We had planned to set off quite early in the
morning as we needed to get to our next camp site at Chipata before dark, but
we got caught up in trying to get the papers from Avis to let us through the
border with Lisa and Warwick's hired car. Oh what a performance and very
annoying! Especially so Lisa had to let them know she would be taking the car
into Zambia for a few days and they had told her it would be no problem. Then
Avis all of a sudden changed their minds and said Warwick had to go back to
Lilongwe to get a police clearance certificate to go over the border and that
it would take at least 4 hours to get one. This would also have meant driving
for an extra 3 hours. In the end we figured to hell with it and left for the
border. We decided that we would try and get through without the papers, if not
we would just leave their car at the border post, pile the whole family into The
Queen and head for South Luangwa together.
So with all the delays we only left Makuzi at
about 10.30 and hightailed it straight for the border. We went through some
very pretty countryside climbing up and up away from the lake. The further we
got from the lake the poorer the people looked and the vegetation became very
sparse and more desert like with the usual herds of goats all along the road
side. I must say Ernest has got the hooting down to a fine art and I do love
seeing how clever those goats are, they scatter so fast, even the babies know
to run for the hills as soon as they hear the hooter. This area used to be dense
forest but they have just cut more and more of the forest away to make the
cursed charcoal.
Eventually we climbed up higher and higher into
a very mountainous game reserve called Nakotakota and the vegetation became
thick and lush again... Such a contrast from what we had just been through. We
got to the border post at about 4pm. A
bit late but still on time to make it to Chipata before dark - but never
underestimate the surprises of African travel as there is always a detour or a delay
around the corner.
So it came in the challenge of the border post
and oh dear, as we had thought they were not going to let that car out of the
country without all the police papers etc. try as we may we couldn't shift the
guy so we rapidly packed all the Goosens luggage into the truck, parked the car
outside the immigration office, hoping it would be there when they came back in
a few days and set off for the Zambian side looking a little like a traveling
circus.
This proved to be a very difficult
crossing. African authorities have
suddenly decided that anybody entering or exiting any country must be fully
screened for Ebola. Not a bad thing of course but heaven help you if you just
had flu or a cold.
They insisted on seeing all our inoculation certs!
Yellow fever certs, and then made us fill out big questionnaires as to where we
had been in the last month and just to top it off they took everyone’s temperature. Shew! It took us at least on
hour to get through that mess, especially because the lady that was doing the
whole process was new and she got all the papers muddled and generally made a
dogs breakfast of the whole thing, she kept pushing the button on the
temperature gun and then staring at it for ages with this puzzled look on her
face. Then came the usual third party and insurance etc. which took another
half an hour!
So eventually it was nearly six by the time we
had all dragged ourselves through and onto the road again and off to
Mamarula's, a campsite that we had heard about and had on our GPS’s. - thank goodness for GPS’s as it led us straight there, in the dark nogal… (mind
you)
This is the real gathering place for overland
trucks and there were two of them already there, in the best spots of course
and loaded with people from Holland. It is so strange we have only crossed paths
with one other of these trucks in Nairobi compared to the last time we were up
here, we must have seen at least 30 of them. These particular guys had started
in Cape Town so the industry has changed, it seems, they are now working the
southern part of Africa instead of East Africa. The worlds perception on what
is dangerous has obviously shifted somewhat.
We found our spot, set up tents and went for
dinner; we had been told this was where you get the best T-Bone steaks in the
world. Well, ours were tough and just awful and the men went to bed feeling
very cheated as they had been talking about this steak “at the end of the tunnel for the whole day" - ah well you never
know hey!
Next morning up early, to the usual bank,
supermarket and service station to get supplies and then we got Kim to go into
the fresh market stalls to get fresh veggies. Oh the stall holders thought he
was very funny as he picked out the potatoes one by one and wouldn't take the
bucket that they kept trying to give him. He is the best one to send into the
market as 1) he is a man and 2) he used to run a fresh fruit and veggie shop - nobody
can fool him with rubbish and believe me they try and palm all the bad stuff
off onto us!
The road from Chipata was such a pleasant
surprise, we were expecting the worse but it was new, wide and beautiful, thank
goodness as with all of us in the truck if would have been a real bad
experience for the kids, or should I say the parents as the kids would have
loved a roller coaster ride considering all the bad roads we have been on…
When we got to the "Tracks and Trails" camp at
South Luangwa, where Lisa had booked, I was quite disappointed as the actual
campsite was not on the river banks. We particularly wanted to be able to sit
in our chairs and watch the river with its crocs and hippos, so off Kim and I
went to scout out the area and see if we could find the camp site we stayed in
last time. I just couldn't remember the name of it so we set off blindly looking
for somewhere else where we could actually camp on the river’s edge. No luck, the one I remember has
simply disappeared so we stayed put at Tracks and Trails and as it happened it
did actually turn out to be a great site and the best in the area.
South Luangwa is different to all the other
reserves that we have visited because the camping grounds are all outside the
reserves on the Luangwa river banks and you can take daily trips across the
river into the reserve itself. There are a few 5 star lodges inside the reserve
where you can stay but at very hefty prices and to be honest, not one of these
lodges are up to the standard that we have in SA.
It was simply beautiful sitting on the edge of
the river as this camp did have beautiful green lawns and huge Pod Mahogany,
Apple ring Acacia and Sausage Trees that we would kill to have in our front
gardens.
Lisa and Warwick had booked a family unit and
had been allocated the one right next to the pool which was the right place for
them to be. The pool was built up about 12 feet above the ground, just high
enough to be out of reach of the Elephants which were constant visitors at the
lodge. The pool was beautifully positioned right under an apple ring acacia
tree which gave incredible shade plus shed its pods every day and it was a
great source of delicacy for the elephants. So we spent most of the day
swimming in this cool, blue, shady pool with the Ellies picking up the pods all
around us. I have never been so close to a wild elephant in my life, you could
actually touch their heads if you had wanted to and believe me these animals
were not tame, they were pretty used to people but if you got in their way they
would chase you. We witnessed a few guys running for their lives when they got
too close.
The kids could just go down a set of back steps
to their room so it was much safer for them to go backwards and forwards and
even Cammie who is quite terrified of the Ellies became quite brave.
Our campsite was another story! We were warned
not to leave any fruit or veggies in The Queen or vehicles as the Ellie's could
smell them and would get them using any means they could.... Of course we are
know-it-alls and left some fresh beans in the truck and went off to swim. We
had closed the screen door and figured that would be sufficient. Oh boy that
trunk went straight through the screen door, into the van and found all the
fruit. I think it would have had the fridge open and got to all the stuff in
there as well if the manager hadn't arrived and frightened it. It very reluctantly
left but the door was very the worse for wear and we knew we were beaten and
moved everything into the lodge fridges.
The monkeys and baboons also proved to be a huge
problem. They would jump down from the trees and actually grab anything, even out
of your hands. They were total pests and I am not exaggerating when I say there
were perhaps over 100 of them running around the camp. The men spent a huge
amount of time trying to shoot them with Ken's catty. They would sit in the
trees above the hippo and just taunt us, dash down grab stuff and dash back
again.... Little crafty bastards.
What can I say about South Luangwa other than we
all voted it as the best reserve we had been to. There is an abundance of game
of all kinds, tons of elephants, lions and had the best Leopard sighting that
any of us had ever had.... Even Warwick who has spent years in the bush as a
guide! We saw two leopard cubs so close up we could have almost touched them as
they were tucking into an impala kill and then later watched a hyena try and
catch one of the babies before it stole the kill from them.
The open plains where you could see tons of game
just peacefully grazing in the sunset taking no notice of us or the arrival of
40 or 50 Ellies. We had a fantastic guide from the lodge who was just a
delight, was very knowledgeable about the area and the game. He was quite
outstanding and would love to have had him at Safari lodge.
We had three
fantastic days of experiencing Africa at its best with the family and friends
that we have spent nearly three months with, with hardly a cross word or
upset... I am sure a record for anyone traveling together for so long. We sadly
packed up on day four and headed back to the border to drop off Warwick and
Lisa and then start our long journey home and back to the drudgery of everyday
life in Joburg.
Sigh……signing out!
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