Zambia

We were so well looked after by Mr and Mrs Cho at the Korea Garden Lodge. 5.30am Mrs Cho drove us to Lilongwe bus station. Luckily it was just coming light. The bus station looked as rough as ever but this time with fires for people to sit around and lots of fish being sold from mats on the ground. The bus was the best we had seen in Malawi which was lucky as it was going for 14 hours to Lusaka. People and luggage in the aisle but we left at 6am with gospel music playing.no stops for the 100kms to the border, looks good but then everyone out and all the luggage and then the luggage wouldn't go back in. 2 hours to clear the border then to Chipata.

We got out at a modern shopping area and sat down to recover. ATM dispensed Zambia Kwacha so we had money. How to we get to South Luangwa game park?Taxi to bus station then minibus.

Minibus looked almost full so we bought tickets then waited 1.5hours while "doorman" found more passengers and squeezed them in. Usual problems when we set off. Stop for petrol, find the tyre is flat, drive around looking for air line, luggage falls off roof and out of the back door. Three hours after setting off we have done 100kms and reached Marula Lodge. 12 hours from lilongwe for 230kms. We were fed up.

We were greeted by Douglas who took us to the restaurant, gave us a drink, said they had rooms and tents and showed us the river in the moonlight. We were given a really nice room for the price of a tent. We were no longer fed up. While we had dinner and chatted to Mike and Jenny who ran the place we were visited by elephants and hippos. Amazing. After dark we always had to wait for one of the staff to take us to or from our rooms to make sure we didnt get killed by the wildlife.

Five wonderful days followed. Sit by the riverbank watching hippos, elephants, crocodiles and birds. Swim in the pool, chat to the other guests including Jenny, Ben and Andrew from Melbourne. No one wanted to know the aussie election result.

6am one morning we went on a walking safari with a guide and an armed ranger. Crocodiles, birds, hippos, impala,zebra etc.So nice. We also had three driving safaris where we saw loads of animals including lions either sleeping or eating zebra leg,wilderbeest, lots of warthogs, cobra, mongoose, a leopard in the darkness walking through trees and eventually a leopard right next to the track. So many animals in such a beautiful place.

We went with Jenny to the little Mfuwe airport for the ATM. Dave got money and the machine ate Youngmis card. Edna at the airport said we should be OK for standby tickets to Lusaka next day and the bank would be open for Youngmi to get her card back. Both were right. On the drive back to the lodge we saw lots of little villages made of grass and mud huts, just like the pictures we had seen. We also saw ladies who had dug a hole in the dry river bed to reach water in which they were doing their laundry.

Marula Lodge and the South Luangwa game park were wonderful.

South Luangwa,Zambia

Good one hour flight on 29 seat plane to Lusaka. Wait four hours at Lusaka airport for possible standby flight to Livingstone but it gets full and at 4pm taxi to Flintstones backpackers in centre. Cheap beer at backpackers but otherwise no good. Lusaka a dump except for big modern shopping centres. Bus station full of characters and we book tickets for next day with Shalom bus co which is said to be OK. Before bus ride walk around Lusaka which is hot, dusty, full of rubbish then take refuge in a shopping centre.
Bus ride is better than any in Africa so far and gets us to Livingstone about 9pm. Taxi to Jollyboys backpackers. Friendly, relaxed place.

Victoria Falls

Look around town and sit by the pool. Everyday for weeks has been hot and sunny and so it continues. Check out Fawlty Towers back packers but not so relaxed.

Day trip to Victoria Falls. Walk around view points and see three big falls plunging into the gorge. In the wet season the falls are 1.7kms wide but in the dry we could walk part way across the top of the falls. Visited the Royal Livingstone Hotel, Very fancy with Zebras and impalas in the grounds and a beautiful swimming pool in parkland leading to the Zambezi river. Said to be $700 ppn. After a beer back to the falls and the long descent through palm trees to the boiling pot. on the top walk past a giant baboon which a few minutes later attacks a lady and rips apart her back pack looking for food.

Next day in Livingstone visit rail, jewish and Livingstone museums and go for a beer at the golf club, The story of Edward prince of wales staying there in 1927 was a good read. Dinner at Olgas with Klaus and Kristen who we met at the falls.

Book the intercape bus from Livingstone to Windhoek for next day. 1500kms, 20 hours and $65. Sounds too good to be true but it was true. Intercape bus is very smart. The conductor says a prayer and off we go at exactly 12 noon Sunday. Takes a while to get through the hot Zambia Namibia border then on we go along the Caprivi strip. A selection of christian films for entertainment including family time. About every four hours an old guy Angus appears on the screen riding a horse, carrying his grandson and encouraging us to praise the lord. By the end of the journey we felt like Angus was an old friend. The feature film of an australian guy suing the devil was heaving going.

Malawi and its terrible buses

Malawi

Luckily we stayed 5 nights in Tukuya as moving on has almost killed us. Michael and Donald put us on the minibus to the border and said goodbye. Unfortunately the bus never moved perhaps because the driver was more interested in getting close to Youngmi. Other buses were leaving so we jumped on one and were away. It stopped 2kms from the border and we had to walk this or go on the back of a motorbike. We walked and managed to shed the group of money changers we started with. Border no problem and we were told to get a shared taxi for 45kms to Karonga. This is the taxi says one guy. It looks like a minbus says Youngmi. No its a taxi and goes direct to Karonga. We got in and the bus started stopping for more and more passengers. Daves head hit the roof with every bump.

Karonga hot and rough. We avoided the minbus and got a bigger coaster bus to Mzusu. Forever stopping for passengers and police checks until 10kms from Mzuzu and just before dark it ran out of petrol. Youngmi takes command and abandons the bus,flags down a minibus and we are off. The town is packed with people including lots trying to get home from work. We stop in the town centre and about 500 people try to get into a 15 seat bus. The driver puts us in the front and takes us to a hotel with 50 other passengers squeezed in the back. Hotel is $150 a night. Reception guy calls another hotel then a taxi. When the taxi arrives he is driving it. Hello do you recognize me? Drives us 4km down a dark dirt track to a hotel with no electricity. We refuse to get out and he takes to a good place in town. Meet a Japanese student in the restaurant who is in Malawi to study witch doctors. He shows us film of people shaking with devils inside them. Dave becomes convinced he is a witch doctor and starts shaking.

Good sleep then walk to bus station. A big bus is going to Lilongwe 330kms away. We are told it will take 5 hours from when the bus leaves. Perfect. We get on at 9.45 but the bus takes till 11.15 to get completely full that is with about 20 people standing. A well at least we have a seat. Off we go and then stop stop stop for more passengers then some at the back want to get out and have to climb over everyone. Some are nimble enough to leave through the windows. Mountains very beautiful and we stop for a pee. As Dave is getting back on he sees the driver looking at the smoke coming from the engine. We manage another km then bang and stop. Everyone gets out and the driver and his mate find some tools and disappear under the bus. Only one hour later they have the bus going again. At first they try to make up time by speedy through the mountains but the passengers scream at them and manage to slow them. Still loads of stops to find more passengers and for police checks. We were told the police checks are due to the month end as each police dept has a budget for fines and if they haven't met budget they are troublesome.
It is one hour from dark as we reach Kasunga and we are 150kms from Lilongwe. Enough. We get out through the door not the window go the hotel and it is full! Luckily there is one other hotel in town and we stay a night there.

Hotel tells us we will get a bus outside at any time. At 9.30 with a heavy heart we look for a bus. A first mini bus stops but we decline as it is full. The second stops and it is full, about 23 people and lots of bags in 15 seats. We are not full says the driver and pushes us in. The conductor has his head sideways between a bag and the roof. For over 4hours we stop everywhere to squeeze people in and out. The passengers scream as the back door has come open and their luggage is strewn all over the road. We have our rucksacks on our knees.The luggage is collected but one bag is missing. We drive back down the road until we find it guarded by a local cyclist. At one point the conductor and three people get off. We drive through a police checkpoint and then wait down the road. A passenger says we had too many people for the checkpoint and then the conductor and three passengers get back on.

The grand climax occurs when we stop for a passenger when it appears every inch of the bus is full. The conductor lies under the seats in the tiniest space for about 15 mins until someone gets off then emerges smiling. This was the only time he didn't collect fares. We are knackered when we arrive but luckily find a korean hotel. City looks really poor at first site but we have time now to recover.