Day 17 - into Zambia
Point of departure : Kongola, Caprivi Strip
Point of arrival : Tongabezi (outside Livingstone)
Accommodation: Tree House at Tongabezi Lodge (www.tongabezi.com)
Km travelled today: 338 km Cum: 4 161km (gravel km cum km)
Countries so far: 3/16
Where to next? Livingstone
Total number of photos taken: 237 (cum 870)

Today was the first notable change of plan. We had intended leaving the Caprivi via Nogoma border post into Botswana and then on to Kasane and the Kazangulu Ferry to Zambia. Instead we opted to avoid Botswana (extra border crossings and costs) and crossed the Zambezi at the Wenela border post at Katima Mulilo across the Shesheke bridge into Zambia. Customs formalities into Zambia were as one might ever expect - a little tortuous (a walk through 3 different rundown locations, one of which was and ancient gypsy caravan and another a converted container) and costly. While stamping the passport and dealing with vehicle papers were free, carbon tax (KW200 000), Third party insurance (KW100 000), Cross Border Charges US $20 and Council tax KW30 000 and toilet tax….. (kidding but we are sure they will get to it) grand total equivalent of about R730. However, the people were very friendly and helpful and time for both sides of the border was about an hour.

One thing you immediately notice on entering Zambia is the quality of the roads. The first stretch after the border towards Livingstone is generally good, but repaired potholes and open potholes bear testimony to what we know lies ahead - significant potholes and generally poor maintenance.

Tongabezi Lodge - a romantic hideaway on the banks of the Zambezi River just upstream of Victoria Falls in Zambia (courtesy of Tongabezi website).

What an awesome experience! We have been privileged to have gone to a lot of different lodges, all of them brilliant in their own way, but this is something special. Admittedly, we had the Treehouse which is a truly spectacular "room"… no river facing walls, no windows, no doors, no glass, no curtains, no blinds …nada - just at one with the river and nature. It is built around two giant treets with rocks forming the natural rear walls, upstairs there is an outdoor shower and a loo with a view and downstairs a giant bath with another outdoor shower with a magnificent view of the river.

Lunch as we arrived was served on one of their pontoons on the river with a short trip upstream getting a bit of nature taken by our guide Fabias. After a magnificent sunset with gin and tonics, dinner was by candlelight again on the river under the stars just us. It was absolutely brilliant!

Our bedroom was yet another story, with just the huge mozi net forming a barrier between us and the multitude of insects attracted to the lights, and going to sleep with the sound of the African lullaby - frogs and crickets and the occasional grunt of hippos.

The morning started with breakfast in our room served by our wonderful valet Alvin, then onto the river again (with Quententon and Fabias our guides) for a one and a half hour of canoeing and even though it was with the current it still felt quite strenuous.

"A good for the soul" type highlight was our visit to the Tujatane School for the under privileged children of Zambia, sponsored and supported by Tongabezi and private donations from guests and others. (See separate blog for more information on the school.)We arrived in the middle of school break, met the principal, Bond, observed the feeding programme they have for the children, met the teachers in the staff room to make our donation of school stationery and teacher aids, and this followed by a tour of a few of the classrooms, the amphitheatre for assemblies and performing arts and the playground.Part of our donation was a couple of footballs and two teams were quickly split along Man U and Chelsea supporters and John was very happy to lend his support to the latter. Happily the score was still nil all by the time John withdrew from the game.What was noticeable was that even here, the high level of ball skills and aggressive tackling were much in evidence .

Then it was off to the Royal Livingstone Hotel for our excursion to Livingstone Island, also operated by Tongabezi. Apart from some of the most brilliant views of the falls from one side of Devil's cataract we also had an exciting experience of swimming in the Devil's pool, literally less than a metre from where the water tumbles over the edge - we swam on the edge and in the rain. This was followed by a fabulous lunch under canvas just a few metres from the Falls. What a day!

Our thanks to all the staff at Tongabezi who made our stay a very memorable one.

Another offering from our local poet - John

Tongabezi - 30 hours

This place defies imagination

You just cannot believe its true

The great river that supports it

So close it dominates the view.

Lunch and dinner on the river

Floating restaurant unsurpassed

Fabias, our guide, our captain

Memories that will forever last.

The sunset view upon the river

From the Treehouse undiluted

Snorts of hippo, splash of tiger

Better sounds could not be suited.

Then the school at Tujatane

Local kids are given hope

Loved and fed and educated

Provided with life skills to cope.

Some say you are taking too much space

If you are not living on the edge

Swimming in the "Devil's Pool"

It just took a bit of courage.

So much crammed in little time

Each part presented as if on cue

30 hours in months of travel

It's hard to think it's really true.

THE VICTORIA FALLS (Mosi-oa-Tunya - the Smoke that Thunders - named by the Kololo tribe)

An awe-inspiring beauty and grandeur on the Zambezi River, bordering Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Columns of spray can be seen from kilometres away as 546 million cubic meters of water per minute plummet over the edge (at the height of the flood season) over a width of nearly two kilometers into a deep gorge over 100 meters below.

The Victoria Falls Bridge (border between Zambia and Zimbabwe) was commissioned by Cecil John Rhodes in 1900. He never visited the falls and died before construction of the bridge began. However, he insisted on this site as he expressed his wish that the "railway should cross the Zambezi just below the Victoria Falls. I should like to have the spray of the falls over the carriages."

To fully appreciate the size of the Falls and the awesome power of the water, one must see it from the air. We were fortunate to see it from a micro-light in September 2006.

During low season (November and December) the Falls are little rivulets running over the edge and as you can see along the 1,7km width (see our photographs of the Batoka gorge) there is no waterfall at all.

Livingstone's first sighting (courtesy of the Zambian tourist board)

In 1851, Livingstone first heard of the great waterfall, but it was only in 1855 that he set out to visit it. His first sight of the Falls was on 16 November 1855 and he named them after his Queen - Victoria. He spent the night on Kalai Island a few kilometres upstream of the Falls, having come down river by foot, and the next morning set off in a small canoe to approach the thundering smoke. He landed on the biggest island on the lip of the falls, now called Livingstone Island and from there obtained his first view of the falls.

" Creeping with awe to the verge, I peered down into a large rent which had been made from bank to bank of the broad Zambezi, and saw that a stream of a thousand yards broad leaped down a hundred feet and then became suddenly compressed into a space of fifteen to twenty yards....the most wonderful sight I had witnessed in Africa."

Of the surrounding area he wrote: "No one can imagine the beauty of the view from anything witnessed in England. It had never been seen before by European eyes, but scenes so lovely must have been gazed upon by angels in their flight" (Livingstone 1857)

The Zambezi is Africa's fourth largest River, after the Nile, Congo and Niger Rivers. It runs through six countries on it's journey from its source in the Zambian highlands to the Indian Ocean (a total of 2 700km). After the confluence of the Luangwa River, it becomes a mightier Zambezi when it flows through Mocambique into the ocean.

It's power has carved the spectacular Victoria Falls and the zigzagging Batoka Gorge.

The Zambezi has been harnessed at various points along the way including the massive Kariba Dam between Zambia and Zimbabwe and Cabora Bassa Dam in Mozambique.

Day 18 - 17th November - Livingstone
Point of departure : Tongabezi Lodge
Point of arrival : Livingstone
Accommodation: the rooftop tent - Maramba River Lodge ([email protected])
Km travelled today km Cum: 1 129km
Countries so far: 3/16
Where to next? Lusaka

LIVINGSTONE TOWN (the town that Thunders)
Named after the legendary Victorian missionary explorer, Dr David Livingstone, the town was established in 1905. It was made the capital of Northern Rhodesia in 1911. Livingstone had the distinction of having the country's first newspaper.

The capital was moved to Lusaka in 1935 and the town became a little neglected. Being close to the Falls and the Zambezi and as a result of the political situation in Zimbabwe, the town became a base for travellers all over the world looking to explore the Seventh Wonder of the World.
The Livingstone Museum, dating back to 1930, is definitely worth a visit. It houses a large collection of David Livingstone memorabilia donated by the Livingstone family. We visited the museum back in 2007 and highly recommend it.