Monday, June 29, 2009

Zambia (18.-26.06.2009)

First thing we learn at the border of Zambia: we need a specific car insurance. We also learn that this insurance was also required for Kenya, Tanzania and Malawi. However, we always got away with our Dubai insurance card which is not valid. But nobody cared… even the last day, when we were controlled six times by the Malawi traffic police!

Second thing we learn in Zambia: we need again our spare tires, Zambia welcomes us with a flat tire…

CIMG2719_1024x768 After our first night in Chipata – this time we have no watchdog, but watchhorse and watchchickens – we drive to the South Luangwa National Park. On the 100 km gravel road, the spare tire does a good job, however, CIMG2725_1024x768 when we pass a slower car, we are hit by a stone that makes a crack in our windshield. Once more we are amazed about the traffic in Africa, on the one hand the heavy trucks, that are approaching us with 100 km per hour on these bad gravel roads, on the other hand bicycles transporting wood, charcoal and even living goats!

IMG_1614_1024x683 But we are rewarded for this off-road adventure  with one of the best campgrounds so far. After three days we are not quite sure what is better – the campground or the national park!  The Flatdogs IMG_1711_1024x683 Campground – flatdogs is the South African name for crocodiles – is located at the banks of the Luangwa River,  just opposite the Southern Luangwa National Park. All over the  campground there are IMG_1674_1024x683signs that all animals which can be seen in the park are frequent guests of the campground as well. This might be the reason why some people put their tent up in the trees.

 

IMG_1626_1024x683 Guests at our campsite are elephants, fighting hippos, who even run over the campground during daytime and also come at night to graze between the tents. The least we like are the aggressive monkeys and IMG_1635_1024x683 baboons who always try to steal our food. When they don’t succeed, they quickly climb the trees and pee down at our tent! The guards warn us not to have any food in the tent and even not  visible inIMG_1641_1024x683 the car, since elephants have broken into cars before.

 

 

 

IMG_1701_1024x683 The night before we plan to go to the National Park at 6 am to see the lions, one of the security guards – Kewi – wakes us up at 2 am to show us two very big hippos next to our car.  We are quite tired when we get up at IMG_1703_1024x6835.30 am  to leave for the National Park. Nevertheless, we are completely awake when we see 3 male lions blocking our way at a short distance from the entrance gate. The  photos we take IMG_1687_1024x683are not very clear, we are not sure if it is the early morning’s twilight or our shaking hands… after some minutes they disappear into the jungle… later we learn from the game drive operators that they didn’t spot any lion that day. So we were really lucky!

CIMG2723_1024x768 We make a big tour through the park, spot many animals, and even take a drive through swamps where we can only guess where the track leads through the car-high reed.

 

CIMG2744_1024x768 From the National Park which is considered one of the best in Africa, we head west towards Namibia. The drive through Zambia is marvelous, in particular we enjoy crossing the rolling hills towards the  Luangwa CIMG2742_1024x768Bridge camp. From this camp we have an amazing view over the Luangwa River which also marks the border to Mozambique.

 

 

 

CIMG2751_1024x768 The next morning we continue to Lusaka, the capital of Zambia. We have a good impression of the city with its wide, tree-lined streets. We also enjoy completing our food supplies in very big and well stocked supermarkets.  CIMG2752_1024x768 When leaving Lusaka, we are once more stopped for speeding. The officer claims that we did 10 km/h more than allowed. We are sure that this was not the case and bargain the penalty down from USD 30 to 10. In the evening we check our GPS data on the PC which confirms that we didn’t speed. 

CIMG2735_1024x768 As we approach Livingstone, we see a lot of fires in the bush that even come close to the street. It’s surprising that nobody seems to care. At least the high reed along the street is gone which limits visibility. We are always CIMG2747_1024x768 afraid that some animal or human being might step out of this reed just in front of the car and we have no time to react. Fortunately this doesn’t happen.

 

 

CIMG2764_1024x768 Finally we reach the Victoria Falls close to Livingstone. On the way to our campground we are cornered by three huge elephants. They come very close to the car and we can not even go back or forth. The oldest of them CIMG2767_1024x768comes from the side towards the car and in the last moment we can close the window before he is putting his trunk in our car. We are scared since we have heard about elephants who have flipped over cars and destroyed them.

 

We have have been told that the best time to see the Victoria Falls – one of the 7 nature world wonders - CIMG2782_1024x768 is early in the morning. Getting up early is not a challenge, since we never sleep longer than 6 am, but this time it is different since the temperature is only 1 degree Celsius. It might have to do with the fact that we are 1000 m high and the winter in southern Africa started 3 days ago. Already from the distance, we can see the Vic Falls, which are also called Mosi-oa-Tunya – “The Smoke that Thunders”.

IMG_1732_1024x683 But the early bird catches the worm, and we are the first and only guests at the Victoria Falls when we arrive at 7 am. Good that we didn’t take a shower. The Vic Falls take care of that anyway. We are completely wet, and only later we see that people make a business by IMG_1774_1024x683 renting rain coats and flip-flops. We are rewarded that we have the falls all to ourselves and have some breathtaking views. Narrow valley, rainbows.

 

 

IMG_1730_1024x683We spend a very memorable and impressing morning at the falls, which are the biggest in Africa and are 111 meter high and 1,7 km wide. It is for sure one of the most spectacular shows of IMG_1775_1024x683the nature  we have ever seen and of course one of the highlights of our whole trip!

 

 

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We camped in Chipata, opposite the Lunagwa NP, Luangwa Bridge Camp, the Moorings Camp – Monze,  Bushfront Camp in Livingstone and drove 1740 km.

 

 

 

CIMG2848_1024x768 We got disturbed by a hippo when we wrote this blog, on the Numwi Island Campground at the Zambezi River in Katima-Mulilo Namibia. We hope that didn’t have an impact on the quality of the Blog.

  27.06.09

Saturday, June 20, 2009

Malawi (12.–17.06.2009)

Malawi people are said to be the friendliest people in Africa. However, when we arrive at the boarder and the officer asks Claudia “Mama, are you retired?”, we are not sure about it. Maybe they are friendly, but not polite.  He tries to recover by explaining to us that in Malawi you can retire after working 20 years, but it still hurts…

CIMG2646_1024x768 Paperwork is done quickly and there even is no visa fee. The road to our first campground in Chitimba is very picturesque, and gives us beautiful views over the huge lake. Lake Malawi is 500 km long and you always have the feeling to be at the ocean.

IMG_1433_1024x683 The Sangilo Sanctuary Campground is our home for the next 2 days. We have a view over the lake and especially the bar at the private beach has a Caribbean-like flair.

IMG_1461_1024x683 When Thomas discovers a not-used and dusty Catamaran, he doesn’t stop until he has convinced Mark – the owner of the lodge – to fix it. He even gives some of his valuable spare parts to make it IMG_1470_1024x683ready for sailing. Together,  they spend half a day fixing the boat. The effort is rewarded with a nice afternoon sailing over Lake Malawi with strong winds. Even “Mama” is enjoying a longer sailing trip.

CIMG2653_1024x768 Like in every campground we have our own watchdog. Samson seems so busy protecting us at night that he sleeps the whole day next to our tent.

 

IMG_1455_1024x683 We enjoy swimming in the lake and washing our clothes. Thomas calls it world’s biggest washing machine.

 

 

CIMG2657_1024x768 We try to make a day trip to Livingstonia, which is said to give a fascinating glimpse into Malawi’s colonial past and also offers a marvelous view over lake Malawi, since it is located in the mountains  above.IMG_1447_1024x683

However, we never arrive there, because the road is extremely bad.

 

 

 

IMG_1449_1024x683 Nevertheless, we enjoy the great view …

 

 

 

IMG_1451_1024x683 …and give a lift to Georgia and Olli, who walked down all the way, only with their flip-flops!

 

 

Another highlight for us is the Vwaza Marsh Game Reserve. This park is famous for its huge population of elephants and hippos. Admission IMG_1532_1024x683to the park and camping are only 18 Euro and we are the only guests. Already while putting  up our tent, a herd of over 30 elephants passes by our place. It is not easy to find the campground, since the sign was again destroyed by the elephants!

IMG_1555_1024x683  The only annoyance are the many tsetse flies! Blue and black towels are to be seen everywhere to attract them, but obviously they prefer much more us and our car. While driving, they follow us in huge numbers and since they are big, similar to horse flies, hitting the windows makes a noise like rain drops against the car. Thanks to our chemical weapons we get along without being bitten…

CIMG2665_1024x768 Driving through the park is how we imagined it from TV.

 

 

 

IMG_1510_1024x683 The park lives up to its reputation. We see many hippos in the lake, even from very close distance, and at night they are eating the grass around our tent. Here still without electric fence like in Kenya.IMG_1525_1024x683 IMG_1528_1024x683

CIMG2678_1024x768 Thanks to Thomas’ adventurous nature we take a different road back to Lake Malawi – off-road!  The bridges we have to pass don’t look very trustworthy, but they fulfill their purpose.

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CIMG2683_1024x768 Even there are small shops along the road, we enjoy buying at the fruit stands. It’s always funny for the people selling us “small” quantities, since everything is sold by bucket…

 

CIMG2688_1024x768 We are happy to be back at the lake, at a beautiful campground overlooking the lake in Nkhata Bay.

 

 

CIMG2695_1024x768 On our way south, we pass through very big rubber tree forests. It’s interesting to see how they produce the basic material for rubber.

 

 

CIMG2715_1024x768 In Nkhotakota, we stop for lunch break in a nice beach restaurant and try for the first time the famous “chambo”, a delicious fish fresh from the lake. It’s really delicious!

 

IMG_1570_1024x683 We spend our last night in Malawi in Senga Bay, another beautiful campsite at the lake, and the noise of big waves wakes us up in the morning. Again we have the feeling to be at the ocean… another nice sunrise and we are heading to Lilongwe, the capital of Malawi, and on the the boarder of Zambia…

IMG_1587 Ausschnitt_1206x768 We enjoyed Malawi a lot, due to the very friendly people, the good quality of the streets with little traffic, and the beautiful lake and wildlife.

 

malawi Tour Our trip in Malawi: Karonga, Chitimba, Vwaza Marsh, Mzuzu, Nkhata Bay, Nkhotakota, Senga Bay, Lilongwee, Mchinji and a total of 1000km.

 

 

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