Day 173-180

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ZAM 22nd - 29th May 2007, Zambia

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Day 173 22/5. Cholwe camping, Livingstone, Zambia
17°51.44'S 25°51.33'E. Miles today 136, Total Miles 16816
I'm usually a very calm person. But heck, I don't what it is about these border officials; they just rub me up the wrong way. Firstly, I got into huge trouble when I tried to use my South African passport to enter Zambia. (It is free for SA but a whopping $70 for a Brit) This did not go down particularly well with them, purely because I had no exit stamp from Namibia in this passport. "How did you get here? Did you just fall out from the sky?" OK, good point but then when I produced my UK passport, this horrified them even more. "It is illegal to travel with two passports in Zambia." Excellent! Somehow managed to narrowly avoid being arrested. Rob was having his own battle with the customs dude. Just as I walked in, I heard, "Um, you see, you need to pay this Carbon Emission Tax. It says so, right there on the notice on the board." This was another hefty $40 for a 4x4. However, on closer inspection, Rob noticed that it excluded all vehicles on a temporary import, which is exactly what we are. "Ha! No sorry but we are not paying that." They insisted that there was a "new" notice somewhere explaining that we had to pay. At this stage we offered to wait until they found it. A long story really but we waited for a very long time. I think the crunch came when they saw us preparing lunch in the car park. They kinda figured that we weren't going anywhere in a hurry. They eventually called us back in and explained that they had decided to forego this fee with us. Whether this additional notice ever arrived by 'email' from 'head office', we'll never know but we did find out later that we were actually supposed to pay it. Oh yes, and whilst munching on our crisp rolls (times are tough!) we were approached by another dude who insisted that we had to pay some "Council Tax." Oh, you're having a laugh mate. "No problem" says Rob; "We'll be over in a minute. Just get ALL your paperwork ready!" We never saw him again. Finally we were through into Zambia. We drove straight to Livingtsone and searched in vain for a decent place to stay. Don't get me wrong, there are some very funky and cheap places to stay but just not geared up for overlanders, unless you call camping on a steep slope in a frantic car park an option. We finally fell upon the small camping ground at the Cholwe River Adventures. Queen, the receptionist was so nice and there was a great pool, fab showers and the sweetest Labrador ever. We were hooked. A few ice cold Mosi beers at the bar and a slap dash pumpkin and feta omelette for dinner and we fell into bed.
Day 174 23/5. Cholwe camping, Livingstone, Zambia
17°51.44'S 25°51.33'E. Miles today 0, Total Miles16816
Organising day. Just explored the town, changed some money at Mo Money (the best rate in town) and booked a few activities. Oh Lord, it's White Water Rafting tomorrow! I'm very nervous. Followed by Victoria Falls and a Booze cruise the next day and then we have to say farewell to Lisa on Saturday. Spent the evening at the bar crapping myself as they told us horror stories of White Water Rafting. I was doing OK until someone mentioned one rapid that when you reach it, you all just pop out like popcorn. One at a time…pop, pop, pop! Excellent! Guess who didn't get much sleep then.
Day 175 24/5. Cholwe camping, Livingstone, Zambia
17°51.44'S 25°51.33'E. Miles today 0, Total 16816
rock jump white waterWoke up feeling very tired and exceptionally nervous. After arriving at Bundu Adventures, we were met by our guide, who introduced himself, "My name is Potato," he said. He was particularly entertaining but at the same time made me even more nervous. "OK, here's your very unattractive red lifejacket and your equally unattractive blue helmet and if that's not enough to carry, here's your paddle." Now, we just had to walk down the gorge. Those who know me well will know that this is my biggest nemesis. Walking downhill on rocky gravel. (Something to do with a small mishap on the slopes of a hill in Scotland where I took my best friend out on the way down.) I absolutely hated every minute of that decent down the gorge but in turn was actually delighted to get into that raft in the river at the bottom. Not sure if what followed had something to do with six years of yachting and being in pretty nasty seas but the rafting turned out to be an absolute breeze. Almost disappointing actually. We never flipped once, no one fell out. The waves weren't all that big at all. Still, big enough to make it fun though for a few hours though rapids 14-25. Rob jumped off a 10m rock, swam down a rapid and broke a shoe. Then there was the long climb out the gorge. The guides must have sensed my lack of fitness, as they offered me the cable car. Me, being way too proud, said no, I will climb it! I mean, how bad can it be? The record for the fastest is seven minutes and the slowest is ninety minutes. My advice here…"Take the flipping cable car!" Unbeknown to me, half our group had opted for it while numpty here sweated buckets getting back up. Well, I never broke the 90min record but let's just say that the crew managed to pack up all the gear and whilst carrying it all up, they still passed me and so began prodding me like a donkey to keep me moving. Total humiliation! But still, a good fun day and we met a super group of people. Any extra advice I can give? Eat before you leave. They say they offer breakfast but they don't. Drink plenty of water before. They don't offer any and you can't take anything with you in the boat. Also, you only get lunch after you've climbed up the gorge again and it's pretty grim actually. But that's just me being fussy, I guess. Celebrated our day's achievements with a very cool dinner at the Zambian restaurant just up the road. Excellent food and service, complete with oxtail, beef, fish and "nshima" (maize meal) all eaten with our hands. You sit outside on cushions while they bring you thick African blankets should you be feeling a little chilly. Fabulous!
Day 176 25/5. Cholwe camping, Livingstone, Zambia
17°51.44'S 25°51.33'E. Miles today 0, Total 16816
vic falls vic falls booze cruise
Woke up feeling scarily stiff. We all are. Lots of deep heat spread around and a slow wander around the wonderfully impressive Victoria Falls. Way more impressive than I ever imagined they would be. You get so close up and be prepared to get VERY wet! Awesome and very invigorating. Got back just in time to make the Booze Cruise along the Mighty Zambezi. Watch out, the drinks flow fast, the crew are a great laugh and you WILL get drunk! Food's nothing special for the price but after so much punch, who cares? The party continued well into the night back at the campsite, as some Belgian overlanders had arrived and we all had a great laugh into the wee hours. Rob stole the show in the early hours at the bar. I'll let him tell you the juice.
Day 177 26/5.Cholwe camping, Livingstone, Zambia
22°33.76'S 17°04.53'E. Miles today 31, Total 16847
VERY slow morning. Gotta get Lisa to the airport! Last minute panic wedding/bridesmaid arrangements and then off to Livingstone airport to fight our way through hundreds of Americans all clutching the obligatory life size wooden giraffe. Was so cool to have her with us and will miss her dearly. Rob looking very grim…I had to drive us home and we spent the afternoon crashed out back at Cholwe.
Day 178-180 27-29/5.Cholwe camping, Livingstone, Zambia
22°33.76'S 17°04.53'E. Miles today 0, Total 16847
Not much happening over the last few days. Rob has taken the car to pieces and has been fixing the leak from the clutch master cylinder and re-adjusting the wheel bearings. Sanet, Frik, Queen and Leia (the Labrador) who run the joint have been so good to us and we have thoroughly enjoyed our stay here. There is a very cool coffeehouse called Zig-Zags nearby where they offer free wi-fi but you must order something to eat or drink. No problem for us though. Can now highly recommend their bacon butties!
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