Day 74 to 79: Luangwa bridge en Route Livingstone, Nata and finally Shidzidzi (South Africa)

 The plan was to get Lisa, Warwick and the kids back to their car on the border by lunch time and then get to the Luangwa bridge campsite before dark. It was 460 kilometers so we were going to have to move fast once the kids were safely over the border and on their way back to Lilongwe. I must say we were a bit nervous as they would not let us through the Zambian side to off load the luggage so Lisa had packed just enough to get them home and the rest they had to leave with us to bring home in the truck. This of course put us in a permanent state of " traveling circus"  for the rest of the trip and the bed at the back was so piled high with clothes, linen, suitcases, curios and baskets that I could hardly get to the clothes in the cupboards at the back. On top of that we had had a few dirt roads so they were all covered in about an inch of dust. Oh well I just closed my eyes and stayed in the front of the truck as much as possible, that way I could pretend all was neat and tidy at the back.

So we dropped the Goosen's off carrying two suitcases plus kids backpacks and waited with baited breath to see if they got through without a hitch and if the Avis car was still there in a drivable state. It took no more than 15 minutes and Lisa phoned to say all was well and they were on their way. Car was intact and border post was a breeze. So we turned back, met the other guys at Chipata and set off for the Luangwa river bridge. The road was very narrow and winding but fortunately it was a Sunday so there were only a few trucks on the road - or should I say relatively few trucks. We have decided that if we ever come back, we must plan the trip out so that most of the traveling, if possible, on these sort of roads should be done on a Saturday or Sunday. It does not guarantee that we won't have any trucks but it certainly reduces the risk. On this section alone there were no less than 10 big truck accidents and in 60 Kms there were 4 broken down trucks just sitting in the middle of the road waiting to get smacked by another out of control truck.

We got to the campsite at the Luangwa bridge just before dark at about 6:15pm. Oh my gosh what a god forsaken place. It is right on the edge of the Rocky Mountain that climbs steeply out of the river valley. The Dutch guy that owns it started it about 5 years ago from scratch and it has about 6 little rooms built into the rocks, built with rocks and covered in this thin layer of sand and dust. You can hardly make out the rooms with their very rustic roves and one flat little place at the bottom where we could just fit the truck and the two cars.... Much toooo close to prevent everyone being woken up by everyone else's snoring. Oh well beggars can't be choosers and Ernest wouldn't hear of us just driving onto the  dry river bed and camping there, he thought we would be robbed blind by locals and I suppose he was right.

The lodge is run by this Dutch guy and his English wife who are the thinnest people we have ever seen… They could compete with any Massai that we saw in Kenya for the thinnest legs in town. They both smoked like chimneys and I think also a fair amount of drinking every night. When Ernest asked him what he was doing there, he said he loved living there with no stress and people. Well he sure looked stressed to us so it is hard to figure out what kind of lifestyle brings the most stress! Anyway he runs river trips down the Luangwa river to the Zambezi which is something that sparked great interest with Ernest and myself and I could just see us returning to this god forsaken place sometime in the future. Maybe we will get our grandchildren to paddle us down the river next.

Our next big run was to get to Lusaka so we set off real early to try and beat the trucks onto the road on a Monday morning. We shouldn't have bothered to try however as there were just so many of them already racing to get somewhere so we just had to pass the slow ones and hold our breaths when the really fast busses overtook us which is terrifying to say the least.

We managed to get to Lusaka and through the other side by 12pm so decided to push on and see if we could make the 400kms to Livingstone before dark.

It was 400 kilometers but the road was good, wider than before and there was another 5 or so hours before dark. Ernest had the bit between his teeth and he wasn't stopping. He was like one of those horses that have decided to go for home or go broke to hell what the jockey thought.

We made it to Livingstone before 6pm and found a great campsite called Maramba.... Great ablutions nice little restaurant and a flat piece of land for the Queen.

Next morning we decided to go and have breakfast at the Royal Livingstone, what a beautiful place it is but I must say the breakfast was very average and the service lousy which was very disappointing but hey, we were on our way home and looked like a bunch of scruffs so we couldn't have cared less. Steve, Andrea and Kim then went to have a look at the Victoria fall while we sat on the veranda sipping tea and saying " hurrah for Livingstone" .... Our favorite expression right now.

We were going to stop for the night in Kasani but we got there so early we decided to keep going and get to Nata, where we camped for the night.  Next day we set our noses for Shidzidzi in South Africa, where we were going to meet up with Tracy, Guy and the kids for two nights.

I don't know if any of you reading this blog have ever experienced being away from home and SA for an extended period of time and then arrive back at that SA border post. The guys who stamps your passport are so friendly  and all say  "Welcome home", you want to jump over the counter and give them a hug, the customs guys are also very helpful and welcomes you home.

The SA border post is not overrun with guys trying to change money or sell you something or see how they can help you through the chaos of the border posts. You drive down the road and the grass along the verges are cut, the signposts are not all broken and bent, there are unbroken fences along the side of the road, the maize crops are green and in perfectly straight rows and the potholes are filled up and you don't have to weave from side to side or break your suspension, you just can't believe how orderly it is compared to the rest of Africa.

We all complain so much about South Africa and yes there is certainly room to improve but if you ever have the opportunity to travel like we have, you begin to realize just what a great country we live in. You need to go and see these countries to appreciate how much better off we are right here.

Now, we flying on a beeline to Shididzi!

Until next time, few days to relax on home soil