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Written by Jill Masterton   
Tuesday, 07 April 2009 15:17

Our trip to Zambia 2006

16th June dawned brightly and we got our vehicle ready and the final packing done and left home at about 07h30.  I finally realized that we were at last on our way to Zambia – to visit Kitwe where I grew up and to visit the Luangwa Valley which is reputed to be one of the most beautiful wildlife areas in Africa. 

We drove to a small border post to get into Botswana – and continued to Francistown in Botswana where we stayed at a small but attractive stopover place called Woodlands – after the Woodlands Kingfisher.  Early next morning we were on our way to rendezvous with some friends with a 4 X 4 at Kazungula Border Post.  We were late, so we had to get a move on.

After a badly potholed road from Nata hindering rapid progress, we eventually arrived at the ferry across the Zambezi at about 11h00.  We were fortunate enough to take the first ferry available.  We met our friends in the mêlée that is the Zambian border post at Kazungula.  This dusty place is totally chaotic, without any signage or directions for  travellers.  Money touts abound and the government offices are as dirty as the officials are officious.  One needs several pieces of paper for which one pays many Kwachas, US Dollars and Rands in order to pass through the boom into Zambia.  This takes a lot of time and becomes frustrating when the official who has to give you your final piece of paper has decided to take an hour off for lunch!

Finally we were on our way to Livingstone – some 70 kilometres away at 15h00.  We showed our companions the way to the Victoria Falls and went to set up camp at Maramba River Lodge.  We were unable to buy any maps of Zambia before we left, so we had one that I had downloaded from the internet that showed major towns and roads, but no distances.  We were told that it was about 250 kilometres to Lusaka, so we had a lazy breakfast and left Livingstone at 09h00.  Once on the road, we realized that Lusaka was over 470 kilometres away – so – once again, we had to put the foot down – we were supposed to be in South Luangwa National Park that night.

We soon discovered that nobody in Zambia tells you how far a place is in kilometers – only hours.  This is because of the varying state of the roads, I think.  We started on our way out of Livingstone on good tar, only to meet a long patch of very badly potholed tar about 40 kays out.  This bad road continued all the way to Zimba, the first town marked on the “map”.  From Zimba all the way to Lusaka there was a wonderfully good road and we managed to reach Lusaka by 16h00. 


The towns along the way from the border to Lusaka were neat and there was evidence of more money being available for maintenance and the people looked happy and better dressed than when I left Zambia in 1975.  All along the roadsides were large bags of charcoal for sale, as well as many, many tomatoes, bananas and fresh produce like sweet potatoes, pumpkins and cassava.  As we crossed the Kafue River before Lusaka, people were selling fresh Kafue Bream, so we stopped and bought a large fish for dinner.

Realising that we would not make Luangwa by evening, we agreed to drive until 17h30 and look for somewhere to camp for the night.  Our friends went ahead as we had to shop for some groceries in Lusaka, having changed our plans at the last minute to have the security of another vehicle to assist in the trial ahead.  You can get everything you need – including Klipdrift and Peter Stuyvesant cigarettes (essentials) – and soon we were on our way up the Great East Road towards Chipata where we would turn off to Mfuwe and South Luangwa National Park.

We never caught up with the other vehicle, and, as the light faded we found a campsite and turned in, only to discover (written in small letters under the sign) it was “Opening Soon”.  Not having time to look further, we decided to camp here anyway.  There was a small luke-warm spring and space to raise our little tent, so we lit a fire and cooked our fresh bream in foil over the coals.  We ate this with roasted pumpkin and potatoes bought along the way – delicious!  The night was icy cold and we left very early after washing in the spring and were again on our way.

The sides of the narrow road were swathed with really long elephant grass – I had forgotten how tall the grass grows in Zambia.  There was lots of people on the roads because it was Sunday.  Bicycles wobbled all over – making progress at speed rather dangerous!  Every young woman we saw had a baby swaddled on her back and everywhere there were charcoal sellers and men riding bikes with huge bags of charcoal on both sides, balanced with long sticks of sugar cane and the odd charcoal brazier hanging off the handlebars!  Very few domestic animals were seen, apart from pigs that closely resembled wild boars – and village dogs which, by and large, were in surprisingly good condition.  Some looked very much like Basenjis, the bark-less hunting dogs of Central Africa.  We own two Basenjis and are very interested in these lovely indigenous African dogs.

We crossed the Luangwa River over an impressive bridge. opened by Kenneth Kaunda in the 70’s, and continued – still not having caught up with our “companions”. Unfortunately the tar now deteriorated into potholes, some of which were being repaired, and this went on for about 100 kilometres to Chipata.  No signs telling us which way to go, so we filled up with diesel which is double the price in South Africa and asked for directions.


The Chipata to Mfuwe Road.  This road needs a title.  It is horrendous.  It almost beggars description.  We drove along it for about 20 kilometres and almost turned back.  We phoned Flatdogs Lodge in South Luangwa, where we were booked, to ask about the rest of the road.  The depressing news was that we still had another 160 kilometres to go and it would take us four hours.  Divorce was imminent.  Otto was furious with me for bringing my brand new car (and him) to this outrageous place.  Did I realize how this road would damage the car?  Night was falling and the road was getting worse – it was more like a small dried-up river bed strewn with boulders than a road – would the roads to come be even worse?  After discussions (and tears), we decided to literally bash on.  The road did not improve, but we finally made it to tar at Mfuwe after three and a half hours.  Flatdogs Camp was a welcome sight.  Our companion driver had arrived two hours before in his Land Cruiser and my Ford Ranger 2 X 4 was still in one piece – along with my marriage – just!

We are going to get a sticker – “We Survived the Chipata Road”.

Flatdogs (named for the nick name for crocodiles) is an interesting camp.  It is run by an Italian born in Malawi, who came from Namibia six years ago, named Valentino.  None of the white staff are Zambians – mostly American, which seemed weird to me.  The restaurant serves tacos, steaks and burgers and no nshima.  Strange.  The bar does not serve Klipdrift or Coke Light – thank goodness we topped up in Lusaka!  Most of the tourists are Americans working for HIV NGO’s in Lusaka – stranger still. 

Our guide in South Luangwa was aptly named “River” and he was very well trained and even knew the scientific names of trees.  We booked a morning drive and a night drive – Luangwa is famed for its leopards.  We saw many new animals – firstly the baboons are different – fine-boned and dainty – they are called Yellow Baboons, as opposed to our South African Chacma Baboons and are much more attractive.  A funny thing about South Luangwa is that most of the animals are smaller there, including the impala.  The elephants are positively diddy and many of them have no tusks, a result of the heavy poaching in the 70’s and 80’s when the tuskless one were spared and are now breeding – about 40 per cent of the ellies now have no tusks.

We saw herds of beautiful ginger little puku.  The impalas were a sort of pastel in comparison to ours and the zebras were Crayshaw’s variety of Burchell’s zebra – being beautifully striped in bright black and white with no shadow stripes – really attractive.  We had two lovely drives and saw a very large herd of buffalo, many large-spotted genets and a coalition of two young male lions of about three years old.  We also met an interesting German chap called Joe who was a zoology student working for the Frankfurt Zoological Society in Kenya, but the FZS is also very involved in Luangwa and helping to totally eliminate poaching in the valley. We never saw any leopards!


After two relaxing days at Flatdogs we pressed on to North Luangwa.  We had no map – and Valentino was very vague.  Our friends had directions through the valley, but they didn’t leave with us as they were hoping to get a flight to Banguelu Swamps to see black lechwe and shoebilled storks.  Not surprisingly, we got horribly lost and only started on the correct road north after about an hour and a half of messing about asking the locals.

We eventually found that we had to go through the Nsefu Sector of the park – and just follow the road up out of South Luangwa.  If there were any crossroads – just ask somebody for the way to Buffalo Camp in North Luangwa National Park – nobody knew how far it was – estimates ranged from 8 to 12 hours.  We found an amazing hot spring in Nsefu and also our companions caught up with us here as they could not organise a plane.  We saw lots of plains game in Nsefu, as well as reed buck, and it would be a great place to stay if we came again.

Thankfully the roads here were much better – little used, so no ruts or boulders – although we practically had to drive through tunnels of vegetation with the track barely visible most of the time.  We once again lost the other car – which was leading the way with the directions!  We drove through pristine mopani and brachystegia forests filled with birds including ground hornbills and Namaqua doves.  There were a few small villages along the route where we actually found some true Basenji dogs which we photographed.

This place is absolutely beautiful – unspoilt and wild.  We met some interesting people as we had to ask for directions wherever the track parted.  We met an old man who was obviously ex-army.  He stood to attention when we asked him the way – and this sprightly septuagenarian hopped onto the back of the bakkie to get us on to the right road.  When we reached the road he hopped off, stood to attention and told us that he had given up drinking once, but had thought better of it and was drinking again!  He was so funny and such a nice man – like the majority of Zambians – really lovely people.

We eventually met up with the other car as night fell.  They had been down to the river crossing into North Luangwa, but had been prohibited from crossing there as the river was still too full.  They had directions to the pontoon that we would take in the morning.  After a few river crossings where we got stuck and pulled out with winch by our companion drive, and then the Land Cruiser getting stuck a few times and getting dug out by us and many villagers, we eventually stopped for a braai in the middle of nowhere and dined on delicious gemsbok burgers cooked on a fire made on the track.  What a lekker supper!  We pushed on again and stopped to camp in a clearing near a village.


Next day – more beautiful forests – and eventually we found the pontoon.  This was located by grasses tied in knots marking the way!  The pontoon was very small and very wobbly and operated by three small men with radios and a gun (to scare off hippos and crocs).  The operation to get each vehicle on to the pontoon was hectic, and closely watched by a pod of hippo.  The ramp was so sharp that even the four wheel drive vehicle could not get on.  Eventually our companion managed to winch his vehicle on to the pontoon whereupon the whole contraption veered seriously towards the water and I really thought that the Land Cruiser was headed for the drink.    The expedition vehicle was eventually steered to a more stable central position on the raft and headed for the north bank. 

Our Ranger would just not go on to the pontoon.  One of our friends and the Zambians tried to push her on – to no avail.  At this point, another Italian arrived.  He runs Delia Lodge and he couldn’t believe that my car had got this far, so he was taking photos for his website!  Small comfort to me – I was on the north bank of the Luangwa and my husband and car were firmly on the south bank.  My car was also flooded and we nearly lost our cellphone and passports.  We eventually managed to make the winch rope long enough to get the Ranger onto the pontoon and she got up the very steep north bank under her own steam and Otto’s brilliant driving.

Now, with a drowned cellphone, we continued to Buffalo Camp which took us about four hours to find as the signage had been knocked down by ellies.  Whilst we were trying to find the way we had excellent sightings of Cookson’s Wildebeest and the biggest buffalo both Otto and I had ever seen. We eventually got there at 16h00 and found a wonderful site with beautiful straw chalets where we had a lovely meal and spent the night listening to hyaenas fighting over a kill near the camp and lions roaring close by. 

The following morning we went on a two hour walk.  There are no game drives in North Luangwa National Park, only walking safaris are allowed.  We then left for Shiwa Ngandu.  Once again, our companion driver had the directions and left a couple of minutes before us.  Consequently we were soon horribly lost and headed back to the camp where Sunday and his staff were preparing to go to Shiwa, so we followed them.  No problems getting through this park – apart from a small glitch on the escarpment where we got stuck, but Sunday and company pushed us up over the short problematic part and we were on our way.  We drove through a large electrified camp which holds 17 black rhino donated by SA and looked after by the Frankfurt Zoological Society.  We didn’t see the rhinos, but the Zambians are very proud and protective of their rhinos which have been reintroduced to the valley after being totally wiped out by poachers in the 80’s.


We got to Shiwa Ngandu – distance of 250 kilometres from Flatdogs at 15h00. (A total of 24 hours driving)  We had to get fuel from a man named Bwali in a village en route to Tanzania.  It was the cheapest diesel in Zambia, Bwali has a deal with the tanker drivers coming through from Dar es Salaam (probably involving “ladies of the night”).  Our friends weren’t at Shiwa and we wondered whether they too had got lost?  Eventually they arrived after having missed the sign board and travelling to the next town before realizing their mistake.  We all stayed in fabulous chalets at Kapishya Hot Springs which is on the Shiwa Ngandu Estate owned by the Harvey brothers, grandsons of Stewart Gore Brown who built this mansion in the bush in the 1920’s!  Charlie runs the house and the farm and Mark and his girlfriend, Mel run the operation at Kapishya as well as Buffalo Camp.

Kapishya was so pleasant we decided to stay two nights.  Our driving companions had to leave to get back to Joburg for a flight back to the USA.  The springs are bath-tub hot and there is a river running through the camp that is fine to swim in.  We just relaxed for the time we spent there as well as visiting the house and the small game reserve where we saw Kafue lechwe.  Mel is an excellent cook and the first night we had roast fillet steak with Yorkshire pudding, roast tatties and all the trimmings!  We mentioned that we love Oriental cuisine, so the next night we had a pukkah Indian meal complete with sambals and poppadums – out in the middle of nowhere!  We also had good company that night as the Queen of Belgium had flown in from Lusaka to spend the weekend at the big house, so her pilots, a Swede and Craig Robertson from Mazabuka were our dinner companions.

Mark is very funny and a good raconteur.  The bar prices are steep – but hey – he does have Kilpdrift and Coke Light – AND – Peter Stuyvesant – and the beers are very cold and the ice is magic!  The food to die for and the chalets gorgeous! What more could a girl ask for?  We must take the kids with us next time.  Marriage not so shaky anymore!

Then on to Kitwe.  We arrived on a Sunday as night was falling.  The Nkana Polo Club is the first landmark I recognized after 31 years.  We popped in to take a look.  What a disappointment!  The stables have been reduced – at least Moon River’s stable is still there.  All the grounds have been sold and now there is only the polo field left.  This is now split into a dressage and showjumping arena and paddocks.  There were only about eight horses in the stables as opposed to over 50 horses when I stabled there.  The clubhouse has been made larger, but the pool is empty – but at least the Polo Club is still there!.


We met a lady named Maureen Hight in the bar.  We got on well and she invited us to stay with her in Parklands.  We had supper at the Mona Lisa pizza parlour in Parklands.  Next day I tried to get hold of Gill Wright, a cattle farmer I knew when I lived there, but she was on holiday in the UK.  We drove to our old house in Eton Way – now Nationalist Way.  Luckily it was being renovated so the workmen allowed us inside and I could show Otto where I lived from 1965 to 1969.  A small three-bedroomed place.  The anthill is still there, but it has eroded and is smaller and all the fruit trees are gone along with the hedge and the stairs leading up to the “summit”.  We found our house in Freedom Avenue, but it has a big wall around it and was inaccessible.  It looks much smaller than I remembered it!  That night we took Maureen and her daughter, Ellen, who swims for Zambia, out to dinner at the Arabian Nights restaurant at the top of the hill at Eton Way.  What fabulous food – I had impala curry – soft and delicious!

Completely over Kitwe, we thanked Maureen and Ellen for their hospitality and drove to Lusaka to meet Heather Chalcraft and return Mark’s cellphone which he had loaned us when ours died!  We got to Lusaka at lunchtime on a very cold day and after finding a lekker spot just outside Kabwe called Maplehurst where we had a full English breakfast.  This restaurant was run by a Scottish guy who came to Zambia to work on the mines 41 years ago – the same time I went to Zambia.

We stopped over at Fringilla Farm to get the best boerewors in Africa (I think) and some fillet steak.  We met Andrew Woodley who runs the place and he gave us some wors to give to Heather – they are all a big scattered family of white Zambians up there!  Found Heather at the Lowdown offices and we stayed at her house which she was moving out of.  She joined us for dinner and organised us two days on a houseboat at Sinazongwe on Kariba.

Next morning it was on the road again to Sinazongwe.  We met Wayne and boarded the houseboat with six other passengers – overlanders from London.  One Australian, Louise; a Norwegian, Audi; a Kiwi couple Tony and Sharon and another couple, Nick from South Africa and Renee from New Zealand.  All under 30 but good people, although a little tame after our Zambian friends!  The weather was abysmal and cold and the lake was very choppy.  We tried fishing, not very successfully and Otto went off the next day to a crocodile farm.  I stayed on the houseboat.  We ate supper on board (our Fringilla fillet steak) and Nick set up his Ipod and we danced into the late hours on deck.


We were late getting back as the lake was too rough to get the boat across back to the harbour.  We sheltered in the lee of Square Island and released three baby leopard tortoises which we had forgotten to release on Chete Island.  We were supposed to make land at Sinazongwe at 09h00 but only got there at 14h00.  This messed up our plans to get across the Zambezi to Botswana at Kazungula and we had to stay again at Maramba River Lodge in Livingstone for the night.

We left Maramba at 6 and crossed into Botswana without incident and again on the first ferry available.  Coming the other way there was a long queue of cars trying to get to Zambia – what a long wait they would have, we thought!  We got into Kasane with an empty fuel tank (due to price of diesel in Zambia) and got to the petrol station – no diesel!  We had to wait two hours to get diesel – thankfully the tanker had arrived – before setting off down south.  Our farewell to our adventure was a breeding herd of elephant crossing the road just outside Kasane – what a fitting end to a wonderful fortnight!

We eventually got home at 23h00 – a very long drive.  We were so pleased to see home and appreciate how lucky we are to live in Africa.  But we will be visting Zambia again, albeit at a slower pace. The sounds of the fish eagles calling us back.

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