End of our trip

We took off for the last phase of our journey travelling to livingstone via Lusaka. A few hotel hitches in Lusaka,then a bus to Livingstone. We found Zambia to be more organised and affluent, but of course not as friendly as Malawi.After three days in Livingstone exploring and staying at yet another beautiful resort where we were the only guests, we met the group we will spend the next three weeks with, who turned out to have a good mix of ages, and seemed fine. There are eighteen of us and we are travelling in a large overland bus.

The first day of the trip Ken flew over the Victoria falls in a microlite aircraft while Jane watched. Of course, this was a great experience, and we walked around the falls the following day getting very wet from the spray, but loved the experience. No other waterfall will seeem the same as it is the waterfall to end all others. The falls goes on for nearly two KMs and the roar is deafening. The third day was spent in Chobe National Park in Botswana with a game drive and river cruise to see lots more animals. The cruise was particulary good as we were manouvered very close to elephants, crocodiles and hippos and were able to sit watching them for a good spell.

Into Namibia for a long drive and then back to Botswana where our next stop was the Okavango Delta, a unique eco system of waterways, marshes and islands at the end of the Okavango river before it reaches the desert. We were taken by makoros, flat bottomed two person dug out style canoes, punted by local boatmen. To lie back and glide through crystal clear water, reeds, masses of waterlilies in the sun, passing the odd hippo, with little frogs and spiders jumping in and out of the boat was sheer bliss. After an hour and a half we landed on a remote island to set up camp in the wild. The following day we set out on a walk in two groups to see the local big game and came across a lone bull elephant. Seeing two groups it became agitated and our inexperienced guide told us to back off quickly and we scattered. Quite the wrong thing to do apparently. The elephant became flustered and turned towards us and started moving in our direction, looking slightly menacing. Fortunately the other guide got his group to shout and clap which stopped the elephant in his tracks. Funny afterwards, but not at the time.

Back in Namibia again we stopped at Rundu for a couple of days to shop, do washing, internet, etc. The town was very western with smart shopping malls and shops. Quite a contrast to the towns in Malawi. Namibia and Zambia are clearly more affluent than Malawi and Uganda.

The group in the overland truck are a positive friendly lot and we feel quite at ease with them. The trek leader is impressive, keeping the whole trip on time and to schedule. We had a few transport dramas with the weight of the truck causing a ferry, crossing the Okavango river, to become stuck on some rocks. They got it off by the driver pulling forwards on the ferry sharply and then breaking hard to jerk to ferry forwards. The HSE in the UK would have something to say about that, but it worked. Amazing ingenuity. Also, the truck sank into about three feet of sand/mud just before the Delta. It took a long time to dig it out, but we were near enough to the boats to go off and rejoined it the next day. The trek company is called Intrepid and it is earning it's name!

Sadly we have just heard today that Ken's mum died yesterday and so we are leaving our trek tonight to get back to London for the funeral. It is obviously a sad end to our trip but does not diminish the most amazing experiences we have had - there are so many memories that will live with us for the rest of our lives.