Rain, Mud, Rain, Mud ... Hippo attack ...

• Leinsterman's Profile
• About this blog
• Entry from Livingstone

Trip Start Dec 17, 2007 Previous
Entry Trip End Jan 19, 2008 Next
Entry

  Livingstone, Zambia
Friday, December 21, 2007

After a rather dull 24 hours looking out at the pissing rain outside the Holiday Inn in Lusaka I was finally met by Jaques from Pretoria ... he is the guide on Benji ... our truck ... the crew are very laid back and good craic ... Joe is the cook from Kenya ... and a bloody good one at that ... one normally expects to lose weight on this type of trip ... but it may be difficult with Joe's cooking ... seconds is far too tempting ... and food is ample ... William is our driver also a Saffer ... if he gets any more laid back he'll topple over ... but he looks after us ... and the truck has been a little sick lately so he is kept busy fixing it ...  

The Passengers on the truck are a very nice bunch of people (phew!!) ... I'm not perfect on all the names yet but there is a couple (Englishman and Aussie - James & Nicole), a scotsman (Ian ... who is leaving in Livingstone sadly), Christina a Welsh woman, Sarah an English woman, Hister and Tessa two Dutch sisters ..

Vic Falls 1

. we are picking up 4 more here in Livingstone ... hopefully they will fit in as easily as I have (thanks to a very welcoming group who have been together for about 1 month now)... Tessa and Jaques are both pro photographers ... James and myself are the main photo and gadget geeks (between us we have em all ... but my latest toy the Nokia N95 is proving most handy for its GPS capabilities ... I have reference points for all the best places) ... Christina and Nicole are keen amateurs ... and the rest are mainly here for the craic ...

We spent our first night together on a campsite just outside Lusaka ... amazing place ... mostly because Giraffe, Buffalo and Zebra just wander around through the middle of it ... and there are beautiful coloured birds everywhere ... facilities are pretty OK too ... clean and functional ... as much as I would ask on this type of trip ...

Ironically this is the only time I got out with the camera so far ... it has been difficult mostly due to the rain, a long drive day and the fact that the first activity I did (today) was rafting ... not a place to carry a camera ... but tomorrow I'm off the Zim (ya hear me Jo??) to "Walk with Lions", catch the falls, have lunch (according to Sinead they have Chicken now in Zim!! ... though perhaps this is not a joking matter ..

Vic Falls 10

. there is a Spar here in Livingstone beside the internet cafe ... and people are coming and going all day with trollies full of bread ... I thought this was strange but then I found out that it is for a black market on the  Zimbabwe side) and take an Elephant ride ...

We had a long drive from Lusaka to Livingstone ... 600km ... and when we arrived the campsite is completely flooded ... red mud and water everywhere ... so I checked into one of the preset camps with one of the girls from the truck to avoid getting covered in mud ... they are pretty good, if a little smelly ... room to stand, a proper bed and table lamp with electricity ... and only about 10M from the swimming pool (though at the moment the entire campsite is a swimming pool) ...

Since it is Christmas period (and TBH because I can afford it)  I am moving to a proper two bed Chatlet with En-Suite shower from tomorrow for a few days (until we leave on St Stephen's day) ... the rest of the gang are camping ... so I guess my chalet may become party central during the regular daily deluge for Pimms and Lemonade or G&T's... Yes ... Campsites here are pretty darn good ... shame about the mud though ... but it has not dampened our spirits ...

The weather has finally cleared up this morning and I got my first glimpse of blue sky as we rafted in 2 person rafts (sadly it also meant I was on water without sun cream so I got a wee bit crispy ... but not too much) ... we rowed along the Zambezi for about 15KM (with the current) ... through a few fairly tame rapids on the upper side of the waterfall (this is not the gorge rafting ... still agonising about this ..

Vic Falls 11

. I am a tad nervous about doing it but apparently the 2nd half is a bit tamer and there is a funicular at the end so you don't have the nightmare hike out of the gorge I heard about) ...

I even got over to the Zimbabwe side today very briefly to look at a Croc on the bank ... the raft game drive is amazing ... you get to see everything ... monkeys, hippo, crocs, elephant ... you name it ... all from the serenity of a raft on the river ... lovely ... but no photos to post ... sorry!!!

We even ended up being squared up to by a loner hippo who took exception to our presence ... not a sight you want to witness too often believe me ... but exciting nonetheless ... our guide had matters well in control though ... though it did make the heart flutter some!!

As before Africa is not failing to deliver on the serious side ... as we drove along our 600KM journey I could not help but feel a little bit sorry for the large number of people who have to endure very basic conditions ... you see it everywhere along the main road ... I am amazed to see how people can cope .... it makes me wonder if my relative palatial living conditions in Dublin is not a way over the top ..

Vic Falls 12

. if we are going to provide people with the basics on the limited resources our planet offers ... maybe we'll all have to tighten our belts a little ... and take a bit more affirmative action helping others to improve their own standard of living ... through it all everyone has a smile for you here ... children wave as our truck passes ... people just have time!!!

Anyways ... that's it for now ... I'll post images next time ... hopefully because it is difficult to use a camera here ... practically everything you do here involves taking your life in your own hands ... there's bungee jumping, rafting, white water rafting, skydiving, abseiling, flying fox, gorge swing (where you become a human pendulum across the gorge) ...

Post your own travel photos for friends and family More Pictures

Vic Falls 13	Vic Falls 2	Vic Falls 3	Vic Falls 4
Vic Falls 5	Vic Falls 6	Vic Falls 7	Vic Falls 8
Vic Falls 9

Slideshow Print this entry Share

Previous Entry Next Entry