En so.... ry ons Zambië toe

Tell us about your recent trip. Please add some photographs.
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En so.... ry ons Zambië toe

Post by warthog »

Howzit...

I have not been active here in the recent past. (Been a "roofkyker", but have not posted much....)

So we've been to Zambia for three weeks, and I'm being bugged (specially by Swambo) for a trip report (although she did accompany me...).

And now I wonder, can I gooi the trip report here?
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Re: En so.... ry ons Zambië toe

Post by Family_Dog »

Hi Hennie, been a while!

Now gooi!


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Re: En so.... ry ons Zambië toe

Post by Dowe Koos »

Hallo Hennie, my naam is ook Hennie.
Gooi daardie trip report want ek en ander mense gaan volgende jaar die Malawi en Zambië trip doen.
Sal graag hoor waar julle was en ander dinge.
Wag vir jou trip report.
Ecc 1:9 Wat gewees het, dit sal daar weer wees; en wat gebeur het, dit sal weer gebeur, en daar is glad niks nuuts onder die son nie.
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Re: En so.... ry ons Zambië toe

Post by Mud Dog »

Hi Hennie. Yes, been a while, but your TR's have always made for captivating and fascinating reading, so go for it with no holes barred. I for one will be waiting in anticipation. :thumbup:
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Re: En so.... ry ons Zambië toe

Post by warthog »

Thank you.

Ok, so here we go again… and again, what an absolute blessing to have been able to do this once more, and to write this again…. Chrisna's words just keeps mulling around in my head... when the people at her work asked her before the trip where she was going for three weeks in Africa, her answer was: "I'm going to church."

Swambo read this a week or so before we left:
"Het jy geweet dat daar n sekere tyd in die jaar is wat die arend kragteloos raak? Waar sy pote en snawel so aangepak raak en dan vlug hy na die kranse toe, waar hy begin om sy vere uit te trek en sy snawel en pote teen die kranse skuur om sodoende al die aanpaksel af te kry wat met tyd opgebou het. So sit die kaal arend dan daarbo en wag....hy wag vir nuwe krag en nuwe vere. Elke dag dan klap hy vlerke om te voel of hy al krag het....wat n gesig! 'n Kaal arend! So begin hy vere kry en sy kragte word meer tot op n dag wat hy waag en hy weer vry in die lug begin sweef opsoek na nuwe prooi."

Whether it's true or not, I don't know, but these bi-annual tripe is really that... church, new beak, new feathers, new energy.

So, like before, PATIENCE is the watch word… have been back for 2 weeks…, hectic schedules, etc, etc, etc… and you-know-how-many pic’s to work through…

This trip was born 2 years ago, on the sands of Lake Kariba, at Matusadona.

Some months ago, Dewald sent through the final route: It was Kasane via Palapye, then across the border to Nkwazi Lodge, Via Lusaka to South Luangwa, from there via Kapishya to Ndole Bay on the southern edge of Lake Tanganyika, and then back via Lumangwe & Kabweluma falls to Kasanka, Lusaka en back again like we came.

Before I go anywhere with this: Some real and serious credits: As you might have gathered, these trips are organised by my bil Dewald - he does all the hard work, the initial investigations and checks, all the stress for the route etc is on him. Now Dewald does not do tar if there is a gravel road, and he does not do bollie gravel roads... if there are kakker ones... BUT: that's why we do this. We can do easy within 50k's from home, THIS is memories...

So Wallie - .... "dankie" kan dit onmoontlik nie doen nie....
Hannes also did a lot of work on campsites and things to see... so: KUDO's and hat off to them.

So the Cast: As always: The Originals:

Bil Dewald Hattingh (Organiser Extraordinaire, route scout, guide, GPS wiz, situation planner, off-road racer, and, like the guy at Eureka called him: The BOSS) and his family: wife Lisa and sons Dewald (17) and Leon (15), driving their 70 Series Toyota Land Cruiser, towing an Echo Kavango caravan;

Bil Jan Hattingh and Alta, with a Toyota Hilux DC 4.0 V6, (loaded as usual beyond with everything possibly necessary to fix anything that could possibly go wrong) towing their Echo Kavango caravan;

The Brands: Hannes from Canada with wife Louize, and sons Berin (he turned 22 during the trip) and Bennett (19), this time driving a rented new(wish)Toyota Hilux 2.4 diesel D/C AT with a rooftop tent, and towing their own Echo Kavango caravan (yes, they bought their own few months back...);

Yours truly, with Swamb’s (Ansie) (but without daughter Liné (she had to work) and son Hennard - he picked up an unexpected supplementary at university...), again driving Forest (Toyota Fortuner 4.0 V6), and towing our Imagine Comfortvan (Gump).

Joining as The Fixtures by now:

Friends from Barberton, Marnus and Lizette von Wielligh, driving a Toyota Prado GX and towing a Jurgens Explorer, with their eldest Julius.

Friends Ferdi and Annica Ollewage from Red Deer, Alberta, Canada, and two of their three sons Adrian and Theo, driving a rented Toyota Hilux 2.4 diesel D/C AT with a rooftop tent, and also towing their own Echo Kavango caravan (yes, they also bought their own few months back...).

And then:

Ampie and Chrisna Swanepoel, (Alta's sister and bil - they've joined us on parts of various previous trips - but this was to be the first full trip with us) driving THE ONLY not Toyota... a Landrover Discovery towing what else but? An Echo Kavango....

So the long and short:

Six Toyota's and one Landrover

Five Echo Kavango's, one Jurgens Xplorer and one Imagine Comfortvan.

The plot will thicken.....

(AND PLEASE: The pic's are NOT just mine, (actually very few are) everybody has a camera, and everybody takes pic's, where I can, I'll attribute the pic's, but mostly it's just deurmekaar - everybody's...)
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Re: En so.... ry ons Zambië toe

Post by Mud Dog »

Ons wag klaar in spanning! :winkx:
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Re: En so.... ry ons Zambië toe

Post by warthog »

The Canadians arrived during the week of 18 June.
/Users/henniehamlawcoza/Desktop/Week 1/ 1 Pta-Kasane/IMG-20180617-WA0017.jpg
/Users/henniehamlawcoza/Desktop/Week 1/ 1 Pta-Kasane/IMG-20180617-WA0017.jpg
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Hannes and Louize visited us to pack and kit their caravan, and Ferdi and Annica did the same at his mother’s place in Pretoria. After some serious last minute buying and packing, the young Canadians, arriving from Canada and Australia, were met and fetched from OR Thambo on Friday, and Hannes and Ferdi finally got their vehicles.

As every single time in the past, these rentals again caused some serious concern and worry, however, for a change it was not the condition of the vehicles, or anything mechanical... After their previous experiences, both were rather unwilling to deal directly with the same rental company as in the past. They did their homework, and eventually decided to work through an agency situated in Cape Town. The deposits were paid in October last year, and both received confirmations of their vehicle bookings. When they were reminded by the agency, both duly paid the balances due a month before the trip. About 2 weeks later they received emails from the rental company that the balances were still due and outstanding... After some frantic calls and enquiries, it transpired that the agency through which they booked had gone bust, and never paid over the final payments to the rental company...

Luckily the rental agency accepted the situation, and allowed them to rectify – and AGAIN paying the outstanding amounts – when they fetched their vehicles. This saga is not yet finalized... The positive is that the vehicles were miles better that in the past. Both had 2017 Hilux 2.4 DC’s, and both were very impressed by their steeds.
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Re: En so.... ry ons Zambië toe

Post by warthog »

This trip would prove to be one of the more challenging trips we’ve had as far as tyres were concerned. On the previous 4 trips, I remember 4 or 5 punctures in total, on this trip alone we had nine flat tyres. Five tyres written off…
As far as I am aware, both rentals were returned with everything still in tact... no broken steering locks, ignitions, no spare wheels tied to roof racks, no newly replaced wheel studs, no bush-jobs on wiring, no accident damage although everyone was a little bit nervous when Hannes was behind you...
Friday night was time for the now customary meal – although it was not pizza’s this time.
IMG-20180720-WA0022.jpg
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Re: En so.... ry ons Zambië toe

Post by warthog »

Finally, Saturday, June 23 arrived.
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In contrast to previous years, we left quite late, around 11h00 after meeting at Jan’s place. This is what it looked like from Berin’s perspective.
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Ferdi pulled away first, and immediately kept right on the road, much to the terror of the oncoming car until he remembered (or was reminded) to keep left in SA... Old habits die hard – I caught him jumping into the left front seat of his truck too somewhere, although his explanation was that he was looking for something in the cubbyhole.... Yea, ye’re right.

(OK, so this pic should not be here but I can't remove it :frustrated: :frustrated:
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Re: En so.... ry ons Zambië toe

Post by warthog »

Everybody met up at the Engen on the N1, and after some fuel, air, coffee and loo-breaks we set off.
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We left quite late, as the first stopover was to be in Palapye, just across the Botswana border. The trip was rather uneventful, the border went reasonably quickly, and it was nice to be back in Botswana again.
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We saw our first sunset on the trip... through car windows. After crossing the railway lines in Palapye – we were sleeping on the wrong side of the tracks, we arrived at Camp Itumela, just in time for the second half of the last test between the Boks and the Poms. Rather disappointing that was...
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Campsite was good, although somewhat full and crowded. Marnus and us had to squeeze into a corner, but the others had a lekker circle on grass. We had the first of plenty braai’s to come, and somehow the 100 odd weeks that passed since the last time we were around a fire felt like just yesterday....
There was a huge party somewhere close, with some serious boom-boom music literally the whole night. We left around 7 the following morning: Destination: Kasane
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Last edited by warthog on Sun Sep 02, 2018 12:19 am, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: En so.... ry ons Zambië toe

Post by warthog »

Sunday to Kasane was just as uneventful, though the road was bit worse and more potholed than I remember from two years ago. 700+km driving anywhere is far and takes time, but it didn’t feel like that, somehow those long straights in Botswana calms the soul, just makes your breathing kinda slow down a touch. You get into a sort of autopilot mode on those roads, and the mind just wanders.
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Scenery was just beautiful, calming. And then you run into these guys….
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One thing I did notice, there was a lot less donkeys than four years ago, even two years ago when we last drove through. Those stories about the donkey skins for China kept popping up…

Our stopover in Kasane was the Great 5 Chobe Lodge just outside of Kasane. We got there just about at three, and as we waited for the Man with the Hat to go clear our entry, a Hilux DC came from the front. Small world… our next-door neighbour at home’s son and his wife and son. We chatted a while about their adventures in Bots, and all I’ll say, get some mates to do this stuff with you Gys, don’t do it alone…
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Campsite was really nice, plenty vehicles and caravans and stuff, but also plenty, clean ablutions with proper hot water. Berin again contacted the local ATC and we had lift-off.
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Everybody went down to the pub, and celebrated… just being there, on the Chobe. Awesome. (That word already… and it was only day 2…)
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Last edited by warthog on Tue Aug 07, 2018 10:12 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: En so.... ry ons Zambië toe

Post by warthog »

The setting, the atmosphere, the ambiance, the company, His Presence... just beyond...
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Now, just to explain, we were seven rigs/families in the group. Marnus, Ferdi and Annica, and Liza are the food-fundi’s. Fred and me will braai EVERY day (we’re constantly looking for a recipe to braai pasta). Obviously all the other ladies can also all cook(not that they necessarily want to while on holiday). Ampie and Dewald also both like braai and fire. Jan will rather pull an engine at 18h00 and overhaul it than cook or braai. So that leaves Hannes…
So shortly after first drinks were served on the Chobe’s edge, the waiter was called by some of the ladies, Jan and Hannes to report as to what was available on the menu… no matter my, Ferdi and Ampie’s protestations, the end result was a given…
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It was the start to a truly memorable trip.
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Re: En so.... ry ons Zambië toe

Post by Mars »

Dankie sovêr. Dit is harde werk om so 'n verslag te doen en word waardeer.
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Re: En so.... ry ons Zambië toe

Post by Mud Dog »

Good start, Hennie :D: ...... The appetizer was good, looking forward to the 'meat and potatoes. :thumbup:
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Re: En so.... ry ons Zambië toe

Post by warthog »

Monday arrived. Dewald planned for us to have basically the whole morning to get through the border. We left Big 5 around 8, stopped at the Engen outside Kasane, chucked everything chock-and-block with fuel, and drove the couple hundred metres to the Border. (Petrol in Bots is like R11/l, and 2 km away in Zambia it’s R18/l)…

I’ve not done nearly as many border crossings in Africa as Jan and Dewald, probably only around 25, and the most arduous before this trip was when we crossed from Zimbabwe into Zambia on the Serengeti-trip. Zambia did not disappoint… this one from Botswana into Zambia at Kazangula was just as arduous… there was no real trouble, border crossings just plays havoc on my nerves - I think it’s from the problem with our carnet on the Serengeti trip. It took us three hours (WITHOUT any actual SH.T). We all “employed” runners, and ours (us and Marnus’s) was really cool. Took no money from us, just accompanied us everywhere we had to go, and we paid him the agreed fee afterwards. Some of the others in the group were fleeced a bit…

First the pontoon across the river…. the pontoon guys were the most organised - showed you exactly where to stop, when to get on, where to stop on the pontoon, and then hurried you to f… off when it docked…
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The ferry will be gone in a few years. The bridge is in progress. Guys on the ferry said the bridge should be finished by 2022. It will be a pity. That pontoon is just so quintessential Africa…
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Last edited by warthog on Tue Aug 07, 2018 10:14 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: En so.... ry ons Zambië toe

Post by warthog »

Then on the other side of the river… Immigration, Customs, Third Party, Road toll, Community fees… and every place is situated as far as possible from each other to make it as confusing as possible… just like at Kariba on the Serengeti trip… Did I mention I hate border crossings?
IMG_3557.jpg
We were through last… just after Marnus. As you leave, there is a sharp up just before a T where we had to go right. As we drove out of the (very bad road) border crossing, there was a large, very slow truck in front of us, and I just gunned Forest past it over a solid barrier line, got to the T first, turned right, and was promptly stopped by a policeman at a roadblock 100m away… “Good day Sir, are you in a hurry?”…

I erm’ed and ah’ed through a total crap explanation about my friend in front leaving me behind, and he with a very slight smile let me go with a stern warning… “Please oblige to the road rules Sir. Have a good journey in my country. Be safe.” Some 40 odd km we turned of to Nkwazi Camp….

We stopped at reception and were met by the rest, with a beer, and an amazing view….
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Thank goodness. At least two weeks before the next border crossing back…
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Re: En so.... ry ons Zambië toe

Post by warthog »

Camp Nkwazi’s campsites were really excellent - spacious with freshly cut grass with neatly trimmed edges, spanking clean bathrooms, plenty hot water. We split 4-3 over two stands, about 50 m apart. Some drove to Vic Falls for the afternoon.
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The rest just lounged around. I went back to the restaurant, and just sat… (sometimes I sits and thinks, and sometimes I just sits…) Took some pic’s of birds, nothing really good.

Around 4 we went on a sunset cruise. No animals around except plenty birds, couple of hippo in the distance, and some flat-dogs…
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Re: En so.... ry ons Zambië toe

Post by warthog »

The scenery on the river and sunset was magic.
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We went back to camp, and had a memorable evening around the fire, with lots and lots of stories (Chrisna wie gate toestop…)
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Re: En so.... ry ons Zambië toe

Post by Mud Dog »

:thumbup: so far ..... as usual. :D:
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Re: En so.... ry ons Zambië toe

Post by Cinco »

Thank you. Very entertaining and informative. Border posts, I agree, are not fun. Did you go through Groblers/ Martind drift? That place always wets my battery.
Wishing my life away till the next trip!
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Re: En so.... ry ons Zambië toe

Post by FIRSTGEER »

Very well written and cant wait for further updates.
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Re: En so.... ry ons Zambië toe

Post by warthog »

Tuesday arrived too quickly. Marnus and Lizette celebrated their 25th Wedding Anniversary, hopefully with some hot potato salad... We left around 8. Destination: Lusaka. We stopped in Livingstone to draw money and get some kwacha’s. The road was, well like roads in Africa. Some roads are very good, some good, some roads less so, some good but with lots of potholes, some bad, some even worse than bad, and then some like that last 70 odd km from Mazabuko to Lusaka. I’m not talking “roads” where you stay in 4x4, I’m talking so-called main/tar roads. That stretch was just atrocious.
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I had an appointment to pick up a bike frame in Lusaka that afternoon, and as it got later and later, we stayed in contact with Mwewa. When I explained about the road and that I’m therefore going to be late, he responded: “I know that road, drove it last night. It is the road from hell.” Immediately upon leaving Mazabuko, we encountered the sign: “ROADWORKS AHEAD”. On the next 70km we saw 3, THREE, gents working on that “road”. ’Nuff said. Everybody was just so gatvol very few/no pic's were taken.
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We camped at Camp Eureka just on the southern outskirts of Lusaka. I drove into Lusaka proper to fetch the bike frame, with Jan and Julius. The traffic was atrocious, and I truly felt I was somewhere on the eastern outskirts of Pretoria… that traffic with multiple shopping centres around with Debonaires, Kentucky, Woolworths, Mr Price, Edgars, Truworths, Game, Builders Wharehouse, etc etc.

Campsite was lekker and flat. It was a stopover. Bathrooms were quite some distance, but they gave us the keys to 2 bungalows close by for use of the toilets.
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Re: En so.... ry ons Zambië toe

Post by warthog »

We left early.... refuelling just before entering Lusaka.
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Wednesday was a big day for the Brands. Hannes met a young girl through his practise. She saw the pic’s on his walls of Africa from previous trips and started talking. Her name is Nicole Lindgren. Canadian. Turned out, she heard a calling and was helping at a kind of orphanage in Lusaka for homeless young boys living on the street.
The ONE item on their wishlist: Shoes. Old shoes. For the kids. So Hannes and Louize started a project/collection of old shoes in their hometown Wetaskiwin in Canada. And they were overwhelmed… they came over with FOUR suitcases filled with shoes and clothing for young boys… plus some cash for a data projector. They travelled all the way from Canada with those extra suitcases (you will see some of them in the second post above) for which they had to pay penalties on the airlines, loaded on their roof rack, and they were to deliver them today…
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The Ollewages and us accompanied them. What a humbling experience… kids as young as six… living on the street, with no-one, alone, literally with nothing but the threadbare t-shirt and shorts he’s wearing being brought in to this place. They have nothing. Nothing….
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Nicole with the data projector.
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Place is run by Nsansa Ministries. I was expecting a “proper” orphanage. No, not so, it was a square building approximately 6x6 in the backyard of a residential property on the eastern outskirts of Lusaka. One outside bathroom and toilet for 60 boys… Their meals consist mainly of what I know as Matabele Pap, cooked in a pot on an open fire. Sixty boys, aged between 6 and 16, all sleeping packed together on thin mats in the square building, a little bigger than my bedroom… That pinkish building.... houses 60+ boys...
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The pic's just speak for themselves.
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Swambo and I don't normally chatter a lot, but we were especially quiet in the car for a very, very long time after leaving them….
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IMG_3551.jpg (63.58 KiB) Viewed 8961 times
Last edited by warthog on Tue Aug 07, 2018 10:30 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: En so.... ry ons Zambië toe

Post by Mud Dog »

:( Sad indeed.
When your road comes to an end ...... you need a HILUX!.

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Re: En so.... ry ons Zambië toe

Post by warthog »

We met up with the others somewhere on the road to South Luangwa National Park. The initial plans was to stop en route, but in Lusaka we decided to push, see how far we can get, and then look for a place to camp. So gesê, so gedaan. We encountered our first of plenty flats, when Marnus had to stop…
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Note the number of hands in pockets…. AND do not miss Hannes explaining the process....
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And the youngsters were playing ball in the road…
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CORRECTION: Marnus's first flat, where the pics were taken, was actually quite a few days later, just before Kapishya, and not on the way to South Luangwa. Hannes actually had the dubious honour of the first flat tyre
Last edited by warthog on Thu Aug 09, 2018 4:47 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: En so.... ry ons Zambië toe

Post by warthog »

After a lengthy spell not seeing any of the by now familiar charcoal stops, we decided on the radio that we seriously needed charcoal, so the very next place I spotted a lonely bag, I chucked out brakes, reversed some 150 meters, the rest leaving me behind with a mere l polite "Is jy ok?" over the radio.

Now I saw plenty of strapping young lads around the previous charcoal "points", and got out here on my lone self quite confidently. A lady came running up from a mudhouse some 50m from the road with a huge smile, showing her few teeth left in a quite unhealthy yellowish-brown tint... ominous... I politely entered into negotiations for the singular, lone bag of charcoal, and kind of looked around... for the "help".

In my kindness, (and stupidity) in reply to her price of ZK30 I offered ZK50, much to her (fairly toothless and immediately accepted) delight, and she promptly turned and left for her shack after having been paid.

Leaving me rather disconsolately and forlornly gazing at the lone bag of charcoal, which barring a few inches, appeared to be approximately the same length, depth, width and (probably) weight as me!!!! Oh shit. I manfully approached it with a Beast Mtiwarera attitude, grabbed it around half way and heaved it on my shoulder. Hoooooly Canoooolly... amongst the staggering, i managed to keep to the road, and not be pushed some 1,5 m down the side of the road... had that happened, I would have left that wretched bag of charcoal just there...

I eventually managed to stabilise myself, just behind Gump, and slowly proceeded to waddle to Forests's left side. On my my way there I realised that never in my life was I going to be able to heave that bag from the passenger side uphill onto the roof rack, so I merely proceeded to stumble some 15 m past Forests' front before succeeding in turning around and storming the driver's side of the roof rack. I will not venture here any further, barring to say that I eventually, after much further waddling and side-stepping, and under enormous weight, and giggling and mirth from my dearest better half, managed to secure the wretched bag of charcoal on Forest's roof rack with the damage of only two pictures, one of which is this...
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I am still suffering from my back. (and her mirth...)
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Re: En so.... ry ons Zambië toe

Post by Mud Dog »

:laugh2: ..... been there myself, 'cept it was a spare and I think I'm considerably lighter in frame than you. :D:

P.S. Having a tail-gate helps.
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Re: En so.... ry ons Zambië toe

Post by Mars »

Uitstekend sovêr. Ek geniet die storie al meer.
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Re: En so.... ry ons Zambië toe

Post by Family_Dog »

Hennie, I really think you should compile a booklet of all your trips. They make for gripping reading and one eagerly looks forward to the next chapter!!


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Re: En so.... ry ons Zambië toe

Post by warthog »

We made good time on the road, and Dewald sourced Mama Rulas, a campsite just outside Chipata en route to South Luangwa. In between refuelling in Chipata on petrol/diesel/beer we all arrived in staggered fashion.

Nice place. Lekker grass. Clean bathrooms with plenty hot water (except the last shower at the bottom... where you ended up showering and standing in at least your own water...) There was a fairly rowdy, noisy bunch of youngsters from Europe on tour there when we got there - I met some of them having Springbokkies in the pub - but they were actually very chilled and just happy and easy, and conked out fairly early - probably because of the Springbokkies...

We had a really relaxed kuier around a huge fire after a long, and for some a really emotionally taxing journey, and had a really lekker sleep... Nice place. Recommended. It is off the the main road, so there is none of that constant Africa traffic in your ear.

We left the next morning at 8. Thanks to the long day previous, it was a short stint to Zikomo just outside South Luangwa National Park.
Last edited by warthog on Sun Sep 02, 2018 12:30 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: En so.... ry ons Zambië toe

Post by warthog »

On the way to Chipata - Mama Rula's is just outside, Julius on the fly caught this two youngsters having an absolute ball on a bicycle obviously not either's... (considering his father was probably doing at least 120, the pic's are not bad...) just check the unbridled joy, especially on the guy at the back's face...
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Re: En so.... ry ons Zambië toe

Post by warthog »

Zikomo is just outside South Luangwa National Park. There is a bar/swimming pool, and some chalet's looking out over the riverbed - the park is on the opposite side of the river bed.

It had for me very much the same feels as Mana, except the river was dry, with the camping right on the edge of the riverbed. We were there 4 nights, another truly magical place. Open air showers and ablutions with reed-walls, hot water aplenty, stunning views, kuiers, food....

On the way we collected some firewood.
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The youngsters played some cricket, and various other games...
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Took photo's...
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Had some beers...
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But mostly... we just sat, and breathed in His Awesomeness...
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Last edited by warthog on Sun Sep 02, 2018 12:32 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: En so.... ry ons Zambië toe

Post by warthog »

This was our campsite.
DJI_0068 (1).jpg
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Re: En so.... ry ons Zambië toe

Post by warthog »

The following posts will just be pictures. It is just various pictures from just about everybody. I am not going to explain every pic, just give a brief summary here and there to not interrupt the flow of photo's. The photo's are just random picks from everybody's photo's, there are just too many to pick from...

There was just so much.... day we arrived the youngsters went on a sunset drive in the park, and ran across, for me the ultimate sighting.... a pack of painted dogs...

The light was really bad, and there was just no time, so the pic's are what they are. Well done to the boys.
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Re: En so.... ry ons Zambië toe

Post by warthog »

On that first evening two guys very politely approached us and introduced themselves. They were there for us, and whatever else we needed done or washed, clothing, dishes, vehicles... And, more importantly, they were the security, on duty during the night, and if we saw torches moving in the night, it was them, we had nothing to worry about... (I had to get up for a Nr 2 at about 5:30 next morning, and nearly dropped the Nr 2 in my broek when one of them "Good morning Sir"-ed me whilst I was sleepwalking to the loo...)

I remember seeing them later that evening shining their torches into the trees, wondering if they were looking for bats or some birds, and thinking to ask them the next day.

Next morning they told us that there was a leopard in our camp during the night.... but they saw that she was fat, so she had recently eaten, else they would have woken us to get us to move the boys sleeping in the tent into a caravan... (that's why they were shining their torches in the trees...)

I managed to keep calm... and told them next time they see the leopard, to come wake us, whether she was fat or not...
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Re: En so.... ry ons Zambië toe

Post by warthog »

Hannes, Ferdi, Ampie and Jan drove into the Park the next day - it's about a 40 minute drive to the entrance, and you then basically double back to drive in the park opposite the river where we camped.

These are a little of what they saw...
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Re: En so.... ry ons Zambië toe

Post by warthog »

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Re: En so.... ry ons Zambië toe

Post by warthog »

They also... found a fairly recent lion-kill...
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THIS is what DIKGEVREET looks like...
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Re: En so.... ry ons Zambië toe

Post by warthog »

Next day we went into the park, us, Dewald and Marnus.
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Re: En so.... ry ons Zambië toe

Post by warthog »

Previous night some of us heard a serious commotion somewhere in the distance across the riverbed in the park, but like really serious, with a lot of running, scuffling, and lion grunting and humph-ing...

So we were driving around, and this Isuzu approached with a couple, stopped, told us to keep going some 45 km where we were heading, there was a fresh lion-buffalo kill. So we called the others on the radio, and off we went...
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That buffalo-kill was what we heard the previous night... it was not very far away...
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Re: En so.... ry ons Zambië toe

Post by warthog »

A magical place... at the very least on the same level of awesomeness as Mana Pools...
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Re: En so.... ry ons Zambië toe

Post by FIRSTGEER »

:thumbup: Keep it rolling Hennie.Nice pics
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Re: En so.... ry ons Zambië toe

Post by warthog »

We left Zikomo early the next day, as we were well aware that it would be the longest - and most difficult - day of the entire trip. The plan was to, rather than drive back to Lusaka and go north from there, on tar, enter South Luangwa from the south and drive through the Park… Dewald does not do a shit road if there is a shittier one… I’m not complaining, merely stating a fact. It was to be some 160km to Kapishya, and the road we were about to embark upon, would prove to be a real test… There were to be several river crossings, but it was winter, and they were all dry. There was however one crossing, which Dewald read had washed away during the rain season, but they were busy rebuilding it, and besides (Dewald thought) a dry river bed, shouldn’t be too difficult… The day we left Pretoria (a week before we crossed there) Dewald received a sms that the repairs were done, and all was good.

(I'll post some more over the weekend - the pic's are a nightmare to sort...)

Oh, and this is Hannes' video clip for the part up to South Luangwa.

https://youtu.be/mFInn3E_miE
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Re: En so.... ry ons Zambië toe

Post by Mud Dog »

Great compilation of pics and nicely put together in that clip. :thumbup: :thumbup:

Those youngsters are going to cherish those memories for the rest of their lives!
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Re: En so.... ry ons Zambië toe

Post by warthog »

Shortly after leaving Zikomo, Hannes called over the radio. He had a flat. We were first out and ahead, and him second. Wheel change first.
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While we waited, we witnessed another amazing sunrise through the trees.
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The drive to the park’s entrance was uneventful, apart from the little water crossing, but everyone cruised through no problem.
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Re: En so.... ry ons Zambië toe

Post by warthog »

We entered the park, and the first 40-odd km was easy going. We passed the turnoff to where we saw the lion-kill, and carried on north. The road steadily got worse, it was quite obviously not the road of choice north from where we were coming. It was beautiful country though, that dense Mopani-forest scenery…
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There was a number of river crossings, and basically everybody got stuck in one somewhere. But some digging, groot klippe under wheels, a push here and there, and everybody got out fairly easily.
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Re: En so.... ry ons Zambië toe

Post by warthog »

And then we reached the crossing that was rebuilt just a week before, the one Dewald thought… Naaah, can’t be that bad, we’ll make a plan to cross if it’s not finished… THIS one…
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I must tell you. Dewald might have made a plan to get us all through that, but I would have had to turn around the other side and drive back via Lusaka to fetch Swambo, ‘cause she would have walked back to South Luangwa…
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Re: En so.... ry ons Zambië toe

Post by warthog »

And then it was like curtain through which we entered. There were just suddenly like millions and millions of horseflies (steekvlieë)… which swarmed around the vehicles, tap-tapping on the windows… And the the road just started to disappear… Dewald was lead, and us, having left the campsite first, as usual, somewhere ended up last… (oh yes, I remember, where we first took the wrong turnoff in the Park…)
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The road got reeaaaally bad, and then just kind off, disappeared. Some barely visible tracks were found looping to the left around a tree that has fallen across the road.
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But the “new tracks” were clearly for vehicles only… there was no way that caravans would bend around those tight corners through the trees, so Jan and Dewald and some youngsters got out, and started chopping trees to make space. The horseflies took a real liking to them, especially Jan. When we came past him bending back an obstinate branch, his back looked like it had been taken to with a cat-o’-nine tails…
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Last edited by warthog on Sun Aug 19, 2018 8:44 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: En so.... ry ons Zambië toe

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We eventually got back on “the road”. But The Escarpment loomed… and it proved all we heard it promised… The fist 2 km is not to bad, it is a winding road up The Escarpment, but it is built in the traditional way, snaking, winding, zig-zagging up the steep incline. You can hear the vehicle’s engines working, but no real bother. And the most amazing views through the trees.
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We started right down theeeeere...
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Re: En so.... ry ons Zambië toe

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But then you cross a stream with a miniature waterfall, and suddenly…. Marnus’ description is the best: It’s like the road builder got gatvol, looked up The Escarpment, pointed basically straight up, and told the bulldozer: GO THERE! F. this winding, snaking, zig-zagging. GO THERE!!

Really, reeeaaallly steep, with plenty loose gravel and klippe…
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Dewald got out first. I think Jan was next. I remember him saying on the radio to stay right right up against the tree, and then go left (that was maybe the best line in the beginning…) Then it was Ampie with the Landie, and halfway up he caught a sidewall cut right back and had to stop for a tyre change. Lots of helping hands…
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Berin got his drone out while waiting. That's Ampie in the circle, and the rest at the bottom of the climb.
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Last edited by warthog on Sun Sep 02, 2018 12:39 am, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: En so.... ry ons Zambië toe

Post by warthog »

I was right at the back, riding sweep. Lekker rustige tyd, had a sarmie, caught a power-nap, listened on the radio. Ampie’s tyre was changed, and he drove out. (Must mention here - I did not watch, but Marnus was impressed with the way the Landie handled the very steep incline - even though to is a Landie…)

Then Marnus went. And got out.
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And the Hannes went. And got stuck. And again. And again. I walked up to help. By that time Jan’s “keep right” line had been warn through, the bare red ground offered no grip whatsoever. Eventually, after much road- building, recalculating lines, getting stuck again near the top, Hannes’s vehicle got out. It must have taken the best part of an hour…
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Re: En so.... ry ons Zambië toe

Post by warthog »

Fred was next. He knew only one way… He basically just gunned his Hilux from the bottom, and just drove his vehicle and caravan in one go up the whole incline. There ya go. No prob.
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I was last. I misjudged the line halfway up by literally no more than 15 cm, and had to stop. Some quick road-building, and a push and we were all up The Escarpment.

This is what concentration looks like...
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Re: En so.... ry ons Zambië toe

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A little blood, some tears - Swambo is not prone to foul language, but even she had some choice words - she walked it up, and waited with Louize up top for us - and plenty sweat, but we made it.

120 km. 12 hours. (Of which the first 50 odd took about 90 minutes) Dewald, Jan and Ampie drove on. We were clearly not going to reach Kapishya. They reached a village straddling the road, and the Chief agreed that we could make camp at a stream on the way.

We never found the stream. So we just made camp. Just there. Chances that there were other traffic on thát road were very slim, so we just pulled of the road. My left wheels were still in right-hand tracks…

We opened what needed to be opened on the caravans to eat and sleep, made a fire in the road in front of Dewald’s Cruiser, and ….
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Re: En so.... ry ons Zambië toe

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Around 22h00 we were proven wrong about the traffic when we saw lights approaching from the front. An ambulance. We quickly moved fridges, kitchens etc back into the caravans for it to pass. The ambulance came back through again at about 02h15….

It was one of THOSE absolutely, truly amazing memorable evenings that will end up being the Signature evening of the Zambia Trip.... The youngsters took the cameras up the road, and these awesome pic's were the results...
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Re: En so.... ry ons Zambië toe

Post by warthog »

Next morning...
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And Berin sent his drone up...
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Re: En so.... ry ons Zambië toe

Post by warthog »

Like Hannes said....
IMG-20180805-WA0019.jpg
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Re: En so.... ry ons Zambië toe

Post by warthog »

I left that camp with that feeling of unexpected grace...
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Re: En so.... ry ons Zambië toe

Post by FIRSTGEER »

Great Hennie.Keep it rolling.
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Re: En so.... ry ons Zambië toe

Post by Mud Dog »

This is why I'll never miss out on reading one of your TR's, Hennie. Great adventure, awesome pics and a knack for story telling! Well done so far, can't wait for the next one. :thumbup:
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Re: En so.... ry ons Zambië toe

Post by Mars »

Heerlik om te lees en kyk Hennie dankie.
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