Day 137 - 139 - Sitting on the edge of the Victoria Falls.

Day 137

Waking in the morning from the comfort of a real bed was a luxury we had all but forgotten and with the sunlight now streaming through the windows of our small rondavil, a lazy lie in was interupted with the children excitedly jumping on our bed. They clearly had a good nights sleep and were excited with what adventures today might bring and I suspect, although they wouldn't admit it, perhaps having had a more comforting nights sleep without the thought that a roaming lion was not sniffing around their parents tent or hyenas circling the Land Rover in search of food! ............ or even the fact that they wouldn't have to fight this morning for who was going to end up sitting in the dreaded middle seat!

Breakfast, already prepared, was another unusual luxury within the rustic colonial setting of the Waterberry Lodge open dining room .......... the children didn't need to gather sticks today to get the fire going, or start preparing omelettes on the open fire, breakfast was already prepared and they couldn't wait to finish, ready to jump into the swimming pool they had spotted on the way in.

With breakfast finished and the children swimming, we had a meeting arranged with Kate from Safari Drive who was going to brief us on the next stages of our journey, together with organising a service and spring clean of our faithful Landy!

The afternoon arrived all too soon and we had arranged a short fishing trip on the Zambezi, with the children, which provided a pleasant change from the harsh corrugated dirt tracks of the Land Rover, to the smooth calmness of the water, a feeling that was quite odd, but noticeably relaxing!  Despite five rods over the side of the boat we failed to catch a single fish, but no matter, the air of excitement of what the children might just hook up with every cast of their rods, was enough to last this short expedition along the river. Thankfully they didn't hook up the well disguised croc taking a quick nap on the river bank.



Our trip was relatively short as the boat had to be back at base for the pre-arranged 'sunset cruise' commencing at 4.30pm (the African evenings drew in very early). Fortunately for us some of the small party that had booked the boat had not turned up so Jo and I were asked if we wanted to join the trip, which we did, leaving the children behind to play in the pool under the supervision of our hosts, which both were more than happy with.  Chris is our guide and skipper for the trip and we are joined by two other couples. Chris was pointing out various wild inhabitants along the way, such as a large Python curled up asleep within the hole of a tree together with a few grunting Hippo's playing on the far banks of the river and all whilst we sat calmly (first time without the children for 4 months) sipping a good glass of Merlot, with accompanying canapés, whilst witnessing the huge orange glow of the African sun slowly disappearing behind the hazy darkness of the bush-veld backdrop of the banks of the mighty Zambezi River ................... an image that won't be forgotten.

Day 138.


The next day brought new adventure following a light breakfast we were heading to Livingstone to experience the magic of the immense Victoria Falls. We drove through the town of Livingstone and just out the other side to the extremely impressive Royal Livingstone Hotel, where we had arranged to pick up a small boat to take us across the uneasy waters along the top of the falls to Livingstone Island, a small land mass perched on the very top of the falls.

Once on the island we were greeted by our guide and had the opportunity to relieve ourselves in what can only be described as a 'loo with a view', and not just any view, but probably the best view from a toilet in the world.  The spray from the falls can be seen rising in the distance.

We were then asked to take off our boots and socks following which we were escorted through very thick and slimy mud, to the very edge of the falls, to the spot where Dr David Livingstone first experienced this magnificent sight back on November 17th, 1855.  The short walk was quite un-nerving as you could not underestimate the power of this amazing force of nature, yet here we were, in bare feet with squelching soft mud squeezing between our toes, the spray of the falls which was rising from this 355 foot drop, becoming ever closer until we could feel the spray on our faces, walking to the very edge of this massive drop.  poor old Fred (and Jo) was certainly getting sweaty palms, as heights were not his favourite option ................ and he was just about to sit on the edge of the Victoria Falls! ........ literally, the edge!

I think the caption here was "just hurry up and take the bl**dy photo Dad!"

 This was a very bizarre and amazing experience, not only standing, or sitting, on the very top of the Victoria Falls, but leaning over the edge and then taking a quick dip in one of the small pools ON THE EDGE!  The children had no concept of the scale of the falls until they reached the edge and watched those calm waters at the top disappearing into the abyss and hearing the roaring noise as the waters reached their destination some 108m below with the spray rising higher than the fall to soak their faces, reinventing the theory of 'what goes up must come down' to 'what goes down must come up!'












Fortunately our guide was holding their feet!

A jacuzzi with a difference!

 Enjoying the fresh cool waters of the Zambezi River just before they plunged some 355 feet over the edge.

Following an exhilarating morning it was a walk back to the Island for breakfast beneath a canvas dining area, where we were served bacon and egg muffins, which were well received and finished by all. We are joined by a Dutch and English couple for breakfast and ironically the chap from the english couple works with a friend of ours back home! ........... small world.

We head back to the sanity of the Royal Livingstone Hotel where the children play on the chair swing in the grounds and are chased by the green monkeys, which is very amusing although they find it both funny and slightly scary, as these green monkeys can be quite aggressive if pushed too far.

Following a refreshing drink we drive round to the Zambian entrance of the Falls and take a long walk further downstream of Livingstone Island. We are much lower down now and from here, we can all really appreciate the overall scale of the falls, as well as the intense spray that we can now feel, soaking our cloths as we walk.  We cross a small bridge at one point where Fred in true style describes the fatal image of the after effects should the bridge collapse and we all fall to our death. ..... thanks for that thought Fred!

The Three Intrepid Travellers

We walk for about an hour and head to the other side of the falls where we can see various people climbing the fence to walk across the rapids in an attempt to get close to the edge. On the basis that two people died last year this is not a wise move, without the wisdom of an experienced guide. We take a trip to the Information Centre where we see how the falls were formed, which helps the children understand this great piece of geography and we see the statue of David Livingstone on the way out. We had hoped to visit the Zimbabwe side to get another view of the falls but at $50 for a visa and $30 entrance fee per adult, we leave it for another day.


We finally head back to Waterberry Lodge feeling tired but exhilarated by our experience and in true African fashion manage to get stopped by the Police, in the middle of nowhere, on the route home.  So it's sunglasses off, hats off, and smile and after showing our papers and introducing each of the children, we find with great fortune that we are innocent today.

Day 139

Waterberry Lodge has turned out to be a great break from the thousands of miles already travelled in our Landy; the grounds are exceptionally well kept and the staff are very friendly and welcoming.
This morning is a lazy one, catching up on journals for the children, sitting out in the sun and generally taking it easy and after a leisurely lunch the children are invited to go out fishing with 'Webby', while Jo and I manage a short siesta.

We are back in the lounge for 4.30 when the children return looking very excited as both Harry and Freddie have come back armed each with a large Tiger Fish, having also caught several other fish but thrown the smaller fish back in the river.

Catch of the Day - two Tiger Fish for Camp tomorrow

and some very sharp teeth!

 Having successfully caught the fish it was now time for Harry and Fred to prepare them in the kitchen, gutting them and removing their scales.  Another couple in the lounge are very impressed with the boys catch as they have been out several times (the chap being an angler) and not caught anything that large.









The fish were duly prepared by the new chefs, with a little help from the kitchen and they were bagged and placed in a cool bag for our first meal at our new camp tomorrow, as we cross back into Botswana, heading for the Chobe National Park.





Tonight we were all going on the sunset cruise with 'Webby', who is a very relaxed and informative guide and with the fish prepared we get ourselves ready and all climb aboard our small boat for the evening, this time the children were with us.

The boat was full, as full as a small boat can be with 10 of us and Webby gently sets off meandering down the river.  On our way, Webby points out various wild creatures from crocodiles, of various size, smaller ones resting on logs floating in the river, to larger crocs snoozing on the river banks. We see a lot of birds, our friendly Python from the night before and various Hippo's in the water.

Harry, now acting as barman, as we start to reach the rapids, is doing a great job, whilst the boat is gently being drawn by the quickening current towards the ever increasing sound of the imense Victoria Falls, a little further down stream. However, as dusk falls and Harry is pouring everyone their second drink, Webby decides it is time to turn the engine on, as the current will eventually take us over the falls, which was really not our preferred option for the sunset cruise.

Unfortunately at this point, the engine refuses too start and we carry on drifting for some time as Webby trys to turn over the uncooperative engine again and again, but with no success. We have an oar to assist but the current is moving too quickly for it to make any difference. .......... Unfortunately, the darkness is drawing in and the noise of the falls can be heard ahead as Webby tries to find out what is wrong and our boat carrys on floating with the current .............. towards the falls!

One couple start to get a little anxious, as we are all aware of what could be considered at this point as .....'impending doom!', but Jo and I are happy to place our faith in Webby, as we quietly sip another gin and tonic ............... this one perhaps a little stronger than the last one!

Webby manages to get us to a little island in the middle of the river, which was fortunately in our way! ........... and here he manages to get the engine started, but as we move away from the island it starts to splutter and once again stops, leaving us back on our unfortunate trajectory toward the Falls!
Searching for something a little stronger, Webby radio's back to the Lodge to request a towe, which thankfully he makes contact and the message is received, although it was going to take a little time for the rescue boat to reach us! ............ as we carried on drifting, hopefully it would not be TOO long!

By now it is 7.00pm and Webby, by this time appearing to get a little concerned himself and with a little more persistence, keeps trying the engine until suddenly it decides to start with a splutter.  Keeping it on very low revs, we start to make slow progress in the right direction and with a sigh of relief ask the barman for another drink.  The children were very calm throughout this unplanned hiccup and as we slowly limped back to the Lodge, their smiles and voices returned, all of us looking forward to getting our feet back on terra firma!

Day 136 - Banks, borders and the great Zambezi

Day 136 - Following a hearty breakfast of bacon and egg sandwiches knocked up by Dan whilst Clement fired up the wood boiler for some hot water, we took a short fishing trip with Dan and Clement. The River was calm and quiet, the only ripples were those from our boat as we cut through the gently flowing waters.  The river had an air of solitude as the sun was waking, rising up to find its rightful place in the sky and bring the wetlands to life.  The fishing rods were prepared and Imogen and Harry cast out in search of the big one. Following her second cast and much to the amazement of the boys she immediately hooks a large pike!! ....... wow! she is totally thrilled with her first ever catch and a first catch that she will undoubtedly remember throughout her life. She excitedly reeled in the fish as it thrashed about in the water, but it soon wriggled free and escaped back into the depths. 'Ah ..... the one that got away!'  Harry managed the next succesful catch with a Pike and a large Bass.  The Pike was returned to the river but the Bass was brought onto the boat and given to Clement for his supper. His new wife of 23 (to Clement's age of 46), was currently in Hospital awaiting the birth of their baby.

At least someone has caught lunch!

On our way back in the boat we see a wonderful site of about 24 Sable, a beautiful majestic animal with large curved horns and rare to see so many in one group.  We also see a group of Roan, one of the fastest antelope in the bush.




Back in Camp we are greeted by a heard of Elephants that have decided to pay us a visit before we leave and we walk through the camp to get quite a close view, the children are quietly anxious as the elephants trunks start to smell the air and our scent.  We sit and watch for a while then quietly head back to our hut for a quick coffee before we pack the Landrover and leave Mashi River Camp.

Back at camp we have a few welcomed visitors!

   We finally get underway at about 1.00pm, a little later than we had anticipated, but being waylaid by so many beautiful sites is not a bad thing and after saying our goodbyes to Dan and Clements we head off to our next destination, Zambia and the great Zambezi River.

The Victoria Falls

The drive to the main town of Katima Mulilo, on the Zambia border, took about an hour and a half, a reasonably large and busy town which would give us an opportunity to stock up on food supplies but our main stop centred around the urgent need for US dollars. These were a necessity to get us through the complex procedures of the Zambian Border. First we called in to the Windhoek Bank and were told to wait in the queue for foreign exchange services. Being British we duly obliged and 45 minutes later reached the counter only to be told "No Dollars!". Great! ...... Next we tried the Standard Bank 'No Dollars!" ............. then Nedbank, again 'No Dollars!"  Not quite what we had expected and by this time we had wasted well over an hour in the hunt for dollars and were now cutting it a little fine to get through border protocol, which can take more than 2 hours, before 6.00pm, when the border closes.  We quickly grab some snacks and make an essential fuel stop to fill the tanks. We finally make the border by 4.00pm and raiding the children's stash of dollars that were given to them as presents before we left, we start the beaurocratic journey from one hut to the next, via a semi wrecked caravan and a group of young 'black marketeers' trading wads of notes from every currency you could imagine. As usual, where Jo is involved, we decided to complicate the process by claiming back an element of VAT that we had paid on goods in Namibia. this meant a lot more queueing, form filling in and getting the appropriate stamps.  

We were guided through the gate by the Local Police and directed to Immigration.  Armed with passports and all the children's dollars, Jo and I leave the children in the car and enter a painted brick building; it is $80.00 for a multi entry visa or $50.00 for a single, but if we want to head into Zimbabwe, that would be another $50.00. We chose the $80.00 option, leaving Zimbabwe for another day and luckily the children were free. We then make our way to the Customs building but first we need to change Namibian Dollars for South African Rand, as it is 240.00 SAR to get the Landrover across the border with yet more paperwork. We now find ourselves trading with the very dodgy looking 'black market' geezer, flashing wads of currency in the compound yard that we noted on the way in! .............. This all seemed a little surreal, as we appeared to be in a place that resembled a cross between a local scrap yard, a 1960's English driving test centre and the central 'bookies' park at Wolverhampton races, but just another 'normal' situation you have to deal with when crossing African borders.
After striking a deal with Joshua the 'money' man ........... or should I say boy, we were escorted to what can only be described as a completely wrecked caravan, that doubled up as the Insurance Office.  Am I seriously parting with 510 SAR, to some dodgy looking guy in a dilapidated caravan, who was going to provide me with 'quality' insurance cover to travel in Zambia.  ................ The words 'Oh Yes!' sprang into my mind from the beloved British bulldog Churchill, but I am sure if Vic Reeves was here with me he might have a different view!!  ........ probably involving the words .....joking; must be and bloody! ................... can't wait for the outcome of the insurance claim!
and there is more! ..... we are only in Zambia for 4 days but have to purchase 3 months worth of cover! .............. Next is 'Carbon Tax' at $32 US Dollars and almost finished ................ we then head to our last portocabin to pay the entry fee/council tax of $6.00 US Dollars.  

Finally, after this two hour ritual, and feeling extremely less flush with cash, having used $90.00 of Freddie's holiday money, we are in Zambia! The border closes at 6.00pm and it is 6.00pm as we drive out of the immigration car park and cross the bridge over the great Zambezi River on our way to Livingstone .............. I presume.

We are heading for a wonderful place known as Waterbury Lodge on the banks of the Zambezi, a little luxury for a few days to wash and brush up, however we are expected for supper, so with foot firmly to the floor we need to make haste.  Having been warned about the huge pot holes quietly dispersed along the tarmac road, together with the dark shadowy figures of wandering pedestrians and a menagerie of wildlife, taking its life in its own hands slowly crossing the road melting into the darkness, heavy concentration is required. We finally arrive at 8.00pm, although they had been getting a little concerned as to our whereabouts and we are rushed into supper as the kitchen is closing.  We eat well and sleep well in the comfort of our little thatched ronadvill on the magnificent banks of the great Zambezi river, looking forward to what the morning would deliver and we were not disappointed.