Down and Soiled in Africa – Cairo to Cape Town

Malawi is most famous for its Lake, explained far more like a sea Lake Malawi handles above 1/third of the nation. The obvious cleanse water is rather inviting as is the delicious fish!

We spent a couple of times on the shores of Lake Malawi, entire world renowned for the uncommon and distinctive clean water fish (some of which prehistoric) living in the Lake. We stayed at a little eco-lodge developed on a cliff with its possess non-public sandy beach the sights stunning, rooms very comfortable and hospitality unbeatable. We arrived at about the exact same time the rain clouds did generating a mad worry to get our cooking shelter up the rain defeat us in the race and some of us ended up rather soaked – at minimum the air was heat and to be sincere the free shower was welcomed. Fortunately our charcoal BBQ fireplace survived lengthy ample for me to BBQ our pork chops for evening meal the rain did not enable up and numerous several hours afterwards was nonetheless bucketing down. The 1st actual rain we have knowledgeable in three months of traveling …….

Up large in the highlands of Malawi is a small settlement called Livingstonia. The title itself indicates a tribute to the excellent explorer himself David Livingstone. David Livingstone spent quite little time in Malawi alone though he did make numerous outings across the land preaching anti-slavery and messages from the Bible. Some determined to journey up the steep gravel road in the wet even though other individuals decided employing a catamaran was a much better idea.

Crossing into Zambia was a quite simple approach indicating we ended up closer to southern Africa and far more western systems in area. South Luangwa Nationwide Park is Zambia’s amount 2 tourist attraction second only to the mighty Victoria Falls however the street to access the park is the worst road we traveled on through Southern Africa. Big holes, weighty corrugations, slender boggy strips, sharp rocks and deep ravines minimize through heavy tropical rain for approximately 40kms. We had been told the highway was impassable but you never ever know except if you consider the strategy was straightforward – see how we go ……….

We achieved the change-off to South Luangwa and the road slowly and gradually deteriorated, though it had been visibly quite wet and boggy in areas the highway had dried enough to get by way of with out as well many hiccups. We had been 5kms from South Luangwa when the entertaining genuinely started out 800m of deep bathroom holes and no way all around. Deluxe Nile Cruise from Aswan to Luxor weaved our way close to the brim of the holes until finally we experienced no option but to go through – water seeping more than the bonnet with the left hand facet falling into deeper holes we slowly manufactured our way via with no incident – very good aged Land Rovers!

South Luangwa was certainly really worth the journey an abundance of wildlife on the shores of Luangwa River in northern Zambia we camped on the shores of the river hippos grunted day and evening (with 1 wandering via the campsite in the center of the working day), and troops of baboons and vervet monkeys played on the tents. We tried out our very first genuine recreation meat – hippo steaks -soon after a little bit of a pounding and flash frying. Astonishingly, they had been fairly delicious a bit like veal …….

Right after a little bit of journey leaving South Luangwa we have been on our way to Victoria Falls, or as the locals know it as Mosi-oa-Tunya (smoke that thunders). In 1855 David Livingstone sat awestruck by this wonderful find and in his journal wrote “on sights as beautiful as this, angels in their flight should have gazed” a best way to explain a single of the 7 natural wonders of the Planet. Her sheer power throws spray higher into the air obvious for miles. Victoria Falls is near the city of Livingstone, it is unusual to go to a city in Africa which holds on to and is happy of its colonial history. Only a few kilometers from Zimbabwe, Livingstone has become the hub for offering curios (souvenirs) from Zimbabwe. Neighborhood Zimbabweans cross the border to receive hard currency, get simple food goods and garments prior to crossing the border everyday. The hottest souvenirs on sale were Zimbabwean bucks and in distinct the most current note, ten Trillion dollars. To set this into viewpoint you want 2 10 Trillion dollar notes to acquire a loaf of bread (at the time we bought these notes – no thought what it is worth now). It is tragic to see how the jewel of Africa in excess of ten several years has disintegrated into a land of nothing. The best thing travelers can do is to acquire items from the local sellers, no subject how tiny the product or how low-cost each cent helps.

Just before leaving Livingstone we read an post in a vacation magazine about the Kazangula ferry – the ferry that takes us throughout the Zambezi River from Zambia into Botswana – the write-up talked about how chaotic and challenging the crossing was. With everybody prepared for extended delays and queues (stringent instructions to keep the vehicles bumper to bumper) we arrived at the border/ferry port. A lot to our disappointment the crossing was considerably from chaotic and the queues non existent we basically cruised across into Botswana.

Arriving into Kasane at the exact same time as a huge thunder storm our tents had been up just just before the heavens opened. The heavy down pour lasted about forty minutes prior to the clouds cleared and the sunshine shone when again. The afternoon was invested on a game viewing boat cruising up the Chobe River. A lot to our delight there had been hundreds of elephants taking part in in the shallows with huge hippo pods near by, as crocodiles happily sunned them selves on the shores.

The adhering to morning we headed out on a match push even though Chobe Nationwide Park with the exception of a younger bull elephant only a couple of feet away from the car the match was relatively mellow. Botswana was experiencing an outstanding moist year that’s why the grass was large making match viewing not perfect. Even so the surroundings and birdlife produced the morning instead satisfying.

Following the morning at Chobe we continued into the Northern component of Namibia or much better identified as the Caprivi Strip. This element of Namibia has been the scene of several conflicts in excess of the many years and up till only eight several years back was considered unsafe to travel by way of. With the fighting more than and an outstanding infrastructure making journey really simple we made a decision to just take this route. The Caprivi Strip is also the place the first prisoner of war was taken in WW1 – the English Colonial was entertaining the German Colonial (the Brits occupied Zambia and the Germans Namibia – of program it was Rhodesia and German South Western Africa in individuals days) when the announcement was made that the war experienced began. The English Colonial turned to the German Colonial and instead politely advised him that he could finish his tea and scones but “to allow you know you are now my prisoner”.

The Caprivi strip is a perfect place to nip back again into Botswana to check out the Northern portion of the Okavango Delta. The Delta is alive with more than three hundred hen species and several mammals and of program reptiles. Huge crocs roam the drinking water ways, hippos wallow in the warm water although King Fishers swoop from higher earlier mentioned to feast on the catch of the working day. A calming couple of times on the Kubu Queen houseboat with Greg the Fisherman were an best way to check out the area.

As we drove via the northern part of Namibia we were dealt with to a outstanding sight. A dozen or so African Wild Pet was sitting on the principal freeway! Wild Pet is exceptional to see at the best of moments, to see a pack so close is not a common incidence. It was not until finally afterwards that we uncovered one was wounded and the relaxation of the pack was ready for her to select herself up and go to security.

We continued our journey toward Etosha halting enroute to see the World’s largest Meteorite. Etosha, though relatively soaked, didn’t disappoint. Alive with wildlife in the northern portion coupled with a lot of muddy tracks gave the cars a little bit of a exercise and a momentary new white paint task!

From Etosha we created a nightstop at a neighborhood farm and cheetah reserve. In Namibia cheetahs are considered a pest and farmers have the proper to shoot them. An escalating number of neighborhood farms have set up reserves for cheetahs. As well as protecting it presents a distinctive likelihood to get quite near and pat “domesticated” cheetahs. We stopped at one began by a mate of ours Mario who has three domesticated cheetahs and more than forty wild ones living in specified locations on the farm. The wild cheetahs appear from bordering farms, the farmers get in touch with the men at the Cheetah Farm to notify them a cheetah is getting livestock, the boys then lure the cheetah and relocate to the farm. We have been greeted on arrival by a younger giraffe, identified abandoned a handful of weeks before and rescued by the Cheetah Farm she has decided to hang close to for a whilst!

Namibia is traditionally the land of desert and rocky outcrops. Nevertheless an unusually wetter than normal soaked time reworked Namibia from dry desert to lush inexperienced fields with bare mountains producing a dramatic backdrop. We experienced to change our planned route a bit as we experienced heard from locals several roads experienced been cut off owing to rivers flooding deeming them impassable.

Following more than 3 months of driving on every little thing from excellent tar streets, grime tracks, sand dunes and narrow mountain passes we had been all up for a little bit of mud, river crossings and perhaps a bit of digging. Most of the roads in Namibia are wide filth roadways with a handful of made out of salt. The excellent rains had designed chaos all in excess of the region, street closures, flash flooding and lengthy deep muddy stretches.

Regardless of the sporadic rains we ongoing on monitor and put in time on the Skeleton Coast, a desolate stretch of practically nothing but sand, wind and treacherous seas, home to the largest Cape Fur seal colony in the World. A handful of times exploring the German colonial city, Swakopmund, comforting and catching up on domestic responsibilities. Then produced the journey to Namib-Naukluft Nationwide Park to explore the desert, dune 45 and Sousselvei oasis and appreciated some severe 4x4ing in the method by the time we made it to Luderitz and the aged “gold rush” ghost city of Kolmanskop the heavens experienced cleared and with the times scorching and solar beating down on us it was the 1st time we genuinely felt like we ended up in Namibia.

The road to Fish River Canyon was long and dusty – our closing destination in Namibia. Fish River Canyon is the Grand Canyon to Africa – a masterpiece of art from Mom Nature rocks carved in excess of hundreds of thousands of years to produce a Canyon in excess of 170kms lengthy and up to 27kms vast in specified points. The full scale of its expanse can only genuinely be appreciated by the air, although our vantage position at the leading of the Canyon definitely confirmed her in her true glamour. On one of our before expeditions one particular team member (who normally drives on the other facet of the road) when stated “Gosh should have taken ages to construct that” Absolutely everyone headed off in distinct instructions together the rim hunting for the greatest spots for the best photo.

Our final place and spot – South Africa. The border crossing was extremely easy despite the fact that we did shed our fruit at a fruit fly inspection position. The moment we crossed into South Africa I felt like I was again in Australia. The 1st 400kms strongly resembles the Flinders Rangers – rocky outcrops, rolling hills and salt bush as much as the eye can see. If it was not for the street symptoms in Afrikaans and warnings for springbok as an alternative of kangaroos 1 would actually think they had been in South Australia. We created superb time on the exceptional roads (broad, straight and no pot holes!) we decided to push on a bit and invest our last night time before Cape Town in Stellenbosch – the Money of Wine Lands.

We established off down the N1 freeway toward Cape City our closing spot. The air was filled with a mixture of enjoyment of making the eighteen,000 kms from Aqaba, Jordan and unhappiness in the understanding we were about to depart for our homelands. The clouds in the sky nicely represented our thoughts. We arrived in Cape City at our lodge exhausted but with a feeling of fulfillment and accomplishment – we did it!

We shared a ultimate night meal, chatted about the great instances, remembering the quirky occasions together the way and the figures we met.

Our last working day was invested again in the Wine Lands, tasting wines and experiencing lunch at a neighborhood winery, the evening was topped off at the Cape Town Botanical gardens with a glass of wine in-hand listening to a reside classical orchestra.