Malawi & Zambia
Hello friends & family, back again. We’re now at a fantastic B&B in Cape Town so I actually have time to blog!
On 7 May we had our first days in Malawi. It is one of the poorest countries on earth but the people are wonderfully friendly and cheerful. Our first night was on Lake Malawi just for a brief stopover. The camp was ok and we had a very early departure the next day but the good part of that was that we got a gorgeous sunrise over the lake.
That evening we arrived at Kande Beach Camp further south but also on the lake. Lake Malawi is the 5th largest lake in the world and is 365 miles long and 52 miles wide, certainly big enough to have actual tide action. Kande Beach is very popular with overland trucks and it was pretty full when we arrived. It turned out we were there 4 nights rather than 3 as originally planned. It was made official at this point we would not be going into Vic Falls on the Zimbabwe side. Even though nothing is really happening in that area, because of travel warnings in the UK and US none of us would have valid travel insurance if we did enter the country. So, Kande was certainly a great place to chill out.
We upgraded to a beach hut for $12/night. No en-suite bathrooms but right on the lake with great little balconies. Not only was it great to just swim and hang out for that time but there were activities as well. Some of the groups got their PADI dive certificates or just went diving, Jim,Darian & Julie did a 1/2 day fishing trip (my stomach had been acting up a bit so I declined that and hung out reading on the deck), we did a whole pig roast one day and played lots of volleyball. That, combined with just reading in the hammocks made the time fly. One day we all went on a village walk to meet the locals right in the area. We met a lot of families and dozens of kids followed us along on the way wanting photos taken, etc. It was great fun. We went to the school and hospital and it was incredibly evident how very poor they are. While there Jim & I sponsored one child for a year at school. It’s astonishing what $150US can do for someone in another country!!! In the village we also had a dinner at a local family. The food was bland and uninteresting but it was served by candlelight and then all the village kids danced and we joined them and THAT was great fun. One thing we bought was a “malawi chair” which are fairly well known. You can get them in all different sizes and ours is fairly small since we have to carry it home but they’re simply carved wooden chairs on which you can choose what you’d like carved. Ours says… Jim & Rhonda, RTW 07-08 and has some animals on it. Very cool.
Then, we embarked on 3 very long driving days to get to Livingstone in Zambia. We first had to cross the border and pay an exhorbiant visa fee of $135!! Horrible. And in 3 days we did about 30 hours of driving over horrible road conditions. We spent the first night in Chitawa, 2nd in Lusaka (where at least we got an hour to spend at a real mall!), and finally arrived in Livingstone, which is just across the border from Victoria Falls, on day 3 at around 5pm. WHEW, by the end of those 3 days we were all completely stir crazy in the truck. Plus, because we picked up Karen, our new trainee, we had less room in the back. We took Karen along because Justins family is in Zimbabwe and with the violence breaking out all over the country due to the elections he really needs to go home which is a dreadful situation but he certainly should be back with his wife and son.
On the way to Livingstone we stopped in the town of Mizuni to buy used clothes for the fancy dress party. Seems every trip they have people draw names and pick out an outfit for that person to wear on the booze cruise. Just from seeing everyones selections I can tell it’s going to be quite an event!
We ended up being in Livingstone for 5 nights, a bit long, because our new guide/driver and our new truck don’t leave until 2 days after our current truck heads home to Joberg. The camp is comfortable enough and it’s great weather which helps out! The bad news is that due to high water conditions we found out we can’t raft the Zambezi or do any of the fishing or waterboarding which is a big disappointment as the rafting was high on our list! Oh well, go with the flow. The whole group did sign up for the sunset (i.e. booze) cruise and Jim & I also decided to do the microflight over Vic Falls (what we call ultralight at home) and a canoe trip on the Zambezi. The microlighting was fantastic! A 15minute flight over the falls so we could not just see how large they are (which is impossible to tell from the ground because of all the mist rising up) but also to spot some wildlife along the way. The canoeing was great as well although not exactly what we’d planned. The video made it look like an easy glide down the river viewing game and birds. Turns out the first thing we’re told is about the angry hippos that like to chase the canoes and to paddle hard and follow instructions and that we go around 12km! yikes! We did see some angry hippos, although none of them were too aggressive to us, and also did about 7 rapids that were category 2 & 3 so it turned out really nice. Not exactly like the rafting but at least we got a taste of it. I did pull a tendon in my wrist during one particular hippo/rapid moment but that is now healing up nicely.
Livingstone as a town is just ok. Quite small but they do have a very nice crafts market where we got a couple of things, including 2 matching wooden masks that are almost 3ft tall..oh why do we always buy the biggest or heaviest thing??? They had internet (very slow) and some decent pizza and between our activities we all mainly hung out by the pool in camp.
Now, the booze cruise…oh boy, that was one of the funniest nights we’ve ever had. When you see the photos you’ll understand even more. Jim’s outfit was chosen by Kamie and was a leopard print skirt, knee bands, and a shirt that looked like something out of a conchita banana commercial. Rob (who is all of 18yrs old) had me and actually bought me a red teddy!!! Oh yes, just what I wanted to wear, along with leopard print pants and top. Frightening! Everyone looked completely ridiculous but we had a great time. After the 2hr cruise we partied away at the bar on the beach where we took off and things got quite messy for some of the gang…luckily, we were ok but it sure made for great people watching and stories the next day!
On 5/18 we woke up to say goodbye to some of our old gang. Julie, Darian, Lorraine and Brad are continuing on to Joberg with the original truck, Scooby. Drew & Kamie headed on their own to Joberg by air, Lynsey & James went to Namibia on their own and Violetta is heading back to Tanzania to volunteer before going back. We are down to 10! Next blog we’re off to Botswana with the new crew! Love you all, Jim & Rhonda
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