31 October Odo 87122 Mayukuyuku to Forest Inn
An early morning wakeup to pack up, pay our fees and head
north off to Forest Inn. We stopped in
Mumbwa again to refuel, restock the beer and try and buy ice, still only the
big blocks. The map indicated that this was all tar, but it was not to be. Road
varied from bad tar roads, to patchy tar and gravel with big trucks, goats,
children and people crossing the road. We were driving through many communities
again, with heaps of bags of charcoal next to the road again and plenty of Police
road blocks, they were all very polite and the travelling was slow but
uneventful. The area more north of Lusaka, where we joined the main road, had
some areas that are beautiful, big farms with agricultural lands
irrigated by central pivot systems. With so many communities next to the road
it was difficult to find a spot to make brunch, eventually we pulled off at a
Jehovah Witness Church and had our meal in their parking area, clean and no one
around. The leader/priest of the church arrived and asked us politely what we
were doing, once we explained, she assured us we were most welcome.
Late afternoon arrival at Forest Inn, nothing has changed
since we camped there August 1999, but reasonably clean and they had power!!!
After 2 weeks of no power, having the connection problems we had, the men were
very grateful. We also met some
Jehovah Witness delegates visiting their
parishes from South Africa in Zambia camping at Forest Inn and when we told
them we had stopped at one of their churches, they assured us we were most
welcome. Camping charges ZK70 pppn.
01 Nov : Odo 87553 Forest Inn to Kasanka
We left around 07h00 and proceeded on tar northwards, many
stops again at roadblocks and although the staff manning the roadblock were
friendly and polite, it is such a waste of time.
On arrival at Kasanka just before 11h00, park fees, entry
fees and camping fees had to be paid at the gate. This park maintains the
policy of 24hr periods and the official wanted to charge us for 4 days but we
negotiated with the gentleman and assured him we would not overstay and leave
before 11h00 on our day of departure. Park
entry was ZK63 pppn and the vehicle was ZK94 per night. This can also be paid
in USD which was USD20 pppn and vehicle USD25 per night. Camping fees, to be
paid at Wasa Lodge was USD20 pppn.
We camped at the Pontoon campsite where there
are 3 campsites each with their own ablutions, there are no water pipe connections
and 3 staff members fill a drum on the roof to flush the toilet and ask you what
time you want hot water for a warm shower, which they bring in buckets, climb up
the ladder with the bucket on their heads and fill the drum for the shower. It
was a beautiful campsite under huge trees on the bank of a river and derives
it’s name from a pontoon there to previously cross the river, now there was a bridge.
What an amazing little park, granted we did not see many
animals but we came here for the bats, a sight to be seen!!! We had a storm late the first afternoon so on
arrival at a viewing spot we found that the bats had started leaving to feed at
about 17h30 as it was quite dark that afternoon, we watched them from the BBC
public viewing area.
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After storm |
02 Nov : Odo 87807 -
Kasanka
We decided we were going to pay the USD20 per person to go
up the viewing platform at the Fibwe viewing area. Well, that is until we got
there and saw this ladder straight up against a tree, steps between 200mm and
400mm apart and a rather flimsy railing and platform +20 meters from the ground.
No way anyone with a fear of heights or konked knees were going to go up there.
J was the only one brave enough. We went to the public viewing area and what an
amazing sight, the viewing from the Fibwe public viewing area is excellent. We did manage
to get a refund for those who did not make it up to the platform.
We were told that the bats numbers are between 3 million,
and in the height of the season, 10 million. They normally arrive around the start of the first rains, middle October, and the ripening of many local fruit and berry species, such as the masuku (wild loquat) and waterberry, on which they feed. They stay until December. At 18h05 it was as if someone had opened a cage and all these
little creatures flew out to go and feed.
03 Nov : Odo 87858 – Kasanka
We drove around the park a bit again and did see wonderful
birds, trees and Sitatunga. Late afternoon we went back to the Fibwe Public
viewing site to once again see this amazing view, at 18h00 they took off again.
Good news, the repair to J's battery charging system is holding up, cold freezers and smiles.
Good news, the repair to J's battery charging system is holding up, cold freezers and smiles.
We had read that Kasanka holds some of the finest birding in Africa’ according to Dr Ian Sinclair, one of Africa’s leading ornithologists, with over 330 species recorded in this relatively small area without altitudinal variation. Unfortunately we are little more than beginners, so seeing the birds was great, but frustrated us, as birds do not stay in one place long enough and we took too long to be absolutely sure we had identified the correct bird in the Africa Bird Book. I definately need to go back with someone that knows a lot more about the birds found there.
04 Nov: Odo 87967 Kasanka to Fringilla Lodge
An early morning departure as we had to get to just north of
Lusaka. After many roadblocks, villages and animals on the road, and this time,
tarred roads some places with a middlemannetjie, we arrived about an hour north of Lusaka, at
Fringilla Lodge, at the same time as another storm. We had a friendly gentleman,
Mike Miller, come and greet us and he presented us with a complimentary portion
of boerewors from the butchery as well as a packet of cut biltong. The property
is close to the Great North road and the owner practices mixed farming in
addition to the lodge, camping site area and more rooms. The camping site is
not very big and situated in the middle of all the farm animal pens. The whole
range of feathered animals you can think
of, including guinae fowls and peacocks, goats, sheep, pigs, cows and horses,
and this can be a problem depending which direction the wind comes from, we
experienced this first hand. They had told us that there was a big group of
kids that had camped there the previous evening and it was very obvious that
nobody had checked the water tanks as there was no water, let alone warm water
in the bathrooms, so we were not happy campers and will definitely not, if we
ever travel that way again, from choice plan to make our stop there. We did
however get some ice from the gentleman at the bar. Camping ZK100 pppn and they
did have power.
05 Nov : Odo 88363 Fringilla Lodge to Kasane
Mike Miller had asked us the previous evening where we were
heading and when he heard we were heading south, advised that we leave no later
than 05h00 unless we were prepared to take 2h30m driving through a very
congested Lusaka. We all agreed that the did not want to face that challenge so
04h00 the following morning we were up and about and left 05h30. Very slow and
challenging drive to Lusaka as many trucks on the road, however the early rise
was worth it as we got through Lusaka in less than an hour. We turned west 12km south of the Kafue town
and travelled along T1 to Mazabuka. The fuel tanks were empty again and we
needed to refuel, we paid cash to utilise our last Kwachas but saw that S &
C filling station accepts credit cards if needed, price of fuel the same
everywhere in the country.
This road took us through a beautiful part of this country
with lots of hills and even a couple of mountains, roads in a bit of a state as
this was the road the truckers was using but still tar. We turned off to
Kazungula at Livingstone and arrived at the border and Kazungula Ferry around
15h00. This was a sight to be seen, trucks parked everywhere!! A horde of
runners shouting instructions, they tried to convince us to park right there but J
found a gap and we proceeded to the entrance gate to the border facilities. Of
course the runners followed us and try to convince us that you to make use of
them to assist with the border procedure and ferry crossing. They crowd you
when you get out of your vehicle and I did not enjoy that experience at all. We
had read on the internet that if you do not make use of one of them to “assist”
you to get on the ferry, you could stay there for a couple of hours. P
appointed a person that calls himself “Braamfontein” to assist us to get on the
ferry, but we insisted on doing our own border procedure. Once again we had to
pay the ZK30 community levy as well as ZK150 for the ferry. Braamfontein directed us around the procedure, following us like a shadow to ensure that we
would not “employ” another person. The procedure leaving Zambia is very easy
and did not take very long. Once outside and back at the vehicle, Braamfontein
said we were first on the ferry but we had to pay him his USD30, P refused and
said he would pay this once the wheels touched the ferry. The whole lot then
organised for us to get through the gate and into the holding area to board the
ferry. He then tried to get a further USD40 from us to “assist” with the
Botswana side, but P refused as we needed no assistance, having double entry
insurance for Botswana and would only need to fill in the necessary registers
and go through passport control. Passengers have to board the ferry on foot and
I had to get out once the ferry arrived, and wait with the other passengers on
foot on the side, while the vehicles were being loaded. Consternation when they
then loaded a truck behind us, but when I was then allowed to walk on, I
understood why, the ferry had to be full, and off we went. It was now J’s turn
to be harassed by the runners and he was also convinced to pay this USD30 to be
loaded first, which he did, as there were now other vehicles also standing
waiting. There are currently two ferries operating to cope with the demand, and
they operate from 06h00 to 18h00.
The bridge over the river, not fully completed, is a sight
to be seen and must have been a huge engineering challenge, also being built by
the Chinese, this is going to make huge difference to the character of that
whole area and the traffic that currently congests this area. We proceeded to
the Botswana border post and completed the procedures in no time, proceeded to
the exit gate and had to get out of the car to wash our shoe soles on a wet mat
for “Foot and mouth” control. This always amazes me as the car and caravan just
can drive through. We headed for the nearest filling station and refuelled,
price BWP7,31 per litre. J&R had driven past without seeing us, but we
contacted them and they waited on the side of the road for us. There was a big
storm approaching and we decided to get to a camping spot as soon as possible.
We had seen the signs for Thebe Lodge and Camping when we were in Kasane on our
trip north, and stopped outside the entrance, the men went in and enquired.
They did have some free space and we were given the campsite numbers available,
we drove in and eventually chose no 8, as the storm was now on top of us. We
had hardly stopped the cars when the heavens opened and washed the cars and
caravans beautifully!!
While the storm was making a huge noise pouring water over
the dry earth, there was nothing to stop us from standing under the campsite’s
lapa having some cold beer, last Mosi’s I found in the fridge. When the rain stopped we quickly prepared the
caravan for the night and made plans to get the braai area dry to make supper.
Had some ribs to do and to my husband’s horror, I wanted to bake a bread. P got
a staff member to assist getting the water off the braai area and the fire was
lit. We set our table under the lapa’s roof as there was no way we could do
this in the mud near the caravan. Another wonderful evening, with the beautiful smell
of rain and wet earth. We also heard that is was the first rain of the season.
The bathrooms were clean with lots of warm water, all in all a wonderful stay at
BWP105 pppn. I would camp there any day again.
 | |
| Damper fix still holding |
06 Nov Odo 88964 Kasane to Groblersbrug
We left early morning and a reasonable easy drive
considering all we had done the last couple of weeks. The Vet Red Lines were
all manned and we had to open the freezer every time, we also found some
strange requests, like a coke or all our small change. This worries me, as in
the 22 years we have travelled to Botswana regularly, we have never had that
experience before. R even had a lady hinting at how her eyes are burning in the
sun and that she liked R’s dark glasses. Apart from these stops, all went well,
but for one small problem, P driving, speeding! Had to buy another piece of
road, I think the stand right next to mine, another BWP250 to be paid and in
exactly the same area!!! This time he got a receipt for BWP240 and we were back
on the road. To get through the road works from the north in Francistown, seems
to be much easier as long as you hug the western route through residential
area.
We decided along the
way that we were going to try to cross the border into South Africa still that
day and we arrived at Kwanokeng at 17h00. We refuelled at the Kwanokeng filling
station, due to the good price, and made our way to the border. Once inside we
could not believe our eyes, trucks everywhere with no obvious place to exit. We
proceeded to the border post building and completed the necessary registers and
formalities. P chats to all the truck drivers every time we are in a queue, and
did so once again, he then, during the conversation told the gentleman that he
had no idea how we were going to get out. This stood us in good stead, as this
gentleman went outside with us and started shouting instructions to the other
drivers to move and make some space for us to get through. Amazingly, for once
P did not complain that he could not reverse, we reversed, followed the drivers
instructions, and the next moment we were right on the outside of the bundle of
trucks proceeding to the exit, all very smooth, after crossing the Limpopo we
were back in South Africa. We had found the Big Fig Inn on the internet,
located just 4 km from the border and we had called them to ask if they had
space. The gate was open, it is only closed at 22h00, and with another big
storm approaching, we parked and set up camp quickly. Cost R100 pppn. Lovely
lapa with fire pit available for our use, the gentleman on duty brought us
firewood and made the fire. A wash-up
area, hot and cold water. Mens bathrooms reasonably clean, but needs some TLC.
Blocked shower drain and shower roses, cistern slow in filling up. Could be a
noisy stop as it on the main road, ear plugs help. An very comfortable last stop.
07 Nov Odo 89723 - Groblersbrug to Nelspruit
Early morning start, easy and uneventful drive, only near
Potties some traffic but nothing we could not handle. We stopped at the Wimpy
in Potties for breakfast. After breakfast we tackled the long road home. It appeared as if there had been some rain
since we went through there on our way out and for this we are thankful. We
arrived in Nelspruit just before 15h00, odo 90266.
Summary P :
What an amazing experience and thank you to R& J for
being such wonderful travel companions. We saw three of Zambia’s most fantastic
parks and I can recommend a visit to any true 4x4 traveller. Will we do it
again? YES. Experience will help to do better route planning. Some routes took
twice as long to complete as we found ourselves on the wrong side of the
rivers which meant additional kilometres. We were thankfull for the additional fuel we carried as fuel station were few and far apart. The info on the 4x4 Forum was a great
help in planning the trip. Thank you to the members who shared their
experiences, other bloggers and Karen from Tracks4Africa. We trust that this blog will also assist with travel to Zambia.
Shoprite is well represented in the bigger towns and is well stocked except for ice. We did find another supplier of ice,they only had big blocks and the colour was a bit suspect, good enough though to cool drinks down in a coolbox. Ice for the drinks was a big challenge due to the high temperatures and once there was space in the freezer we froze saches filled with bottled water.
Once we were closer to the great north road, there were more and more vendors next to the road selling a variety of vegetables, onion, potatoes and tomatoes and further norht we even saw cabbage and spinach as well, once again, have your small denominations ready.
Although Zambia parks quote entrance, etc. in US$, they do have a Kwacha rate, about 40% cheaper than the converted $ rate to Kwacha. Parks officials invariably do not have change, $ or Kwacha. Small denominations, in whatever currency you use to pay, is a must. On the Western side of Zambia OTM’s are few and far between. Wanela border has a bank and a working OTM. Not sure about Kazungula border.
Shoprite is well represented in the bigger towns and is well stocked except for ice. We did find another supplier of ice,they only had big blocks and the colour was a bit suspect, good enough though to cool drinks down in a coolbox. Ice for the drinks was a big challenge due to the high temperatures and once there was space in the freezer we froze saches filled with bottled water.
Once we were closer to the great north road, there were more and more vendors next to the road selling a variety of vegetables, onion, potatoes and tomatoes and further norht we even saw cabbage and spinach as well, once again, have your small denominations ready.
Although Zambia parks quote entrance, etc. in US$, they do have a Kwacha rate, about 40% cheaper than the converted $ rate to Kwacha. Parks officials invariably do not have change, $ or Kwacha. Small denominations, in whatever currency you use to pay, is a must. On the Western side of Zambia OTM’s are few and far between. Wanela border has a bank and a working OTM. Not sure about Kazungula border.
Stas: Fuel used, 3.0 D4-D, 968 litre at a total converted
cost of R12 700. Consumption just less than 7 km to a litre.
Drinking water, 65 litre bottled, per couple. Beer, plenty! It was hot!
Thanks to M for keeping the Blog going under difficult
conditions, typing away during travels on uneven road surfaces. Luckily she
does not suffer from motion sickness.
Mayukuyuku area, camp and river view
