Driving through Zambia/ Arrival Livingstone

A very full Victoria Falls, thundering into the gorge below

I’d be lying through my teeth if I said that this overland trip is non-stop fun. In fact, as I learned from the outset, getting to the exciting places meant long, harrowing drives through hour after hour of the same scenery. The past few days have been a test of endurance and character, with day after day of 5am starts, 12 hour drives, and brainless car ride activities. Leaving Malawi signaled 3 straight days of 12 hour drives through Zambia, with minimal stops, to get to our destination in the town of Livingstone, on the Zambian side of Victoria Falls.

The drive through northern Zambia was made even more difficult by the incessant rains. Our first stop across the Malawi/Zambia border was at a campsite called Mama Rula’s, in the town of Chipata. By the time we arrived, exhausted and with numb butts after the drive, we barely had time to set up our tents before the heavens opened and dumped down gallons of water on top of us (and our dinner). The rain also brought out the ants, which sought shelter in our tents from the flood. I quite literally woke up in a puddle of mud, but not a lot can be done about a leaking tent. There wasn’t time to mourn; even for the girl who woke up with an ants nest in her hair, because by 6am we had to depart the campsite. Joy.

12 hours later we arrived at a campsite called Eureka just outside Lusaka, the Zambian capital. I chose the easy option and upgraded my sleeping arrangements to a dorm, citing the need to dry out my sleeping bag after the previous nights mud puddle incident. I was also quite worried about getting sick yet again, as there really was no opportunity for wet anything to dry out. I was glad I did–again it poured that night and even more ants invaded the tents. We were not a happy bunch, as you can well imagine.

"Scenes so lovely must have been gazed upon by angels in their flight" ~Dr. David Livingstone

Armed with several cans of ant spray (which I’ve now learned are a must for camping), I set up my tent once when arrived at the Waterfront Lodge in Livingstone, Zambia, and finally got a chance to relax after the three day driving marathon. Livingstone is a gorgeous town and has grown immensely since the last time I was here in September 2007. Unfortunately our travel agenda only allowed us the one afternoon before moving on to Zimbabwe, and I was determined to make the most of it.

With the rest of the group going on a $45 booze cruise up the Zambezi (which I’d done in 2007 and felt I could safely miss this time around), I was determined to hike out to Victoria Falls. I was also quite keen to set out on my own, since after 3 days of being in a cramped truck with 22 others I was desperate for some alone time.

The mist and sunlight created perfect, radiant rainbows for us

A taxi took me to the Zambezi Sun hotel, where I’d stayed in 2007 and where I knew I could find the path to the falls. Getting there was no problem but I hadn’t expected one thing: February is well into the rainy season and the falls were thundering with biblical amounts of water. That ruled out the hike to the Devil’s Cauldron, a small pool of water located just at the falls where it is possible to lean out over the falls without being in danger, but only so long as it’s the dry season and the water isn’t flowing fast.

Viewing the falls in their full splendor was incredible, but very wet! I’d ignored the plastic raincoats that a group of locals were renting out, and quickly regretted it–within several minutes the mist from the falls had soaked me through to my underwear and I was worried my camera would short out. At some places it was like walking through full rainstorms, even though the day was bright and sunny. When I’d last seen the falls there was barely a trickle of water in comparison to what was now spilling over in vast sheets. The mist from these full falls could be seen for miles around and stretched up hundreds of meters. This truly was the Smoke that Thunders–Mosi-oa-Tunya–at its very best.

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