Why Camping is fun in Africa (Or why a tent is very reassuring)

Having done quite a bit of camping now in africa, I feel that we are starting to really see the benifits of that extra volume and mass in the bags. Not only is camping usually cheaper it has some very special benifits (Photos will follow at a later stage)

1. Turning up to accomadation without booking. Having done this at Myoka Village in Malwi, having the tent when you are told there are no rooms left and dark is falling is very reassuring
2. Great Views. Some of the places we have camped can only be experienced, already we have been on the shores of lake Malwim with lapping water a gorgeous sunset and just a nice place to sleep, up a tree by South Lawanga National Park waiting for animals to pass underneith, or on the ground with hippos munching beside the tent. And it still could get better as the trip goes on.
3. Facilities. This may seem odd, but places that you camp often have much nicer showers, more likely to be hot and toilets more likely to be clean, than in some of the cheap hotels or hostels we've seen or heard of, sometimes you even get a view from your shower.
4. Emergency Bedding. While we haven't yet resorted to setting up our tent in a room we have booked, we have considered it upon seeing the rooms, the sleep mats and insect proof fly look mighty reasuring and may well be used yet!

So taking our tent has been most comforting.

The top of the world... or at least Malawi

Following a very relaxing week in Nhkata Bay we decided to head to Livingstonia. This is an area with a rich colonial history and being on the top of a mountain, fabulous views. It is however a little off the tourist circuit so can be difficult to get to. However, we were incredibly lucky and getting off the minibus at the turn off there was a truck waiting (to try and get some paying passengers) to go up the hill. It's about 15km which would be a very long walk up hill with packs on. The view from the top was jaw dropping, with mountains heading down to the lake. After winding our way up 20 hairpin bends we reached Mushroom Farm. Our room was a simple A-frame which was totally open on the side facing the view, absolutely stunning!!

The next day we walked the 8km into town where exploring all the sites and doing some shopping took about 1 hour (although it was interesting all the same) and it was quite strange seeing all these colonial buildings in Africa. We also walked to the waterfall, and found the cave where locals hid from slave traders (this is behind the falls, so a bit wet and muddy). It was a beatiful area and very different from anywhere else we've travelled in Africa.

Getting down again was a bit trickier and we ended up walking the whole way. In 3 and a half hours on the road we saw one car going downhill and it was full. By the end we were exhausted and collapsed at the bottom, without even enough energy to find ourselves a drink. Also, the passing minibuses were full so we ended up hitching - which was the best trip yet. We went with a local man in a very plush rental car, which even had seatbelts!!! We each had are own seat and only one bag around our feet, what luxury. He was incredibly nice and drove us all the way to our hotel (despite the fact this was one town further on than he was going) and refused to accept any money. Blissful.

Sun, swimming... but no salt

This is just a quick update to let you know about the last week we've spent in Malawi. We are in a beautiful place called Nhkata Bay on Lake Malawi. We weren't sure when we left home if we would swim in the lake due to bilharizia but supposedly none as ever been found in this area so we are making full use of the lake. We are staying in our own chalet which is right on the water so we are lulled to sleep by the sound of waves lapping against the rocks each night. In the morning we sit on our balcony eating breakfast and enjoying the view. There is good snorkelling just by the room and we really feel like we're on holiday here... and are dreading the next bus trip so we keep extending our stay. It's also the first country that feels cheap!! So in a week we have only spent $150 for the two of us and we are in the nicest room yet, and have been partaking of the massive buffet dinners each night. About 100m in front of Mayoka (where we are staying) there is a raft, so everyone just swims our there lies in the sun to dry off and swims back to shore. What a life!

The best laid plans

We had planned this morning to catch the minibus to Chipata spend a night and head to Malawi tomorrow using two taxis and a minibus... but that's not quite what happened. To catch the minibus you have to leave at 4:45am, which meant waking up at 4am to pack up the tent. This went well, and we avoided the hippos who were still munching. But, before we made it into town where the minibus leaves from we ran into a ute (lorry - sized) going to Chipata leaving immediately - so the 6 of us who were heading that way jumped into the back and were on our way. The ute makes money by giving lifts to people so we soon had around 15 people in the back and were partially deafened from the horn which he used to announce his presence. We were however in Chipata before 9am much earlier than expected, so decided to press on for Malawi (It would have been even earlier but we got stopped by the police, so it took some time to come to a suitable bribe to get the car keys back).

We took a share taxi to the border with 4 people on the back seat, 2 on the passengers seat and 2 in the drivers! After an easy border crossing we decided to ask the tourists who were ahead of us in the queue for a lift. So rather than another taxi and minibus we were driven in what felt like absolute luxury!! I also began to learn Afrikaans from the 4 year old boy I was sitting beside who couldn't understand why I couldn't talk properly.

Next stop Nhakata Bay... we think! (Gosh, up to date... been awhile since that's been the case)

Hippos, hippos everywhere

Flatdogs camp where we spent much of the past week is right outside the national park gates of South Luangwa National Park. As such any animals seen in the park can be seen at the campsite. Hippos are particularly prominent with around 200 visible at any point from the campsite. My new theory is that the reason hippos kill more people in Africa than any other animal is not due to their ferocity but just sheer numbers of them and the fact that the campsites are set up in the middle of their feeding ground. After dark you are supposed to have a night watchman with you to help you avoid the hippos, elephant or whatever else is around... but frequently it was just you and your little headtorch hoping not to get trodden on. The last two nights we camped on the ground very close to the river and the sound of a hippo eating next to your head is a little disturbing - and then I turned on the torch to have a look at it seeing as how I wasn't sleeping anyway only to startle it and see a stampeding hippo. Elephants were also fairly common in the campsite and surprisingly quiet (unlike those hippos who never shut up and can be heard 3km away). So quiet in fact that the first time we saw them in camp they were about 3m behind Jason and he didn't hear them. As I was walking towards him and called out elephants he started coming towards me to find them not realising all he had to do was turn around. The other highlight was the tower of 17 giraffes (tower is the name for a group of giraffes) that came into camp one day. We missed the day the four lions came into camp and as we were leaving this morning we found out that leopards come in most mornings to chase the baboons outside the chalets!!!! And the watchman didn't think to mention this until this morning! ARGH! Oh well, we are yet to see a leopard, but here's hoping.

We went on three game drives at South Luangwa and all were amazing in their own way. Just being in Africa and watching impala, puku, zebra, giraffe etc from metres away is incredibly special. But some of the main highlights were:
- watching two 3 month old lion cubs playing whilst the rest of the pride slept on unawares.
- hearing the angry trumpet call of an elephant. The guide stopping turning off the engine and the angry elephant appearing through the trees 5m from the car (it was a mother protecting her baby). She didn't look very happy and took a few menacing steps towards us, whilst the 6 of us encouraged our guide to turn the engine back on and be ready to go - he ignored us. Then another trumpet call and she charged... stopping a little bit short. The guide remained relaxed whilst the rest of us were convinced we were about to die. She charged one more time before withdrawing and only once she was out of sight did the guide start the engine again.
- hearing a male lion roaring into the night and then finding him,
- all the baby animals - hippos, elephants, zebra, giraffe etc.
- coming across a buffalo on foot (the only animal the ranger had ever had to shoot) and having him stand up and watch us whilst the guide and ranger tried to stop us taking photographs to get to safety.
- seeing a dazzle of zebra, tower of giraffes, raft of hippos, parade of elephants, obstinance of buffalo (ok, we didn't actually see the last, but I want to remember the terms).

We saw nearly everything South Luangwa has to offer, except the leopard so here's hoping we'll manage later.

Kasawa Village

Flatdogs is a beautiful campsite and we pitched our tent up in the trees (they have wooden platforms) and spent our days doing laundry, sitting by the pool watching hippos in the river and doing game drives. But I'll write more about that later as we have another game drive tomorrow.

After much deliberation we decided to spend a night in a traditional village. We were a bit worried that this would be incredibly touristy, but wanted to see more of Africa than just animals. It was about a 40 minute drive away mostly over a dirt track that passed by numerous villages and crossed a couple of rivers (we saw a tractor get stuck at one of these crossings). Eventually we reached the village of Kasawa where we were greeted by the head teacher at the school.

The school has 804 students who come from approximately 250 villages in the area. The children attend school in batches as there are not enough teachers for all the children at once, so the children will attend school in the morning and then in the afternoon do sport or clean up the town or learn how to work in the fields. This is despite the fact that the school is better off than most due to the tourism project they run. The government only pays for 14 teachers, and the income from tourism pays for another 9. They also use the money to buy books, equipment and generally improve facilities. For this reason we were told everyone in the area is always very happy to see 'mzungus' as by visiting we are helping all 250 villages.

As soon as we were taken on a walk through some of the villages we realised how true this was. People were calling out to say hello and asking our guide 'Raphael' if they could meet us. We also had a line of children walking behind us who loved having their photos taken. The villages have no electricity or running water or much in the way of possessions but we were both struck by how genuinely happy everyone was. The children spent hours playing with old bike wheels, balls made out of plastic bags or just dancing away.

One of the highlights was meeting a traditional healer. She was very sick when she was a child and was told that this was because she was possessed and wanted to be a healer. After this she got better. She goes into a trance whilst reading the bible and is possessed by a spirit out of Eden, who is able to tell the person standing before her what is wrong. After this she is able to prescribe medication based on information given to her by the spirit in her dreams. It was fascinating to hear her talk, although as she had a toothache we were not able to stand before her. She did give Jason something that from the description is African viagra, whilst I was given the female version. She then proceeded to tell us that we must stay together till we die before sending us on our way.

In the evening we were treated to traditional dancing and singing. This was beautiful to watch and we were thoroughly entertained as within minutes of the drums starting a crowd had started to form. People from all the surrounding villages came running and children wore strips of chitembe fabric tied in the same manner of the dances and as the evening wore on they would emulate the dancers and join in the middle of the stage. Both Jason and I were invited to dance during the dance to celebrate a girl becoming a women (Jason wishing he could have done a different dance), but I think the children outshone us all. It was loud, bright and colourful and impossible to put into words but we couldn't keep the smiles off our faces.

Whilst we were there we attempted a few words in the local language, although every attempt was met with laughter. I attempted to cook Nshima (the local staple) although it was like trying to stir concrete after it's set. We also spoke to Orbi's mother who is blind but still cultivates her field and looks after her house. (Orbi was one of the guys who set up the project originally).

All in all this was an absolute highlight of the trip so far.

3 days of buses

Well, we've come a long way in four days, from one side of Zambia to the other. On the 4th May we did the 8 hour bus journey to Lusaka. After spending a day looking around and buying a mobile phone (we were assured by other travellers it was a good idea... and it has since proved useful) we were on another bus (this time for 9 hours) to Chipata. We spent a night in a very dodgy hotel with no water (we hadn't realised this when we agreed on the room)... a drop toilet I can handle, a normal flushing toilet which isn't flushing due to the aforementioned no water issue is absolutely repulsive and disgusting. Luckily there were public toilets across the road so we paid to use those instead. On the plus side it was the cheapest night so far, being cheaper than any of the campsites we've used. The next day we were on the minibus bright and early (7am) but didn't leave until 11am, making it to Flatdogs camp at 3:30pm. There was seating for about 15 people on the minibus, but 30 people plus accompanying luggage (50kg bags of meal, clothes etc) all crammed together. The lady I was squished against spent the entire trip eating, although she did share some of the fruit with me (I'm not sure what it was, but it was very nice).

It's alright, we survived

Now, before we get into what we did today let me just assure Mum and Dad (both lots) that we did check out the situation first. We talked to people who had been there and done that, we looked it over from the microlight and we stuck our heads over the border when we were at Vic Falls the other day... and just to make sure we had asked Penny (who is staying at the same place as us) to call the embassy if we didn't come back... but on to what we did.

Waking up at 5:30am (it was still dark!) we got in a taxi heading to the Zambian/Zimbabwean border post. When we got there, it hadn't opened yet so we spent 15 minutes watching the baboons attempt to break into the various trucks that were waiting to cross the border. At 6:30am we were stamped out of Zambia and crossed the border to a waiting minibus that took us the couple of kms to the Zimbabwean customs. We paid the $30 for the Zimbabwean visa and proceeded to drive through Victoria Falls town. The town is beautiful, and much better laid out than Livingstone. Despite the troubles it still seems cleaner with more structured manicured gardens. The shops were however decidedly empty and there was a horde of people waiting outside the bank even at that time of the morning.

But, we weren't actually here just so we could say we'd been to Zimbabwe, the real reason was so we could take some Lions for a walk. There were two lions Echo and Etosha and they were 12 month old brothers. We were each given a stick and informed that if they look like the want to play with you (by chewing on your leg or arm or some such) then you should try and get them interested in the stick instead. Other than that just stay out of their way and avoid being near the head area. At first they seemed a bit reluctant to go for a walk choosing to rub up against us and collapse on our legs whenever possible. Until one of the guides (George) decided to tease and get them to chase him. This was the best game ever and by the time we made it to the river the two lions were having a fabulous time running around, chasing buffalo dung balls and pouncing on each other (and George). It was definitely a unique experience, getting to touch and feel the muscles moving in a lion as it walks along. Lots of fun and we made it safely out of Zimbabwe without difficulty.

Labor Day

Today was a quiet day for us, but big for the locals. We walked out our front door and within two minutes spotted this huge procession marching towards us. Uh oh, what was that our parents warned us not to do... that's right get caught up in marches or demonstrations. Turns out it was labor day and the march was for improved working conditions and social justice. Every business seemed to be represented and it went on for as far as the eye could see in both directions. We spent the rest of the morning at the Livingstone museum which was quite interesting, going through the history of man, Zambia, slavery and more. It also gave a rather strong view on the movement of people from the villages to the urban centres, with a couple of rooms dedicated to "our village" and "their town".