could see where we were going!….UNfortunately, it also whipped up the waves, to the extent that Lauren had to stop her boat to bale it out…..difficult when its already up the gunnels in water!!…it sank

everyone scrambled from their boat into ours, which of course made our boat overladen with the 15 people and their luggage, so we had to beach on a convenient sand bar we found! the 12 of us got out OK and waited for help….and drank vodka neat from a bottle that miraculously appeared!..anyhoo, help arrived in the for of a landie, however it would only carry 8 people, so some had to go out in the boat again (NOT I !!!!) eventually we agreed that 10 people could fit but it would be a squeeze. on arrival at the Landie up on the road the 8 of us got in OK.  As it happens the few that got back in the boat had to turn around and beach again as the waves were too strong/big to beach at Mango

WHAT A NIGHT!

next day, I went for a wander around the island -met a some great kids in the village : they HAVE to walk with you and hold your hand…if theres too many then they each grab a finger and walk with you! so friendly its amazing. adults too: I sat under a Mango tree eating the fruit that a young kid threw down to me and the guy catching the fruit…now THATS chillin!

New Years EVE! walked to the town and chilled around there before returning to Mango Drift -and the Lounge – for the party. we started drinking early and finished late (the electricity is normally knocked off at 10pm, but tonight was 1am WOOHOO!!) it all started nice enough with a few beers and then pizza, but once we started to play Buffalo Rules and ” I have never” then it all went a bit crazy: dancing on tables, ALL the guys had to go topless (the girls wouldnt for some reason) and sparkling wine flowed. to be honest I dont remember a whole lot about it other than we had a HOOT! Must have managed to get to bed (on the floor in the dorm) but then me and Rags had to get up again at 2am (I think) to pay our bar bill as were leaving early in the morning.

And so we left Likoma on a boat again at 5am on New Years day 2008….this time we had a proper local guy driving the boat (note: the boat that sank STILL hasnt been recovered as it was in such deep water that even with scuba gear, Lauren and co couldnt find it!) another trip on the Ilala ferry, this time with David (the Isreali guy) Tamara and her italian friend (Tamara is a yank living in Malawi) a couple of South Afrikaans (the girl of whch is a newly published author(ess?)) and Rags – a norwegian girl currently studying in Stellenbosch (SA) who I’m travelling with for a couple of weeks

so up early and after consuming a couple of Immodiums (mmm unripe peaches) I got a minibus to a little town then another to Monkey Bay onthe shore of Lake Malawi…long trip and though I left at 6am, I didnt get to Monkey Bay till 3pm…then I had to wait for 2 hours for a Matola (flat bed truck that carries absolutely anything including the locals around the area) then the Matola took 1 hour just to leave Monkey bay (which is only about 200m long!!!) so it was gone 6 and dark when I arrived at Gecko Lounge

……to be told that they dint have a place for me!!!   aaaaarrrrggghhhhhh!!!!!!

so, I had to stay in Chembe Eagles Nest…which is nice: private beach on the lake, grass thatched cottage with ‘4 poster’ to myself…sadly its also $50 a night!!! which is a WHOLE lot more than I wanted to pay…and theres just about no-one else here to  play with :^(

it also meant that I had to go back to Mangochi (60km) to get to the bank to pay for the place!…yet another day in a ‘private Matola’…and a quick stop in a ‘squat’ toilet behind a shop, as me stomach still aint right (waddayamean you didnt need to hear that?!)

next day I hired a dug-out canoe (yes, that STILL is the mode of transport for the locals here in the fishing village next to the Lodge) and paddled over to a nearby island …very nice except either the locals have very narrow arses or I need to go on a diet: the sharp edges of the dug-out just about cut me to the bone!

next day was a motor boat trip to the same island to do some snorkelling (organised by Westcott – as most things seem to be here!) nice place to snorkel but after a few hours a storm appeared so we were rushed off the island and then almost sank in the mahoosive waves that suddenly appeared (good job I wasnt in the dug-out today, eh?)

spent Christmas more or less by meself (and a couple of giant rock monitors) had a couple of beers and was in bed by 8pm I think…hey ho. But I did manage to get some buffet lunch, including sweet mince pies with CUSTARD!!!!….WOOHOO!!!!!

Boxing day was yet another trip to Mangochi for money, but his time it was a bit quicker (walking some of the way, hitched some of the way and got a ride on a bicycle taxi for some of the way (poor fella!)

28th of Dec and I’m at the Ilala ferry terminal at Monkey Bay for the trip up to Likoma island. the ferry EVENTUALLY left port and blasted off at a stately 8 knotts (VERY slow for you non-nautical types) I travelled first class dontchaknow, which means I get the pleasure of lying on the top deck to sleep (out in the open) happily I was the only one who chose a dry place, cos it didnt half rain that night….ended up with about 20 people sleeping in an area of about 2 sq meteres! met an israeli guy (David) and a finnish girl and her mum and had brekkie with them, which was nice -plus an english couple from Denmark (wot?) Neil and Christine…nice couple.

An early start had me out on the street being escortd to the bus stop by the ‘security guard from the hostel – a security guard who was about 20yrs older than me, a few inches shorter and hobbled as he walked whilst looking around with his one eye……I kid you not!….at least he had a uniform on. anyhoo we got there and I jumped on the bus to be told that I would have to pay extra because my bag was too big – my bag was actually dwarfed by  most of the gear the locals were carrying but apparently that didnt matter. I got him to drop the price to 50mtn from 100mtn, then told him I would pay when I got off. We then waited for about an hour before the driver tried to start the engine…and failed due to the battery being flat – we had to get out and push except I refused cos I was paying extra for my bag, this appeared to be acceptable :^$. Once started we head off north to the border. fairly uneventful trip apart from the fact that it must have been the bumpiest drive EVER by a bus that remained in one piece – the road existed in places and didnt in others. Arriving at Tete, the ‘conductor’ reminded me that I was gonna have to pay the 50 Mtn…however there was a Mozzy guy sat next to me on the bus who offered me a lift from the bus station to where I would get the Chapas to the border -so, as he drove up in the Land Cruiser that was waiting for him, I jumped in and off we went – HA! I win (for a change) further up the road I jumped out and was escorted across the road to a pile of blue and white metal trash with a few pieces of rubber and glass partly attached: this was the Chapas to the border apparently. Hey ho, I thught and jumped on. As it happens they were nice guys and once they had filled the oil and wrapped some wire around the exhaust we were off: I got prize place with a front seat again and for less than I had been told in Chamoio than it would be…which was nice. We arrived at the border some 3 hours later. After routine stamping of passport, I started to walk through the gate into no-mans land…you know: its usually around 200m wide between countries?…..well not this one: No-mans land is actually 6km wide! with a town inbetween!!! not really sure how that works, but it meant I had to get a taxi through it…which I had to bump start cos the battery was flat

And so I queued for abut an hur to get into Malawi: INSTANTLY things changed – there was a nice tourist officer who told me where to stay in Blantyre (Doogies Lodge) and showed me where to get the minibus (not called Chapas over here) it dukly arrived and I spent the next 2 hours in the front seat again chatting to Peter (a local) and the driver (Richard) the weather turned pretty nasty with a mahoosive thunderstorm for about an hour, but the roads werent bad and we made it OK….just as I was about to get out, I was told to hang on (here we go again I thought: I’m gonna get ripped off for summat) Peter then explained that the driver was gonna drop everyone else off and then take me to the hostel – just to make sure I was OK and didnt get too wet!!!! 5 minutes later and there I was at Doogies! so I paid the driver a nice tip and then kicked over his bag of mangoes (whoopsie)

Doogies is quite a happening place with a VERY busy bar (mainly due to the happy hour promotion ongoing) but quiet dorms – just me and a belgian guy who arrived just after me, in ours. We showered (separately) and then headed to the bar for a quick beer and food. One Carlsberg and a chicken pitta later, and I was in bed for some desperately needed sleep……which I didnt get due to a bad case of the runs! not sure if it was the pitta or the 2 VERY unripe peaches that Peter had given me in the minibus. Anyhoo, it was clear by the morning.

Blantyre

named after Dr. Livingstone’s home town in Scotland (Livingstone ‘found’ Malawi in the 1850’s) its a big place with a small central area. Very african with tailors mending or manufacturing clothes on the streets with Pfaff sewing machines, but a VERY different feel to Mozambique: everyone seems very relaxed and friendly. I bought my first umbrella today too: cos it was stottin down for most of the morning

not much else to report at the mo, except I’m listening to Bing Crosby singing Christmas songs as I write this…and it STILL doesnt feel like Chrimbo to me

Tomorrow, I head for Cape Maclear and Gecko Lounge hostel on the shores of Lake Malawi – I’m staying there till after Christmas then maybe heading on to Likoma island…thoguh I’m told that Gecko Lounge is THE place to be for New Year’s eve…so we’ll see

well after deciding to leave Tofo, I got up early (like 4:30) to get a lift from the shuttle bus…however I hadnt been given a recipt to show I’d paid my hostel bill, so the security guard wouldnt let me out!…after waking the bar-girl who couldnt remember that it was HER I’d paid (!) we eventually sorted it out. Of course now I had to get a Chapas to Inhambane, so an hour and 30mets MORE than was agreed later :^( I arrived at Inhambane where I decided -as I was still quite early for the next bus- to get a Dhow across the estuary to Maxxis (the northern route bus station) I passed captain John (EH!) my bag then waded after him into the dhow – obviously getting my shorts wet in the process…….only THEN did aforesaid captain go back to shore to get more people and CARRY them over so they DIDNT get wet!!!!! Then we ran out of wind half way across and they had to row/punt the boat across!…1.5 hrs later we arrived JUST after the bus had left!

So another chapas it was, which was fairly uneventful (I paid extra to sit in the front away from the crammed locals) arrival at Vilanculos was marked by more boys wanting to take me to the hostel (to be fair I would have strugged to find it without them) The Baobab Beach hostel is canny …a round grass roofed dorm for 8 people (one of which was a gin loving old woman (I almost printed ‘lush’ instead of woman) from Kenya and a guy called……err…we’ll call him Oswald for reasons to be found later.

My first day was spent on a RIB for a snorkelling trip to Bazaruto island and 2 Mile Reef: we landed to the voice of the dive master (there were divers on board too) telling us that it was safe to leave our bags around on the beach as there was no theft………yep, within 5 minutes a family from Malawi had their bag pinched including car keys and camera etc. (they got everything except cash BACK the next day…strangely)

anyhoo, the snorkelling on a rocky wall jutting out of the island was incredible…loads of fish you’d be happy to see on a ‘Blue Planet’ episode, however the best was yet to come: 2 Mile Reef is a coral reef with what looked like EVERY kind of fish on it!…shallow (3-4m) waters and fab visibility made this the snorkel of a lifetime if you go to Mozambique you HAVE to do it! one couple saw a turtle and shark, while another couple saw Manta Ray too! (oh, we went with Odyssea based at the hostel)

next day and I wasnt feeling well – thought it was gonna be Malaria, but it petered out, so I have no idea, anyhoo, I went out with …Oswald….to a local bar which was a bit risky apparently: anyhoo we had a great night playing pool with the locals and beating them all except Albert (well done fella) on the WORST pool table youve EVER seen!: it had 3 A3 sized patches on the felt which weere just tacked on (so the ball followed the edge if you got it right/wrong) and the balls were all dented and the single cue was crap!….then Oswald started to dance with the local…err…..girls…..and got stuck with a real pretty one with no front teeth! anyhoo, we did a deal with a ocal to take us to the islandss cheaply and returned to the hostel….complete with …….girl. Oswald was pretty worried at this stage and gave me his wallet as he stayed outside with her to send her packing….he got into the hostel about 15 minutes later…..

I took a dhow with Rodriguez’ outfit (Amor Do Mar) over to another island the next day which was a real nice trip beautiful bay with incredible sand beaches and great snorkelling (not as good as 2 mile reef tho) and with lunch of Kingfish, rice, sauce, bread and soft drinks with the ubiquitous Mango for dessert, included for 1000MTS (about 22 quid, including National Park entry)

I left there today at 4am heading up to Malawi on bus via Chimioi, wher I’ll have to overnight at a pretty average hostel here in town till 4am when I get the next bus to Tete and then a Chapas to the border

just a quick note afore I get to write up properly:

drove 10 hours from Cape town to Kimberley (and early crashed due to falling asleep at the wheel!) then flew from Kim to Joburg, then Joburg to Maputo. AND I GOT MY PASSPORT BACK!!!!!! WOOHOO!!!!!!!!!!

anyhoo, I was supposed to get picked up at the airport by the hostel van…but didnt. so got ripped off by a taxi (not too badly though) Maputo is AWFUL! its supposed to be a nice mix of portugese and arabic, but is in fact a lot like Beirut without the nice areas! buildings are all falling down, pavements have been bombed, theres police with AK47’s everywhere and armed guards at nice houses and shops with pump action shotguns!

I met 2 people that got robbed…a BIG afrikaans guy got his wallet pinched and a german girl got her bag pinched (complete with money, cards and passport!)

oh and it rained the WHOLE time I was there!…torrential! the roads were flooded and all kinds

the good news was that I met a guy from Consett!!!…works in Maputo at the mo with his wife Christine. I met them at a cafe where I was struggling with a waitress that couldnt speak english!…can you believe that! ..anyhoo, Christine helped and we all got talking…nice to meet a geordie out here. they are a real nice couple who drove me around maputo one night to show me the best – and worst – of the place, then we had a smashing seafood meal at a real nice restaurant where embarassingly enuff, Gary paid! so I paid for coffee in a flash hotel that the diplomats use in Maputo apparently, great stories thru the evening of Garys fun and games in border control for Mozambique and his army days kept the dreary weather at bay
…and so I moved on ‘ in the rain: 8 hour bus ride to Tofo…where it still rained. nice hostel thoug h which is right on the beach (Fatimas Nest) it stopped raining yesterday, so I took a boat trip (rib) out to snorkel with Whale Sharks!…we only got to see one, but I was first into the water and it swam right undernath me!….so close I had to swim to the side to miss its tail! fabulous thing! incredible visibility too (and the water is 26 degrees!!!!)

in Inhambane today to get cash and check the place out…its OK, I guess but not THAT scenic

more later

well, Gilly stayed for 2 weeks – we had a ball!

shame was the weather was pretty dodgy (the garden route had 12 inches of rain in 3 days……meaning floods and lots of damage: we stayed at Plettenberg Bay at a beautiful hostel with a near deserted beach which is reputed to be one of the best…it was a fab beach, except it had a massive 20m wide line of driftwood right along its length from the storms!..and a nearby beach which cordons off a salt water lagoon completely disappeared!!! we had some good weather too though (and Gilly managed to burn and peel a bit just to prove it!)

best place we stayed was BuffelsDrift which was an airconditioned TENT with en-suite bathroom right up against a lake, i.e. we had a small deck which actually went out over the water. we also had the best meals: one at CapeTown Fish Market, which is a chain of restaurants…beautiful meals on both occasions that we went there.

basically our route was Cape Town, Bettys Bay, Oudtshoorn J-Bay, PE, Plett Bay, Cape Agulhas, Cape Town again. we went White Shark watching from a boat, safari drive at Buffalosdrift and Addo reserve, beach walking eating, drinking, went to the southernmost point in Africa went to the penguin colony, had a boat trip out of CT on a beautiful catamaran (where the crew did there best to get us drunk on sparkling wine …no idea how much we had…but it was a lot!) climbed Table Mountain….OK we climbed it in a cable car, so what?! ;^) and watched the sunset at Signal hill in CT

a great trip…just too short a time with Gilly!

Air con fixed and a nice cool drive thru into Cape Town. bit of a laff getting in as it was rush hour and I hadnt a clue where I was heading!…but I got to the Backpack hostel without crashing or killing anyone, so that was good.

nice hostel underneath Table Mountain: I had a beer (LOW ACOHOL , MA!) while watching the clouds literally pour down the mountainside. Met a couple of girls I met at J-Bay (nurses from Edinburgh) and had a beer with them and their smashed ozzie mate (they’d been on a wine tour) then an early night.

Sharp up next morning and got to the cable car an hour before it opened. but at least I was first on – and off at the top of Table Mountain . BEAUTIFUL view over the tops and down to the city and Camps bay. a quick brekkie at the top and I headed back down. down to the V&A harbour area where I took a trip on IQ: a beautiful modern catamaran which took us out and around the bay for a couple of hours….for 7 quid!. then a walk around the shops and a drive over to CAmps Bay, wher I plodged in the surf and walked the beach for a couple of hours (I needed the rest!) then back up to Signal Hill to watch the sun set…along with a whole load of couples and groups, which made me feel a lot like Billy No Mates! but it was nice sitting and chilling with the clouds milling around the mountain and Robben Island (where Mandela was held prisoner) in the distance.

Anyhoo, then it was bcak to the new hostel (CapeTown backpackers) and get a shave ready for the wife to arrive!!!!!

22:29 and the plane arrived……how good is it to see Gilly?……DAMN good!…I forgot how pretty she was!

Sadly, she brought UK weather with her, so that night and the next day it CHUCKED it down with mega high winds too! ..so no mountain to see, no harbour walks or sails and deffo no sunbathing!

OK, so we finally arrived at J-Bay…which was nice. It was a BIG party night here as a previous staff member was returning and we had brought Joseph down with us (he turned into a bit of a celeb). so…MORE drinks!!! (no ma, I’m not drinking too much…its SOCIAL drinking!) we played Pool (badly) too and Fussball (sp?) which we were quite good at….errrr well actually Alaia was pretty good at it 8^(

tried surfing again and went to the Billabong factory shop (again) and bought yet another T shirt (must remember to throw some old T shirts out) a quiet night on the Friday (just for you ma) apart from Alaia who was partying till 4:30 apparently, a quick brekkie and it was on the road again to Hermanus. I brought 2 girls with me this time…Alaia again (as she’s a bit ditsy and her Baz Bus ticket had expired) and another girl from Nottingham: Ruth. A fairly quiet 7 hour drive to Hermanus (mainly cos Alaia slept thru most of it) and we arrived at the Backpackers in time for more drinks at the bar (Coke ma, Coke) a fairly uneventful evening until I went to bed in the dorm: my bed had been taken by someone else, so I took another ‘free bed’…which turned out to be the property of a deaf girl that worked there – so after a fairly mindnumbing conversation between a girl who cant hear and therefore speaks very badly and me who was asleep and I lost: I slept on the couch.

Happily I got he night free for my trouble

Off to Gansbaai to watch GREAT WHITE SHARKS from a cage!…went with Ecoventures on a nice boat about 5 miles off the town. basically they have a cage which they strap to the side of the boat, you jump into it with a wetsuit on and they throw Tuna heads on a float and line out into the water: hopefully the sharks come and try to get a free meal (the tUna…not us!) I was first into the cage and got 2 nice drive-by’s by a smallish shark. I was turfed out of the cage to let someone else see, so spent the next hour or 2 on the ‘flight deck’ taking photos of bigger sharks attacking the bait: some nice shots to load (eventually) I got back into the cage later and got a nice drive-by from a 4m shark (yes, 4m! ….and it was so close its tail fin poked inside the cage

I’m now just outside Cape Town in Gordons Bay sitting in a cafe whilst a garage tries to fix the car’s aircon (which hasnt worked since I got it!) Coincidentally I met up in the cafe with 2 guys I met at Hermanus: Dillon and Tim (from Somerset) they leave for home today after a fairly interesting holiday: they were held up at gun and knifepoint by 3 guys who jumped out of a car in Strand (small place outside CT)…they wuz robbed (to coin a phrase) but apart from a minor cut on a hand, they got away unharmed!…scarey place these cities!