Wednesday 21 September: Chobe – Livingstone, Zambia

TO HELL AND BACK

Talk about the night from hell: camping for a start, having a woman in the next tent (not one of our group) snore like a freight train all night (did I mention I’m a very light sleeper!), animals foraging through the garbage bag, starting the day before sunrise with only some water to wash your face – and to top it off an animal thought right in front of my tent was a great place to relieve itself (and it wasn’t a herbivore – I’m becoming an expert in animal dung!). The day could only get better!

After a breakfast in the pre-dawn light we left on a game drive on our way out of Chobe. After all the animals we’ve seen, it was a bit disappointing – only a few elephants, giraffes, kudu, hippos in the distance, mongoose, etc. The boat ride yesterday on the Chobe River was much more successful than the two game drives here.

We left Botswana just before the Zambesi River where we had to cross on the ferry across to Zambia. The ferry takes about one large semitrailer, a passenger coach and possibly a car but as there were no passenger vehicles in front of us we didn’t have too long to wait. This is a totally different story to the poor long haul drivers with their very long queue. Some can wait up to two weeks to get onto the ferry, sleeping in their cabs so they don’t lose their place in line. The ferry ride only takes about 20 minutes each way but with the small ferry, loading and unloading and the large number of long haul vehicles, there is quite a backlog.

Looking at the ferry coming from Zambia, across the river

Once on the Zambian we each gave our passports and visa money (US$50 for a single entry) to Innocent who went to get our visas. This has been the first border where we didn’t have to appear in person – but also the first border where we had to pay for the visa. This was accomplished fairly quickly but we had quite a wait while Cosmos had to go from office to office to get clearance for the vehicle. It was here that we learnt about the plight of the drivers.

Filling in time while waiting to cross into Botswana

We also found out that Zambia has just held national elections and hawkers who were chatting with us were hopeful that the Opposition Leader would win. He must have had some election campaign as the hawkers said that once he gets in they will be able to go to university to study as engineers and that he had also promised to line the streets with copper, which Zambia has plenty of!

We arrived at Livingstone and before checking into our lodge we went to the little airport nearby and several of us booked helicopter flights over Victoria Falls, or as they are more commonly referred to in Zambia - 'Mosi-oa-Tunya' meaning 'The Smoke That Thunders'. As I don’t intend to cross into Zimbabwe to see the Falls from that side I opted for the sightseeing flight. After dropping off our luggage and lunch we headed back to the airport for the flight. Gillian, Ted and I were on the second helicopter ride so with only the three of us we were fortunate enough to have a window seat each, and as I sat up front I could also take photos out through the front window and the window below my feet.

I’ve been very fortunate to have visited the three big falls – Niagara, Iguazu and now Victoria Falls – and they are all different.  Each of the three falls are on the border of two countries but whereas Niagara and Iguazu drop into more of a basin area, Victoria Falls flows into a narrow gorge dividing Zambia and Zimbabwe with its spray visible for some distance. From the air we had a great view of this gorge and the wide river dotted with islands which fed into it. We circled the Falls several times, flew over some of the islands and also the nearby game reserve where we saw elephants and hippos.

Back on the ground again, we drove around to the Victoria Falls National Park for a walking tour with a local guide. Along the way we passed a statue in memory of the explorer, Dr David Livingstone, who was the first Westerner to discover the Falls. By now it was very hot and humid so after taking numerous photos it was a relief to head back to a shop to stock up on ice-cold drinking water.

Dr Livingstone, I presume

The bridge which is the border crossing between Zambia and Zimbabwe

As our lodge is fairly isolated, we had dinner here, and again sat around afterwards and took stock of the highlights of our trip. Even after Chobe and Victoria Falls, Etosha and the Mondesa town tour are still the favourites of the majority of our group.