Tag Archive | safari

The Road to Find Out

Sep14
Road from Kalomo to Kafue

Name that tune.

For me, The Road to Find Out (Cat Stevens) was my personal college anthem:
So on and on I go,
the seconds tick the time out
There’s so much left to know,
and I’m on the road to find out.

I traveled many roads not taken by many of my friends and peers, impatient to experience and learn. Some argue that I am still on that road to find out, and I can’t disagree. And, I can’t say that I’ve learned to temper my impatience very well, either.

As we turn off the pavement at Kalomo, it’s hard to tell if we are actually on the road that will connect us to one of the largest national parks on the continent. It looks like we might be on someone’s driveway. But, there are signs of commerce that tell us we are on the main drag: roadside stalls selling tomatoes, sodas, and “top off” minutes for cell phones, and plenty of pedestrians and loaded down bicycles.

On the road to Kafue

Off the pavement and driving through the village scene, now it feels like the adventure part of our trip has begun. The gravel has been recently graded, so the going is relatively smooth, although dusty. We head for the park gate with the advice from Bradt’s guide rattling around our heads: “If you want to drive here, then think of it as an expedition…If you have problems, you must be able to solve them yourself, as you can expect little help…Do bring a GPS; you will need one. Remember that many of the tracks in Southern Kafue have started to grow over with lack of use, so rediscovering them will be part of the adventure.” We have plenty of food, equipment and tools…and a satellite phone.

Our hope is that this trip will help us learn more about “real” Africa – what does it mean to live here, to be African? We believe that we will influence people’s reactions to us – our obvious affluence starts with the vehicle we are driving, then our clothing, as well as our packs loaded with binoculars and cameras. With every passing kilometer, I grow more and more self-conscious about how much wealth we have carried with us. How can we expect anything but respect and deference from the people we may meet along the way? Or contempt? Or, will we just be a novelty, treated with curiosity, as we travel through these villages? We suspect the answer is, “All of the above,” but we will see as we move about the country.

Cart

So far, people have been friendly and smiling. We try to be respectful, slowing down to reduce dust and flying gravel as we pass pedestrians and bicyclists. And, as we get further off the paved road, the population of human road traffic does not decrease. Just as we think we are getting to the “middle of nowhere,” we see bicycle tracks in the road dust. Or a herd of goats. People here live remotely, simply. Does this make them poor? In need of aid? More things to contemplate as we bump along the road.

Guinea fowl

Fuel – Steve’s 2-cents

Sep14

Sooo, we have this tank of a vehicle that has “long distance” fuel tanks. But we have absolutely no idea what “long distance” really means and we are about to turn off road and into the African bush. Even buying fuel in Kaloma (about 20 litres) doesn’t give us much of a clue because it has been level paved road without air conditioning. Rover has two tanks: 25 litre and 80 litre and the fuel gauge doesn’t start reading until one of the tanks is empty and we don’t know which tank drains first. So fuel is an anxiety; the best advice is to fill up often. [In retrospect: Fuel IS an anxiety. Our Rover drained the 25 litre tank first, before the 80 litre tank started to register on the fuel gauge. As Safari Drive said in their literature, we probably could have gone 800 kms on a full tank. But it would be reckless to try.]

On the (Paved!) Road

Sep14

Fresh PavementFueled by reports of paved roads, rather than leaving at “sparrow’s fart,” we had a regular hot breakfast at the sun-splashed community table at Chanters. While some guests choose to eat indoors with the BBC broadcast on the TV, we soak up all the sunny fresh air we can get – it’s been a long, foggy summer on the Monterey Bay.

We settle our bill, present two soccer balls and pumps for the lodge staff, and head out to the Great North Road, connecting Livingstone with Lusaka. We will divert long before reaching the capital, and won’t see pavement again for ten days.

The road is remarkably, amazingly, thankfully well-paved, with much of it so fresh that the lines have not been painted yet. We pass a number of work crews with hand tools – much of this road has been built with Zambian sweat. The only machinery we see are two pieces: one to spread the asphalt, and the other to smooth it out.

As we leave Livingstone, we notice more signs and trucks with Chinese names and Chinese characters. Each road crew seemed to have an Asian face. As we had read, the Chinese have a big presence in Africa, and Zambia is no exception. Hungry for raw materials, the Chinese are here for the continent’s mineral wealth. We note that the freshest part of this road connects Livingstone with a quarry with a Chinese name about 20 kilometers outside of town. Zambia’s greatest mineral wealth is copper, and if we traveled north to the Copperbelt district, we probably would see more Asian faces.

As we travel north, we realize that we are paralleling a gravel track. If we made this trip two years ago, that would have been our route, not this freshly paved highway. We save hours of rattling road, thanks to the Chinese.

The other observation is that the vast majority of Zambians travel by foot and bicycle. Even though we are following a two-lane highway, there are pedestrians: ladies walking with bundles balanced on their heads, wads of kids in school uniforms, single men just walking. And then there are the bicycles – many of them loaded with bundles of firewood, baskets of produce for market, and passengers: young women riding side-saddle on the back rack. Livestock on the road are a regular sight: mostly goats and cows. We pass several ox-drawn carts. Where are these people from and where are they going? From the road, we can’t always see the peaked thatched roofs, but there are plenty of unmarked dirt tracks turning off the highway – signs that there are many villages along the road.

A transit service does run along the road: blue minivans, often sporting a proverb or quote, are largely the other vehicles we see on the road. They are usually stuffed (literally) with people – the passenger to seat belt ratio is easily 2:1.

We pass through several villages that are located on the road, but we are watching for Kalomo: our fuel stop where we leave the pavement for the road to the Dumdumwenze gate into Kafue National Park. As we turn off, we are now 126 kilometers from Livingstone. Stopping at the ZOT station to top off our tanks, we won’t see another fuel stop for four days.

A Day of To Do’s

Sep13

After a calm and relaxing evening cruise on the Zambezi, and an actual night’s sleep in a horizontal position (as opposed to a coach seat on an airplane), we’ve got lots to do: pick up the land rover, change money, grocery shop, and we’d also like to see the falls. We have no idea how long everything will take to do, but we know that we have a full day’s drive tomorrow, so there’s no putting things off.

We had a great breakfast with the Aussie gentleman in the room next door, who is headed to Greater Kruger for some volunteer work. Our ride arrived with staff from Waterberry Lodge (where we pick up the rover) and Chris from Zambezi Company. He says he’s been asked to help us with our routes and maps as part of our briefing.

The land rover is practically new and quite spacious for just the two of us. Kevin, Waterberry’s manager, and Chris walk us through all the equipment, including jacks, tools and pumps, as well as the stove, the rooftop tent, and Engel refrigerator. Frankly, we’re more worried about driving on the left more than anything else. The good news is that we have probably the best maps that exist for Zambia. In the days to come, we largely relied on the GPS, and hand-drawn maps people would make for us to our next destination.

Back on the road to Livingstone, we discover that we need to purchase diesel too. We thought we were getting a full tank, but hey, we’re in Zambia now. Our first stop was the Bureau de Change. We tried to figure out how much we needed in kwacha – largely to buy diesel. It seems that everywhere else we will be able to use American dollars. As we pulled in, we had at least 3 or 4 men standing very close to the vehicle, and then to us, trying to get us to exchange money with them. They dogged us all the way to the door of the bureau. And, they dogged us all the way back to Rover. It was a little unnerving only because we were carrying thousands of dollars, and millions of kwacha. (The exchange rate is 4800 kwacha to the dollar.) [In retrospect: this was one of a very few moments we felt uncomfortable – these guys were on us and in our face, but it never happened again].

We then navigated our way out back to the main street and to the ShopRite across the street. Steve got a little flustered trying to negotiate the turn-in driveways from the left side of the road, but we got in and parked. Fortunately, I had made a shopping list before we left home so that we would not be wandering aimlessly for hours in this supermarket. Safari Drive had supplied us with more than I expected as our “starter pack,” so I pared down my quantities. We were in and out in about an hour – not bad, considering I didn’t know what to expect. Prices were reasonable, the market was spotless and similar to a modern US supermarket, and our only surprise was the military clad very young man who walked the aisles with a machine gun slung over his shoulder.

By now, Steve is hungry, so we have Zambian fast food at The Hungry Lion. Burgers, chicken, fries, sodas – the usual fare. But, they are known for their pies. We passed on the pies this time.

Money changed and groceries purchased, we found that we still had plenty of time to see the falls. We headed south on Mosi Oa Tunya (Smoke That Thunders) Road – we knew that if we got to the Zimbabwe border, we had somehow missed the turnoff to the Zam side of the falls. We found it easily. The parking lot was bordered by a series of stalls selling all kinds of crafts and knick-knacks. We only had a couple of hours, so we headed for the ticket gate. Inside, we paid our admissions, plus the fee for our foreign vehicle (Namibia registration). The gentleman there asked where we were from, and when we said USA, he asked, “How is Mr. Obama doing?” This was the first of many times we were asked throughout our trip. President Obama is quite popular with both the Zambians and the Europeans we met on our trip. No matter how remote we traveled, people asked about Mr. Obama.

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The falls were spectacular, even for the dry season – it’s boggling to see the geologic forces at work that created this remarkable spot. There were few people there, and I think we managed to walk most of the network of footpaths on the thin block of rock that separates the falls from the next 180 degree turn in the river. The water was low enough that it is possible to walk across the rocks at the top of the falls, but we passed this risky (and prohibited) activity.

Elephant Crossing, Livingstone
Elephanti Crosswalk, Livingstone

Our last stop before heading back to Chanters was to fill the land rover fuel tanks. But, we were delayed for a few minutes for an elephant crossing. Okay, we really are in Africa now! The Rover was handed over to us THIRSTY: the 105 litre tank needs 83 litres to top off: 610,000 kwacha. After fueling up, we headed back to Chanters to finish up our packing. We’re on the road tomorrow!

Chanters Lodge

Sep12

Our original itinerary had us staying at Waterberry Lodge. It seemed really lovely, and it’s right on the Zambezi, but at usual safari lodge prices, we figured we would be too jet-lagged to appreciate it. Chanters was closer into town, and was a quiet, clean bed for the first few nights. Nice garden, nice pool, basic restaurant, pleasant and friendly staff.

Chanters Lodge – Livingstone

Chanters Lodge
Mosi + easy chair = nap
Chanters Lodge
Chanters Lodge

Steve’s 2-cents:

Chanters was fine. The room was basic, clean and quiet. Sheets and towels were a bit threadbare, but were clean. The staff was very friendly and helpful. Food was plentiful, but not great. Beer was cold.

Our choice of Chanters was consistent with our traveling style. Because we marathon the travel leg (some people lay-over a day to break it up) we arrive exhausted. We need a bed in a quiet location.

Wilderness Safaris on our 2005 trip to Botswana and Safari Drive on this trip suggested much more expensive accommodations for the first in-country nights. On both trips we felt safari lodge frills would be wasted on us these first days and we opted to save some money. To their credit, both WS and Safari Drive were OK with our decision-making. But in both cases we found our alternative accommodations and made the arrangements ourselves.

Zambezi

Sep12

We arrived in Livingstone about midday. We were anxious to put down our bags and start thinking about organization. The friendly folks from Chanters Lodge greeted us at the door out of customs/immigration and whisked us off. The lodge is located more in a neighborhood, so the outside noises are more likely to be chickens and kids rather than city street noise.

Our plane had banked over the mighty Zambezi River as it cascades over the slot that creates Victoria Falls. We hope to see the falls tomorrow, but we had booked an evening on the Zambezi for our first day in Livingstone. With just 6 passengers, we had a lovely cruise, with birds, hippos, and crocs. There’s nothing like a relaxing boat ride, with a well-supplied cooler and great sundowner snacks. The river provided the rest of the entertainment. Little did we know that the two Americans on the boat were the last ones we would see for more than two weeks.

 

Oh, Say Can You See?

Sep11

DSCF3494We arrived at JFK at daybreak: the sky is clear and the weather looks lovely. We schlepped from Terminal 7 to Terminal 4, after taking the wrong train. No big deal, we have hours before our flight leaves for Jo’burg.

Once again, we sailed serenely through security – they batted even fewer eyelashes here than they did at SFO. They had lingered a few extra seconds over my bag at SFO. Later, I realized that I am carrying the katadyne water filter – probably an interesting cylinder to TSA’s X-ray view.

I’d like to nap, but I don’t sleep as easily as Steve, which you can see below. I’ll aim for some zzz’s on the Jo’burg flight.

Security on 9/11

Sep10

We are anticipating security hassles as we have everything a terrorist might need: various equipment to navigate Africa, fix a failing Land Rover, make a good cup of coffee, supply a school and a soccer team.

Electronics include a Garmin Nuvi GPS, a netbook with GPS receiver, plus the standard electrical stuff including flashlights and cameras. Then we have the cords, wires, plugs, and accessories to recharge from any socket anywhere, car lighter, even solar. We have a first aid kit with enough prescription pain killers to anesthetize a plane-load or enough laxatives to keep everyone “busy.”

Then there were the unusual nondescript liquids — sunscreens and repellents in various liquidifications and colors. Together, we must have had the ingredients for a nuclear bomb, or at least something flammable, or at the very least a good try at Hogwart’s Vanishing Potion. And that was just our carry-on’s!

In our checked bag was a roll of duct tape, straps, pliers, Leatherman multi-tool, and knives. Plus, just to confuse TSA, eight deflated soccer balls strapped tightly together along with eight steel tube hand pumps. Certainly, flying into New York on 9/10 and out on 9/11 would trigger extra security. I rehearsed it in my head, very calmly explaining our trip to TSA, and I braced to be repeatedly patted up and down and questioned. Nothing could have prepared me for TSA’s reaction: Nothing. We glided through security without a hitch, question, frisk, or bag search!

Either TSA’s personnel and equipment are incredibly advanced or we should all be very scared.

At Last: SFO

Sep10

SFOFinally, after all of the planning and plotting, packing and repacking, stuffing and sorting, trying to reach balanced bag nirvana, we are here at Gate 82 at SFO. After a gin and tonic and a crab and shrimp quesadilla, I’m starting to get that “on vacation” feeling. There’s always an element of grumpiness when we first set out on a trip. But, a box of Thin Mint Girl Scout cookies, squirreled away months ago, was liberated from my bag, creating a more celebratory mood. After all, today is our first wedding anniversary!

Now we are off to whatever security shenanigans await us, traveling through JFK on another anniversary: the attacks on the World Trade Center towers.