Rather than bore you all with every detail of our overland trip we're just going to pick out the main highlights/memorable things. We should probably start with introducing our fellow travellers and guides...
Kafue
Our beloved truck ("it's a truck, not a bus"). Our first impression was of a prison bus but we came to love our mobile home despite her numerous leaks and occasional breakdowns.
The Guides
Sammy – 39 - Our extremely informative Kenyan tour guide who speaks 7 Kenyan languages fluently having lived with different tribes for periods of time – fluent in English and semi-fluent in an Ethiopian dialect. Impressive. Memorable expressions: "Hello", "How are we travelling?", "This is us".
Tony – 29 – Our dreadlocked, music-loving Kenyan driver of the truck (and guide). He loved the difficult drives and we would see him grinning from ear to ear in the wing mirror. Funny quotation: "I'll send the polar bears a postcard" when Sonja called him up on not being eco-friendly enough.
Prosper (aka Fabulous) – 26 – from Zimbabwe who is very proud of his nation. He is also a guide but on a different route and was being trained up by Sammy for this route. He also speaks numerous dialects. Memorable expressions: "Uuh?" and "Izzy can you please translate?" to everything Hels said. There was definitely a communication problem between these two.
Our Fellow Travellers
Ross – 32 - A Justin Beber loving banker from London, obsessed by Barclays Bank and fast food. Memorable expressions: "Oh no" said with a curled lip, "Ooh Barclays Bank", "I love you" (per Justin Beber) and "Yesssss...Wimpy".
Afra – 18 – A shark-loving, fun-loving, sweetie from Holland. The baby of the trip. Memorable expressions: "I love you" (Justin Beber) and "I was a volunteer on a shark watching boat for tourists. Yes it was volunteering."
Tatyana – 19 – A thrill-seeking (one bungee jump was not enough) German girl. Memorable expressions: Simply "Eugh".
Martin – 19 – Our adopted brother for the trip from Denmark with impeccable English – an absolute star. Most memorable comment: "This conversation is OVER".Lee – 22 – A gentleman from Korea with whom we held English lessons in the truck. Very amusing as a lot can be lost in translation. Funniest quotation: "Ahhh, yes I know Venus - god". We were trying to explain to him, 'penis'.
Thomas – 24 – The happiest and most friendly chap on the tour. From Korea so Lee’s translator. Most memorable phrase: "It's no problem".
The Danish Girls – Julie, Line and Penny – 22 – 19 – 19 - If only we could have understood Danish since that's all they cared to speak. Lovely girls nonetheless but no memorable quotations!
The Swiss Girls – Sarah and Renja – 30 – 22 – Best at animal spotting on the safaris, always with a fag in hand. Renja was famous for always asking Sammy: "Is there wifi (pronounced wee fee". Not sure we have one for Sarah.
Karl – 66 (?) – A speedo wearing, tan obsessive Dutch man who we renamed Karl Contrary. Didn’t like to take instructions. Memorable phrase: "Where is the furthest away that I can pitch my tent?".
Lauren – 22 – Textiles and Graphic Design student from Australia whose rucksack comprised solely of fancy dress (no joke). Each day it was exciting to see if she’d be a pirate, jester, fairy or gorilla. Her sweet nature hides a devilish dancer. Lauren only bought disgusting looking treats and was found regularly to say: "This tastes disgusting - would you like to try it?"!
The first part of our trip began with a fascinating tour round Langa Township with our wonderful local guide Richard (he is from this particular township) and we all stood in amazement as he showed us into 2 bedroom "houses" in which 7 or more families (yes families) lived. Well worth a visit if you are ever in Cape Town.
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| Orange River |
After stocking up with provisions we headed on a moderate 4 hour drive up into the north part of South Africa where we stayed in owner Sparky's vineyard (so of course more wine-tasting). We learned how to put up our tents and how to avoid scorpions.
After the vineyard we continued up to the Orange River (South African/Namibian border) where we camped for the night on her river banks before being woken at the crack of dawn by the cry of the fish eagle. A stunning setting and great swimming.
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| Dramatic Namibian Scenery |
We were excited to make our way into Namibia having heard great things. The scenery was indeed outstanding, each day completely different from previous which made the long drives in the truck much more enjoyable.
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| Fish River Canyon |
We made a trip to Fish River Canyon which we were lucky enough to enjoy for literally 2 minutes before the torrential sideways rain and thunder and lightening engulfed us. The canyon really was spectacular and we were glad we had made it there just in time!
In the Namibian desert we 'enjoyed' climbing "Dune 45" at some ridiculous hour in the morning in order to watch the sunrise. A must do!
We then headed over to Swakopmund, the adrenaline city of Namibia, where we carried out the necessary activity of jumping out of a plane at 10,000 ft. This was not for the faint-hearted and Ross only decided to do it when us two girls signed up. He had secretly hoped that we wouldn't (sorry Ross - you never grow out of peer pressure!). We celebrated the big jump for a couple of nights, partying with some Swedes who seemed to be travelling through Namibia on a pink bus(?!).
Another highlight in Namibia was of course Etosha National Park. This was a great introduction to safari on the trip and despite it being the wet season when it's harder to spot the animals through the long grass and the water holes are rarely visited, we were spoilt rotten with all the animals we saw. Our best moment was watching a mother cheetah and her 3 young out on a hunting mission - they were so close to us - it was incredible.
Our final port of call in Namibia was the capital "Windhoek" (having been drinking Windhoek beer since day 1 in Cape Town it seemed appropriate that we visited this capital city). It was Izzy's birthday so a step up from the earlier roadside lunch we all headed out for a fantastic dinner at the famous "Joe's Beerhouse" a favourite haunt of many expats and locals with many of the game seen previously that day gracing the menu. No place for a vegetarian - poor Martin settled for roast potatoes with a side of chips!
From Namibia we crossed the border into Botswana where we learnt about the real bushmen who took us on a walking tour through the bush. They showed us how they eat biting ants, store water in ostrich eggs which they bury and then dig up during the dry season and a natural viagra plant which the boys got excited about. This was a fascinating experience and despite our initial reservations it didn't feel voyeuristic at all as these people want to carry on traditions and share their knowledge with us and their future generations. |
| Lauren in her Pirate Hat and Ross |
Of course we cannot neglect to mention the Okavango Delta, the world's largest inland delta. We arrived at an island in mokoros (dug-out canoes) skillfully punted through the reeds and beautiful water lillies by local polers. After setting up camp and being initiated in the long drop and other bush camp practices we were split into small groups and taken on a walking safari. Safety briefing over (we were told not to run from lions but face them square on and climb trees from charging elephants...not very comforting!) we headed out in single file. Sadly two hours later we had seen only zebra, tortoises, examined elephant dung and caught a glimpse of a warthog in the distance.
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| Tatjana, Thomas, Afra, Lee and Ross |
Slightly disappointed, the day improved with the sighting of numerous hippos lounging around in the water metres from our mokoros and that evening a wonderful singsong from the polers.Camping amongst the wild animals was an experience. Having been told to stay in the tents if a pair of eyes were staring back at us during the night added to the excitement.
It was a shame not to have spent a lot longer in the Delta - it really has so much to offer but we just don't feel that we saw the best of it on foot. For that reason we decided to sign up to a 45 minute flight - this was the best decision and from the air we were able to take in its sheer beauty and the incredible area it covers. We saw lots of elephants and quite worryingly an unbelievable number of hippos down creeks just like the ones we'd swum in. Not sure we would have swum if we had known that at the time!
Botswana is full of wildlife and from the Delta we headed on to Chobe National Park where we took a sunrise game drive in small 4x4s. The park itself was stunning and we were fortunate enough to see more elephants, buffalo, giraffes, hippos etc.  | |
| Fighting for Chairs During the Storm |
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| Smiles after the Carnage |
Bedraggled but laughing we returned to the campsite to find our wonderful guides had set up a campfire and much to everyone else's envy had put the waterproof covers on our tents and taken in our washing. The other groups' tents were waterlogged. Well done Acacia - big tick!
From Botswana we crossed the Border into Zambia and headed over to Livingstone, first stop Vic Falls. Clad in waterproofs we wandered around taking in the grandeur and watching mad people bungee jump off the bridge. If we didn't want to do it before we certainly didn't want to do it after seeing that!
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| Not our Raft, but Ross and Tatiana's! |
Livingstone like Swakopmond is a centre for adrenaline seeking activities. We signed up to the white water rafting down the Zambezi - this was so much fun and we highly recommend it. Our guide Tonga was so skilled at navigating the rapids that we all managed somehow to stay in the raft, unlike the other groups. We even had to rescue a few from the fast flowing water and deliver them back to their rafts.
The young amongst us headed off to the bridge to bungee jump (despite all having seen the You Tube video of the rope snapping just 2 months previously) and the rest of us headed back to the campsite for a relaxed afternoon. However our tranquil pool-side R&R was ruined by the invasion of biting ants and velvet monkeys who surrounded us in the pool (Sammy had warned us not to look them in the eyes as otherwise they would charge). The only option was to take refuge in the tent - a good opportunity for a snooze. That night we headed out into town with Martin, Ross, Sammy and Tony to a place called "The Pub and Grill" to eat and watch Tony playing the bongos. Despite there being nothing available on the menu other than raw chips, terrible service and a clientele of ladies of the night we had a great and hilarious evening dancing away to R&B in the upstairs nightclub and it was only in the early hours of the morning and after the second bar brawl that we decided to call it a night.
We only learned in the morning that "noone goes upstairs" but rather stays in the downstairs restaurant to enjoy the dinner and jazz musicians.
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| Last Meal with the Group |
Part 2 of our overland trip to follow shortly....!
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