A short post. We finally entered Zambia few weeks ago. It took us a couple of days to head north up the Zambezi river to Liuwa Plain an epic safari destination which will get an entire post of its own. So enjoy the transit blog!
Zambia at Last
Katima Mulilo is a Namibian town at the very tip of the Caprivi Strip. Here the country is completely different from the barren deserts of the south. Beautiful big hardwood trees and the mighty Zambezi river characterise the region. The garden cafe does an excellent breakfast, and was a welcome return to civilisation after a week of sandy campsites and granola. After a quick trip to pick n pay to pick up any final luxuries, and spending our last Namibian dollars on diesel, we headed to the border.
Exiting Namibia is easy, entering Zambia is a different kettle of fish. The process took us two hours, and given there were no queues this felt excessive. There’s a whole write up of the process elsewhere, but for me the highlight was when the man at the customs desk led us to a back room to speak to a senior officer. Varsity, the senior customs official, cordially took our passport details and copied them by hand onto a small slip of paper which he stamped officially. We were then shown back to the original customs officer at the main desk, he took the slip of paper, entered the details into the computer system, and then filed away the slip. Maybe I’m wrong, the highlight was actually the interpol desk. The dynamic duo behind the desk didn’t really seem to know what process to follow, or what they had to do at all. They just seemed to feel like they needed to take half an hour to do something. After studying our vehicle registration documents pensively, and not really ever focusing on a particular figure or detail, we went outside to inspect our car. They had a look at our luggage, and a look under the bonnet, and then asked us if we had any guns or drugs. At this point Mike fiddled with a piece of metal which had come loose on the bumpy roads and fallen to rest in the battery. A few sparks flew, and the Interpol duo decided it was time to close the bonnet and go back inside. After studying the registration document some more, Sarah decided to charm them with some Nyanja. This seemed to do the trick and thus completed the Interpol process.
We obtained Zambian currency (Kwacha) from the official bank at the border, and an ATM in Sesheke, if ever crossing here there is no need to use the unofficial money changers, agents or touts.
Sioma is a couple of hours north of the border, along the stunningly beautiful Zambezi valley. This magnificent river flows peacefully through a wide low rural African valley. The roads are filled with people walking in every direction, and all the children in their matching school uniforms wave us past.
We fell out with the man on the toll gate just short of Sioma. Questions around the legitimacy of the toll gate are fairly pointed. The oil drum in the centre of the road and rusty spray painted signs didn’t give us confidence either. Toll gate man to his credit provided a stamped receipt, but for the sake of 50 kwacha (£1.50) we stood our ground. “The boss” was in the phone, and we reached an agreement. We would go to the town council tomorrow morning and pay instead.
Whispering sands is a beautiful campsite situated on the rocks above a small pool in the Zambezi. Opposite there is a pure white San beach, untouched except for a couple of hippo and crocodile tracks. Eddie, the proprietor, is a great host, he told us that one group of guests had just returned from Liuwa Plain and that we must go to speak to them to get the latest information. Daniel, was a German expat running his safari business (ZamSar) out of livingstone. We stole him from his guests for 30 minutes as he proceeded to gives us a run down of all the dos and don’ts, not only for Liuwa, but for the entirety of Zambia. We squirrelled away his phone number lest we need his advice later on.
Eddie had a fridge full of ice cold Mosi beer, and a few guests at his bar. We chatted away, listening to all the tall stories. Perhaps most farfetched is that they’re putting pressure on their friend the Lozi king to streamline the border process. We are excited for the next four weeks in this country.
Wildlife:
N/A
Distance: 262km
Cumulative Distance: 3,178km
Sioma Ngonye Falls
Ngonye falls have enchanted travellers since the pursuit used to be called exploration. The well known tourist David Livingstone amongst visitors. The mighty Zambezi splits and plunges over roughly seven distinct waterfalls, at low water the falls are maybe 10 metres high. When the river is high during the flood season the falls are reduced to mere rapids.
We hired a guide, Joseph, mostly because you have to. He showed us the way across parts of the riverbed to the edge of the water and the falls. It is an incredible place to have all to yourself. A massive amount of water roars over the falls as far as you can see to the left and right. Among the rapids below the central ngonye waterfall there was a small family of otters. They were either fishing or playing but impressively made their way across the turbulent river without issue. Just as quickly as they had appeared they vanished downstream from us.
A small poster at reception tells the story of the Litunga’s canal. The Litunga is the king of the Lozi tribe, he lives by the Zambezi up in Mongu to the north. Many attempts to build a canal to make the Zambezi, navigable to the north, have been made. All seem to have been unsuccessful, scuppered mostly by political relations and unrealistic construction plans. There is still no canal.
Mongu, 3 hours to the north, is the largest city in western Zambia. Here we stocked up on supplies at the excellent Shoprite. The supermarket was heaving, we had arrived the same day the Zambian government had approved vouchers for food, so there were queues everywhere. In addition to the locals, there were many conspicuous visitors. In the aisles we bumped into Carina, a South African woman running a missionary centre in Mongu. As we had nowhere else to stay we accepted her offer of staying in the campsite at their ‘base’.
We felt greatly welcome, and the price was right, even if Christian missionaries aren’t our usual choice of company. The sun set beautifully to the west over the endless Barotse floodplain. The smouldering fires in every direction perhaps adding to the colour.
Wildlife:
Otters 🦦
Distance: 210km
Cumulative Distance: 3,388km
Small Holiday Big Dream 
Leave a comment