2011 – Kwando to Livingstone

Happy Birthday Megs, you are getting old cuz.

The wind howled during the night but we were warm and comfortable.

I had resolved not to let my neighbours bother me any further, that was until they were rude to Willem, the camp attendant, who was an absolute star. We packed up in record time, having no desire to spend any more time next the ‘wannabe Voortrekkers’.

I hope Kirsty and my Sandton friends are proud of me; during my shower this morning, I was more appreciative of the piping hot water, from the donkey boiler, than I was concerned of the spiders scurrying around the walls of the tiny dark cubicle.

We stopped at a local craft market near to the main road to buy a bracelet for Robs; she collects bracelets from each country she visits, I collect fridge magnets and Gray drinks their beers. In Namibia his beer of choice has been Tafel and Hansa Draught.

We then headed into Katima Mulilo, a bustling little town. We found the Boabab Bistro, the only restaurant in the town (I think). It had great food, great atmosphere and was very reasonable; perfect for brunch. There were a couple of locals crowded around an old T.V. and we realised they were watching the Royal Wedding (we had forgotten completely) – Robs and I were delighted. Gray was chomping at the bit to get going but we talked him into letting us stay until we had seen the dress.

We left Namushasha a day early and decided to head into Livingstone, in Zambia. We arrived at the border post at Wenela (a few kms outside Katima) at 12:30. Note must be made here that this is the first time we have travelled through Namibia without getting a puncture (Gray is very happy with his new BF Goodrich tyres). The Namibian border post was quick and efficient and we were out of the modern building in 10 minutes. Then we drove straight past the Zambian office at Shesheke – there was no signage and nothing indicating anything vaguely official. Once located, the building proved to be a dirty dump. We exchanged US $ for Zambian kwacha from some shady looking characters in a litter strewn yard and proceeded inside. There were 4 taxes and insurance to be paid, some in Kwacha, some in Rand and some in US$. The building with broken windows, filthy curtains and broken toilets proved luxury compared to our next stop. The next part of making ourselves official for entry took place in a caravan, Robs and I stood outside watching some guys play chess as there was no room for us, in what must rate as the most run down and filthiest caravan on the planet (complete with no floor and chicken crap). We then proceeded to another tin structure to pay road tax, returning to the original one to complete the paperwork. Gray eventually emerged after signing for and paying for heavens knows what but we were legal. As we were walking to the car, he started squirming around and found a cockroach under his shirt. After a debug, we were on our way. Beaurocracy and cleanliness aside, the Zambian officials were far friendlier than their very official Namibian counterparts.

We were stopped on numerous road blocks on our 200km journey into Livingstone, nobody checked any papers but like at the border post everyone was extremely friendly. We can see a big increase in population by the number of villages, cars and people.

As we entered Livingstone the heavens opened (the first rain in Livingstone for a month) and we get caught in an almighty hail storm. As we had left Namibia earlier than expected we had not booked anywhere, camping today was not an option. We had been given the names of a few places to try by people we had met along the way. The first 3 were fully booked (like in S.A. this is a long weekend in Zambia) and the cell network in the area crashed, preventing us from phoning around. Luckily we drove passed the Chrismar Hotel and managed to get the last room off a cancellation. O bliss, a soft bed, hot water and a restaurant. The staff fall over themselves to please you; this must be one of the happiest and friendliest cultures on earth. After dinner we went for a nightcap to the bar (sunken into a swimming pool, much to Robs delight) and met a lawyer and a guy from the Department of Corruption, they were from Lusaka on a conference. We had a very interesting evening chatting to them, with Gray trying the local Mosi beer.

Day 14: 28/4/2011 – Okavango Panhandle to Kwando (Eastern Caprivi)

Gray usually gets up a bit earlier than the girls, makes the fire and warms the kettle for coffee/ tea/Oats so Easy etc. When I emerged from the tent this morning, he was sitting at the table with a yellow bellied greenbul eating a rusk out of his hand and a laughing dove picking up crumbs at his feet.

Its move on day, so we had to pack up camp (we are getting pretty good this). We have our food packed into 3 black ammo boxes and our crockery & cutlery in a fourth. These boxes pack neatly into one another and are waterproof, so can be unpacked and left out; or so we thought, at Rundu we left them under the table on the grass, to discover there were tiny holes on the bottom and the ants had discovered this. All the food was well sealed and no harm was done. Since the ant episode we have made sure that the boxes are raised off the ground. At Nunda we had a wooden bench, perfect for the 4 boxes, so we thought, as Gray lifted the one box this morning, Robs squealed – under the box were these gross looking termites. We knocked them all off the box and it looked like they were eating rice (yep, it was the box containing tins, soups, pasta and rice). After a very hurried unpack to determine the damage, we discovered not even an ant in the box. Not sure what the rice looking stuff was but it was gross. The joys of camping.

We took an easy 100km trip up the main road, stopping to help a couple who had blown a tyre on their caravan. There were numerous “Beware of Elephant” signs and with good cause because there were eles browsing on the side of the main road.

Doris suddenly told us to take a right turn, a decision I queried as there were no signs to the Namushasha Camp we had booked into (there appear to be no detailed maps of this area). Doris, being the only female Graeme will take directions from, won. Off we set down a sand track into the most amazing bush; if I were an animal, this section of the Kwando River is where I would like to live. Soon we encountered a herd of ele, we had to be very cautious as there was no way of reversing back along the track with the trailer on. This was the first of 3 herds we came across, along with kudu, waterbuck, nyala, impala and baboons. There were numerous tracks to take, we opted for the low road which went along the river edge, it was beautiful, the waterways were filled with water lilies and teaming with bird life. After about an hour Doris informed us that we should return to the main road. Clearly her short cut hadn’t factored in a river crossing with no bridge. The next problem was to find a place to turn the Discovery, which has the worst turning circle of any car ever made, and a trailer, in the thick sand. Eventually we found a type of clearing near the river’s edge for our U-turn, only to get stuck on a tree stump; neither low range nor high range was going to move us. But never fear when ‘Camel Man’ is here. He whizzed around the bush gathering logs to pack around the tyres and we were free in 2 minutes. Robs and I directed him back to the track so as to avoid any further obstacles. Back on track, we found fresh lion spoor on the road (and we had been checking out for elephants). Gray thought this was a great practice run for the months ahead.

Two hours later we were back on the main road. The turn off to Namushasha – was a police block and 7km down the road. The dirt road to the entrance was like a national highway. We found a great camp site, with a large river front area (not great ablutions, but we would manage). As we were the only ones in the camp site, we chose an area near a lapa with a stunning view. We then went exploring round the area and found a deck overlooking the Kwando River to chill for a while. This river is gentler flowing than the Kavango River and surrounded by reeds and water lilies. The trees in this area are hundreds of years old and form umbrellas over the vegetation below allowing the light to permeate like little fairies.

We returned just before sunset to prepare dinner. We were in a mellow mood, enjoying the quietness of the sunset. All of a sudden 5 4×4’s with off road caravans arrived. With the camp site being a km long, one would have thought they would have found an area away from the only other campers, we certainly would have. This morning Garth, the owner of Nunda, an Afrikaans man who has travelled Africa extensively said ‘there is nothing worse than Afrikaans (he used the word Boere) campers, he was wrong Afrikaans caravaners can piss you off a whole lot more. They set up a laager around us, took over our camp fire and invaded our space completely. Graeme, being the absolute gentleman that he is, quietly moved our ‘living area’ to the other side of our tent and started a new fire (by now it was too dark to move away from them). Just as we settled ourselves with a drink, determined to get over the rudeness of people, they started up a generator and then proceeded shouting at each other to be heard over the din. So much for our quiet evening, listening to the sounds of Africa. This is by far the most irritated we have been so far this holiday. We can cope with bugs, termites, heat and hard beds but selfish caravaners are another story completely, now I know why they have such a bad reputation.

Day 13: 27/4/2011 – Okavango Panhandle

Oops, sorry about the typo on yesterday’s date – I just lost 10 days. If it weren’t for the blog, I wouldn’t know what day it was.

I am passionate about the education of children on “saving the earth” and teaching them to appreciate their environment. I have a group of 50 little bunny huggers at school and I am very proud of their commitment to the Paw Print club.

Gray and I have tried hard with our own kids to make them aware of and appreciate the environment and to look after the earth for future generations Gareth loves the bush and for many years had aspirations of being a game ranger. With Kirsty, we failed dismally, she is queen of the concrete jungle and would much rather be shopping in London, New York or Sandton City to being stuck in the bush. However, it is her choice to join us for her mid year holidays as she would “love to see the migration”, Gray thinks it’s all a pose on her part and there is some bush chic in her.

However, with Robyn we have created an eco monster. Robs and I went off to wash the dishes this morning. There was some mud in the basin that I started to rinse away; I got severely kakked on for wasting water. I tried to explain that the water came the river 20m away and it would return to the same river, which just so happens to be in flood and about 6m above its normal level and rising. My normally polite, level headed daughter, still would not see my reasoning in this, so as punishment I took a really short shower (the water was luke warm, so I was keen to get out anyway but I won’t tell her that).

We have had the most relaxing day so far, I almost feel guilty. We literally moved from the camp site, to the deck, to the pool and back again. We read, played games and sorted out our accommodation and route for the next few days. It was good to recharge our batteries.

The water on the banks of the river were particularly noisy this evening. There were very few hippo sounds but a 4m croc was spotted in the shallows today. Robs decided we needed an evacuation plan: she hops onto the bumper, then the spare tyre and is on the roof rack of the car in 2 steps. Can you just imagine Gray and I attempting the same manoeuvre, if we managed to get to the top, with the car intact, we probably would have pulled one of the major muscle groups in the process.

So while she ate her dinner on the top of the car, we braved it around the camp fire and enjoyed the sounds of the bush.

9 o’clock and we are off to bed – another great day in Africa.

Day 12: 16/4/2011 – Okavango Panhandle

We are ahead of schedule (having missed out on a big section of our planned trip – no problem – we have loved Namibia and will be back), so we have decided to spend another 2 nights at Nunda. However, we had to change camp sites; our new site 5 was much bigger than site 1 and within 15 minutes we had relocated. It’s scary to think that we have packed up a 2 storey, 4 bedroom house into a 4×4 and trailer; which enables us move our beds, food, clothing and entertainment in a ¼ of an hour.

After relocation and a shower I walked the 50m to the ablution area to do the dishes (we have the luxury of having a few basins to do the washing up here). At first I was a little irritated, my slops were now full of mud and I had a dish washer at home to do the job. However, I soon realised that I was enjoying standing in the middle of the African bush with birds chirping around me, doing something ‘useful’ at my own pace. With no plans for the day, it was unbelievably relaxing to do something with no concerns about being late for a meeting or a lift – I have crossed over – from Johannesburg pace of life to Africa time. Not sure I feel so happy about the pile of clothes washing that now has to be done.

It’s raining again – luckily, Nunda has a stunning open plan bar/lounge/dining area. We spent the morning playing games, reading, catching up on admin and socialising with the other guests. I will have to put the washing on hold for another day (yippee).

Although we are travelling minus dishwasher and washing machines, we are not without e-luxuries (for the dinosaurs, like Gray this means electronic equipment). The Discovery has a tri-battery system so our fridge, phones, i-pods (Gray has music for 26 full days – some of it is not worth listening to, Robs & I, have discovered), lap top, Kindle, portable DVD player, inverter and camera are always fully charged.

The rain stopped and after sitting on the deck reading and watching the river flow by, guilt got the better of me. I did the washing!! I have learnt 3 things: a) I love my washing machine and tumble dryer (& Lettie), b) don’t leave a week’s washing in the hope of finding a place where it can be done for you (for a small fee) and c) don’t wear white in the bush. My hands were made for throwing balls and working on the computer-‘doll my hands and nails’ after using ‘Mama’s Best Wash’ from the general dealer up the road (the Omo is missing in action in the trailer somewhere).

I’m not barefoot, I’m not in the kitchen and I am definitely not pregnant but I might as well be. Now they want hamburgers for dinner. I made homemade patties (from scratch) on garlic toast (from fresh bread bought at the same place as ‘Mama’s’ washing powder), all cooked over an open fire, plus all the trimmings. We are still eating pretty well on the meat bought at a stunning butchery in Swakopmund.

While eating our hamburgers, the hippos were wallowing in the river in front of us (camp 5 is even closer to the water than camp 1) but with all the washing hanging up around Robs’ tent I’m sure she will be safe, no hippo would make it through the obstacle course of braai, camping chairs, table, food boxes and washing.

Day 11: 25/4/2011 – Okavango Panhandle

Happy 52^nd Wedding Anniversary to Gus & Jill (my in-laws) – Well Done!!!

The Easter bunny came this morning; we woke to a beautiful day in a beautiful garden – perfect for an egg hunt, much to Robyn’s delight (do kids ever grow up???). The other kids phoned yesterday to wish us a Happy Easter; Kirst asked if she could go and buy herself some eggs and a burger and Gareth asked if he could buy a case of beer and hide it around his digs for himself and his mates to find (you are your father’s child).

We had an easy hour’s drive along the Kavango River – not bothering to book ahead as we knew there were lots of camp sites along the River. What we hadn’t bargained on was that more than half of them are now in the river. We were lucky, too eventually; find a stunning camp site at Nunda.

Nunda is also a lodge (no luck on booking in Al, Gray is in full camp mode) but the campers can use the facilities. In the sweltering heat, a swim in their pool was very welcome.

The highlight for today was a sunset cruise on a small barge type craft up to Popa Falls. These are the highest falls in the Caprivi area of the Kavanga River. Although they cover the width of the river they are in effect rapids, which most of our friends who paddle would negotiate with relative ease (Tony you would love paddling down this river). We saw crocs, a monitor lizard, huge pods of hippo and many birds. The sunset was stunning and I really punished my new camera for the 90 minutes we were on the water.

I woke in the middle of the night to the sounds of the hippos, it was so much better than the noise of sirens from William Nicol. Then I remembered that we were nice and cosy in our rooftop (me with my double mattress) but Robs was in a tent, 10m from the river edge, not only with hippos around but also “Beware of Crocs” signs. I rolled over and went back to sleep – this is the African bush.

Day 10: 24/4/2011 – Etosha to Rundu

Easter Sunday: a day I traditionally have to get up early and hide Easter eggs, I would have thought that teenage kids would have dismissed the tradition as childish but it was only last year the Gareth decided to sleep in and have his eggs ‘hidden’ on his bed side table. Robs has been hinting for months about how she hopes to go Easter egg hunting in the bush. I have carted these damn eggs all the way from home and can’t wait to get rid of them to make space in the food boxes. As luck would have it, Gray has the choc box packed at the bottom of the trailer and was not keen to do a trailer repack. Fortunately we woke up to drizzle so we are having an IOU on the egg hunt.

The road from Etosha to Rundu is 660km and on the map is a dead straight line. We pass through Otjiwarongo, Otavi and Grootfontein on our way up. The map did not lie, it’s like they have taken a long black mat and rolled it over a green carpet.

As we near Rundu, it is with a slight feeling of trepidation that we see civilization ebbing away. Every 10km there are rural villages, with huts made of mud and reeds and herds of cattle, goats and sheep being herded young boys. What has impressed me in Namibia is the number of schools; even in the rural areas we encounter numerous schools, all neat and tidy in permanently built classrooms.

We stopped at the garage shop at Rundu to buy ice, heaven forbid ‘we’ have warm beers. It was like a month end shop at Pick’n Pay – people were walking the isles with trolleys and the queue took forever.

Beers on ice, we headed to Shakara camp, about 100km out of Rundu. Shakara is a farm run by an Afrikaans couple with a few bungalows and camp sites. The honeymoon is over, Gray is now in camping mode. The camp sites are in a stunning garden with the most amazing trees. Unfortunately the campsites on the river are, guess what, under water, so in place of the looking over the kavanga River, we are looking at mielie fields.

We set up camp and Robs went swimming (no surprise there). I went for a short walk, then the winds blew in from over the river and the heavens opened. We tried sitting under the tent overhang but eventually the 3 of us retreated to the rooftop tent. During a break in the rain we managed a very wet braai and hit the sack with it raining again. One good thing – our tent has proved to be waterproof.

Day 9: 23/4/2011 – Etosha

After breakfast we headed into Etosha Park. I expected it to be like a bigger version of the pans in the Central Kalahari but due to the thick vegetation it looked more like the Kruger in the middle of summer. Gray has travelled through this area many times, in his army days and on holiday and he has never seen it so green and luscious. We nearly missed a lion lying in the long grass about 1m from the road (fortunately a parks board vehicle had stopped in front of us).

The plains were teaming with springbok and ostriches; we saw some general game and a monitor lizard. The roads, in places, were full of major puddles (making our Limpopo River crossings look like child’s play) and our Disco is now clay colour and the wheels caked in mud.

A great drive and all in all Plan B has worked out pretty well.

We returned to the lodge, thankful for the pool after a long drive. We are having such fun playing all the ‘old games’ – piggy in the middle and pool polo. In the evenings Robs and I play board games – we have become addicted to Trimonoes (3 sided dominoes) – not one of us has mentioned or missed TV once.

Kirsty is home for the Easter weekend, clearly having lots of fun at the St Stithians rugby Festival and sleeping in my marshmallow bed. Poor Gareth is on duty, working hard at La Colombe.

Day 8: 22/4/2011 – Swakopmund to Etosha

My cousin Stacey is getting married today, we are thinking of you and hope you guys have an awesome day.

Swakopmund is Namibia’s ‘Cape Town’ and with the start of the Easter weekend, the whole of Namibia is descending on this coastal town. All roads leading into the town are packed, so much as we enjoyed our stay, we are relieved not to be part of the Easter crush.

Our plans of travelling up the North West Skeleton Coast region have been thwarted by floods. Despite being advised not to attempt the route Robs and I (the eternal optimists) thought we should give it a try. Sanity prevails – Graeme, driver and chief tour operator has vetoed us. Having done the trip before, even if we were able to get across low lying bridges (which we have been told we won’t be able to do), Gray says the best part is travelling up the river beds, which are now flowing rivers. In addition most of the camp sites have been washed away.

Plan B:

We are heading up the main road to Etosha, about a 6 hour drive with very pleasant scenery, interspersed with little towns, with names like Arandis, Usakos, Karibib, Omaruru and Outjo.

My job, on our trip (not that I applied for it), is to find accommodation for our next stop and book it. I found a great place called Toshari (25 km from the pan). Unfortunately, they could only give us one nights camping, however, they had a special on their lodge accommodation for the Easter Weekend. With accommodation and meals it would be cheaper (well the same price as) staying in Parks board accommodation. Al, I hope you proud of me – this brings back good memories of our Mozambique trip.

Toshari is a very comfortable lodge but not over the top. We spent the afternoon chilling at the pool, surrounded by African bush. During dinner a staff choir serenaded us with local Damara songs. Robs made friends with the staff and sang a Zulu song to them, it turns out that Zulu and Damara have the same clicks but the language is otherwise very different.

On the way back to our room, Gray decide to take us on a short cut, we missed the path and he landed up tripping over rocks in the dark and falling into a hole. Robs and I giggled for ages, wanting to know if he ‘enjoyed his trip’ – less G & T’s tomorrow Panda.

Day 7: 21/4/2011 – Swakopmund & Walvis

The early morning clouds burned off to make way for a perfect, sunny day.

We went on a catamaran trip around Walvis Bay, the highlight of our trip so far. I adore the bush but the sea restores my soul and 3 hours on the water was heaven. The 100 square km harbour abounds with sea, bird and even wildlife. The seals and seal colonies are abundant; some of them even came aboard as did pelicans and seagulls. We visited the oyster colonies, a thriving industry in Namibia. We were fortunate to see a humpbacked whale, the nearest and clearest sighting I have had. On the other 2 occasions of being fortunate to view this giant of the sea (in Sodwana and the Seychelles) they were much further away. For the first time, we saw heavibacked dolphins, different in colour and smaller than their bottlenose cousins we are used to in Natal. There were awesome red coloured jellyfish and the list of sea life goes on. On land we saw jackal and a brown hyena.

All of the above was viewed on a very comfortable craft, the ’Libertina’, while sipping sherry, at the start of the trip and ending it with champagne, oysters and snacks.

A tip for fellow travellers to Namibia, they often give South Africans a discounted rate on the tourist type activities, for example the trip cost us half of what we were quoted because we were from S.A.

On return to Swakopmund, we went shopping to stock up for the next weeks camping.

In the late afternoon, we went for a stroll along the beach and Robs went swimming. ‘No brain, no pain’ – the water was around 12 deg and Gray and I were cold sitting on the windy beach watching her. Where there is water, Robs will swim.

We finished off a wonderful day at the Jetty Restaurant – negotiating the 200m long jetty, with swirling sea, spray and an icy wind – but the Thai food at the other end was well worth it. I thought I was coming to Africa to lose weight!!!

Day 6 continued

Day 6 continued: We never did make it to Sandwich Harbour, only the Morrisons can get flooded out in the desert. The heavens opened and Swakopmund flooded, we headed into Walvis and it too was flooded. The roads, houses and sewerage systems are clearly not designed for heavy rains or any rain. The Swakopmund River has broken through to the sea for the first time in 40 years, causing great excitement amongst the locals.

We had drinks in a very wet harbour pub in Walvis, the tropical decor being distinctly out of place today. The drive back was in howling winds, with the sand whipping off the top of the dunes and across the road.

For Graeme’s birthday dinner we went to the Brauhaus, it reminded me of a small version of the Hopfbrauhaus in Munich. Luckily we had booked, as when we arrived there were reserved signs on every table and they must have turned away at least 50 people during the course of the evening.

The whole restaurant was serviced by 2 waitresses, 2 barmen and 2 chefs (all very German and uber efficient). At the helm was Helga, who wore a T-shirt saying “…I vil say zis only wance..”, we did not dispute this at all. Best you know what you want to order before she takes it, it arrives within 5 minutes and as your last mouthful has been swallowed your plate is whipped away. Graeme had one of his favourite meals, eisbein and weis beer, but his entertainment for the evening was watching Helga operate. We took a bet to see if one of us could make her to smile but even Panda, turning on his charm, never managed it.