Happy New Year! Hope you enjoyed your Christmas and New Years celebrations.
It’s our 6 month anniversary in Namibia tomorrow, and we’ve just returned from an amazing 3 week trip over the festive season.
So the trip…We were invited to join a group of other volunteers for an adventure through the north of Namibia, Zambia, Malawi, Mozambique and Botswana. Quite a distance – over 4000 miles in all, and with relatively little prior planning. I had done a fair amount of reading up and made some recommendations for our itinerary but most people were happy to leave the trip flexible which was wise with the various incidents including car mishaps, illnesses and rain that occurred along the way. Despite, and perhaps because of these, it turned into a real adventure.
With the Rav all geared up for the adventure (2nd spare wheel, planks of wood and zip ties at the ready) we set off with our Canadian friend, Jo, from Otjiwarongo heading north in Namibia to pick up others in convoy en route.
We managed to make it all the way to Katima Mulilo at the far end of the Caprivi strip in a day, and were hosted by a fellow volunteer Physio, Jesse, in her house at Cheshire Homes (a residential unit for children with disabilities). The change as you drive through the Caprivi strip is very noticeable. There are loads more villages – mud houses with thatched roofs, lots more people and the odd elephant stood at the edge of the road. We also heard our first hippos grunting at night from the Okavango river that runs through Katima which was pretty cool.
We were headed to Victoria Falls in Zambia to meet the rest of the group, making 9 in total with 3 cars. The boarder crossing into Zambia was a challenge – seems crazy that there is so much traffic passing though but yet a real lack of organisation or process! It was all a bit of a guessing game, but we managed to navigate the 5 different buildings (including a very rickety caravan with a hole in the floor) and numerous pieces of documentation to complete and fees to pay in order to be allowed entry to the country. We encountered the first of the many foreign exchange facilities which consisted of guys wondering around with huge wads of cash competing to get your business. Despite going against all anti-corruption principles, and being wary of getting ripped off, it was essential to do business with these guys as the fees payable were in 3 different currencies – this was a theme with all the border crossings.
Victoria Falls was awesome (I’ve been hanging around with too many Americans). We only saw the falls from the Zambian side – apparently the Zimbabwean side is even more impressive but we’re saving that for the next time. It’s only really the start of the rainy season so I imagine they are even more impressive when the river is even higher. There are loads of adrenaline sport options available and Jo did a zip wire across the ravine…I think white water rafting may be an option next time.
From Vic Falls we headed straight through Zambia, quickly passing through Lusaka, the capital, which was chaotic – heavy traffic with people selling everything from tennis rackets to phone chargers to sling shots amongst the queues. The Zambian countryside was beautiful and we headed into the mountains for a long stretch where it was raining and misty. Along the roadside people were selling huge mushrooms that pop up all over the place in the rainy season, mangoes, tall piles of coal and tomatoes. We stopped to stock up with fresh mangoes and got a full bag for about 20p - they were delicious.
Lilongwe, the capital of Malawi was our next main stop. Malawi is even more picturesque. Loads of small villages, and hundreds of people just around and about. Bikes seem really popular here and it’s common to see 2 people on one bike, with a huge pile of firewood balanced on the back, cycling uphill. The women carry EVERYTHING on their heads, from buckets of water to a basket of live chickens. We even saw someone carrying their handbag and a small water bottle on their head which seemed a little unnecessary, but I suppose once you’ve mastered the art then why carry things in your hand!
Lilongwe was a busy town and we bartered at the craft market to buy some carved wooden souvenirs – we came away with a game called Bawo which involves moving lots of beans around a grooved wooden board. We had a lesson from the vendors at the market which got quite competitive, it’s a bit like chess in that the better you get, the more moves ahead you can start planning…plenty of time for practice in Namibia!
From Lilongwe we headed across the windy mountain pass to Cape McClear on the shore of Lake Malawi for Christmas. Only one slight hitch that there was no fuel available in the whole of the capital. We resisted the temptation of the black market – we’d been warned of the risk of diluted fuel which would have been a disaster. A guy at the empty petrol station knew of an alternative garage off the main route out of town and agreed to show us the way so that he could get a lift and buy himself to sell on the black market. The route was somewhat dubious – a rocky, muddy, potholed road into the middle of nowhere, or so it seemed. 40 long minutes later we arrived in a village that I don’t think had seen white people ‘musumbas’ before, as we were gawped at by everyone. Miraculously in this very remote Malawian village there was fuel – if not we’d have been spending Christmas with the locals – and people were filling up fanta bottles with petrol when we arrived. We joined the locals to celebrate our find with some street food consisting of barbequed corn-on-the-cob, roast pork and fat cakes.
Needless to say, when finally arrived, the lake was beautiful. Clear, warm water and sandy beaches. We spent a good few days there relaxing, swimming and generally enjoying time out of the car. We spent Christmas Day on a boat trip to an island in the lake where we snorkelled with the Cichlid fish and had barbequed fish and rice on the island for Christmas lunch – very surreal.
The evening felt far more festive as we decorated the table with tinsel and a Christmas Shitenge (African sarong). We exchanged our secret Santa gifts and had home made mince pies – a novelty apparently for the non-English in the group.
The plan was to head across to an Island on the northern coast in Mozambique for New Years eve so on the 27th we made the border crossing into Mozambique. Immediately after entering the country the roads changed drastically. Up until that point we’d been driving on well maintained tar roads – a few potholes but nothing too challenging. The ‘main secondary road’ into Mozambique was something else – like a muddy farm track with huge potholes, and due to the rain, huge ponds/ rivers in the road.
It was a good job only the 2 Ravs had ventured on this leg of the journey as Celia’s 2 wheel drive would never have made it. Our maximum speed was 20mph and we were progressing slowly but surely until Matt’s car had a fairly major issue. One of the bolts connecting his steering mechanism to his front wheel had come off meaning he could no longer steer to the right! Everyone out of the cars to search for said bolt, and we were joined by a group of local villagers in the search. Of course it was raining and eventually Ant found the bolt but it couldn’t be re-attached so we resorted to using 3 plastic garden zip ties to fix the steering mechanism (thanks to our friend Mike for making the recommendation to bring them along as we’d already fixed our winscreen wiper with one!). Feeling a bit vulnerable we crawled along to the first border town called Cuamba to find a mechanic and somewhere to sleep.
The ‘university town’ was more potholed than ever, with no proper shops but a selection of 2 hotels. We made the wrong choice the first night and stayed in a disgusting hovel that smelt of wee. Matt tried to get the car fixed the following day with limited success as it was making some ominous noises, so back to the so called mechanics for another look, scratching of head and pidgeon Spanish/Portuguese to establish the problem. The mechanics had the car balanced on a log and piece of metal pipe, dismantled the wheel , breaks and steering mechanism and then got a hammer out to try and fix the problem.
During this time Spencer had become unwell and was making frequent trips to the hole in the ground looking greyer and greyer as time went on. It became obvious that we were going nowhere and so we booked into the other hotel in the town, a fading 1960’s building that at least had aircon. Spencer was admitted to hospital later that evening as he was getting too dehydrated. The hospital was horrible – like one of the older wards in Okakarara – smelly, dirty with screaming kids on the main ward. Poor Spencer had to stay in overnight and begged to come home the next morning having had sufficient fluids. Matt managed to get a lift with a guy on a scooter to the local Garnet mine to find a more legitimate mechanic to fix his car and most of the others came down in sympathy with Spencer so spent the day in bed…so much for Mozambique! After 3 nights in the town and lots of card games, Matt’s car was patched up enough to continue so we made the wise decision to turn back to the safety of Malawi to celebrate New Year (the further 400km to the coast on those roads was not appealing).
We made a brief stop at Liwonde National Park on the way back through Malawi and had our first glimpse at a hippo on a canoe trip into the park. Another full day of driving and we were at Nkata Bay at the northern part of Lake Malawi for New Years Eve. A hog roast on the beach was waiting for us and we celebrated the African and British New Year drinking and dancing in the beach bar.
After all the trauma we decided to stay put for a few days and make the most of what the lake had to offer. Ant, Matt and I did a couple of dives including a night dive. That was an amazing experience – everything being pitch black except for the beam of your torch. We saw Dolphin Fish hunting the Cichlids, Catfish and plenty of crabs. The 500 varieties of Cichlid are strange fish that mouth breed and when their babies hatch they swim back into their mothers mouth at any sign of danger. Also, the females change into males so no male fish are ever born –all very weird.
Heading back towards Namibia we went back through Lilongwe and Lusaka again. Rather than repeating our tip through Livingstone and Vic Falls, Ant, Jo Lindsay and I diverted through Botswana to Chobe National Park. We were on a mission to see Hippos and Crocodiles and we succeeded. Stayed in an amazing lodge and indulged in the excessive buffet (we’d had enough of rice and beans or chicken on offer in Malawi). The 3 hour boat trip into the Chobe river allowed us to see loads of hippos on land and in the water, a couple of herds of elephants and plenty of crocs – amazing.
A quick stop off in Namibia at a place called Ngepi which is an eco-friendly restcamp that prides itself on its array of outdoor ablution facilities. You could have a bath overlooking the river and sit on ‘the throne’ atop a tower looking into the bush…very novel, and definitely a place to recommend to others. Namibia seems very civilised with petrol available at every station and convenience stores selling more than coke and bread!
Back to reality now. Ant and I have made a New Years resolution to view work here in a different light. We’re going to stop putting as much pressure on ourselves to achieve lots of progress and just go with the flow a bit more…so far so good. Had a great trip but it feels good to be back in Namibia!
