As often is the case with travelling, it's the actual journeys that make for some of the more interesting stories.So as I'd said we had arranged a lift for 5 of us in a jeep for 7am. The driver Moffat said he'd some at half 6 so we could get on the road as early as possible before it got too hot (Zambia is really hot, like over 40 most days I'm worried I might burst into flames). However a Swiss couple arrived at the hostel after we'd agreed this hoping to go to the same place and as Moffat had said he had a 7 seater too we assumed this wouldn't be a problem. Moffat didn't arrive at 6.30 he came at 7 - which to be fair for Africa time is not bad. He said he'd need 1-1 ½ hours to get the van - this did not please us but we agreed - it took 3 hours - so we set off well after 10, maybe closer to 11. Then we needed to stop at a shop - another 40mins gone so we ended setting off at something like half 11 - ah well it's a 2 ½ - 3 hour journey so it's still fine! Hmmm!

Just after we left the shops we had to pull over because the engine was overheating (there was a problem with the radiator) so it need to be topped up with water. We then drove a few miles and we had to stop again, then we seemed to be making progress - however there was a traffic police checkpoint and Moffat had cleverly forgotten his driving license, so he pulled a u-turn quite near the checkpoint and tried to skip past the checkpoint using back roads - of course he was spotted and one of the traffic police intercepted and asked him to come to the checkpoint. We'd already given him half the money to get petrol (just over £40) now he needed another 100,000 ZK (about£15) for a fine/bribe. Fee paid we were back on the road, not for too long before we broke down again (this time as he was filling the radiation a whole bunch of steam exploded from the engine - which was fairly dramatic). This also meant that on subsequent stops we all had to pile out of the van before he filled it up again.

I can't remember how many times we broke down exactly but we did get a decent run of about30-40mins before we had our next and last breakdown because at that point we saw an overland truck passing and we stuck out our thumbs (half joking really) but they stopped so we all hopped on.

So we travelled in comfort the rest of the way to Mfuwe where we were trying to get to. We were heading to a camp/lodge that the lonely planet said was 1.5km from town and it was fine to walk to during the day. Just as we were setting off a lady pulled up and told us we couldn't walk because of the elephants so although she was in a rush she said she'd take us to her lodge and then organise transport to the lodge we were going to! She was very friendly and even stretched to some free water. We sat in her garden watching a whole lot of hippos and crocs in the water; it was awesome.

South Luangwa National Park has the Luangwa river as a border but there are no fences and the animals are free to roam where they wish (and they have no difficulty getting out of the park). That was part of the draw to this area as you can camp while the hippos and elephants come out and graze around you tent at night! We finally go to flatdogs where we were camping - I set up my tent on a tree platform and then had a swim.

The next day involved chilling by the pool, swimming reading, there appeared to be a storm brewing and I had to move my tent to the ground so I could peg it down. A while later we were joined in camp by a herd of elephants, which was awesome but kept us from our tents as they like to eat from the tree we were camped under and they also had a baby with them so we really weren't in a position to move towards them.

The following day we chilled in the morning, in the afternoon we went on a game drive with the nice lady who'd rescued us (our camp did offer drives but because that lady had been so nice we opted to go with her - also she was $10 cheaper). It was an awesome drive - we saw loads of elephants including a baby, three lions who were protecting a buffalo they'd just killed, lots of dead/dying buffalo (they're not doing so well with the long dry season) and a leopard. The drive itself was great, our driver was a bit of a maniac, and the drive also involved crossing some water filled with hippos (there are an awful lot of hippos in South Luangwa - I'm sure the guide said 35,000). We were also treated to an awesome sunset.

Then it was Monday morning and the day to return to Chipata. One might think that given our experience on the way there we wouldn't be keen on using Moffat on the way back - however needs must and he has a bit of a monopoly on the transport here so we did. We only broke down 3 or 4 times so it was a good journey. Then being the cheapskates we are instead of getting accommodation we headed straight to the bus station at about 10 and got on our bus that was leaving at 4am (If you're reading this mother it was perfectly safe, there were five of us and we were on the bus with loads of other people, we actually struggled to find seats to sleep in).