After Chelcie
and I were reunited – a whole eleven days apart, we spent one night in The
Cardboard Box before getting on the ridiculously long journey to Zambia. It
didn’t start well as we were being picked up by a mini bus from The Box to take
us to the Intercape. We were supposed to leave The Box at 1 o’clock but it
didn’t arrive until 1.45 which made us rather stressed as the bus left at 2 but
luckily we made it in time. After weighing our bags we chose our seats and
settled down for the next 22 hours. As we were travelling over night we
presumed we would be on a sleepliner...we presumed wrong. This wouldn’t have
been so annoying if they hadn’t played adverts on the television continually
for the sleepliner advertising the complimentary tea and coffee and the chairs
which rolled right back and had feet rests that popped up. Our chairs rolled
back about 5cm, there was no foot rest and definitely nothing complimentary!
The journey wasn’t actually as bad as I expected as I hadn’t slept the night
before so I was rather tired. Chelcie made herself comfortable using my
shoulder as a pillow and then we both managed to drift off to sleep. We also
were able to watch two films which was an unexpected bonus but neither of us
realised that the Intercape was a Christian service. Not only did the films
have a Christian moral but we were prayed for and read passages from the Bible.
Sadly it didn’t get us there any quicker. We finally reached the border to
Zambia early on Tuesday morning and we suddenly realised that we would have to
pay for a visa. Not only had we not budgeted for this but we weren’t sure we
had enough cash on us...luckily we did. The border was very African and
actually rather scary. The border office was a wooden shed in the middle of
nowhere but there were a lot of scary men about. However, we got through
without any major mishap although I did manage to leave my passport with the
border man and only realised when I asked Chelcie if she had it and she replied
No!
Zambia is very African....as we drove towards
Livingstone we passed various round mud huts with thatched roofs near the side
of the road. It definitely appears to be poorer than Namibia and the street
sellers are relentless. They are quite happy to walk with you for 20 minutes if
they think there is the least chance that you will buy something and we are
continually addressed as sister. This confused me a lot when one seller showed
me the painting he had done of his sister, I presumed he meant his really
sister but Chelcie said he meant me! The taxis here are bright blue which
really stand out and they look amazing when all next to each other. There also
seems to be a large population of baboons who are everywhere and will happily
run down the road and onto the backs of lorries. We had planned to camp at
Jollyboys thinking we would save money however, after nearly freezing to death
on the Intercape we decided we wanted a bed rather than to sleep in a tent
without a sleeping bag. So we have ended up staying at Fawlty Towers which is
very nice and there are lots of people here.
We met an Australian 28 year old girl called Kai on
the bus who also came to Fawlty Towers with us. On our first morning we went to
do a ‘Gorge Swing’. Chelcie and I decided to do a tandem one and we watched Kai
go first. Very bad idea – I was absolutely petrified. I thought that we would
just be swinging across the Gorge and back again on a zip wire or something
similar. No-one mentioned a 53m freefall first. However, by now I was already
strapped into my harness and the papers had been signed and Chelcie wouldn’t
let me duck out! We were strapped together and then taken to the edge of the
cliff. We were told that we would be doing the ‘Death Drop’ – as you can
imagine the name really helped with my nerves. To make matters worse we were
being filmed and I had the worst nervous giggles. We stood on the edge with our
heels over and on the count of three we lifted our toes and dropped. This was
absolutely petrifying and Chelcie now claims to be deaf in one ear although I
seem to remember her screaming just as loudly as I was. After the fall we then
swung forwards and backwards across the gorge which gave us the most amazing
view and this was incredible. My adrenalin was definitely pumping. After we had
walked back up again we watched the film which was hilarious but we decided not
to buy it as we had some really good photos.
We then made our way to Victoria Falls or The Smoke
that Thunders which is actually a very apt description. It really is very, very
noisy. We were both shocked by the amount of water there was – I know this
might sound stupid as it’s the waterfall with the largest volume of water but
there is a lot, a lot of water. We hired waterproofs but still got pretty
soaked from all the spray that the waterfall gives off. It was absolutely
stunning and we were so close to it. There were lots of rainbows everywhere
which made it even more beautiful and magical. Our only wish was that we had a
waterproof camera. Having walked round everywhere we went and sat right at the
top of the falls before the water goes over the edge. It was very peaceful here
as it wasn’t as noisy and we just sat soaking in the sun and scenery. We then
walked to the bridge which connects Zambia and Zimbabwe where people bungy jump
from. More spectacular views. In the middle of the bridge there is literally
‘No Man’s land’ where it is neither Zambia nor Zimbabwe. We crossed into
Zimbabwe and stood watching the Zambezi. Chelcie then decided to time me to see
how many countries I could visit in 15 seconds. So I ran forwards and backwards
across No Man’s Land crossing the border and managed to visit 10 countries in
15 seconds!
When we had planned to visit Vic Falls we said that
we wanted to White Water Raft but as we came in Winter the water levels are too
high so there are no rapids. Instead we decided to blow our budget on riding an
elephant – something I have always wanted to do as long as I can remember. This
was the most incredible experience ever. We shared an elephant called Marula
who was a 34 year old male and pretty massive. He had his tusks cut off half
way as he used to sharpen them and poke other elephants in the bum as a joke!
We went for a hours ride which was amazing. The elephant handler sat in front
‘steering’ and then it was me and then Chelcie. We sat on a padded numnah which
had stirrups. Never thought I would ride something wider than Orange! His
stride was absolutely massive and because of this you didn’t feel that you were
actually moving very fast. He was really comfortable and his skin was very warm
which kept my ankles nice and toasty. Occasionally he would flap his ears right
back which would then cover my feet. It was brilliant to watch the other
elephants; there were 9 in total, snap off branches and bits of bush to eat
along the way. One elephant, Bob, who was HUMONGOUS, was carrying half a tree
around with him. Obviously someone hadn’t had enough breakfast. One of the
elephants was only 3 years old (only a handler was riding him) and he was
really little and so cute. When we got back from our ride we dismounted, using
the biggest mounting block ever – Daddy would be impressed, and then we got to
feed Marula. We were given a bag of what looked like horse and pony nuts.
Marula then sat down and we were able to drop nuts into the end of his trunk
which he then carried to his mouth. It was amazing. We then went and watched
the DVD that had been made of our journey; this was absolutely brilliant and we
decided to buy one so that we would always remember our trip. As an added bonus
we also saw a hippo in the Zambezi as well as a buffalo. That means that I have
now seen all of the big 5 except a leopard.
Two of the people who we rode an elephant with were
on their honeymoon and they invited us to have supper with them that evening at
Fez Bar, which is a Mexican place just up the road from where we were staying.
They were really good fun and we had a very enjoyable night. They live in Cape
Town so we are going to meet up next week and do something together. At Fez Bar
there was a Beer Pong table so we decided to play Beer Pong. Chelcie was the
only one who had played before but it was very good fun. You play on a table
tennis table and you make a triangle of six glasses at each end and fill them
with beer. You then take it in turn to try and get a ping pong ball in one of
the glasses from the opposite end of the table. If you get a ball in then the
other team has to drink the beer and that glass is removed. I was absolutely
useless at this and despite playing about 4 times during the evening I have yet
to get a ball in the glass! We were then joined by some American Peace core
workers who challenged us to a game and then taught us the actual rules. They
were rather more talented than we were. Having been empty at the start Fez Bar
came alive and we spent the rest of the night dancing. Avery, very good day.
We had planned to go a Salsa lesson at Cafe Zambezi
but when we arrived there was no one there so we ended up going to see a ‘Yes Rasta’
Concert who were a Bob Marley tribute band. Although we didn’t learn to Salsa
we learnt how to reggae from all the Rastas which was highly entertaining. It’s
very energetic and both of us could feel our leg muscles the next day. Some of
the dancing was absolutely hilarious and by the end we were definitely pros!
On Sunday morning we posted our 40 postcards and
made a quick trip to the market before getting on the bus. Sadly once again it wasn’t
a sleep liner and the journey was not much fun and I reckon I only got about 3
hours sleep. However, I am now sitting in the Cardboard Box and very happy to
be back in Namibia. Weirdly, I found it very disconcerting not to be in Namibia
– I felt that if I wasn’t in Namibia then I should be at home. It is now 2:00
and at 5:00 we get on another bus, luckily a sleepliner this time, and we start
the journey to Cape Town. Very exciting!
Lots of love as usual to everyone
Me xxxx
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