Not Quite a White Christmas...

• 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
Tuesday, December 25, 2007

So I'm spending Christmas on a very muddy wet campsite near Livingstone ... it has been pissing all day ... but my chalet room is nice and dry ... I'm starting to get a name as the upgrade king ... since I've managed to secure an upgrade every step so far ... I like camping ... but who wants to spend their nights in a tent in a pissing muddy campsite 100m from the nearest bathroom .. when a two bed lodge with its own bathroom is only USD60?

We picked up four new passengers on the 23rd ... A retired couple from Lancashire - Dave and Carol ... a doctor (may be handy after all the recent hullabuloo!!!) from Canada - Melissa ... and finally a solicitor from Australia - Nadia. Nadia made an instant impression with her diamonds on the soles of her shoes ... but I'm guessing she'll be a bag of fun ...  

Christmas eve involved a visit to the Zambian side of the falls ... there is less of the waterfall over here but the views are better in my opinion ... I walked around with Tessa our pro phtographer ... and Iain who is leaving today (26th Dec) ... it was pretty amazing ... and a great experience watching the cascades and looking down into the gorge at the poor buggers in their little rubber boats about to shoot the rapids ... after Iain's experience of getting held under the water during his "easy" afternoon session ... I decided to think better of having that experience for now ...

Tessa has a large format camera with her ... so it was also interesting watching her at work ... there is something wonderful about the inverted image in the viewfinder of a large format camera ... and involved the ritual of setting is up ... I definitely will try to get a lesson if she is willing to give it ...

Later we go for a booze cruise along the Zambezi ... what can I say ? ... booze, boats, hippos and rain ...

Christmas day is a bit of a non event ... but I am grateful for the opportunity to do very little and hanging out with the other passengers chatting is nice ... we ended up watching the muppet Christmas movie of the PC in my room (all 15 of us) ... later Sarah and I fell asleep to James Bond ... so pretty standard Christmas all around except for a lack of turkey ... but Joe's culinary exploits are as good as ever and the beef was nice ... Sarah and I even made a very alcoholis trifle for dessert ... I never got to ring family, planning to do this from Botswana later today ...

Christmas Eve - Addendum -
Christmas started with a drive to the Zambian side of the falls. As our truck lurched into the parking area I notice yet another market full of what I have lovingly come to think of as "Africrap" ... this is mostly souvenir "art and craft" you encounter at every turn here ... much of it is gaudy and mass produced but if you look closely enough there is some genuine art on sale here and there ... usually for less than the crap on the market stalls because the seller, who is also the artist, is undervaluing his or her work ... I have to confess a love for African art since my first trip here a few years ago but so far I have not clicked with any of the Africrap on show ... at least any of the stuff that is practical to carry!!
 
We pair off like Noah's animals to go viewing the falls .. and I make my way with Iain and Tessa to the first viewing point. Despite having only 1/4 of the falls on the Zambian side when compared with Zimbabwe, you can get a better feel for the sheer vastness of this wonderful cascade. You can even hike down into the canyon to view from below or around the back to cross the top near the water ... much to the shock and awe of viewers on the other side of the gorge as you swim in a "safe" pool near the edge of the waterfall.
 

Christmas Day On the Waterfront
Keywords - Christmas chill by the mighty Zambezi, Movie night in my chalet, scary stories of rafting, Africrap, The Falls with Iain and Tessa, more bloody rain
To be honest you lose track of time here in Africa ... most of the time I have no idea of even the day of the week ... and the only reason I know the date is so I can check my "chore" of the day on the truck (more on this later when I write about truck life) ... A consequence of this is Christmas being something of a non event at least for me ... it is not the same when you are separated from your closest friends and family ... We did mark Christmas but I have to confess it was just like any other day on the truck by the camp fire in the pissing tropical rain ... we fed on beef and veg and dessert was a rather stodgy trifle made by myself and Sarah (for which, I hasten to add, Sarah cannot be given any of the blame!!)
 
Some of the guys went for a microlight flight and Iain regaled me with scary stories of rafting on the Zambezi in the part which the guy with long blonde dreads assured me was "Easypeasy" ... thanks but no thanks ... I'll stick to risking malaria and heat exhaustion for my thrills...
 
We did do one cliché though ... everyone ended the their day in front of a rather small lap top in my chalet falling asleep watching the "Muppet Christmas Carol" followed by James Bond "Casino Royale"...
 

Print this entry Share Livingstone hotels

Previous Entry Next Entry