Christmas, canoes, Victoria Falls and hungry elephants...

Currently on the shores of Lake Malawi, our travels with Athena have taken us out of Zimbabwe and through Botswana and Zambia (with a lot of happenings in between) to reach this point.

The Cape to Cairo restaurant, Bulawayo, Zimbabwe

Happy Christmas! And soon to be New Year. After a bumpy ride on an improving road (only 4.5hrs for 124km this time) we celebrated Christmas on the banks of the Luangwa River in Zambia, with crocs and hippos lurking in the background. There were Christmas carols in a clearing in the bush, where people from all the different safari camps in the area got together for sundowners and carols, and a couple of other choruses performed by a local choir. I’m afraid some of the elephants that walked by may have distracted the audience from singing! Christmas day itself was rather relaxed, swimming, lounging in the hammocks, digging into mince pies and Christmas cake, and a big late-afternoon roast dinner followed by trifle, courtesy of the kind hosts at Croc Valley Camp. Santa also made an appearance (disguised as Mike) and gave out gifts that we had bought for each other, ‘secret-santa’ style. Had to salvage one of the gifts from a cheeky baboon who ran off with it shortly after it was placed under our baby Christmas tree!

But I think the highlight of being in South Luangwa, for most people, was the visit from the elephants in search of a midnight feast on our last night there. Adam and Jon had taken refuge in the truck earlier in the evening as they were struggling with an ant infestation in their tent and decided Athena would be more hospitable for the night. Perhaps for Jon, who had a good night’s sleep, it was. But Adam inside the truck, and most of the other campers outside, were awoken to the truck being shaken vigorously by elephants at about 3:30am. The ellies had smelt our mango supply tucked away in one of the storage compartments of Athena, and they weren’t going to stop until they got them. The result was the flap from that particular side locker being ripped open so that the mangoes and all our breakfast cereals could be cleared out. And they did a good job at it, and trampled the containers once they’d eaten the cornflakes. Battling to find replacement cereal containers but it’s ok, made for a good story :)

Ana inspecting the elephant damage

Going back a couple of weeks, with passports safely back in hand after our Ethiopian visa applications (admin that had to be done on the road as certain Ethiopian embassies only issues 3-month visas, valid from date of issue, and therefore they would have expired by the time we reach Ethiopia) we could leave Zim and move on to Botswana. A couple of heavy downpours during our visit, but we were blessed with good weather for our trip into the Okavango Delta. This was the first night of bushcamping this trip – more to come later in Sudan and Egypt – where we were away from campsites and general civilization, and left to our own devices in the bush. Not that tricky really, as we took all our food and cooking and camping gear with us, but without the ‘comforts’ of electricity and running water. We were punted through the waterways of the Delta in mokoros (dug-out canoes) to an island to camp for the night. Lots of fun splashing around in the afternoon and building human pyramids, and then an evening around the campfire, entertained by the Botswanan polers with songs and dances that we couldn’t quite match. Some people completed the Delta experience with a scenic flight to get perspective of the Delta from above.

Mokoros on the Delta

Monique

Delta wars

We then headed back east and north, for a spot in the bush called Elephant Sands (and an interesting puddle-crossing), and then on up to Chobe National Park for a different mode of game-viewing – a boat cruise on the Chobe River.

Livingstone in Zambia has I think been a definite highlight for most of the group. Another wet introduction to the area with one of those dramatic electric storms that you get in the area this time of year, we had sunny days after that which were mostly jam-packed with Falls-related activities. Micro-light flights over Victoria Falls, sunset/booze cruises on the Zambezi, rafting the Zambezi and – wait for it – swimming in an infinity-type natural pool just on the edge of Vic Falls. Don’t believe it? Check this out:

Adam

Abby & Elaine

Lee, Adam, Jen and Martin

It is only possible to do this at certain times of year for obvious reasons – the river gets too full. It really is an amazing experience to see the Falls from the edge and be swimming right above them. Some people also opted to experience a sweet taste of what it would be like if you did Livingstone 5-star style, and went for high tea at the Royal Livingstone. Glad to report everyone came back for truck dinner and tenting it! We left Livingstone, hot, tired, sunburnt, stiff from rafting, and ant-infested. Also sporting new t-shirts designed by Mike, Adam and the Committee.

Graham and the Victoria Falls

Ana and Mat

Jen on a microlite

That should get you up to date with what we’ve been up to...well the highlights at least. There are also all the day to day events that can’t all get documented, like border crossings and the organised chaos that it appears at some of the immigration offices, and yet there are systems in what appears to be confusion; the queues of goods trucks waiting days to cross borders; beds for sale on the side of the road; the pigs and goats that get transported alive, strapped to the back of a bicycle; the buckets of mangoes that get sold along the road for 1$; the welding business on the side of another road that could fix our water tank there and then; monkeys in the campsites; babies strapped onto backs with brightly coloured chitengis (local fabric); the friendly waves as we drive past. Africa is very colourful.