The travels of Tim and Megan: Africa Safari: Zambia

Day 32: Travel to Chipata, Zambia

We crossed the border from Malawi into Zambia in mid-afternoon and we headed for Chipata. The Zambian countryside seemed to be very green and fertile, with plenty of pretty hills. We stopped in Chipata to get diesel for the truck (we were running low as there had not been any diesel in Malawi).

We also tried to exchange money, but as the banks had closed, we had to try our luck with a group of dodgy men hanging out in the car park. They offered us really bad exchange rates and Mwangi told us not to change any money with them, as they were trying to rip us off. The guys got really aggressive and threatened Mwangi. They claimed that they would beat the crap out of him when he passed through Chipata on his next trip. Mwangi just lit a cigarette and told them if they want to beat him up they should do it now. I think they were a little reluctant with Troy, Mike, Andrew, Terry and Tim standing next to Mwangi, and Mwai (a Kenyan brick shit house) lurking nearby...

We carried on to Mama Rula's camping ground, just out of Chipata and we had a good night there. We had a couple of beers in the bar. It was a much cooler night, so we slept like babies.

Day 33: Travel to Lusaka

Our time in Zambia was very brief and uneventful - it was more of a route to Zimbabwe rather than a destination in itself. So Wednesday was another big driving day, as we headed west across Zambia towards the capital city of Lusaka.

Zambia is a landlocked country in southern Africa. The neighbouring countries are the Democratic Republic of Congo to the north, Tanzania to the north-east, Malawi to the east, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Namibia to the south, and Angola to the west.

Originally inhabited by Khosian peoples, the region which comprises modern Zambia was colonised during the Bantu expansion of the 13th century. After visits by European explorers in the 18th century, Zambia became the British colony of Northern Rhodesia towards the end of the 19th century. On 24 October 1964, the country declared independence from the United Kingdom.

The population of Zambia is around 13 million people, about 2 million of whom live in the capital and largest city of Lusaka. The official language is English. Zambia shares with Zimbabwe one of the seven natural wonders of the world, Victoria Falls, which is situated on the Zambezi River between the two countries.

We woke at 4.15am and departed the campsite at 5.50am. It was much hotter than the previous day, so it was unpleasant conditions in the truck - not great for a huge day of driving. Things got worse at around 10am, when we stopped on the side of the road to buy some charcoal from some locals. While we were stopped, Mwai and Nick noticed a problem with the truck - something to do with the brakes apparently.

Anyway, we all had to get off the truck while the crew sorted out the problem. Thankfully Nick is a trained mechanic, so he knew what he was doing. Initially it was not too bad, as we chatted to the group of people who were selling the charcoal - they lived in some small round huts just back from the road. But after two hours sitting outside in the searing heat, we were over it!

After the problem had been fixed, we drove on a short distance and then stopped again for lunch. There was no shade in the area we stopped in, so our lunch break was uncomfortably hot too. It was difficult to eat much - we lost our appetite with the heat.

We drove on in the afternoon - the scenery was pretty. It was quite hilly and green and we passed lots of villages full of round huts with thatched roofs, so there was plenty to look at. Zambia makes a lot of its money from mining copper and from farming.

Late in the afternoon, we arrived in Lusaka and stopped at a huge shopping centre. We could not change our Malawi currency at the bureau de change, so we swapped it with Mwangi instead. We bought some drinks and snacks at the supermarket, which was amazing (just like a supermarket in New Zealand or the UK), although it was a little pricey for Africa.

It looked like there were plenty of wealthy people in Lusaka (relatively speaking). We passed a lot of fancy looking buildings as we drove through the capital - car yards, gyms, etc. It all looked very western and modern. We also passed a lot of chicken farms on the outskirts of Lusaka and a giant chicken statue in the centre of a roundabout - so we assume that the area produces a lot of chicken...

We got to the camping ground after dark, pitched our tent, got showered and then had a delicious dinner of sausages and potatoes. The food we had on the tour really was fantastic throughout.

Day 34: Travel to Livingstone

We woke to find some zebras hanging out next to the volleyball court in the middle of the camping ground! We departed the camp at 7am and we drove for six hours solid with just a few quick toilet breaks. The scenery was again very pretty.

We arrived at Livingstone just after 1pm. We were treated to an exceptionally close view of a herd of elephants as we entered the camping ground. The camp was surrounded by a huge fence with gates and the elephants were grazing just outside the gates. We stopped and took some photos from the truck. One of the elephants was only a couple of metres from the truck - it was seriously huge. Being so close was actually quite scary!

The camping ground was amazing - it had a great bar overlooking the Zambezi River and a swimming pool. We had lunch and then set up our tents. It was a scorching hot day. We then headed down to the bar area and waited for our sunset boat cruise. The cruise on the Zambezi was really the only activity we did during our short visit to Zambia. But what an activity!

The Zambezi River is 3,540km in length. It has its source in Zambia and flows through Angola, along the borders of Namibia, Botswana, Zambia again, Zimbabwe and into Mozambique, where it empties into the Indian Ocean. It is the fourth-largest river in Africa. The Zambezi's most spectacular feature is the beautiful Victoria Falls.

Just before boarding the boat, we saw an elephant swimming from one side of the river to the other - a distance of around 200 metres! Who knew elephants could swim?! We paid a set fee for the sunset cruise and it included unlimited alcohol! The cruise was stunning. We saw plenty of hippos in the river and Tim managed to snap a great photo of a hippo yawning (see below). We also saw another elephant swimming across the river and a huge croc sunning himself on the bank of the river.

We saw a beautiful sunset on the river and obviously had a few drinks. It was really fun. After the boat cruise we returned to the camping ground and discovered that there was a big outdoor bar area where lots of people were hanging out. So we headed there and had a few more drinks and laughs before bedtime.