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Malawi is most famous for its Lake, explained more like a sea Lake Malawi addresses above one/third of the place. The obvious clear h2o is instead inviting as is the delicious fish!

We spent a couple of days on the shores of Lake Malawi, world renowned for the unusual and unique refreshing h2o fish (some of which prehistoric) residing in the Lake. We stayed at a very small eco-lodge built on a cliff with its very own non-public sandy seashore the sights magnificent, rooms extremely relaxed and hospitality unbeatable. We arrived at about the very same time the rain clouds did generating a mad panic to get our cooking shelter up the rain defeat us in the race and some of us were relatively soaked – at the very least the air was warm and to be trustworthy the totally free shower was welcomed. Thankfully our charcoal BBQ hearth survived prolonged enough for me to BBQ our pork chops for meal the rain did not enable up and a number of hrs later was nevertheless bucketing down. The 1st genuine rain we have knowledgeable in three months of traveling …….

Up substantial in the highlands of Malawi is a little settlement called Livingstonia. The name itself indicates a tribute to the wonderful explorer himself David Livingstone. David Livingstone spent extremely minor time in Malawi alone though he did make many journeys across the land preaching anti-slavery and messages from the Bible. Some made a decision to journey up the steep gravel road in the soaked even though other people made the decision hiring a catamaran was a greater concept.

Crossing into Zambia was a extremely easy process indicating we were closer to southern Africa and much more western systems in location. South Luangwa Countrywide Park is Zambia’s number 2 vacationer attraction next only to the mighty Victoria Falls however the road to entry the park is the worst road we traveled on through Southern Africa. Big holes, hefty corrugations, narrow boggy strips, sharp rocks and deep ravines lower through weighty tropical rain for roughly 40kms. We experienced been advised the road was impassable but you by no means know until you attempt the program was straightforward – see how we go ……….

We achieved the switch-off to South Luangwa and the street slowly deteriorated, though it experienced been visibly quite damp and boggy in elements the highway experienced dried ample to get by way of without having way too a lot of hiccups. We have been 5kms from South Luangwa when the entertaining actually began 800m of deep bog holes and no way close to. We weaved our way about the brim of the holes until finally we experienced no option but to go by way of – drinking water seeping more than the bonnet with the remaining hand aspect falling into further holes we slowly and gradually created our way through with no incident – very good old Land Rovers!

South Luangwa was undoubtedly well worth the journey an abundance of wildlife on the shores of Luangwa River in northern Zambia we camped on the shores of the river hippos grunted day and night (with a single wandering by means of the campsite in the middle of the day), and troops of baboons and vervet monkeys performed on the tents. We experimented with our initial genuine match meat – hippo steaks -following a little bit of a pounding and flash frying. Incredibly, they have been quite delicious a bit like veal …….

Following a little bit of journey leaving South Luangwa we had been on our way to Victoria Falls, or as the locals know it as Mosi-oa-Tunya (smoke that thunders). In 1855 David Livingstone sat awestruck by this amazing uncover and in his journal wrote “on sights as beautiful as this, angels in their flight have to have gazed” a excellent way to describe one of the 7 normal miracles of the Globe. Her sheer electricity throws spray high into the air noticeable for miles. Victoria Falls is near the town of Livingstone, it is rare to pay a visit to a city in Africa which holds onto and is proud of its colonial heritage. Only a handful of kilometers from Zimbabwe, Livingstone has turn into the hub for promoting curios (souvenirs) from Zimbabwe. Neighborhood Zimbabweans cross the border to generate hard currency, purchase simple foods items and apparel ahead of crossing the border day-to-day. The hottest souvenirs on sale had been Zimbabwean bucks and in specific the most recent observe, 10 Trillion bucks. To put this into perspective you want 2 10 Trillion dollar notes to purchase a loaf of bread (at the time we acquired these notes – no idea what it is really worth now). It is tragic to see how the jewel of Africa more than ten a long time has disintegrated into a land of practically nothing. The very best thing tourists can do is to purchase items from the neighborhood sellers, no make a difference how modest the product or how cheap every single cent helps.

Just before leaving Livingstone we go through an write-up in a journey journal about the Kazangula ferry – the ferry that takes us throughout the Zambezi River from Zambia into Botswana – the report talked about how chaotic and tough the crossing was. With everybody well prepared for long delays and queues (stringent directions to keep the vehicles bumper to bumper) we arrived at the border/ferry port. Much to our disappointment the crossing was much from chaotic and the queues non existent we just cruised across into Botswana.

Arriving into Kasane at the same time as a huge thunder storm our tents were up just ahead of the heavens opened. The hefty down pour lasted about forty minutes just before the clouds cleared and the solar shone once once again. The afternoon was spent on a recreation viewing boat cruising up the Chobe River. Considerably to our delight there were hundreds of elephants playing in the shallows with enormous hippo pods close by, as crocodiles fortunately sunned them selves on the shores.

The subsequent early morning we headed out on a match drive although Chobe Nationwide Park with the exception of a younger bull elephant only a number of feet away from the car the match was instead mellow. Botswana was encountering an extraordinary damp time that’s why the grass was substantial making match viewing not excellent. Nevertheless the surroundings and birdlife made the morning instead satisfying.

Right after the early morning at Chobe we continued into the Northern component of Namibia or better known as the Caprivi Strip. one night Fellucca sail from Aswan to Luxor of Namibia has been the scene of numerous conflicts over the many years and up till only 8 years back was considered unsafe to travel via. With the fighting more than and an excellent infrastructure creating travel very effortless we made the decision to consider this route. The Caprivi Strip is also exactly where the first prisoner of war was taken in WW1 – the English Colonial was entertaining the German Colonial (the Brits occupied Zambia and the Germans Namibia – of program it was Rhodesia and German South Western Africa in individuals days) when the announcement was manufactured that the war had began. The English Colonial turned to the German Colonial and instead politely advised him that he may possibly finish his tea and scones but “to permit you know you are now my prisoner”.

The Caprivi strip is a excellent spot to nip again into Botswana to check out the Northern element of the Okavango Delta. The Delta is alive with above three hundred chicken species and quite a few mammals and of program reptiles. Huge crocs roam the h2o ways, hippos wallow in the warm h2o whilst King Fishers swoop from high over to feast on the catch of the day. A soothing few of days on the Kubu Queen houseboat with Greg the Fisherman have been an excellent way to explore the spot.

As we drove by means of the northern part of Namibia we had been handled to a outstanding sight. A dozen or so African Wild Puppy was sitting on the primary highway! Wild Puppy is rare to see at the best of moments, to see a pack so shut is not a widespread prevalence. It was not till later that we identified 1 was hurt and the relaxation of the pack was waiting around for her to choose herself up and transfer to safety.

We ongoing our journey towards Etosha stopping enroute to see the World’s greatest Meteorite. Etosha, despite the fact that rather moist, did not disappoint. Alive with wildlife in the northern part coupled with a whole lot of muddy tracks gave the autos a little bit of a workout and a momentary new white paint task!

From Etosha we created a nightstop at a regional farm and cheetah reserve. In Namibia cheetahs are considered a pest and farmers have the right to shoot them. An growing number of neighborhood farms have established reserves for cheetahs. As effectively as protecting it provides a unique likelihood to get quite close and pat “domesticated” cheetahs. We stopped at 1 started out by a mate of ours Mario who has 3 domesticated cheetahs and above 40 wild ones living in specified areas on the farm. The wild cheetahs appear from encompassing farms, the farmers phone the guys at the Cheetah Farm to inform them a cheetah is using livestock, the boys then entice the cheetah and relocate to the farm. We have been greeted upon arrival by a younger giraffe, identified deserted a few months ahead of and rescued by the Cheetah Farm she has decided to hold close to for a even though!

Namibia is traditionally the land of desert and rocky outcrops. Nevertheless an unusually wetter than standard moist period transformed Namibia from dry desert to lush eco-friendly fields with bare mountains generating a dramatic backdrop. We experienced to alter our planned route somewhat as we experienced listened to from locals numerous roadways experienced been minimize off owing to rivers flooding deeming them impassable.

Soon after above three months of driving on almost everything from excellent tar roads, dirt tracks, sand dunes and slender mountain passes we were all up for a bit of mud, river crossings and perhaps a little bit of digging. Most of the roads in Namibia are extensive grime streets with a couple of produced out of salt. The extraordinary rains experienced created chaos all over the country, highway closures, flash flooding and extended deep muddy stretches.

Regardless of the sporadic rains we ongoing on track and spent time on the Skeleton Coastline, a desolate extend of absolutely nothing but sand, wind and treacherous seas, residence to the premier Cape Fur seal colony in the Globe. A number of times exploring the German colonial town, Swakopmund, comforting and catching up on domestic duties. Then produced the journey to Namib-Naukluft National Park to explore the desert, dune forty five and Sousselvei oasis and liked some critical 4x4ing in the process by the time we produced it to Luderitz and the old “gold hurry” ghost city of Kolmanskop the heavens had cleared and with the times hot and sun beating down on us it was the initial time we actually felt like we had been in Namibia.

The highway to Fish River Canyon was prolonged and dusty – our ultimate destination in Namibia. Fish River Canyon is the Grand Canyon to Africa – a masterpiece of artwork from Mom Mother nature rocks carved above thousands and thousands of many years to create a Canyon more than 170kms prolonged and up to 27kms extensive in specified factors. The complete scale of its expanse can only truly be appreciated by the air, though our vantage point at the top of the Canyon undoubtedly confirmed her in her correct glamour. On one particular of our before expeditions one group member (who generally drives on the other aspect of the street) after mentioned “Gosh need to have taken ages to develop that” Everybody headed off in diverse instructions alongside the rim seeking for the ideal spots for the best photograph.

Our ultimate country and vacation spot – South Africa. The border crossing was very easy although we did drop our fruit at a fruit fly inspection position. The minute we crossed into South Africa I felt like I was back again in Australia. The initial 400kms strongly resembles the Flinders Rangers – rocky outcrops, rolling hills and salt bush as considerably as the eye can see. If it was not for the street indicators in Afrikaans and warnings for springbok as an alternative of kangaroos one particular would really believe they were in South Australia. We created exceptional time on the superb roads (vast, straight and no pot holes!) we made the decision to thrust on a bit and invest our ultimate night time just before Cape City in Stellenbosch – the Capital of Wine Lands.

We established off down the N1 freeway towards Cape City our ultimate vacation spot. The air was loaded with a mixture of exhilaration of generating the eighteen,000 kms from Aqaba, Jordan and disappointment in the knowledge we had been about to depart for our homelands. The clouds in the sky properly represented our inner thoughts. We arrived in Cape City at our resort drained but with a feeling of gratification and achievement – we did it!

We shared a final night food, chatted about the great moments, remembering the quirky activities together the way and the figures we satisfied.

Our last working day was invested again in the Wine Lands, tasting wines and enjoying lunch at a neighborhood vineyard, the night was topped off at the Cape City Botanical gardens with a glass of wine in-hand listening to a dwell classical orchestra.