Report Zambia Trip 15-20 July 2012

Zambia trip report: 15-20 July 2012
(Also see Zimbabwe report for the rest of our trip)

Itinerary: (Part of a longer Zim trip – see separate posting)
• Livingstone (Bushfront)
• Kafue town (Boat club)
• Lower Zambezi National park (Mvuu lodge)

DAY 1:

Victoria Falls Border Post:
We entered Zambia through the Victoria Falls border post and spent the first night in Livingstone. This border post can be quite busy. In this instance we crossed the border on a Sunday morning and fortunately it was quiet and took us not more than 40 minutes for both sides.

Documents required:
• Passports
• Vehicle registration papers
• Police clearance for your vehicle - although they didn't ask for it they did ask for it at Chirundu border post later in the trip.

Money - Getting hold of Zambian Kwatcha (ZMK):
The biggest problem when entering Zambia by vehicle is that it is impossible to get the necessary Zambian Kwatcha before crossing the border. No bank in South Africa was willing to get us some Kwatcha and we also tried in vain to get Kwatcha in Kasane (Botswana) and again in Victoria Falls (Zimbabwe). The problem is that you have to pay some of the fees at the border in Kwatcha before you are allowed to enter. Although strictly illegal, one therefore has no choice but to change your Rand (or Dollars) into Kwatcha with one of the street sellers.

Although it was previously possible in Zambia to pay almost everything (including diesel) with US Dollars, the government suddenly outlawed this practice in July 2012, threatening lodge managers and other officials with imprisonment if they charge you in Dollars. This caused chaos in Zambia when we were there. Although some institutions still ‘illegally’ accept Dollars it is a good idea to get the minimum Kwatcha for the border at one of the street sellers and then to either exchange money at the Barclays bank Foreign Exchange at the Entertainment Centre of the Zambezi Sun hotel, or withdraw money at the ATM - both conveniently available at the Centre. The turnoff to the Entertainment Centre of the hotel is a mere 500m from the border post. You have to go through a boom to the Centre, but just tell the guard you want to go to the bank. This Foreign Exchange is open 7 days a week, but closes at 12h00 on Sundays.

Payments and Documents:
• Carbon Tax – ZMK 200 000-00 (R340-00)
• Road Tax – US$20-00 (I know! This doesn't make sense in the light that Dollars are now illegal, but they nonetheless insisted on Dollars.)
• Third Party and Vehicle Insurance – R620-00 (This also doesn't make sense and may be part of a racket at this border post. You need to pay the insurance at a small cubical just before the last boom. The official asked us to pay in South African Rand and insisted that we pay Vehicle Insurance and Third Party Insurance, although we had a letter stating that our South African vehicle insurance is valid for Zambia. What is even more confusing is that our friends (immediately behind us) got another official and they were charged in Zambian Kwatcha!)
• In addition to all the books you need to fill in we also had to complete a form for temporarily importing our vehicles and valuables. To make double sure we also asked the Zambian custom officials to stamp our SARS form with all the details of our vehicles and valuables.

Overnight in Livingstone:
We made reservations for camping at The Zambezi Waterfront (a very nice place), but when we arrived at the site there were no places left and apparently another two Overlander groups were on their way! This also happened to us a previous time, so we asked to be moved to Bushfront Camping site at Nyala Lodge close by. Although it is not as nicely situated on the banks of the Zambezi river, it is very quiet and in the bush with beautiful lawns under shady trees. Cost: ZMK 216 000-00 (R370-00) for two people.

Livingstone activities:
With the political unrest in Zimbabwe, Livingstone “dethroned” Victoria Falls as the “adventure capital” of the area. Except for bungee jumping from the famous Victoria Falls bridge (see Youtube video: “Bungee jump cords break Victoria Falls accident – Youtube” - if you need reasons for NOT doing it), one can also do helicopter or microlight flips over the falls, sundown cruises on the Zambezi river, or swimming in Devils Pool directly above the falls (see youtube video: “Swimming in Victoria Falls Devil's Pool – Youtube”). The last activity is only when you are totally crazy and if the water is low enough. Did I say totally crazy?

Because we previously did the helicopter flight over the falls (it is rather expensive although very spectacular) we decided to restrict ourselves this time to the old favourite of going on a sunset cruise on the Zambezi. Cost: ZMK 275 000-00 p/p (R470-00) - including drinks and an evening meal. Although not as spectacular as the one on the Chobe river, we still enjoyed it, seeing elephant, hippo and various birds.

DAY 2: (Livingstone to Kafue Town - 420km)

After visiting the falls on the Zambian side (arguably more spectacular than from the Zim side), we did some shopping in town (Checkers) and then started driving north on the T1 road from Livingstone towards Lusaka. When we last travelled this road a couple of years ago the first 80km to Zimba was in a horrible condition, forcing one to drive next to the road rather than on it! We were therefore very relieved to see that the new road was finished and in excellent condition - making for a very pleasant trip towards Kafue town.

We originally planned to camp at The Moorings campsite 10km after the town of Monze (according to the website pictures a nice place where you don't need reservations), but we arrived too early at Monze and therefore decided to press through to the vicinity of Kafue Town for overnighting.

Police Roadblocks:
We went through two roadblocks, without any problems, although the Zambian police were not as friendly as their Zimbabwean counterparts (see my Zimbabwe reports). You should, however, make sure that you have the following:
• South African Driver's License - nobody ever asked to see my International one.
• Red reflective tape at the back and white reflective tape at the front corners of all your vehicles (caravans/trailers included)
• Red T-sign at the back of the caravan and a white T-sign on the front of the caravan. (If you have a trailer or caravan it is going to look like a Christmas tree: You will have all the yellow reflective tape on the sides and back (RSA requirement), the red and white reflective tape and T-signs (as by Zambian requirement) and the Mozambican blue triangles at the back and front (if you have also visited Mozambique). The next thing they will probably require is the Star of Bethlehem on the top!!
• Fire extinguisher
• Triangles and reflective vest
• Receipts for Insurance, Carbon Tax and Road tax

Diesel:
We filled up with diesel at Mazabuku (ZMK 8 000-00 /L (about R13.50 / L), which was fortunate, because we couldn't find any diesel where the T1 joins the T2 (turnpike), except if you are willing to buy diesel from the many roadside sellers in the area, or travel into Kafue town. This was notwithstanding the fact that our InfoMap and GPS showed that there should be diesel available at the junction (the Garage that used to be here has clearly gone bankrupt long ago). We could also not find diesel at Chirundu on the Zambian side. If one needs to fill up in the area you will therefore need to go into Kafue town towards Lusaka. From Mazabuku to Kafue town the road is much busier and more patched up.

Overnight:
Although we didn't travel as far as Kafue town itself, we did cross the bridge across the Kafue river (one of the major Zambian rivers) in search of a place to camp. The vicinity of Kafue Town is a dump and even though a sign immediately after crossing the river, promised a shady campsite, we ended up sleeping in the backyard of a building site at Kafue River Cliffs (where they are currently building a 5 star hotel next to the boat club). So be aware: sleeping places and garages are in short supply on the road between Kafue and Chirundu.

DAY 3 – 5 (Kafue town to Mvuu lodge – 145km)

Road:
The next morning we left Kafue very early so that we could arrive at Mvuu lodge (our final destination) as early as possible. The T2 road from Kafue to Chirundu was fairly busy, because it is now again the main route travelled by trucks from South Africa to central and east Africa. It is in a reasonably good condition with some potholes and patches, but one could maintain a good average speed of 100-120km, except in the areas going through the beautiful mountain pass as one travels down the escarpment into the Zambezi valley.

At Chirundu we turned north on the road towards the Lower Zambezi National park. The turnoff is a bit tricky, because the previous road is closed and one therefore has to negotiate your way through the truck stop (a GPS comes in handy for this stretch of road). Soon after leaving the truck stop behind, the road deteriorates quite badly as it goes through the village, with the occasional rocky ridges and holes in the road, but it can be done by an ordinary vehicle.

After 11km one reaches the pontoon across the Kafue river (Cost: ZMK 150 000). Quite a large pontoon that can take several cars and is apparently now operating regularly without too many breakdowns (see photo). The road between the pontoon and Chiawa village is sandy, but not too bad (ordinary vehicles can do it). After going through Chiawa village the road becomes a rocky and corrugated road as it goes through a large banana plantation. After about 18km one goes through the control gate and enters the Chiawa wildlife area that stretches from here to the gate of the Lower Zambezi park, another 28km further along the road).

Mvuu lodge camping:
We camped for three nights at Mvuu lodge (Cost: ZMK 82 500 p/p per night = R130-00 p/p). I was told that the Zambian Wildlife authorities closed all their previous camping sites in the park and that one can therefore now only camp at one of the lodges in the Wildlife area (if they have a camping site). One should realise that the Zambian side of the lower Zambezi is much more developed (especially the Chiawa wildlife area) than the Mana Pools area immediately opposite the river in Zim: luxury lodges are spaced at regular intervals along the river, becoming less as one enters the park proper.

We decided on Mvuu lodge and it was a good choice. (I have seen one very bad rating on Travel Advisor about Mvuu, but I really don’t know on which planet the person was or what she was smoking at the time, giving false information about only one ablution for 40 people, etc. But I take the point that the camping site may be busy during peak periods.) You can do your reservations telephonically in Pretoria and can eat in the lodge’s restaurant if you want to (but it is fairly expensive). Each camping site has its own open air ablution facility (very nice) with either a gas geyser or a boiler that the attendant will heat up for you. Each camping site has a friendly attendant, who provides you with cold water and makes your fire for the braai. Our camping site (Mvuu site) was on the bank of the Zambezi and on the second day we were visited by a ‘friendly’ elephant, going after the green leaves of the trees in the camping site (see photo).

Activities
The main activity in the area is Tiger and Bream fishing on the river (height of the season = September and October). If fishing is not your cup of tea, you can also go on game drives – both in the Chiawa wildlife area and in the park proper. You can do it either in your own private vehicle or go on an open vehicle drive.

We opted to go the first day with Mvuu lodge on a combined river cruise and open vehicle game drive into the Lower Zambezi park, which included lunch on the river bank. Although fairly expensive it was really worthwhile (Cost: R1300 p/p). We saw lots of hippos and birds on the boat trip and on the game drive lots of elephant, waterbuck, impala, warthog and reedbuck. The drive sticks primarily to the seasonal pools next to the river, where grass and water are available in abundance. Although the park does not have the same diversity of animals than for example the Kruger, one sees a lot of elephants and occasionally lion. The elephants are, however, a bit nervous and when we were there the game rangers were looking for a lion which was caught and injured by a wire snare. We also saw a baby elephant with a trunk, shortened by a wire snare. SWAMBO’s crying was unstoppable.

Entering the Lower Zambezi park (from the south) one needs to wade through the Chongwe river (exactly where, depends on how much water is in it at that moment). In July, when we were there, the river did not have much water in it and going through it was easy with not more than half a metre of water at its deepest and a with a good gravel river bed.

The last day we did some game viewing on our own in the Chiawa wildlife area, but did not see much. I would recommend a stay of at least 3 days, but more active people, who are not fishing, may find a longer stay a bit boring. But then I am told by SWAMBO that I am insufferable and needs to be kept constantly busy like a two-year-old!

DAY 6 – Mvuu lodge to Mana Pools (180 km)
As the crow flies it is less than 15km from Mvuu lodge to the BBC camp at Mana Pools, but of course we had to travel the whole way around! And that for 180km of mostly badly corrugated roads, while also having to endure the hell hole of Chirundu border post between Zambia and Zimbabwe (see my Zimbabwe trip report). On hindsight it would have been a much better option to go through the Kariba dam border post, sleep a night there and then to go on towards Mana Pools. In the end it took us 7 hours to travel from Mvuu lodge to Mana Pools.

Peet