Addis Ababa

Stopping for the night was the right decision and it is a very pretty location but I think we both regretted it as crowds of drunken revellers enjoying loud music with thumping bass kept us awake most of the night.  I guess its a popular Saturday night spot although they charge a lot for camping and charge extra if you want to cook your own food!

On to Addis the following morning and we arrived at lunchtime.  The road in had one side completely dug out (for pipes by the look) so traffic in both directions were sharing the single lane.  We ended up driving through the roadworks lane and missing our turn completely.  We eventually made it down to Meksem Square and after a quick walk around the block and consultation with the Lonely Planet map on the computer drove up through and behind all the buses at the bus station, in front of Le Gare and found Wims Holland House and set up camp.

Duncan wandered off to see the remains of Lucy, the oldest human remains found to date, while I took a nap to catch up with my beauty sleep.  We sat up in the evening exchanging travel information with Erik from Germany who is on a two year trip with his family through Africa and South America after teaching for three years at a German school in Egypt.

Wim mentioned to us last night that we could be turned away at the Sudanese border, despite our shiny new Sudan visas if we didnt have Egyptian visas for our exit on the other side.

Lake Langano, Bekele Resort

I awoke to the sound of a herd of cows herded in to munch hay from a freight container in the childrens playground next door.  This hotel is quite the chaotic multi purpose building site!

Fields of teff

We set off with Abrahim, the customs agent who was off to Addis to attend five days of training.  The road was reasonably good tar, but we needed to keep our wits about us because of crossing livestock.  We encountered our first police roadblock not far out of Moyale and I was a bit nervous as the guys in the green Land Rover we'd met in Livingstone had been stopped and the contents of their vehicle examined at some length.

Well it turned out Abrahim was great friends with the staff at the roadblock and after some greetings and joking we were waved through.  The road was quite narrow and at one point a truck knocked the left wing mirror off.  It nosed out to see if it could pass the truck it was following, and nosed back quickly when it saw us, but unfortunately its trailer couldnt follow quick enough and thwack!

Moyale, Ethiopia

After driving through misty Marsabit town we descended to the lonely desert road between Marsabit and Moyale.  The volcanic black rock is barren but strangely beautiful.  About half way the surroundings change to scrubby bush, then green bush.

Along the way we saw more camels; half a dozen enormous eagles take flight after drinking from the puddle in a pothole in the road in front of us; many miniature antelopes which (after consultation with the wildlife guide) I think are Kirks Dik Dik and a dangerously fishtailing articulated truck barrelling towards us along the road in deep sand, for which we got off the road completely which is just as well because it was trailing scaffold two meters long into our side of the road.

The other sight which characterised the journey was the dozens of shredded tyres discarded on the side of the road.

Henry's Rest Camp, Marsabit

After the extreme cloud shrouding Mount Kenya last night we were surprised the day dawned clear and sunny.  We climbed up to a lookout at the campsite and enjoyed crystal clear views of the Mountain.  I was surprised how much it looked like the volcanos in the central plateau of New Zealand up to the rocky peak, which was covered in snow.

It took longer to get to Isiolo than we imagined, due mainly to enormous potholes and protracted roadworks.  Twice we saw an army tank in fashionable camouflage greens coming towards us with three soldiers perched aboard and a big red letter L on the learner driver plates attached.  The soldiers were holding sticks rather than guns which reminded me of a 100 strong platoon of soldiers we saw running in formation in Arusha, clutching gun shaped planks of wood.

The stretch of what passes for road between Isiolo and Marsabit is notorious for its banditry and armed holdups.

Timau River Lodge, near Isiolo

Argh.  Traffic and travellers cheques blurred from getting wet conspired to prevent us from picking up our passports from the Sudanese Embassy in the one hour collection window, so another night in Nairobi it was.  When the traffic gets heavy Nairobi relies on its traffic police rather than the systems already in place which as far as I could tell just made things worse.  On the major four way roundabouts they stopped traffic in all directions except one, like traffic lights, so you literally wait ten or more minutes before your go.   It created a gridlock.  I thought the whole point of a roundabout was to let traffic merge and flow.  Not in Nairobi.

We finally left at about lunchtime today (picked up the passports at the application, not collection time, dont tell the guard) passed the equator again (for the last time in a while hopefully) and stayed at a friendly wee campsite at the foot of Mount Kenya, about forty minutes before Isiolo.  Black clouds were covering the mountain top (like all the other mountains on this trip) and we were lucky to miss a deluge of rain - we just encountered the wet roads and remnants of traffic accidents...

Nairobi

We've spent the past week in Nairobi at Jungle Junction which is pretty comfortable and full of lots of info and people with info about overlanding.  Chris who runs it also has a workshop for you to carry out repairs on your vehicle.  We now have a newly serviced Landy complete with a dozen new bushes and shiney new drive shaft (which had to be sent up from Mombassa).  We also have an Ethiopian visa each and with any luck we can pick up our Sudanese visas this afternoon and finally head north again.

We've enjoyed some good restaurant food, Haandi Indian is famous and we tracked down some sushi to fulfil a craving.  We've also visited the Giraffe Centre where Duncan hand fed some giraffes, and Karen Blixens house where we enjoyed a satisfying lunch.  I also managed to pick up a cheap (but still expensive for what it is) camera so should be able to start taking photos again.  But mostly Nairobi is another big chaotic city.

Its still raining every day.

The Rift Valley (Kenya)

We dropped down 1000m into the Rift Valley and stayed at Lake Baringo, a soda lake which is teeming with birdlife. It is the colour of weak tea, due to the flouride in the water from rain runoff from the land. In the morning we took a boat trip along the shore and to one of the islands, a dormant volcano, which reminded me a lot of Rangitoto in its shape and soil/rocks.  It is much hotter here than the altitudes we've been for the past month or so.

The next day we drove through Lake Bogoria National Reserve on the way towards Nairobi.  Lake Bogoria is a salt lake famous for its flamingo population and thermal activity.  There were literally thousands of lesser flamingos in pale pink wading and feeding along the shores of lake, alongside steaming pools, shooting geysers and scavenging Marabou Stork.

We stopped by Lake Naivasha for lunch the following day where we expected to see more flamingo, but instead were met with the sight of hundreds of pelicans...?  This area looks very english, with its farmland and flower hothouses.  They use the lake for irrigation and you can see its current level is several meters shallower (and several hundred meters from its former shoreline).

Then it was a big climb up again to Nairobi.

Naiberi River Camp, Eldoret, Kenya

We were stopped for speeding on the way to the border.  We came around a corner going downhill and immediately slowed down in response to the 50km sign visible.  I insisted we werent speeding and asked to see the radar, the cop handed Duncan a list of fines and asked what we could pay on the spot.  Um, nothing we just spent the rest of our Ugandan money on water, plus we werent speeding.  Just write us the fine and I'll dispute it - in the end she let us go thanking us for our apology once she realised we werent going to give her a 'little something'.  What apology!  We werent speeding and we didnt apologise.  Grrr.

The Kenya border didnt require us to fill out any forms and only charged us $25.00 each for the visa which was mysteriously priced $25.00-$50.00 on the sign on the window.  We got the carnet stamped and registered with the police then walked by a small herd of cows lying in the shade of the border building like a pack of dogs (which is what we initially thought they were) back to the Landy and out the other side to Kenya.  The road is impressive - in a bad way.

White Water Rafting the Nile

A shuttle returned us to the backpackers in Jinja where we met our fellow rafters (a British Army medic in Uganda with a unit doing jungle training, a London City banker who had spent the past two months teaching physical education at a township school in Cape Town and a young Swedish doctor who had been working for a hospital in the very poor north east of Uganda), were served breakfast, kitted up with lifejacket and helmet and briefed for the days activities.

The boats were put in just below the dam at Jinja and as we floated downstream we practiced paddling, falling out, getting back in and dealing with an overturned boat before our first set of rapids. We spent about five hours on the river, went over a dozen rapids, I fell out once alone and three times when the boat overturned, had a lot of fun and was starving when we were returned to a barbeque dinner back at the campsite. Loads of fun and we both have several bruises to show for it. I recommend the operator, Nile River Explorers - very professional and good value.

Jinja

Heading out of Kampala, which seems to sprawl forever, I had just remarked to Duncan on the high number of traffic cops there seemed to be on the road when he saw fit to overtake an extremely slow truck on a road overbridge marked with no passing signs and double yellow lines. To be fair, it was clear and he was following the actions of the vehicle in front. Of course we were signalled to pull over by the traffic cop not 100 meters ahead. He explained that Duncan had broken the law and the fine was 135, 000 shillings that we would have to go back with him to Kampala to pay. Duncan pointed out that he was following the vehicle in front and an enormous truck followed him and the cop said he only saw Duncan. Duncan asked if there was any way we could just pay a spot fine as we were headed to Jinja and would not be returning to Kampala... The upshot was that Duncan handed him 20,000 shillings ( a little over USD $10.00) and the cop let him go saying 'you are a generous man'!

We stopped at Jinja Backpackers to book white water rafting with Nile River Explorers, then set off for their campsite at Bujagali Falls, which is more a series of rapids than a waterfall.

Kampala

After a slow Sunday where we wandered around the city aimlessly and stopped off for coffee, we went to the Ethiopian Embassy in Kampala today to be told tourist visas are no longer issued for land border entry. Apparantly this policy came into effect about three weeks ago... so we'll have to try our luck in Nairobi.

We then stopped by the local Land Rover dealer for the Landy to get some rattling sorted out. USD $350.00 and six hours later we're back at the same place we stayed last night, as there is too much traffic to make it the 70km to Jinja before dark. I'm starting to think this trip is all about getting work done on the Landy in as many countries as possible.

Kampala is a dusty chaotic little city, the streets crammed with battered minibuses randomly pulling out, pulling over, passing illegally and stopping with impunity. There are dozens of enormous Maribou Storks flying over the city and perching in the few trees on the side of the road.

Some of the AIDS awareness billboards are interesting - they're focused on encouraging abstinence and fidelity rather than the safe sex message you see elsewhere.

Kampala, Uganda

The border crossing to Uganda was straightforward - buy visas for USD $50.00 each from the immigration office and pay a Ush38,500 road tax after changing money with the remarkably laid back moneychangers.

The road is terrible, bumpy mired and rutted red mud on the Uganda side. We stopped in the border town to get money and oddly, crossed an airfield on our way out of the town. A little later we passed a UNHCR refugee camp - looked like it was winding down but I'm unclear on who the refugees are. It seems a long time since Rwandan refugees sought safety in Uganda but I wasnt sure if they'd be refugees from DRC as they'd have had to come through the close jungle over the volcanos.

The road improved to graded red mud and we turned off at the tip of Lake Bunyonyi and followed a narrow road/track down its east side. Before long it was pelting with rain and the track turned to bright orange sludge...

We had a peaceful night at the lakeside before setting off for Lake Mburo National Park. En route we discussed whether or not we wanted to pay the considerable national park fee for camping in a dry acacia plain known for its zebra population.

We've seen many many zebras and decided to continue another 300km to Kampala. We passed the Equator, which is marked by two big white painted circles on either side of the road signed 'Uganda Equator' and a dozen craft shops targetting the tourist dollar. We finally reached Kampala safely not long before dark despite the repeated efforts of oncoming trucks to collide with us head on.

Kinigi, Parc National des Volcans

Duncan was up early to find gorillas. I went for a walk from the lodge to the park visitors centre, which had some displays on the gorillas. The sun was out but the cloud was low, so I couldnt see any of the volcano peaks. Then it started raining so I returned to our room to alternately work through my swahili-for-beginners book and watch CNN news on TV. Ho hum.

Duncan returned about 5pm with scores of photos and some video of the gorillas. He went to see the Susa group, which is the largest group tourists are taken to see, and the furthest to walk. It seems there are fourteen groups of gorillas, under 24 hour surveillance, but only seven of them are human habituated for viewing.

Congrats to Duncan - he left the UK for Australia exactly one year ago today.

Gisenye

We woke to sunshine - yay! - and proceeded north along the ridge above the lake. High up a narrow, winding dirt road with extremely picturesque views of the lake, the surrounding hills and lush green crops. The first sunny day after lots of rain the streams of water flowing down the slopes had created ruts down and across the road. We passed several teams of local villagers carefully tending the road - filling in the holes and raking the mud even. This was an incredible drive, climbing and diving along the ridge, passing through banana and tea plantations and the many villages with children clamouring for water bottles or to practice their english.

We detoured to Gisenye, which is a bit of a resort town on the tip of the lake, for a late lunch and found ourselves at the DRC border. Whoops! There were some Unicef vehicles flying purple flags heading across and later we passed UNHCR vehicles with the same flags. I wonder what they signify.

Then we headed up to the Park National des Volcans, where Duncan will go gorilla trekking tomorrow.

Lake Kivu

Duncan finally got his gorilla permit on Tuesday morning, for Thursday (I drew the line at USD$500.00 for an hour of observing gorillas, although I'm told I'll regret it) and we set off for a night at Lake Kivu.

So far in Rwanda the roads have been very good condition tar which is good in all this rain, and mercifully free of judder bars, but narrow and winding. Duncan said it reminded him of New Zealand. You drive on the right which is nice for us as the left hand driver can actually see what they are doing for a change which gives the passenger a break from backset driving. It is very very green. The many hills in Rwanda are terraced and intensively cultivated with crops to feed the 8 million strong population.

It seems there is no longer anywhere to camp in Kibuye. We stayed at a lovely little lodge with views over the lake. This evening, through the mist, we caught sight of the beautiful glowing red peak of the Nyarigongo volcano in DR Congo towering over the north end of the lake.

Kigali, Rwanda

A marathon drive. We got off to an early start, but pootled around the town for a while trying to find somewhere that might have shock absorbers for the Landy. Duncan stopped to ask a bloke who had his head in the bonnet of his Land Rover and we were quickly directed to a spares shop. A few minutes later we were on our way with a box containing two new, bright yellow, shock absorbers. It is recommended to buy your parts when you find them, as they can be tricky to find. Eleven hours later we arrived in Kigali. The border crossing at Rusoso was very straightforward as neither of us required visas. Rwanda is the country of a thousand hills, green and misty and Kigali is on the top of one of those hills with views over the city stretching into the hills in the distance. The city is busy with traffic, but seems quite orderly compared to Dar es Salam. There are loads of shiny late model SUVs on the road all emblazoned with NGO and aid organisation logos. It seems a lot of (guilt) money has been invested in Rwanda since the genocide and now prices for food and accommodation are treble that of anywhere we saw in Tanzania.

We spent Sunday just mooching around, we had intended to visit the Genocide Memorial Museum and the tourist info office to get a gorilla permit but by the time we'd changed some money near the mosque, wandered around unsuccessfully looking for an ATM that worked with foreign cards, dropped in at DHL to find out the package had arrived in Kigali and would be ready for pickup in the morning and stopped for a very leisurely late lunch at the cafe attached to the supermarket it was too late. Monday was very productive - we got the carnet from DHL, sorted out a new tyre for the Landy and had the new shock absorbers fitted. The Rwandans we encountered were extremely helpful especially when Duncan was able to converse with them in French - as we walked up the road we stopped a Land Rover driver with the tyres we needed to ask him where to buy one from and as explaining where to go was complicated, he had us hop in and drove us there! We were recommended a mechanic by two ladies in a spare parts shop who were reading the bible aloud to eachother - they said he'd be sure to be honest!

We spent most of the early afternoon in a dusty car yard while the mountings the shock absorbers attach to were welded back together - it seems the shock absorber was mostly fine until it fell off its mount - and the new shocks fitted. A funny sort of mechanics set up - four people to do the work and about a dozen to observe! We then visited the Genocide Memorial which told the story of the Rwandan atrocities in 1994 and also had exhibits on other genocide in modern times. It was quite fascinating, although emotional, for me at least.

Then we returned to the tyre place and spent the late afternoon waiting to get the new tyre fitted although we happened upon an Ecobank ATM there on the international network (by the diesel tanks at the Engen, just past the gorilla roundabout) which was handy as we needed money to pay for the new tyre.

Singida

I've been waiting for it to happen. The Landy has covered 56,000 km on the trip so far and no puncture. Until today. We'd been bouncing up and down a dirt road for hours alongside which were various road improvement efforts. About 20km from the turn onto the main road on to Kigali the rear left tyre blew, so we stopped, put out the warning triangles and proceeded to get out the jack etc. The whole village came out to see what was going on, then pulled up a seat in the dust by the side of the road to watch the show, with commentary we couldnt understand and lots of laughter.

Once we got the wheel off it was apparant the tyre had been slit on the inside. I went walking down the road to see what could have slit it as Duncan continued fitting the spare with the help of all the men in the village. I saw some bits of shock absorber and thought, well we're not the only ones who've had a problem on this bit of road. Oh, wait. Duncan now has the spare wheel on and notices the shock absorber is missing... it seems the shock absorber sheared off and slit the inside wall of the tyre before exiting through the other wall of the tyre and landing in the red dust on the side of the road. Pity its not a simple puncture - the tyre was new in Namibia.

The speed Duncan takes judder bars (of which there are thousands in Tanzania) and potholed/corrugated/rough surface/livestock infested/heavily pedestrianed roads is a source of contention between the two of us. I think he's a madman and should slow down, he thinks I'm overcautious and should stop asking him to slow down. I'm pleased to say he drove the remaining rough road to the turnoff at a speed that pleased the both of us. I hope he'll keep it a bit toned down in the future.

Tonight we're staying at the Aqua Vita resort in Singida. The GPS suggested they offered camping but they werent really into that idea when we enquired, however the cost of a clean double room with private bathroom, mosquito net and cable TV for the night was the same as the cost of last nights camping and included breakfast, so we took a room. Dinner was equally good value. Duncan ordered moussaka which took a forever but was a gargantuan size, if interestingly interpreted. I ordered the only non meat option on the menu (the fish was unavailable), the local delicacy Chips Omelette which was exactly what it says on the tin. While we waited we were served pea soup and peanuts at no charge. I went out to the Landy to get the malaria pills to take with dinner to discover one of the staff washing the Landy. 'It is very dirty' he said. True enough. By the time we finished dinner the Landy was unrecognisably clean and again, no charge.

Ngorongoro Crater, Lions vs Buffalos

On the road west out of Arusha we started seeing many more long limbed Masai in their distinctive red and blue coloured robes. We'd seen a few youths hanging around in Dar and cycling along the main highway north with the stick slung casually over one shoulder, and passed the odd herdsman ushering his stock across the road infront of us. 

Yesterday we passed through several whole townships full of Masai trading at the market or hanging about chatting. We made our way up to a town about 15km east of the Ngorongoro park gate (where it seemed every second vehicle was a Land Rover) and made enquiries about tours into the crater. We could drive in ourselves of course, but in addition to the $50.00 park fee each, there is another $250.00 of vehicle related fees and we were looking to be able to split them with some other tourists.

An early start this morning as we were being picked up at 6am. It was dark and misty and although the light dawned, the mist stayed with us all the way up the outside of the volcano until we started our descent into the crater.

Arusha

The November rains have arrived. We've been getting intermittent showers since we arrived in Dar but last night the sky opened and drowned Arusha. The upside of this is that Mt Meru is mostly visible with only the peak shrouded in mist, the downside that the streets are flooded and I got very wet.

We stopped by DHL to see if they could tell us if the carnet was on the way - they advised there were no parcels in the system from London to Arusha for any Duncan or Irvine... so Duncan called the RAC again and they're going to get it on the courier this week and send it to Kigali in Rwanda.

Otherwise in Arusha we dodged touts trying to sell us tours to Ngorongoro and Kalahari and changed lots of Tanzanian shilling into USD as ATMs in Rwanda are reputed to be unreliable and you require USD for many payments anyway - like visas or gorilla tracking permits.

Moshi

We had discussed on and off whether we wanted to climb Mt Kilimanjaro or not while we were here. What mountain? The clouds are so thick and dark the mountain is invisible, so that is a bit disappointing, but also reinforces our decision not to climb at this time of year.

Duncan called the RAC again and the carnet bloke is on holiday this week. The staff there are unable to tell us if it got on the courier on Friday or not. Moshi is a chaotic little town where we finally found an internet cafe with power - though excrutiatingly slow. I was happy to discover that given our respective passports (UK/Sweden), neither Duncan nor I require visas for Rwanda so we dont have to find somewhere to print out the online app you're supposed to complete and take with you.

My bank's online services were not up to the lack of speed so I still dont know why I've not been able to withdraw funds since Botswana (fortunately my NZ bank has given me no such problems or we'd still be stuck in Malawi with no money for fuel).

Dar es Salam

The city is bustling with crammed buses and 4x4 vehicles charging about without even a cursory nod to road rules. It is also oppressively humid. Today we spent around three hours walking around in 35 degrees of sticky heat, sorting out money and trying to find a safe place to leave the Landy while we spend a couple of days in Zanzibar. We also needed the internet to apply for our Rwandan visas in advance, but every internet cafe we came across was inoperational due to rolling blackouts.

As the afternoon wore on we decided we werent going to get ourselves sorted out in time to take the last ferry to Zanzibar for the day so we headed to the ferry that would take us over to the south coast. Cue more motor chaos.

 We are now camped on a pristine white sand beach with azure blue sea and palm trees etc and have decided to spend a couple of days chilling here before heading up towards Arusha to pick up the new carnet (hopefully).

Mikumi

I woke up this morning feeling pretty rough. I had a dodgy tummy last night before I went to bed, but I put that down to the doxycycline tablets we take against malaria in conjunction with a curry. My sleep was poor, with disturbing dreams (military style execution for example). Today I've been running a low temperature accompanied by a mild headache... All the books say malaria is symptomised by a high fever so we think I'm okay. Grumpy though. Accordingly we got a late start from the Kisolanza Farm where we camped last night. We were hoping to purchase some of the great fresh produce we'd heard about, but two overland vehicles in for dinner last night had wiped their stocks out. Never mind.

About 10km out of Iringa we hit roadworks, which extended all the way up the hill to the bustling town. By the time we finally got up there we were ready for lunch and enjoyed cold chipatti wraps. We also hoped to check on the progress of the carnet renewal at one of the many internet cafes but a town-wide blackout prevented that (and explained the cold only options at lunch). The roadworks continued for miles, with lengthy stops waiting for traffic coming in the other direction on the single lane. When we were given the signal to go, it was like the starting flag had dropped at the grand prix. All the private cars and mini busses (daladalas) were racing to pass the trucks in front of them before they got onto the single lane! Suffice to say we covered fewer kilometers than planned and stopped just before dark at the little town that borders Mizumi Wildlife Park at Tan-Swiss Camping, which I dont recommend as they have no camping facilities - we just pitched up in the carpark - and their extra-high camping fee doesnt include showers.

Traffic on Tanzanian roads is chaotic to say the least. The main road we were travelling today it was packed with heavy trucks, daladalas (minivans), busses and completely mental 4x4 owners. On the whole the truck drivers drive fairly sensibly and use their indicators to signal to you if it is safe to pass them or not - left to say its clear, right to say its not. But it can be a bit tricky. Are they indicating its okay to pass or indicating that they're turning left? You can quickly tell when they haul on the brakes. Its even more confusing from the other side. Is that enormous freighter coming towards me indicating right because its about to pass the vehicle infront of it and narrowly avoid a head on collision with me? Or is it warning the cars behind it not to pass? All too often an oncoming vehicle had misjudged their passing opportunity and flashed their lights at us to make room for them in our lane or hit them head on.

We saw all too many heavy trucks and buses in varying states of distress, from breakdowns on blind corners to upside down freighters beside the road. The worst I saw was a burnt out fuel-tanker.

We encountered a couple of police escorted convoys of VIPs or something. They're a bit intimidating. First in the convoy are a couple of police Land Rovers with flashing blue lights and cops in high visibility overalls shouting and waving their arms at you to pull over on the side to let the convoy through. These are followed by half a dozen Land Cruisers with flashing headlights and one passenger each speeding down the centre line. Then the convoy is concluded by a couple more police Land Rovers.

Aside from the last 100km where all vehicles were more or less in a procession, and police roadblocks stopped all traffic every 20km or so we made much better progress today. Duncan spoke with the ever helpful Paul Gowan of RAC carnets about our renewal and he says that we should be able to pick it up at DHL in Arusha in about a week. So that leaves us some time to visit Zanzibar and for Duncan to do some diving.

Matema Beach, Tanzania

We wanted to spend another day at the lake in Malawi swimming and lazing in the sun and stopped at a few places up the coast, but didnt find anywhere as nice as the beach at Nkwazu Lodge, so decided to head to Tanzania. The only problem at the Malawi border was finding someone to open the gate for us once the paperwork had been done. Tanzania was equally straightforward - we just had to pay visas ($50), road tax ($5) and temporary import permit for the Landy ($25) in USD. Thankfully we had both Tanzania Schillings and the Comesa insurance so didnt need to deal with any of the aggressive border touts.

It took a lot longer than we planned to get to Matema Beach and we ended up in the pitch dark, driving a dusty rutted road dodging bicycles, pedestrians and livestock. Although I couldnt see very well, my impression was that it was lush and full of vegetation.

The next morning we woke to a long grey/black sand beach with gentle waves rippling the blue lake, parked ourselves under the shade of a tree and spent the day reading and swimming.

Livingstonia

Still further up the coast of the lake the road headed inland and we slowly started climbing in altitude.  We passed through a rubber tree plantation, the tall green trees a contrast to the scrubby bush we'd been in so far, until we got to the bit that they'd harvested - all dry red dust and earth-moving machinery.  As we kept climbing the vegetation became more lush, verdant and tangled like the jungle in Cambodia.

Eventually the rough and potholed road changed into a new smooth tarred one  compliments of the EU according to the sign.  There have been loads of signs on the sides of the road all through Zambia and Malawi.  In Zambia they were mainly indicating 'basic' schools with their mottos - 'where they fail we succeed' is a memorable one - or churches, I've seen more Kingdoms of Jehovahs Witnesses signs and corresponding identical white and rust brick buildings than I can count.  In Malawi in addition to the school and church signs are loads of signs indicating development projects, a great many of them funded by the EU.

This smooth road took us into the capital of the northern region, Muzuzu, on the top of the Viphya Range at an alititude of 2200m.  We stopped for fuel and money and eventually descended down the escarpment back towards the lake via a series of knuckle whitening turns.  If they werent enough of a hazard, the road was also peppered with enormous freight trucks and other vehicles driving in the middle of the road and as the lake came into view, troupes of baboons meandering across the highway.

Chintheche

Nestled in among mature trees with a prisine white sand beach and small waves we stayed at Nkwazu Lodge, where we could swim so we lazed away the afternoon in the shade, taking dips in what felt like the ocean, but with no salt.  Lake Malawi is enormous, like Lake Victoria, it is formed from the depths of the great rift where the Indian and African techtonic plates separated after colliding for millenia.  The lake goes forever, you cannot see the great ranges of Mozambique on the other side.

Bua Camp, Nkhotakota Forest Reserve

Another short driving day up the west side of the lake.  We stopped in Nkohtakota, an old slave trading town, for diesel, but they were out, then we went in search of both of the Livingstone Trees.  One is supposed to be the where Livingstone persuaded the chiefs to stop the slave trade under, the other has political significance for the independence of Malawi.  We couldnt find either of them, not that we knew which was which anyway.  We did find a beautiful white sand beach where we stopped for lunch, then pressed on up to the Nkhotakota Wildlife Reserve, up a dirt track through little villages about 15 km from the main road.  The villagers waved and smiled as we slowed down to pass through.  Bua Camp is right by the river in a gorgeous clearing.  John, an ex-pat from the UK is setting up a tented camp and has built a comfortable lounge and dining hut on a wooden platform overlooking the river.  The place was a bit of a building site, he's due to open at the end of the month, but we were made to feel welcome.   Its been a very hot day and I was tempted to a swim in one of the several large rock pools between the rapids, but unfortunately crocodiles made heir homes there so we settled in for a relaxing evening listening to the roar of the river.

Thume Forest Reserve

After much faffing around with banks to get some Malawian Kwatcha (my card mysteriously wont work, while Duncan's does, even though they're on the same network) we finally paid our bill at the camp and headed into the bustling market by the bus station to pick up some fresh veggies.  We didnt end up leaving Lilongwe until 2pm, but we werent going far.

Our destination was a Thume, an off-the-map forest reserve on the road between Lilongwe and Salima we'd been told about the night before by one of the proprietors of Africa-Nomad Safaris.  The directions were not exactly of GPS precision... 'about 20km before you reach Salima, you'll pass an electricity station on the left.  Take the track on the right at the next corner.  Turn right when you get to the baobab tree, follow the road to the end...' but sufficient.  We passed through many tiny villages where the children waved at the Landy and after a couple of stream crossings and zigzagging up a hill we found it before dark.

The camp is a base camp for the reserve rangers whose motto is painted at the gate: "more sweat, less poaching'.  They patrol for game, wood and bamboo poachers and generally keep an eye on the elephants and buffalo.  The rangers were clearly delighted to have us turn up.  "How did you find us" was a question we heard repeatedly, as they're still building the new camp and dont advertise that they welcome campers and provide basic (but more than adequate) facilities.  We were shown around the base camp and taken to admire the spectacular view.  We were reassured they 'have shot-gun' so we'd be well protected overnight.  One of the rangers even lit our fire for us which was handy as we're still novices with a campfire and now I have a new technique to try out.

In the morning we took a guided walk, less to see the wildlife than because it was impossible to say no to the enthusiasm of the staff and a good cause to contribute to.  There were five of us, the guide, a volunteer and a ranger with a rifle in addition to Duncan and myself.  The guide said we'd walk in single file so we fell into line behind him and trouped off.  Then we walked in silence for about half an hour when he said 'elephant' and pointed.  Indeed there was a cow and two calves under a tree a couple of hundred meters away.  We climbed up a rocky hill for a better perspective (although I dont think I could have a better perspective than the one at Croc Valley a couple of mornings ago) and he spotted some 'buffel' on the hill in the distance.  We hung around on the hill for about ten minutes then he said 'we go back' so we did... and that was that.

Lilongwe, Malawi

We took off towards Malawi around lunch-time, braving the dusty, potholed road and dodging the many pedestrians (who fled to the road verges at the sound of the landrover) and bicycles along the way.

I am impressed by the utility of the Zambian bicycle.  Even on the most corrogated or rutted roads you find industrious locals vigorously pedalling along.  And the bicycles are good for all sorts of cargo, other people, live pigs and goats...  One chap carted six person-sized bags of coal on the back of his, another man had a tower of five boxes carefully balanced on the carrier, towering over his back, but the most impressive bicycle cargo I saw was a wooden double bed frame, balanced on its side on the back of a bicycle speeding down the main highway and taking up as much room as a car.

The border crossing to Malawi was painless, we cruised into Mabaya Camp in Lilongwe just as it was getting dark and passed the evening chatting with an ex overland tour driver who was full of tips and entertaining stories.

South Luangwa National Park

From Siavonga we returned to the main road and headed east towards Zimbabwe.  At the border town we took a dusty red road north back up towards the T4.  A few kilometers along we came to a river crossing by pontoon operated by the same company as the crossing from Botswana into Zambia.


Because we had a foreign registered vehicle, the cost was USD $20.00 or R 180.00 instead of the more reasonable local payment.  The hitch was that they wouldnt accept kwacha in payment, we had to pay in rand or USD.  Argh!  We hunted up enough USD and were quickly on the other side.

 We turned into a one lane road through sugar cane, banana and corn fields then this narrowed to a track through the forest and eventually deteriorated into a series of steep turns up the side of a mountain. 

The view should have been amazing but the air was hazy.  The bush was pretty and literally smouldered in many places by the track where trees had been cut down to stumps and the trunks were burning.  At first I was concerned about getting caught in a burn off.  It took a while to work out what was going on.  The trees werent being felled to make a field or clearing in the bush, or even to use the wood for shelter or cooking but to make charcoal to sell in big bags on the side of the road.

We finally emerged from the bush on the other side of the mountain range and through a small village where the children were really excited to see a car.  I cant imagine that road gets much traffic, it was fairly hairy for the Landy in places. 

Another day of driving on roads that turn into goat tracks... At one point we were waved down by a boy who was returning with his wife and new born baby to his village, on a bicycle with no pedals, on a road that required a 4WD to pass.  How could we refuse him a lift?  So the bicycle was strapped to the roof and they piled in the back.

After another full day of driving on dirt 'roads' we finally arrived at South Luangwa National Park.  It turned out the fees were going to be USD$80.00 or $70.00 or $65.00 and we expected them to be payable in USD.  After the Okavango Delta and Chobe I was a bit fatigued of game parks so we set up camp by the river and let the game come to us.  A small herd of elephants walked right through our camp not long after dark while we were walking over to the ablution block thankfully although one of the small ones mock-charged Duncan.  I woke at 5.30 the next morning to the sounds of elephants munching the tree outside the tent.  Upon investigation I found myself only one foot from the elephants trunk, which was delicately picking leaves off the tree we were parked under.  Croc Valley Camp is unfenced and they regularly have elephant, hippos, lions and other game wander through the camp.  Two weeks ago a leopard came to drink at the swimming pool.

Siavonga, Kariba Lake

They're resealing the road out of Livingstone and we took a series of detours onto tracks parallel to the T1.  These were ridiculously dusty.  You couldnt see the car in front of you at all - it was like following a cloud of smoke for about an hour.

We stopped in Choma for some diesel and enjoyed lunch in the shade at the Choma Museum and Gallery which had interesting exhibits on the region, and the lives of the tribal people displaced by the dam.

In addition to the usual livestock roaming the roads we came across several nursing sows.  We passed an articulated truck that had failed to take a turn, the cab was on its side, but the trailers were completely upside down, lying on top of the load they were supposed to be carrying.  In Monze, as we bumped over the judder bars in the centre of town we encountered a car towing a few tall trailer coming in the opposite direction.  Out of the top of the trailer poked two giraffe heads, their horns covered in green fabric of some kind.  We had to stop at many police checks where the police generally waved us on, though at one we had to show evidence of our 3rd party insurance (wave the yellow card), but I think they randomly check for other things too.  I saw the driver of a truck in front of us pass down his fire extinguisher to the inspector at one of the checks we were waved through.

Our original intention was to head to Lusaka, mainly to get some money, but we passed a Stanbic Bank on the T1 (at Mazabuka) and decided to head for the top of Lake Kariba instead.  This is one of the worlds largest artificial lakes - made by displacing the Tonga people in the 1950s and dam-ing the Zambezi.
We are now camped on its shores, listening to the frogs and crickets and hoping no hippos come to investigate our campsite.

Victoria Falls

Although Foleys, the land rover garage, is closed for two weeks while Nick is on holiday in the UK, we found someone to service the Landy just up the road from their workshop.  Des had many an interesting story and showed us the wreckage of the Hilux he's rebuilding after hitting an elephant on the road at night! 

More reasons not to drive at night.

He dropped us back at Jollyboys Hostel and we spent the morning lazing around at the pool.

Once we had the Landy back and the day had cooled somewhat we drove out to Victoria Falls, right by the Zimbabwe border.  It is the dry season, so the falls are not dumping as much water as they do in the wet season, although the mist still reaches you on the footbridge.  They run fast enough to give you a sense of what a wall of water must pour over the edge once the Zambezi is full.  We enjoyed a few hours wandering about enjoying the views, the mist and the roar of the falling water.

Livingstone, Zambia

This morning we headed straight for the border.  Very straightforward on the Botswana side - fill out leaving forms, get passports stamped, discharge the carnet for the SADC.

You then drive to the riverfront and wonder what happens next as a small swarm of local 'businessmen' descend upon you wanting to help you through the border on the other side, bickering over who saw you first and who you should do business with.  The Zambian police had recently issued a notice advising the steps you need to go through at the Zambian border and that agents were not required.  Helpfully, a copy of this was posted at the Botswanan immigration and after I carefully noted it all down, we were handed a copy as we drove down to the river.  When I showed this to the 'businessmen' they declared they were not agents but runners, give them the paperwork and money and they would clear it all and get us through there fast.  That may be true but we had a lot of time and I'm not going to give money and passports to someone I dont know.

Somewhat confusingly, although importing and exporting Zambian kwacha is supposed to be illegal, and its also illegal to change money on the black market, you are expected to pay some of the fees in USD and some in kwacha at the border - but there are no ATMs and the one bank office I found was either closed for the day, or closed for good.  We were given kwatcha by a local money-changing businessman to pay for the insurance, motor vehicle levy and carbon tax then once we'd passed out of the border control area we gave him the equivalent in USD - and the rate he charged (after a bit of negotiation) was only 4300kw to the dollar which is a damn sight better than the 3000 offered by the sharks on the Botswanan side and pretty close to the 4500 offered by the bank in Livingstone when we finally got there.  We also discovered all the ATM machines in Livingstone are Visa only so had to take a credit card advance until we find a Stanbic Bank (which accepts Maestro) in Lusaka.

-------------------

For the benefit of anyone trying to figure it out (god only knows we only found conflicting information when we looked) here are the requirements as of 5 October 2009.

The first thing to note is that all payments are made on the Zambian side. 


1.  Immigration - we already had ours but the people ahead of us easily purchased their visa at the border USD $50.00 each, although we had already sorted ours out in Windhoek.

2. Ferry fees - the notice said these were payable at the office on the other side, but we were asked for them as the ferry was crossing.  It took a while for the ferry official to convince me, but his receipt book printed with the same name of the company as on the police notice did the trick.  USD $20.00

3.  Carbon Tax.  This is payable in the two windows to the left of the two immigration windows.  Unless you have a carnet (which we did) in which case you go through the office you're in down a corridor to the building behind, past the defunct bank to an office on the left.  These differ according to the spec of your vehicle.  The Landy is 2.5 litres and it cost us ZAK 150,000.00.

4.  3rd Party Insurance.  If you dont already have this, you can purchase it on the other side of the border gate at a caravan on the left.  Weirdly no one stops you walking through or checks your passport.  Then you can walk back in to continue the paperwork shuffle.  One month 3rd party insurance for the Landy cost ZAK 112.00.

5.  Road Transport Permit.  These are USD $20.00 within Zambia or $40.00 if you're going to Malawi.  It seems the fees are return if you're going to Malawi, that is they assume you'll be coming back so take the payment all in one go.  When the clerk realised we wouldnt be coming back through Zambia he charged us $20.00 and wrote a note on the receipt to show at the border when we exit Zambia.  You need to already have paid the carbon tax and have insurance before you can get your road permit.

6.  Council Office - Motor vehicle levy.  Pay this ZAK 20,000.00 at the building marked 'police'.

Then get back into your vehicle and join the queue for the exit gate.  Various people will come to check for different receipts before you can drive out, so keep them on hand.

You can extend the insurance and get a yellow Comesa card at the branch of the insurance company on the main road in Livingstone.  This means you dont have to take out a months insurance at every border crossing up the east side of Africa to the Sudan.

Chobe National Park

We wanted to drive from Maun, up through Chobe to Kasane, before crossing to Zambia but were unable to secure a booking for the only place it is permissible to camp in the park - it seems they are booked months ahead and although we checked twice, and had flexible dates, there were no cancellations.

So then we considered driving up the old cattle track through the Nxai Pan national park but considerable internet research indicated it was a bad idea so we plumped for the long way on the main road.  8 hours, many, many potholes and a roan antelope sighting later we made it to Kasane just as it got dark thankfully.   I've heard too many horror stories about elephants on the road to want to drive at night and we saw our fair share grazing along the highway as the afternoon wore on.  We spent today cruising about Chobe National Park along the riverfront of the Zambezi.

Game parks are funny.  Kruger and Etosha reminded me of the game Pacman - think of it from above - lots of cars driving randomly along a limited number of roads stopping, turning around and reversing in search of some game to view.   Chobe was a bit different in that many of the roads are deep sand and require 4WD to pass so apart from a few game drive vehicles from the local lodges in the afternoon we really only saw a couple of other cars. 

Chobe is packed with all sorts of wildlife.  Pretty much all the animals we've seen in the other parks but in huge numbers.   Pods of more than 30 hippos, troupes of 200 odd baboons, hundreds of buffalo and countless impala.  There were herds of elephants around every corner and the ransacked flora shows it.  Elephants spend 24/7 eating and much of the park had very little foliage left. 

One herd of about 20 elephants we were watching at the river got a fright from a passing boat and took off en mass.  Elephants move quite fast when they're in a hurry, but they're so graceful they somehow still manage to look like they're in slow motion - this group reminded me of that scene in Reservoir Dogs when all of the Mr Colours are walking together to the coffee shop to plan the heist...

More Okavango Delta

A boat trip back to the dry land as the sun rose and Mike took us out on a game drive.  We saw lots of red leche, elephant and all sort of birds but he highlight was when Mike pointed out some lion tracks and we followed them, then a blood trail to some dismembered bits of red leche and eventually tracked a male lion and two lionesses to where they had buried into some plam bushes and were fast asleep, sated presumably.  This makes it sound easy.  Mike is an excellent guide.

We returned to camp at 11 for another excellent brunch then had a few hours for siesta before a mokoro trip in the afternoon.  On the way up to our tent we came across an elephant a couple of metres from the track who had waded across to the island.  Cue detour to tent.

The mokoro trip was very tranquil.  The water is so clear, filtered by the reeds and the sand of the kalahari - even where it is deep you can see the white sand of the desert underneath.  We saw tiny painted frogs clinging to reeds and lots of birdlife which would otherwise have been scared away by the noise of an engine.  We tried a spot of catch-and-release fishing as the sun went down, but I could barely cast the line (a proper rod and reel is very different than a hand-line off a boat) and we were predictably unsuccessful.  It was fun trying!  After another several hours in the game vehicle this morning we caught our return scenic flight with Johannes back to Maun and returned to the Old Bridge.  We totally broke the budget on this trip to the lodge but it was very worth it.

Last night there was another big thunderstorm.  As the sky started to hint of getting light I heard a loud crack then an even louder thud by our heads.  A bough had broken off the tree above the Landy and skimmed the tent with its branches as it landed on the roof of the Landy.  Fortunately no harm done, but I cant imagine how our heads would have been squashed as we slept had we been parked ten centimetres further back.

Okavango Delta

We spent the first night at The Old Bridge backpackers in Maun. The campsite has water on both sides of it and the sound of the many different frogs at night was amazing. All different pitches and tones like a piece of baroque music. That night there was a heavy thunderstorm with torrential rain most of the night and we woke to wet feet in the tent. We went into town and booked a couple of nights at a Wilderness Safari lodge in the inner delta, then returned to the campsite to dry out our stuff.

After leaving the Landy in the secure carpark at Wilderness Safaris we crossed the road to the airport for our flight into the delta. We were personally introduced to our pilot, Johannes, which I thought was a nice touch - when you're in a tiny aeroplane, it helps the nerves to know the pilot. Actually the plane wasnt as small as I thought it would be - it was a Cessna, seating about 15 and the flight was low over the ground and pretty smooth.

Water flows from the highlands in Angola and instead of taking the route to the sea, it spills across the white sands of the Kalahari desert in Botswana.

Botswana - Tsodilo Hills

Another day another reasonably uneventful border crossing, so far so good - the only minor hiccup was insufficient Namibian funds to pay the road taxes (you need N160, or 110 Pula) but a nice South African man changed some money for us. The other thing of note is that you cannot bring any dairy or meat products into Botswana due to foot and mouth disease but apart from half a pint of milk (which the inspector advised Duncan to drink, so he did) we were fine.

We've been through several roadblocks for foot and mouth (and maybe one for lung disease, they're not very explicit) and I dont quite understand the logic. At each one the Landy gets her tyres sprayed and you need to stand in the shoes you're wearing on a disinfectant pad and also disinfect any other shoes you have. Fair enough for the tyres if you're exiting an infected area, or stopped and got outside the car in an infected area. But I dont understand having to disinfect leaving a clean area into another clean area - and I dont understand re disinfecting the shoes in your luggage when you just did that 20 minutes ago up the road! In each case they checked the fridge and back for meat and dairy products to confiscate so the moral of the story is dont travel with any you aren't prepared to lose.

We're camped in the tranquil bush at Tsodilo Hills, a world heritage site where there are loads of ancient rock paintings.

Rundu

Today we are camped along the banks of the Ovakango river - the Namibian border with Angola.  Coming from an island state, it seems funny to think that those boys we watched play soccer on the other bank as the sun went down live in a completely different culture with a different language to the culture we're currently in.

Actually the north of Namibia is different to everywhere we've been here so far.  To be fair, we've spent a lot of time driving through national parks and conservation areas, but it seemed like the minute we passed through the veterinary barrier we passed from rich to poor Namibia.  Up here on either side of the road there are small communities of half a dozen or so stick and mud huts and the people subsistence farm - it feels very similar to the road up the coast of Mozambique, but with extra cattle and goats on the road.

Tsumeb

After the desert and the dry savannah and scrubland of Etosha, Tsumeb is a veritable oasis.  The main road into town is lined with big palm trees and the streets are lined with Jacaranda trees blooming in brilliant purple.  Add to that general greenery and some Bouganvillea and you start to get the picture.  It seems this town gets a high rainfall for Namibia.

We checked into MouseBird Backpackers and Camping which was very friendly, comfortable and homey.  Lightning and thunder heralded a heavy rainfall (rain, yay!) not long after dark and we sat up until the small hours talking with Paul, a Namibian pharma rep who drove the entire country every fortnight and had lots of interesting things to say about the country he loves.  Just as we were retiring for the night he got a call from his best friend in Walvis Bay - who'd beed tied up in his home and robbed, could Paul come around... (he's okay though).

Etosha National Park

We drove into Etosha late yesterday afternoon and set up camp at the campsite closest to Andersson Gate.  We passed by the camp waterhole on the way to the shop and were happy to see some jackals, an elephant, some antelope and a lone zebra.  As it got dark giraffe came to drink and we were lucky to see a parade of elephants and their young troupe up in line.  Not quite holding eachothers tails, but very close to the Disney picture (actually, Disney has a lot to answer for when it comes to shaping expectations of wild animals).  Later that evening, after we'd cooked dinner, we returned to the waterhole where the elusive black rhino came to drink.  Then another one came and they had a territory standoff.  Very interesting watching (and listening) to the grumpy one complain and stamp his feet to make the other one move.

We were up early for a game drive and although we saw many many zebra and springbok on the plains, clearly all the action was at the waterhole at camp.

Skeleton Coast

After checking in with the tourist office in Henties Bay we started further up the coast towards a 4WD trail into the desert.  We stopped at Cape Cross which is home to one of the largest breeding colonies of fur seal in the world.  There must have been tens of thousands of seals there, some surfing in the waves and diving for fish, others basking in the sun nursing their pups.  One rather large pup I saw had a loop of packing tape tight around its middle pinning the tops of its flippers.  The tape was already hindering the pup's on shore movements and I hope it breaks soon or the pup could have trouble getting food when its weaned in the next month or so.

Just as we were leaving the seal colony, Duncan complained of a migraine so I took over the driving.

Messum Crater

Nothing for miles except another photographer

After a couple of hours slow driving across the alternately rocky and sandy desert (I'm glad I didnt manage to get stuck or puncture a tyre) we came to the Messum Crater which is 20km across.

Swakopmund and Namib Nakluft Park

In Swapkomund we visited the Crystal Gallery which exhibited some enormous crystal clusters found on a local farm and samples of many of the different quartz crystals and semi precious stones found in Namibia - including some amazing geodes of amethyst and citrine.   Driving into town reminded me a lot of driving in the outskirts of Las Vegas - all these new walled housing developments smack bang next to miles of plains of dull grey sand.  It isnt hard to imagine the whole of Swakopmund swallowed up by dunes like Kolmanskop near Luderitz in the future.  The town is right on the seashore and sports many cute historical buildings.

Because we'd gone to Windhoek to get our visas we had not driven up through the desert which was supposed to be a magnificent scenic drive.  So this morning we drove south Walvis Bay to buy permits to enter the Namib Nakluft Park and see at least part of what we had skipped. The road between the two towns runs 30 odd kilometers along the shore with giant salmon coloured dunes to the east and giant crashing surf to the west.
Finding the information centre proved a challenge.  We tried the location given in the local brochure, the location on the map, the location in our guidebook... no luck.  We stopped at the local library where I asked for help.  The tourist information centre had closed down, but if I went next door to the municipal council they had a small one there, the security guard could direct me to the correct office.  I wandered through various corridors until I came to the correct office only to find a notice on the door announcing the occupant was out of office until further notice.    It seemed they didnt want to sell park permits to tourists that badly.  

In the end we decided to stick to the main route through the desert which didnt require a permit.  At the top of the road we stopped to pick up a young irish hitchhiker exploring Southern Africa after a spate of volunteer work in Zambia before returning to commence life as a commercial lawyer in London in 2010.

The variability of the desert is amazing.  It moved from high red dunes to ashen plains like the remains of a fire to swirling pink curves to yellow grassy knolls to black volcanic rock.  Just before we turned back North we climbed up the Kunis pass which featured rocky interlocking spurs covered with fine dried grass blowing in the breeze.  I have no idea how anything lives out there but we saw ostrich, zebra, oryx and lots of springbok.

We stopped at Jakkalsputz campground by the ocean, which reminded me of something out of an American teen horror flick with its abandoned run-down demenour and doors banging repeatedly in the strong wind.  Deciding against camping there we headed another 10km up the coast to Hentiesville, where the campsite unexpectedly had a separate bath and toilet for each pitch!

Usakos

We picked up our visas this morning, grateful they took only one day to process instead of the usual three and after waiting around until 4pm to pick up the Ezi Awn panels from their Windhoek distributor we headed towards Swakopmund.   Because of the late start out of town and a long long run of roadworks we had no hope of making it to Swakopmund before dark so we've stopped at a town called Usakos where the local policeman told us off for not having Namibian plates on the Landy and told us we should head straight for Windhoek to get some.  He hadnt heard of the concept of a carnet de passage but seemed happy to take our word for it when we said we had a permit to drive in Namibia without Namibian plates.  I think he was just bored.

Windhoek

We returned to the main road north and after re-inflating the tyres hightailed it to Windhoek so we could apply for our Zambian visas first thing Monday morning.  This will save us from driving all the way south to Gabarone, the capital of Botswana, to get them.

We decided it best to stay at a hostel in town for ease of access as the nearest camp-site was on the outskirts.  Ever since the Landy was broken into in Cape Town, Duncan and I have taken turns going in to check in at places to stay while the other one of us waits with the Landy and all our stuff (I'm the paranoid one).  The first two hostels we tried were full and we ended up at a sweet guesthouse complete with secure parking about 10 minutes walk from the Zambian consulate.   Just after we checked in the local police arrived to take a statement from a Dutch couple who arrived just after us, and had the backseat window of their rental vehical smashed and a bag stolen while the car was parked on the road outside for the five minutes they took to check in!  A sign in the room warned that Windhoek was like any other big city (although its not that big) except with 45% unemployment.

Its a nice city though, clean and compact.  People are friendly.  We're enjoying a day lazing around the guest house garden reading while we wait for the visas to be processed.  Tonight we're going out for a restaurant dinner.

Brukkaros Extinct Volcano

After a relaxed tour of the castle, we made our way further south and east along more pink roads.  Not much in the way of fences in this region, although a number of cattle grids.  We encountered crossing the road as we travelled a couple of herds of brown goats with floppy ears, horned cows, ostrich and several hopping mules, hobbled by a cloth which tied their front legs together to prevent them from wandering too far with their young.

In the distance, rising dramatically from the otherwise flat plateau lay Brukkaros, an extinct volcano with a crater 2km in diameter.  We paid the fee for the community campsite and the Landy climbed up the side to a windy plateau about half way up the outside of the crater wall.  From here we hiked a rocky track down into the crater floor.  Looking up to the highest part of the crater wall what did I see?  A flambe cell phone tower!  The views from the volcano were amazing though, you could see the surrounding plains for miles in every direction, the horizon curving right around.

The track wound up the inside of the crater wall another kilometer or so to the ruins of an observatory which, according to the Lonely Planet guidebook was used by scientists from the Smithsonian to study sun spots in the 1930s.  We made it back to set up camp just as it was getting dark and enjoyed a peaceful evening as the only people for miles around.

Sossusvlei

To avoid the heat, we headed off early towards Sossusvlei, driving down a narrow corridor with huge red sloping and curving sand dunes on either side, framed against a deep blue sky. The dunes on the west side stretch all the way to the Atlantic. Its difficult to describe, them, so a picture is worth a thousand words...

We stopped at the 2WD car park to deflate the tyres a little and then skidded and bounced another 5km down the sand (4WD only) track to reach the dry clay pan at the end of the equally dry Tserib riverbed. The red sand of the dunes is incredibly fine and soft. Hot to touch in the sun, but surprisingly cool in the shade. A lone oryx was skulking under the trees in the picnic area, avoiding the sun's burning rays.


We wanted to go up through the Namib Naukluft Park to Swakopmund, but with the precision Germans are famous for, the capital city of Windhoek is situated right in the middle of the country so there would be too much backtracking if we went up through the park.

So we headed out of the desert park and up the Tsarishoogte pass to the Nanania Plateau where the pink dust roads were framed by pale yellow dry grass.  We'd been crossing dozens of dry creekbeds that we would have had to ford in the wet season and had to slow down quickly to actually ford a wet one!  The Landy now has some small mud splashes the colour of calamine lotion on her body.   On to Castle Duwisib which was built in 1909 by a German ex pat in an ardent display of nationalism.  We arrived just as the castle was closing but told we were welcome to enjoy the empty campsite and settle up in the morning.  The sun is just starting to get low in the sky and I need to think about what to make for dinner.

We took a wander through Luderitz which is a funny little German town sandwiched between the sea and the desert. All the buildings reminded me of picture books when I was a child. We enjoyed a solidly greasy breakfast at a local cafe before heading out of town. We stopped briefly to take a look at Kolmanskop, an ex mining town abandoned in the fifties being slowly swallowed by the surrounding dunes. They sell tickets for entry and tours at the information centre in Luderitz, but we decided against it. The wind had died down considerably compared to yesterday, but the dunes still rippled in the breeze. Although we didnt expect to be able to see them, we took a side road off the highway to the Wild Horses lookout. Over 100 horses were milling around the water trough there. No one seems to know the origin of the horses, among the theories are they are decendents of horses from shipwrecks on the way to Australia, or WWI soldiers.

It seemed every road we took heading up to Sossusvlei wound through another park or nature reserve. So far I am in awe of the arid beauty of Namibia.

Luderitz

After another 'quick' dip in the hot pools to soak our 'aching' muscles, we managed to leave Ais Ais by 11.00 am heading north up the west side of the canyon. We detoured for some great views and then hightailed it though arid farmland to the B4 where we stopped for a quick sandwich where the road crossed the Fish River. Just past Aus ( a WWI historical site) and heading west, we had forbidden diamond-land on the south side of the road and Namib-Naklauft Park on the the north. Despite several road signs warning of crossing foxes, oryx and wild horses we drove without incident for a further 90km where the roadsigns warned of wind and sand... and deservedly. I was driving and slowed considerably for the rivers of sand not only crossing the road but sandblasting the landrover! Windows up, when we stopped there was a thin layer of fine sand coating all surfaces in both the front and back.

Tonights campsite is Shark Island in Luderitz, which used to be an island connected to the mainland by a causeway, but they're filling in part of the harbour to increase the landmass. The road we took started as gravel but half way up turned into a paved beauty. This is the most windy place we've stayed in, but has amazing views of the harbour and desert. We're the only ones here.

Ais Ais, Fish River Canyon National Park, Namibia

After nearly an hour driving from Marizanne's we reached the SA border and the only thing that took our time there was the tax claim on a dive watch Duncan bought in Sodwana Bay. We finally crossed the bridge to Namibia, cruised through into the border post there simply stopping for passport formalities and to pay a N180.00 road user tax. The Orange River creates much of the border between South Africa and Namibia and I was shocked at the difference in landscape between the south and north sides of the river. It seemed all of a sudden that we were transported to a dark sandy desert moonscape, with the odd volcanic cone rising up on the horizon. To be fair, that sight only lasted for half an hour of driving or so, then the terrain returned to the familiar rubbley hillscape of the road north of Springbok. The road was gravel and plumes of dust rose from the tyres. Our campsite for the night is at the Ais Ais (scalding) Springs at the southern end of and inside the Fish River Canyon.

Over dinner, after relaxing in the heat of the natural hot springs, Duncan mentioned how twinkly the stars were. I was sceptical when I looked up, but he was right! Apparantly something about the heat rising from the desert makes the stars appear to twinkle. Not as magical as the milky way at Praia Mar e Sol, but impressive still.

South Africa Honors Roll

Tomorrow we cross for Namibia so I thought it time for a roundup.



Best Campsite
- Location - Rustic Camp, Mokala National Park - loved the isolation and all the animals coming to the waterhole throughout the day
- Facilities - all the South African National Park sites, generally well equipped with cooking, washing up and laundry facilities in addition to decent showers with copious hot water and baths (although you need your own plug)!
- Raspberry award - Bloemfontein campsite for being the most expensive with the least facilities.

Best sights/experiences
- Driving up Alfreds Pass (Klein Karoo)
- Watching the dolphins surf at Lambertsbaii (West Coast)
- Cango Caves (Oodtshorn)
- Self Drive safari in Kruger National Park
- Wine Tasting at La Motte vineyard, Franshoek

Best Treat
- Buffelsdrift Lodge, A luxury two room safari tent on the shore of a dam with afternoon game drive, à la carte dinner, breakfast and morning game drive included (sometimes you need a break from camping).

Best Customer Service
Jess at Ezi-Awn, hands down, although I found Afrikaaners to be very helpful in general.

Springbok

We've spent the last three nights in Springbok, enjoying the generous hospitality of Marizanne, the sister of a former colleague at lastminute.com. As we drove further west from Augrabie the treeless plains gave way to rubble-like rock mounds and rocky hills. The town of Springbok is wedged between two of these rocky hills. Once known for its copper mines, Namaqualand is now better known for its spring flowers and although we were at the end of the season, the roadsides were still blanketed with vibrant purple, orange and yellow daisies.

After taking care of weeks of laundry, we took a drive from Marizanne's farm up to Nababeep and the mining museum there, which impressed me by being both free and open on a Sunday. We were invited to a traditional South African braii with the neighbours, Elaine and Ronnie for dinner on Sunday night.

Augrabies Falls National Park

I'm sitting here watching the full moon rise and listening to the roar of the Augrabies Falls. Its lovely and warm compared to the last few nights.

Earlier this afternoon Duncan and I undertook walking the 5km Dassie Trail which took us scrambling across rock formations and river crossings pestered by bazillions of little green flies. Rated easy, it wasnt a physical challenge, but required a certain amount of balance and agility. You certainly wouldnt want to recommend it to your elderly aunt what with the dodgy bridge crossings and sliding across wet rocks. We didnt see many dassies on the trail, but they were all over the campsite, grazing on the sprinkler watered lawn and climbing the hand watered trees remarkably unconcerned by all the humans wandering around. Normally they bask on rocks, keeping a sharp eye out for the enormous birds that prey on them. Improbably the closest relative to the elephant, the rock hyrax looks like a plump, overgrown guinea pig.

The falls are loud, and throw up an impressive mist but they are small in comparison to the path the water has carved in the rock and I wonder what they'd be like if it wasnt dry season. The Orange river has its origins in the highlands of the Drakensburg range and winds its way across Lesotho and South Africa to the west coast of Namibia. I also wonder how the Katze and Mohale damns in Lesotho are affecting its flow and water supply to Namibia.

We had a call from Jess of Ezi-Awn. He wasnt able to find any panels in stock at any of his suppliers in South Africa, but can have one made up. Great. We'll have one please... and can you send it for us to pick up in Windhoek? Once again, impressive.

Upington

The drive along the N14 reminded me a lot of driving in the outback in Australia. For hours the impossibly straight, long road stretched into the enormous blue sky on the horizon. The landscape was red, dry and rocky, covered in low scrub. Occasionally a yellow mongoose would dart across the road, the white tip of its bushy tail bobbing merrily. We stopped for the night in Upington at a camp by the river.

Barberton Nature Reserve

Compared to our drive into the city, the remainder of our time in Johannesburg passed uneventfully. Poor tourists, we didnt even try to see any sights. We mooched about Randburg sorting out the Landy and things for our trip further north, and availed ourselfs of the not-too-slow and relatively inexpensive internet at the hostel. The Landy now has a new battery and shiny dark windows, newly tinted for sunm heat and smash-n-grab protection. We stopped by Ezi-Awn, the manufacturers of the roof tent to enquire about panels for the Landy's awning. Ezi-Awn gave us exceptional customer service. We asked if we could have some of the little hole dooberies that the tent poles go into as a couple had fallen out somewhere in Australia and we were making do with some bolt things and the guy instantly organised one of his staff to replace them on the spot. I also mentioned one of the tarpaulin clips had broken and asked for a replacement clip. Replace all four' Jess said to his staff member, 'these guys have a long way to go.' Less than 10 minutes later it was all sorted, free of charge. They didnt have the panels in stock said they'd ring around the suppliers and try to get some sent up to Upington so we didnt have to wait around. Impressive.

After stopping by the safari store and stocking up on gas cans for the stove and groceries we got a late start out of town so had no chance of reaching our target of Vryberg by nightfall.

Barberton Nature Reserve was a peaceful bird sanctuary on the lake and we were one of only three guests at the camp.

Jo'burg

Driving on the highway into Jo'burg this afternoon we had a bit of a fright. A man was flashing his id from a car to the right lane of us and motioning us to pull over. We were unsure of what to do but in the end the car pulled in front of us and stopped. The man got out and came to the drivers window on the verge side of the Landy (its a left hand drive). Duncan wound down the window a little and the man flashed his id as he explained in a friendly manner that he was special police with the airport we had just passed and needed to see our id, we werent from Zimbabwe were we? When I asked to see his id more closely he demanded to know where we were from and to see our passports. I reached up for the photocopies of our passports we keep tucked into the passenger side sun visor and again requested to see his id more closely before handing over the information. The man started shouting that we had to give him our passports and I said I'd be happy for them to follow us to the nearest police station where they could see our id. I was pretty skeptical about his story as most law officials dont start yelling at you, and why would special police from the airport want anything to do with an overland vehicle. Still shouting at us, he grabbed at the handle of Duncan's door (unlocked) and yanked it open. Duncan grabbed it back, locked it and we drove off, shaken. I guess they saw the foreign number plates and thought we'd be an easy Sunday afternoon mark. We're just here to go to the place that made the roof tent for some bits and pieces before pressing on towards Springbok. I'm not feeling inspired to get out and about.

Kruger National Park

I'm sitting now at the Crocodile Creek campsite inside Kruger National Park. Its Duncan's turn to sort out dinner. A moment ago I thought I heard someone walking behind me. The campsite is fenced from the game and our site is right by the fence. I shone the light on a hyena. It looked at the light for quite some time before slowly slinking further along the fence. I've never seen any wild animal so close. Apparantly the hyena in the park patrol the fences hoping for scraps that some irresponsible humans throw over despite clear directions not to. It saddens me that wild animals learn to rely on human tourism and become so bold that they become a danger to humans and eventually are destroyed by the authorities. I think of the baboons at the Simons Town campsite methodically pushing over the bins and going through the contents and also the vervet at St Lucia. One of the many nice things about Praia Mar e Sol in Mozamique is that the wildlife we saw, was wild... and wary of humans, rather than waiting for them to leave a nice supper. On the roof of the Landy we have a plastic strongbox where we store any rubbish until there is somewhere suitable to leave it.

...

On our last day driving around the park, we stopped for lunch at the Timbavati picnic site where Duncan discovered the many corrogated roads had worked loose the spare wheel on the rear door and set about removing, re-tightening and replacing it. A sign at the site declared




which were very 'tame' and begging at all the tables. There are signs in all the campsites explaining that feeding the wild animals guarantees their demise and that anyone doing it in the National Parks will be fined and/or prosecuted in a court of law. So what was the park employee doing? Feeding the damned Bushbuck, after which the tourists who saw him, did too.




Grrr.

...

Due to a higher rainfall in the south of the park, where we started, it is greener and attracts a greater number of game except for the antelopes (we have seen so many we now refer to them collectively as 'boks') and consequently the cats that prey on them. As you drive north the greenery turns brown then grey. There were miles and miles of Mopani trees, leaves afire in colours that reminded me of the famous New England fall.

Animal spotting turns out to be quite tricky. They seem to like to disguise themselves as other things. Crocodiles masquerade as logs, hippos as boulders, elephants as shadows, rocks and dead trees and giraffes as tree trunks and branches. The giraffes in particular seemed to have a way of standing completely still and blending into the background until a twitch of an ear or blink of an eye identified them and all of a sudden they were standing right in front of you. It reminded me of those magic eyepictures that were all the rage in the 90's.

We spent five nights camping in the Kruger and in addition to all the other wild animals we saw at Mokala and the other National Parks and more antelope of various persuasions, we saw a couple of large herds of buffalo, loads of elephant, a leopard hiding in the bush and a maned lion contentedly devouring the red and bloodied carcass of something.