San village, North Namibia: 26th Aug 09

An early start this morning (again), to travel north west and visit a village of the San people. The San are indigenous tribesmen of northern Namibia who, until recently, lived as traditional hunter gatherers. The Namibian government have been ‘encouraging’ the San to forgo their traditional ways and have been banned from hunting and given huge plots of land to farm instead. There is some resistance among the older San who don’t want to farm, whilst the younger generation receive formal education, move away and become integrated into wider society.

Fortunately for us (and other tourists to the region) the traditional ways of the San are maintained as part of a living museum in the bush. We were escorted by an English speaking guide into the bush where we met up with the rest of the tribe. The traditional dress of the San is very little indeed, the men folk wear a simple and skimpy thong made from animal hide, whilst the women folk wear wraps over their midriffs of the same material, but leaving the upper body exposed. There was just one man and several women, two of which had young babies, another one of which had the biggest baps we’d ever seen, ever. They were so enormous they were practically raking the sand on the ground. They must have given the poor woman terrible back ache.
We were shown the traditional methods of tracking and hunting animals, all described to us by the male head of the tribe in the local language which is dispersed with a series of clicking noises, which sounds very odd indeed. Apparently the San have 30 characters in their alphabet, the last 4 of which are different clicking sounds. Later in the evening the tribe put on some traditional dancing which involved a lot of hand clapping, singing, and bouncing boozongers! The head tribesman spent the entire dance parading in front of the women shaking his but cheeks at a million miles an hour, occasionally interrupted with a spot of hot coal snatching from the fire in order to rub all over his body. The dance was called the ‘elephant dance’, quite why we were left wondering!

The last part of the day before we had the dancing was spent playing with the local children, who loved to act up in front of the camera and try on our shades and hats. Earlier in the day the same children were going nuts dancing to Michael Jackson on the truck’s stereo, they really got into it big time and knew all the moves (they must have a tv stashed away somewhere), nobody had the heart to tell them MJ died. The kids seem very amused by our attempts at communication via the medium of clicking noises, god know what we were saying!

North Namibia, Angolan border: 26th Aug 09

Much of the day was spent travelling on the truck out of the Okovango, heading north toward the Angolan border. We spent the evening in a beautiful campsite by the river overlooking Angola. Most of the group were kept awake by the incredibly noisy peacocks that lived in the gardens, luckily Paul and I upgraded to a fab room with balcony overlooking the river so we were alright Jack!!

Okavango Delta: 24th Aug 09

After an early start we got back into our canoes and went to large islnd where we went on a walking safari – we got quite close up to some elephants, but had to be very quiet as they tend to run t you if you spook them. Then we returned to the mainland to grab some stuff from our truck before getting back into the canoes and heading to a different campsite. Unlike the first, this one had great showers, toilets, hot running water and a bar. It also had ‘permanent’ tents with beds in – result!

We spent the day chilling/snoozing and eating and then the evening in the bar listening to 80s music. Matt had one too many and started dancing, much to the amusement of the locals!

Okavango Delta: 23rd Aug 09

This morning we crossed the border back into Botswana and followed the Okavango river to the beginning of the delta.

The Okavango delta is one of the most unique eco-systems on the planet. The river flows from the Angolan mountains, through Namibia into the Kalahari desert in Botswana where it spreads out in a fan shape creating hundreds of kilometres of islands, swamps pools and inlets. The river is one of the few in the world that doesn’t reach the sea – it simply flows into the desert creating a fertile plain and then evaporates. We were met on the banks of the delta by the local villagers in their canoes.

Traditionally the canoes are hollowed out trees, but nowadays they’re made of fibre glass as they are lighter and don’t leak. We got into the canoes – 2 people per canoe with a ‘poler’ at the back and set off. It was lovely floating along amongst the reed beds and papyrus plants. This was termed a ‘canoe safari’ so as well as travelling to our campsite, we were on the look-out for animals. We saw some large elephants and several hippos.

Hippos are really dangerous – they kill more humans every year than all of the other ‘big 5’ put together, so you have to be very cautious approaching them in a boat. We arrived at our camp site on an island in the middle of the delta – it was a complete wilderness with no running water, electricity or toilets. If we wanted a poo we had to go behind a bush where they’d dug a hole. Nice. Oh, and there was elephant poo everywhere!

In the afternoon some of us went swimming on the delta. Despite there being crocodiles and hippos not far away, our local guides said it was safe. The water was freezing, but a nice relief as the weather was really hot (although this is a fertile delta, it is technically a desert!).

In the evening we went back out on the canoes in search of hippos – Matt and I were in the lead canoe and were passing through some reds when a massive hippo rose out of the water bout 3 metres in front of us. It let out a really loud grunt and sprayed water in the air. Our poler (who was the village chief, called Lovemore) managed to quickly back paddle us away onto another reed bed –a close shave, but good fun! We went on to watch a family of about 10 hippos wallowing in the water and then watched the sunset from our boats before heading back to the campsite for dinner around bonfire.

Namibia: 22nd Aug 09

Today we drove for a few hours and crossed the border into Namibia – this will be our base for reaching the Okavango Delta, although for that we need to cross back into Botswana. Stayed the night in a pretty campsite next to the Okavango river.

Chobe National Park: 21st Aug 09

Got up at 4.45 this morning. Ugg! We’d managed to sleep OK despite the noise of hippos mooing through the night. We had a light breakfast and were picked up by jeeps for our game drive at 5.45. The best time to see the animals is either sunrise or sunset, hence starting so early.

We drove around for three hours, with a tea break on the banks of the river half way through. We saw lots of baboons, water hogs, impalas and lots of birds, including the lilac breasted lolan, Botswana’s national bird. We didn’t see any of the big cats or larger animals though, which was quite disappointing. Chobe is famous for its large game. I guess we were all so spoilt in the Serengeti, seeing so many fabulous animals up close and multiple times, that we thought every game drive would be the same. Unfortunately it appears it really is a game of chance!

We had a few hours of leisure time in the middle of the day so Matt and I found a nice place to sit on the lawns on the banks of the river and read our books. I left before Matt to change clothes and after I’d gone he heard a large grunt behind him. No, it wasn’t me sneezing, it was a huge Water Hog! Matt panicked because he thought it would get him and looked a bit pale when he caught up to me! (spent a lot of time on the loo too – hmmm).

In the afternoon we went for a sunset cruise and game watch on the river. Rick smuggled on a bottle of spirits so we all got a tad tipsy (aka bladdered). We saw some hippos and elephants in the distance, but again found it a bit disappointing compared to the Serengeti. That is until we rounded a bend in the river and came across a HUGE herd of elephants, I counted 55 in total, from massive bulls to tiny babies. They were gathered on the side of the river to drink, and then started swimming across to eat the grass on the island in the middle, an amazing sight! We got to bed early, tomorrow we go to Namibia before heading back to Botswana and the Okavango Delta in a couple of days – can’t wait!

Zambia to Botswana: 20th Aug 09

This morning we went to have close up look at Victoria falls. Although we’d flown over them in micro lites and rafted in the waters below the falls, we hadn’t actually been up close to them yet.

Due to a freak of nature, the water doesn’t (as usual) go down the falls and then in a straight line down the river, it actually falls into the gorge and immediately flows off to the left or right, flowing into the second gorge somewhere near the centre of the falls – so you are able to stand on the other side of the gorge and walk the length of the falls, actually in front of the water – very cool!

We’re in the middle of the dry season here so although there were millions of tonnes of water cascading over, the falls weren’t in their most dramatic mode. The benefit of that was you could actually see the drama of the gorge – usually it’s just covered with water. We walked the length of the falls (over a mile) and saw loads of rainbows in the mist – these are about 7 permanent rainbows in various places and from various angles on the falls – really beautiful.
After the trip one of our group, Martin, bought a souvenir bank note from Zimbabwe – just cross the gorge. It was genuinely for ONE HUNDRED TRILLION dollars!

After the falls we said goodbye to our friend Jill, who is returning to Britain. We hope to stay in touch with her. We then set off for Botswana.
The campsite in Botswana is in the grounds of a lodge adjacent to Chobe national park, one of Africa’s prime nature reserves. We sat on the banks of the Chobe river to watch the sunset over Namibia, which is the opposite bank, and watched some baby monkeys play around us. Unfortunately there weren’t any spare rooms for Matt and I to upgrade so we’re back in the tent again! Evening was spent sitting around the Camp fire toasting (more like frazzling) marshmallows – they were horrible! Early start tomorrow for a game drive!

Victoria Falls: 19th Aug 09

White water rafting day - we spent the drive over to the gorges crapping ourselves - the safety briefing beforehand mentioned what to do when thrown from the boat, being stuck under it and being rescued by helicopter, followed by compulsory signature of two disclaimer forms! There was a long walk down the gorge to the river, scrambling over rocks and boulders, pretty hairy in parts; particularly when I got my leg stuck between rocks and had to yank it out! Got down to the river and crapped ourselves some more, particularly as we had to jump from the rocks into the water and swim up to get in the boat. Paul was up first and was lucky to be able to jump directly into the boat, very funny to watch, the rest of us (me and four other English lads) followed straight into the drink and had to be pulled up into the boat.

The rapids are graded from one to six according to some British standard, one being tame and six being certain death. The route we followed meant we were to go through a total of ten rapids with numbers four, five and seven graded as five on the scale, i.e. very scary! Rapid number nine was graded six on the scale so we had to get out of the boats and walk it on the Zimbabwe side of the river (no visa required). At one point between rapids we saw a crocodile chilling out on the side of the river! Rapid number seven was the most difficult (graded five) and our guide told us to paddle like crazy and if he started shouting to follow his every instruction. Our boat managed to get through okay but one of the guys from our group came out of his boat in the middle of the rapid and spent the rest of it experiencing being in a washing machine – he looked so shocked, to describe his expression as seeing a ghost just doesn’t cut it - more like seeing his own arse from the other side of the river!

After we sailed though our final rapid we had to walk the 300m (higher than Canary Wharf tower) back up the gorge. A 300m ascent + life jacket + safety helmet +paddle = PAIN! To say we were knackered is the biggest understatement ever - we both thought we were going to die! Having eventually got to the top we felt a huge sense of achievement, what a fantastic experience. Note to readers re photos – Paul and I initially started at the front of the boat but moved to the back to give others a chance (thank God), as you look at the photos Paul sits on the left and Matt on the right (back of the boat in all photos).

Livingstone / Victoria Falls: 18th Aug 09

We met up at 7:30am to transfer the 3mins to the airstrip for the microlights. After getting into flight suits we transferred onto our individual microlights, sitting behind the pilot.

The microlights get up to an altitude of 1070 ft and the views are totally amazing, you can see the entire falls, which are more than a mile long, and feel like you can wrap your arms around them. We were both nervous about the flight as you’re very exposed to the elements when flying, but it was fantastic, felt very safe so we’re able to just enjoy the spectacular views. The flight time was 15 mins, on the way back to the landing strip we were able to see hippos and elephants down below, a totally amazing experience.

On the way back to the van for the short drive back to the hotel we saw a herd of elephants. Unfortunately the bull (a huge MoFo!) didn’t like us and decided to charge! He only ran at us for a couple of seconds but we panicked and ran! Fortunately we got to the van safely but he decided to stay in the middle of the road blocking our way for the next half an hour – the git!

After a couple of hours kip we met up to walk with lions, based at the local game reserve. We were given a briefing explaining the do’s and don’ts (don’t approach the lions from the front, don’t crouch down, don’t get mauled, do enjoy it!) we took a two minute drive to meet the lions. The optional activity film we saw on Monday explained that the lions would be cubs between the ages of 6 to 15 months so we we’re quite taken aback to see three massive lions, two male and one female (they looked like cute cubs on the video)! The walk was amazing, it’s something I’ve dreamed of doing for as long as I can remember, thanks to watching all the wildlife programmes on tv with dad when I was a kid.

The lion conservation programme is non profit making and started in Zambia in 1999, following introduction of the same in neighbouring Zimbabwe some years earlier. The ultimate aim is to increase the number of lions in various parts of Africa, having been severely diminished over the years, largely due to poaching. There are four life stages in the programme, starting with raising cubs in captivity (having tourists walk with them helps raise money), re-introducing them to a semi wild (but carefully managed) environment, the captive lions in turn have cubs that are born wild with zero human contact which can then be released into the wild. The entire process takes many years, the Zambian programme has yet to release lions into the wild. The programme also works with local communities to educate and raise awareness that lions are on the brink of becoming an endangered species. We were able to ‘walk the lions’ by holding their tails and spent time petting them.

At one point one of the male lions turned around and gave Paul a death stare as he grabbed his tail, luckily managing to avoid a mauling!

Livingston / Victoria Falls: 17th Aug 09

Drove for another half day and arrived at our campsite in Livingstone. We arrived into Livingstone in the afternoon, quick stop for the ATM in Livingstone before travelling the final 4km to the camp. On arrival at the camp (very nice place on the bank of the Zambezi river, cool bar) we watched a film showing all the options for activities in the Vic falls area. Paul and I decided to go for microlight flights over Vic falls in the morning, followed by walking with lions in the afternoon. On Wednesday morning we’ll be going for a half day white water rafting, cool!

In the evening we had to say goodbye to some of our fellow travellers, who are heading off in the morning. We all decided it would be worth splashing out so asked our guide to book us into the best restaurant in town – unfortunately we arrived at a greasy spoon and had a table set up in the car park – very disappointing and I had the worst meal I’ve ever had the misfortune to eat – a ‘boot leather’ steak which took at least 45 chews for each mouthful – I gave up after 3 tries! But we ended up in Emma and Leeann’s room and got well bladdered on long island (not ice) teas. So it’s goodbye to Emma, Leeann, Jules, Rugth, John, Jen, Lisa, Ted and Fiona. Only 8 of the original trip are carrying on to Cape Town, and we have 3 new people joining us, so that’s 11 in total – at last we can spread out a bit more on the truck!

To Zambia: 15th – 16th Aug 09:

After waking in the village we had a breakfast of boiled potatoes and banana bread – yum...not. We then walked 2 ½ km to the main road to re-join our group. Our next destination is Livingstone, in Zambia which means about 16 hours of driving over 2 days. So we left Malawi behind, with fond memories of our village trip – the Malawian people are very friendly after all, despite my initial reservations.

Like Malawi, Zambia seems to be a country of great contrasts – on the way to Lusaka we passed dozens of traditional villages with thatched huts, but as soon as we hit the outskirts of the city there were gleaming shopping malls, burger joints and one of the best stocked supermarkets I’ve ever seen – almost better than Waitrose! We didn’t spend any time in Lusaka itself, except for driving through and it pretty much met my expectations of an African city – drab architecture, dirt and lots of people – I guess if I spent more time there I could find some redeeming features!

Tomorrow we head to Victoria falls, with a plethora of optional excursions on offer – we haven’t decided which ones to do yet – watch this space!