Mozambique - Part 1

Crossing the border into Mozambique took a little time and patience, with some misuse of power and position on the side of the customs officials. We decided to only hand in our passports and not those of the children, as Lasse and Sil were in Peter's passport and this saved us another 55 US$ on visa costs. The customs official did not very much like this move of us, but after some to-ing and fro-ing, we got back our passports, with visa, and were free to enter Mozambique.

We arrived while it was dark already at the Zambesi bridge that would take us to Tete, our first stop in Mozambique. The bridge was being repaired and only allowed one-way crossing, so there was a big line of cars and trucks waiting to cross the bridge. Peter displayed some brutality, which got us over the bridge fairly quick. All the hotels listed in the Lonely Planet were full, so we tried our luck at Hotel Kassuende, a place used mostly by local travelers. The room was okay, except for the shower and toilet (see picture). The next morning we had French fries with fried eggs for breakfast, the only item on the menu. We were very ready to go again!

We decided to make use of some highway to get from the border to the coast of Mozambique as quickly as possible. We planned three consecutive travel days to get from Zomba (Malawi) to Vilankulo at the coast of Mozambique. Our second stop-over was in Chimoio, where we stayed in a luxury, western style bungalow resort, with swimming pool and restaurant. We dried the stuff on our roof rack, wet because of rain underway, and hung out our sleeping bags that were still a bit damp from last night. Lasse, Sil and Peter took a dive in the (unheated) swimming pool, and were watched by other guests glad in thick coats and long trousers with some dismay. Lasse spent some of his pocket money on a horse ride around the resort, with a big smile on his face. Internet was complementary and quick, so we spent some time updating our travel blog and reading our e-mails. It is always nice to receive some news from home, just reading about every-day activities from our friends and family is nice when you are so far away from home. After an early breakfast the next morning we were on the road again, destination Vilankulo.

In Vilankulo we pitched our tents at Centro Turistico Josef e Tine. We planned to stay here some days, do some home schooling with Lasse and Sil and some sight-seeing. The campsite annex lodge was a bit shabby and run-down, with ditto ablution blocks. We had a nice spot for our tents, but the atmosphere at the place was not really welcoming, as a bunch of locals was hanging around the central area of the lodge the entire day, watching TV and hanging out. Luckily we decided late on the first evening to take a dhow safari (day boat trip) to Magarot Island do some snorkeling at the reef. On the trip we met with Tobias and Bettina, with their one-year old son Konstantin, from Germany, and Jan-Karel (Holland) and Becky (Kenya), with their three-year old daughter Ayanna. So it turned out to be a real kids event and we could all get along quit nice. The guests really made the day, as the three Mozambican guys that were sailing the boat did not display the slightest interest in their guests (us), and were even illegally spear-fishing at the reef at the end of the day. We decided to shorten our stay and move on a day earlier, as the atmosphere around the place bothered us more and more. But we did not leave before Claudia had a look at the President of Mozambique visiting the town and after having a drink with Jan-Karel and Becky the next day.

Barra was going to be our next stop, situated on the far end of a small peninsula, supposedly a paradise for surfers, fishermen and whale-watchers. We tried several campsites, but all not very nice, so in the end we decided to take a hut at Montanha Valley Lodge, a very luxury lodge, run by a South African couple Bob and Annelize (their lodge was up for sale, at a price of 5,5 million Rand...). We enjoyed staying in a lodge, as Sil was having a fever and diarrhea, and a toilet next to your bed is quit handy in such a situation. We spent a lovely day at the beach, Sil quickly recovered, we had a lovely meal prepared by Annelize and Lasse and Sil were allowed a couple of runs on a real quad, which they thoroughly enjoyed.

Most of the lodges here appear to be run by South Africans, as this is a very popular destination for South African holiday makers. And as most South African holiday makers bring from home large crates of food, it is very questionable whether the local community benefits at all from all these lodges. Apart from some local wages for the employees, there is a 17% tourism tax levied on the price of a night's stay-over, but that will probably be all and the profits generated by the lodges will find their way to South Africa. We also learned that camping is not very popular by the local communities, as they bring in too little money, hence little camping permits are issued and most lodges only offer dorms or single/double rooms, which are too expensive for our budget.

The next day we met up with Tobias and Bettina and went on a whale-shark safari with them. That was quit spectacular. We were launched with a rubber boat with two large motors straight into the 3 meter high waves, which put an ear-to-ear smile on the face of Lasse and Sil. Quickly, the boat picked up speed and drove to 'whale-alley', where lots of humpback whales, manta rays and whale-sharks were swimming. As soon as the skipper spotted a whale-shark, he turned the boat, shouted 'ready? - Get in!', and off we went, into the water, to swim together with 9-meter long whale-sharks, the largest fish on earth. It was a truly astonishing experience to swim together with these huge but friendly giants (the feed on plankton only), and we all had a good go at it. At the end of the trip, just before we returned, the skipper spotted 2 manta rays. Claudia and Peter dived in and caught a good glimpse of these beautiful animals too. Afterwards, we sat with Tobias and Bettina on the beach, really enjoying in silence this great experience.

The whale-shark safaris were organized from the Bamboozi lodge at Tofo, close to Barra. We liked this place so much that we decided to pitch our tents here and stay a couple of days. The weather was beautiful and the beaches white and wide. Besides,Tobias and Bettina were staying closeby, at Inhambana (famous town in the days of slavery), as Bettina was doing field-research for her PhD study, so we agreed to meet the next day to visit Inhambana together and cook at their house. The last night at Bamboozi campsite was stormy and rainy, and we had to work hard to drie our stuff the next morning. We tried to fulfill Claudia's wish for a long walk along the beach, but were driven back by the rain. So we said our good-byes and got back on the road again, heading for Xai-Xai, some 300 km down south.

The hotel in Xai-Xai was fully booked, or the lady at the reception was not interested in more guests, so we took the option offered by 2 boys on the street to take us to a holiday house they knew. The kids showed us the way, while standing on our rear-bumper. The place turned out to be nice, and again, ran by a South African guy. We had dinner at the local camping, where some sort of youth conference was being held. This resulted in some big laughs and nice moments, as we were looked at by this large group of youngsters to who we could not communicate other than 'hello, how are you? Everything ok?'

From Xai-Xai we went inland, away from the ocean. Via bad roads we reached Massingir, a small village at the border of the Limpopo National park, which borders Kruger National park in South Africa. We wanted to go into Kruger via Limpopo NP, but we made a stop-over in Massingir because the distances were too long and the road was too bad. We stayed at community owned Covane Community Lodge. The next day we went on to Giryondo gate, trying to enter South Africa. After we had our passports stamped by Mozambican officials, we went to the South African customs, but only to find out that we could only obtain one time a 7 day visa extension, as our original visa had expired. This presented us with a problem, as our flight out of Cape Town was on September 15, and we had counted on spending our last 4 weeks touring South Africa. We had no choice to go back into Mozambique, purchase a new visa again and go back to Massingir, where we stayed once more at Covane Community lodge. Here we met Tinus and Rinelda, a couple from South Africa, with their sons Lukas (12) and Daniel (10). Tinus and Rinelda were employees of the lodge and responsible for management and a new construction project that would enlarge and upgrade the lodge. Lasse and Sil really hit it off with Lukas and Daniel, so we decided to pitch our tents and stay a little bit longer, to give our kids the chance to play with other kids. We also enjoyed our stay, witnessed a traditional dance at our camp, went out on a boating trip with Tinus and Rinelda and the kids, during which we saw hippo's and croc's in the huge lake that existed because of the artificial dam built for agricultural purposes (irrigation of the land).

To be continued in Part 2 ......

Who said the world is a fair place? Some facts & figures about Malawi

Malawi is a very poor country. That's no secret. But how poor is poor? During our trip through Malawi we were ‘hassled' by poor people asking for food or money. What would we do in their place? But we also came across some astonishing facts and figures, that can serve as examples to value our western-European standard of living.

Throughout Malawi you will see people digging up rocks and hammering them into little stones that are used to make concrete (there is no natural supply of pebbles). Big rocks are dug out from the ground, using a large steel crowbar, and subsequently hammered with a sledge hammer into smaller chunks of about 20 to 30 cm. Three people need three working days to produce one big pile of rocks, which generates an income of 3,000 Malawi Kwacha (15 euro). This means a salary of 5 euro for three days of hard work.

Firewood is an important commodity in Malawi. Everywhere you see people, young and old, male and female, walking with large piles of wood on their head (female) or shoulder (male). Sometimes they carry an entire tree on their head. We took some pictures of women with an immense pile of wood on their heads, which were walking downhill barefoot at a quicker pace than we were. The pile of wood was so big that even Peter would have problems lifting it, let alone carry it on his head, let alone walking downhill with it on his head, let alone barefoot. After gathering the wood, the women had to walk down for 2 hours to get to wood to the market, where it would generate an income of 300 to 500 MKw (1,5 to 2,5 Euro). They could only do 1 trip per day, and probably the income would have to be shared with the person gathering the wood in the forest......

The manager of the Ku Chawe Trout farm where we stayed, guided us for two days on walks in the area. The first day we hiked as a family for about 5 hours, the second day Peter went out for a longer hike for about 6 hours. We paid him 4,000 MKw (20 euro) for this. Later we learned that his work at the trout farm campsite earned him 4,000 MKw per month. His salary for June was still due at the end of July..... Every day he had to walk 2 hours to his work, and 2 hours back home. Luckily the guy had a free day on Sundays!

Fifty percent of the Malawian population is under 15 years of age. Primary school is free in Malawi, but Secondary school costs about 15,000 MKw per child per year. Poly-technical college is about 95,000 Mkw per year, including board and living. On average, each family has about 3-5 children. Take into account that the unemployment rate is very high - there are more people unemployed than people in a job - and it is clear that education is not a basic right for everybody, not even basic education. On top of that everybody in the family has to assist in generating income for the family as soon as they are able to (which appears to be at a very young age). This does not help in getting children to school.

Malawi does not have social security; unemployed or sick means you have to rely on your family and friends. This does not stimulate people to excel in what they do. Because if you excel in what you do, you will earn more money than others. And if you earn more money than others, your family and friends will immediately come by to ‘demand' their share of your over-average earnings. It's starting to look like a catch-22 situation indeed. Wonder how they will break it.

Malawi

Crossing the border from Zambia to Malawi went very smoothly. Our first place to stay was Kasito rest house #2 (#1 was full), a former rest house for the ministry of forestry, but now turned into a lodge. The place was very run-down, but breathed a pleasant atmosphere. It had something English or colonial about it, the way the garden was designed and kept, the heating system for hot water, and, of course, the manager Joseph, who had been serving the English as a cook and sort of butler. The first night we ate in the dark as there was a general power failure. Quit romantic. Cooking was done on fire; the guard outside always had a fire going, and the inside of his hut was pitch-black. When Lasse wanted to burn his used-up notepad, the guard quickly took it from the fire and explained he would use the leaves to roll cigarettes! The next morning we noticed the guard had washed our 4WD, which was a nice surprise. Joseph's son Devlin took us on a walk in the area and showed us some nice places in the area. Together with Devlin we visited the local primary school and managed to completely ruin their schedule for the morning, as we were - again - quit the attraction. But the head teacher spoke proudly about her school and appreciated our visit and our interest in their school very much.

On our way up to Livingstonia, our most northern point in Africa, we gave Devlin a lift to his school in Mzuzu. The last stretch of road to Livingstonia was a very steep and rough, uphill road for about 15 km, which took more than an hour to drive. Our Disco once more proved its worth. Livingstonia is a missionary settlement and we stayed in the Stone House lodge, once the house of the Scottish missionary Mr. Laws. Needless to say that with so many religious people around, we felt at ease immediately! Lasse and Sil really enjoyed it here, as there were many kids to play with. Language was no barrier, and at one time they sat with a bunch of local kids on our veranda making the most beautiful drawings. We visited Machewe falls - the highest in Malawi - with a local ‘guide', but both the falls and the guide were not spectacular. After three nights we had enough of the place and the people there, we suddenly felt a bit of a culture-clash and needed to move on. It's difficult to really get in contact with the local people, and if there is contact, almost always they want something from you, nothing goes for free. Although understandably, sometimes it gets on your nerves.

Next stop was the Big Blue Star lodge in Nkata Bay. Life on the lodge turned out to be like in a parallel universe, as the lodge was only frequented by people from outside Malawi, so no culture-clash here. There was free Internet and the television was always running, showing all the soaps you could watch in Europe too. Once you stepped through the gate you entered the real Malawi. Our first visit to the village of Nkata Bay, was on the day that the weekly ferry stopped there. This is usually a very busy day, as everybody tries to sell something to the passengers of the ferry. A very lively village indeed, but again, hard to get into contact with the local people, who mostly stared at us. Sometimes even a bit hostile. Most contact made was about selling us something. The first night in Nkata Bay we suffered heavy rain during the night, but luckily both our tents held up quite good. We only had some water leaking into the rack sacks on our Disco, so we put an extra tarpaulin over them to solve this. Lasse and Sil enjoyed swimming in Lake Malawi (no Bilharzia here) and played a long time with a canoe and snorkeling gear.

Our next goal was Cape Maclear, but we made a stopover in Senga Bay at the Wamwai Beach lodge, as Cape Maclear proved too far away to travel in one day. Although the tar roads are generally very good in Malawi, the going is slow because the road follows the lakeshore and everywhere people are walking and bicycling along the road, so you have to be very careful and drive slowly. It was not possible to find a quiet place along the way to have some lunch; within minutes a small crowd of hungry-looking children gathered around us. When two drunken men joined the group, the atmosphere turned sour and we decided to finish our lunch in the car. Senga Bay itself was a nice stopover; the boys were swimming and played soccer with the locals on the beach, while we were relaxing and reading a bit. We were, however, touched by the poverty of the people and the fact that most people did not seem to have the will to improve their own situation.

After 2 nights we moved on to Cape Maclear. We took Belle en Jessica from Australia with us, as they would otherwise have to spend about 10 hours in various minibuses to get there. Lasse en Sil enjoyed this a lot, as they had to sit on the laps of Belle and Jessica, which the very much liked to do. This also gave them ample opportunity to share their experiences with new, fresh adults and they did not stop talking during the 5-hours ride. Belle and Jessica worked on a 2-year contract as teachers on a primary school in Tanzania, for the children from rich Tanzanians and expats. The too, liked it to spend some time with us and we did some things together over the next days, while we were staying in Cape Maclear.

We stayed at Fat Monkeys in Cape Maclear, an average, backpacker-style lodge and campsite. Luckily, it was not too busy when we were there, but on our last day 3 groups, each of about 20 youngsters had arrived, immediately turning the place into a more funky, nightlife type of place. We camped right at the beach, which provided for nice views of the setting sun. We did not swim because of Bilharzia, and this was at times frustrating as the water looked very inviting..... We had 2 long walks along the beach. During the first we witnessed people pulling our large fishing nets out of the sea. Lasse was asked to help pulling, which turned into a hilarious moment. The next day we walked up to the town and witnessed a carpenter mending an old fisher boat and saw an old man skillfully carving out a mokoro, a traditional canoe. On our way back we were followed by a large group of children, who did not want to let go, which made us feel uneasy. Very hard to block out 25 loud kids following you over the beach!

Last stop in Malawi was Ku Chawe Trout Farm, near Zomba, the former capital of Malawi (in the seventies Lilonge was made capital). We again gave Belle and Jessica a lift until Blantyre, where they would catch a bus going north, back to Tanzania again. The trout farm was a very run-down place, but again breathing a very pleasant atmosphere, built amidst a beautiful (rain) forest by Indian people in the mid-seventies. Regrettably it was breeding season, so we were not allowed to fish in the trout farm's ponds (much to Lasse's disappointment), nor could we buy a trout from the farm. We went out on a long hike on our first day with Stanley, the manager of the farm and Peter made a long hike with Stanley the next day to climb Mulonge Mountain, 2.800 m above sea level. Again we were confronted with great poverty; women carrying large bundles of wood on their heads to earn some 1,5 to 2, 5 euro and people begging for food and money. We bought large quantities of fresh fruit (raspberries, go-berries and strawberries) from people selling along the road, a health-peak in our diet! On our last day we met Francois and Nick, two men from Cape Town travelling on their motor bikes. Very friendly, open hearted and open minded, they were two very a-typical South Africans and a relief for us to meet up with.

So this was Malawi, a beautiful but very poor country. We left it with mixed feelings, anxious about what Mozambique would bring us.

Zambia

Crossing the border from Botswana into Zambia turned out to be a real Africa experience. It started with a very shabby, run-down ferry we had to take to cross the Zambezi River. We held our breath, but arrived safely on the other side. We were immediately ‘taken care of' by somebody that guided us through the army of money changers and helped us to obtain the necessary permits, pay road- and carbon tax and clear customs. What a hassle! Crossing the border cost us 240 US dollars, about 2 hours, a lot of patience and left us feeling like a milked cow, but we were there: Zambia.

Our first stop in Zambia was Livingstone, named after the European explorer that first set foot in this region and claimed he discovered it. We pitched our tents in the courtyard of Livingstone Backpackers Lodge, which turned out to be a popular but rather noisy place. There was always a large television playing, as well as music in the open air bar. One time we asked if the television could be switched off, but this was not possible. It must have been part of their strategic positioning as a funky kind of place to be. Shortly after we arrived, three Dutch girls arrived and pitched their tents. They had been doing an apprenticeship in South Africa and were enjoying some last weeks of holidays. It was full moon, and the Victoria Falls were said to be special in the evenings with full moon. Peter went to see the falls at full moon, and gave the Dutch girls a lift. It was indeed a nice experience, as the full moon painted a beautiful rainbow in the mist of the falls. The next day we went as a family to see the falls during daytime. Again a stunning, but also very wet experience. We decided against going to the Zimbabwean side of the falls, as this would again cost us 60 US dollar for an entry visa. We did watch the braver amongst us, who were bungee-jumping and swinging from the bridge that connected Zambia and Zimbabwe. An awesome sight. We stayed longer in Livingstone as planned, because Peter fell ill and had to see a doctor and take anti-biotic for some days. Claudia took the boys into Livingstone, an experience by itself, and visited the historical museum. Somewhat to her surprise, the museum turned out to be very nice and informative, and was set up in a very hands-on manner, inviting the visitors to feel and experience things for themselves. Luckily Peter got better and on our last night we had dinner together with the Dutch girls at the local Italian restaurant. It was a restaurant, annex internet café, annex work-experience place for young Zambians learning to be waiter and/or cook. A nice experience and, not unimportant, they served good food.

As soon as Peter got better, it was time to move on. We drove to Monze, a small but ‘real African town', with lots of small shops, trading on the streets, very lively. We camped at Moorings Camp, a beautifully landscaped camping site at a pig farm. We met a group of American high school youngsters and their teachers, who were doing a project at the local primary school. They prepared and taught some lessons, helped making a fruit and vegetable garden and sponsored the school with teaching materials. The head teacher had been doing this for some years and became much befriended with the local school. We happened to be just in time for the closing ceremony the local school had been practicing and were invited to join, which we happily accepted. When we arrived at the school, Lasse and Sil attracted much attention. Soon, they had a large group of ‘followers' and they were playing soccer together and handing each other self-made presents. Claudia was helping out inside the school with putting the teaching materials in different bags, one for each teacher, while Peter took pictures. After some time, it was time for the ceremony, with dancing and singing performed by the local kids. Really nice to see their sense of rhythm and the joyfulness with which they were at it. We were struck by the children's sense of discipline and authority. You won't find that at a Dutch primary school! The next day we returned to the village and visited the school, which was closed for holidays. But we again attracted much attention and again had a large group of children walking along with us.

The first week of July was nearly gone, and it was time for us to move on. Our next goal was South Luangwa National Park, which was close to the eastern border of Zambia. To get there, we had to pass through Lusaka, the capital of Zambia. Lusaka is a very busy and felt as an unsafe town. When we were driving past a market in Lusaka, a man climbed on our 4WD, trying to steal things from our roof rack. Not a nice feeling when you are in your car, waiting at a traffic light and cannot really do anything against it. Peter reversed and quickly shot forward again, thereby throwing the guy from our car, so we could continue our ways. We were, however, rather upset by this event and the unfriendly atmosphere radiating from Lusaka and we took a wrong exit at the roundabout. Unfortunately, we only noticed this 70 km further, which meant we made a 140 km detour, again pass through Lusaka, to get on the good road. It also meant we would arrive in the dark again. We made a stop-over in Luangwa Bridge, at the Bridge lodge run by a Dutchman from Eindhoven. It was a nice lodge, but way too expensive. We did see our first crocodile there, which eased our pain a bit. The next day we drove on to Chipata, were we stayed one night at Dean's Hillview lodge. Time for some shopping, as the next day we would be going to Mfuwe, a small village at the gate of South Luangwa NP, only to be reached via a 140 km long dirt road. We met Anna, a Dutch primary school teacher at the lodge, and we offered her a ride to the NP. Otherwise she would have had to take a minibus, which would have been a very long and arduous drive for her, so she gladly accepted.

When we arrived in Mfuwe, we dropped of Anna at her camping and drove on to Wildlife camp, which was set at a beautiful spot, overlooking the Luangwa River. The river was also the border of the NP, and we could see lots of hippo's, croc's and elephant from our tents. Small monkeys and baboons also like the camp a lot, so we had to be very careful and not leave any food unguarded. One baboon stole a loaf of bread from our table while we were having lunch! We only found out the second day that a dead elephant had been laying a little bit up the river yesterday. We were too late to have a look, as the local people and croc's had eaten it completely. Claudia stood in the washing room while next to her a man carried in a big chunk of elephant meat and started cleaning the blood from his body. Right in front of our tents we saw a large herd of elephant crossing the river; what a magnificent sight! One evening, we took an organized night-safari tour. We were really lucky, as we spotted leopards, lions hunting for buffalo, spotted hyena's and hippo's. We stayed for four nights in South Luangwa NP and simply enjoyed life at the campsite, looking at the wild animals, teaching Lasse and Sil and meeting other travelers. Peter went to another camp to watch the WK finale and saw Spain beat the Dutch team. Glad that life here in southern Africa can turn back to normal again.

We went back the same heavy road to Chipata and stayed one more night at Dean's Hillview Lodge. The rear brakes of our 4WD had to be repaired, as they were burnt after heavy descends. We also did a lot of shopping and stocked up for the next couple of days as we would be traveling into Malawi tomorrow and we were not sure when we would be able to do some shopping again. We're curious about Malawi, as we heard a lot of good stories about the country; beautiful countryside and very nice people, but very poor also. We'll see.

Caprivi Strip (Namibia) and Okavango Delta (Botswana)

After Etosha park we headed for the Caprivi Strip, a narrow, green strip of Namibia extending eastwards into Angola and Botswana, all the way up to the borders of Zambia and Zimbabwe. We drove via Grootfontein and headed for Rundu, where we stayed in a lodge for 2 nights, to catch our breath a bit. The lodge was ‘traditional style', in this case meaning rectangular stone walls with thatched roofs, with electricity, hot shower and fridge. On the day we left Rundu, we found Kiki, a young bird that was fallen out of the nest. We decided to take Kiki under our care and feed him until he able to fly. Peter built a small nest out of a carton box, put old underpants of Sil on the bottom and Kiki looked satisfied. He travelled with us as far as Divundu, where we stayed a couple of days at Ngepi camp along the Okavango River. We fed Kiki using a syringe filled with milk and bread. It took some convincing, but in the end the he swallowed it. Apparently our manner of feeding was also a good incentive to learn how to fly, as we only had to feed Kiki for 2 days, before he decided to leave us.

Ngepi camp was at the Okavango River and we could see the hippo's being lazy during the day and heard them eating loudly during the night. We were lucky to get a spot for our tents, as we had not made any reservations (the camp's phone was down the last week) and only last month the camp was closed due to flooding of the river. At that time it was not able to camp there at all, as the crocodiles were happily roaming around the place. One time, during a short walk over the camp site, Lasse cried 'look out, a snake'. It appeared that Peter stepped over a green tree snake. A wonderful, but seriously venomous snake. Claudia took a picture, and we all looked in amazement how the snake got away as quickly as possible. Lasse and Sil were both sick for some days, so we made it a relaxing stop, during which we still managed some schoolwork with a nice view over the river.

Originally we did not plan to go much deeper into the Okavango delta, but to stay in the 'Panhandle-delta' only. However, we liked the tranquility of the river so much, that we decided to change our plans and went south to Maun in Botswana. The plan was to fully encircle the delta by driving from Maun straight through Chobe national park, via Savuti to Kasane at the border with Zambia and Zimbabwe. Maun was a nice village, from which many operators organized tours into the Okavango delta. We met with Simon Roos, from South Africa, who was travelling with Ran and Daniela, a couple from Israel. Simon was very knowledgeable about camping and 4WD and he knew a lot about the place. Besides, he and the Israeli couple were good company and we spent some nice evenings around the fire with them and shared information about trips and places to see. From Maun we embarked on a daytrip with a traditional mokoro, a tall, slender boat that is either pushed or peddled through the swamps of the delta. We travelled with two mokoro's, made from polyester fiber, which were pushed by Ken and Samuel, our guides. During the day we made a short walk through the bush and visited a traditional village. Normally, 5.000 people would live in the village (!), but due to high water, only a small number of people were there, to look after the village and after tourists visiting it (!). Most of the people were living in a temporary village, to be able to work and look after the cattle. Although it was a ‘thirteen in a dozen' touristic trip, we all thoroughly enjoyed the day and came back either fully relaxed (Claudia and Peter), or dead-tired from pushing the mokoro (Lasse and Sil).

The decision to change our plans and go into the Okavango delta worked out well. Some weeks earlier, when we were still in Uis, Namibia, we had to make the first changes in our overall travel plan. It appeared that the flights from Singapore to Christchurch (NZ) were fully booked from January 1 to March 1. We had not booked this leg of our trip yet, as we were not able to book ahead for more than one year. Apparently we had waited too long, as now all was fully booked. We were forced to lengthen our stay in South-East Asia, but also to shorten our stay in New Zealand. We sacrificed two weeks on the Cook Islands, but included a week in North America (LA - Frisco), in order to still have six weeks on New Zealand. Hopefully, this change in plans works out just as nice as the decision to go into the Okavango delta. We'll see.

The drive from Maun to Savuti and through Chobe national park would be rough, consisting at best of gravel road with big potholes, but for more than 130 km it would be heavy, deep sand. We inquired about the road conditions, which were thought heavy, but doable. We decided to move up 60 km from Maun and stay two nights at Kazikimi camp. This would save us an hour on our way to Kasane. We met with Simon, Ran and Daniela there once more, and had two very enjoyable evenings with them, where we cooked and sat around the campfire together. Kazikimi camp was out in the wilderness and in the evening the camp was visited by honey badgers and spotted hyena's. We slept in a round hut made from cane and grass. Lasse and Sil were really into playing with mud, and started up a mud-factory. Peter repaired the Disco (most of the power steering fluid had leaked away) and Claudia was drawn into the adventures of Michael Blomkvist and Lisbeth Salander. We all had an enjoyable time there.

Then it was time for our drive via Savuti to Kassane. Peter had been really looking forward to this drive, and it was well worth it. It took us in total 7,5 hours of heavy driving, through deep sand, where our Disco really came to good use. Along the way we passed some South African families that were stuck in the sand with their 4WD towing a caravan (!). We offered help, but in the end they made it on their own (later we heard they had been stuck in the sand for five times that day). But not our Disco, o no, pedal to the metal and go with the flow! In Chobe park weunfortunately did not see much wildlife. An occasional elephant crossing our road and a distant giraffe, but we did see a group of African buffalo's, which we hadn't seen before. We later turned around after we heard there were lions seen, but could not spot them. Apparently, when there are buffalo's, there are lions about.

Kasane was a pleasant little town, with all the facilities travelers like us required. We fuelled up and did some shopping. We had booked a night in the Waterlily Lodge, which, with its round form, looked rather nice. Peter took a dive in the (unheated) swimming pool, we drank a GT in the last hours of daylight and treated ourselves on a meal in the restaurant (after having taken a short walk through town during which we did not recognize anything that looked like a restaurant).

Tomorrow we will be leaving Botswana and Namibia behind us, and cross the border into Zambia, where a whole new world awaited us, according to the old, but still valid national slogan: 'Zambia, the real Africa'.

North Namibia - ever changing

After Swakopmund we headed for Cape Cross, a small village at the seashore, known for its large colony of seals. It is estimated that between 80 and 100 thousand seals live there. We certainly believed this to be true, judging from the smell that hung around that place! It was very nice to see so many seals together, either constantly fighting for the ‘best spot on the rock', or sky-diving in the waves. It was stunning to see that many baby seals do not survive the first months of their live. An estimated 30% die very young. Either they are eaten by hyena or jackal, or crushed by parents fighting for ‘the best spot on the rock'. Everywhere you looked there were dead baby seals lying around, and our guess is that this contributed greatly to the smell.

We did not stay overnight in Cape Cross, but headed for Uis near Brandberg, where we had a very enjoyable stay. After Uis we went to Opuwo, the town of the Himba (see our account 'Comfort Zone, part II').

In the north of Nambia, from east to west through the entire country, runs an animal disease control border, with guarded checkpoints every time the road crosses this border. This animal disease control border was established in 1897 (!), after a great break-out of cattle-plague in the north that infected the white men's farms established in the southern region of Namibia.

Namibia has been under reign of South Africa for a long time and apartheid played a major role here too. White settlers established farms in the southern part of Namibia, while the northern regions were to be the homelands for the indigenous tribes. We believe that this animal disease control border and apartheid have had great interaction with each other. Even today, being north or south of this animal disease control border is very different. South is the land of the big (white) cattle-farms, which are fenced off and where animal movement is controlled through strategically switching off water supplies. Here you have (mostly) mixed towns, where white people live in wealth, and black people usually in poverty and/or townships. North of the disease control border you will find cattle running free along the highway, which are guarded by young black males that simply walk along with the animals in their search for food and water. No fences here. Another noticeable difference is the lack of townships in the north. People here mostly live in traditional huts, grouped together in a so-called 'kraal' for each family. Usually, a family consists of one man (the chief), his women (typically 3 to 6) and many children. There are, however, differences in how a kraal is built and organized, depending upon which tribe. Usually there is a hut for the chief, several huts, one for each wife, and huts for children, boys and girls separated. Usually some kind of shelter is provided for the animals that run free within the kraal. Every kraal has its own ‘holy fire', where the chief talks with the forefathers in case of need for dire advice.

One is not allowed to bring meat and/or dairy products when crossing the animal disease control border. One time, when passed it going south, we were checked. The officer noticed the meat in our fridge, looked at Peter and demanded an apple. Peter gave him two apples and we were allowed to pass, even with our meat in the fridge. This goes to show that change is slow.

Our next stop after Opuwo was Ondangwa, where we stayed just one night on our way to Etosha national park. We slept in traditional hut of the Ovambo tribe. These huts have a round base made from clay, about 3 meters in diameter, with a roof made from tall grass. The huts were again grouped in a kraal, and this kraal had division walls made from wood between every hut. We were told that this was done to make it more difficult for hostile tribes to come in and steel the cattle, women and children! Then, finally, we were on our way to our first wildlife game park: Etosha.

We arrived during the afternoon, pitched our tents and headed straight for the nearest waterhole of which we were told that it was usually visited by a lot of animals late in the afternoon. And they were right; we watched giraffes, antelope (impala and springbok), kudu and wildebeest drink in peace. The next day we got up at half past 5, quick breakfast and or our way. We saw again many animals at waterholes and were surprised by two lonely male elephants and even a rhino crossing the road right in front of our Disco. What a sight! We also met with the eldest elephant of the park; he was nearly blind and had a much wrinkled skin. On our way back to the camp - you had to be back before sunset - we wondered why a bus had stopped along the road. Lions! Wow, we were really lucky to see a group of lions on our first game park visit. A bit scary to have lions walking 2 meters past your car, with the windows open, but it made for some great pictures.

The next day we got up early again, and drove for more than one hours without seeing any animals. We thought our luck had gone and decided to try one more waterhole, before we would continue with our journey. On the way to the waterhole, we saw a lot of elephant shit and broken branches of trees. Our hearts started beating faster! There they were: two females with a couple of young elephants. We decided to head for the waterhole, as they would surely be on their way there. At the waterhole we found a group of around 80 elephants drinking and playing with each other. We were speechless and took photos and videos like madmen. We saw two adolescent bulls play-fighting with each other and in the end we were chased away by the one that lost the fight. We kept our cool (difficult!), but were sensible enough to start the engine and back the car a little, as the young elephant looked quite convincing!

After our encounter with the elephant herd, we had to move on again, as our next stop was some 400 km away. We were sorry to leave Etosha, but were charged with many exciting experiences, photos and videos.

Next stop: Ngepi camp at Divundu, north Namibia, along the Okavanka river.

Comfort zone - part II

Swakopmund - what a town! Imagine sitting in a café at the seaside, around you people eat Apfelkuchen, Currywurst of Gulaschsuppe, most of the time you hear German, there are pensioners, some young people. Swakopmund has Fachwerkhäuser and other rather European looking buildings. We liked the town, it gave us our 'comfort zone' back because it resembles Europe so much. Then again - we travel now for three weeks in Africa and we are getting used to this country, our 'travel comfort zone' starts to build up!

Namibia is such a beautiful country and it is just the desert with its emptiness that makes it so special. Swakopmund is surrounded by sand and gravel desert and we treated ourselves to a 'living desert tour'. Our guide could read the desert and just a small trail in the sand was sufficient and he would jump out of his car, run up the dune and come back with a snake or a lizard. Magic! We thoroughly enjoyed it.

Some 800 km further north - Opuwo, town of the Himba. Our comfort zone is challenged again. Peter and Claudia are fine, but Lasse and Sil had an exhausting day. The Himba are a half nomadic tribe in Northwestern Namibia. They still lead their traditional life, obviously mixed with some modern aspects here in town (like buying food in a supermarket). The women cover their body with a mixture of ochre, cow butter and herbs, giving their skin a red colour; they just wear a kind of skirt and lots of jewelry, it is an unusual sight. Together with their children they try to sell self-made stuff, rather relentlessly. First Sil locked himself in the car, but after 10 minutes curiosity grew stronger than his fear and he came out. Later, Lasse declared that by now he was used to the topless ladies.... It's great to travel with kids. Today they sleep with mama in a tent to give them back some of their comfort zone.

Before Opuwo we stayed some days on a nice camping in Uis, near Brandberg (with 2.573 m the highest mountain of Namibia). Uis is a funny little village, quite remote and ‘discovered' by white people in the nineties, after the tin-mine run by South Africa was closed down. Unmistakably a mixed village, but when we asked how many people live in Uis, the answer was '60, but usually only 40 are here'. Black people obviously weren't part of the count. It appears as if the two worlds remain two worlds.

When we told the owner of the camping in Uis, that we were headed to Opuwo, she said: 'Opuwo is a filthy town', and showed a similar face to prove it. When asked what makes it dirty, she said: 'The local people', again showing a dirty face with it. With local people she obviously meant the Himba. Well, Opuwo is dusty, not so much filthy, but this is merely due to the fact that the country is dry and dusty. The Himba are also not filthy, they're just different. We think it is great to see these proud people in their own fashion, in their town. Opuwo really is their town, there are little white people here, and our camping site here actually is the first one to be run by black people. But we feel very welcome here and find it rather easy to connect to the locals. Although real communication is most of the time difficult due to the language-barrier, there is no problem in sharing a friendly joke and having some fun together.

South Namibia - absolute nothingness

We left Cape Town heading for Namibia without much idea about what to find in Namibia. We took two stops in South Africa, Beaverlac National Reserve and Springbok, before entering into Namibia. Beaverlac was a beautiful camping place, only reachable via a steep and rough 4WD-track. Off course we arrived too late, hence the first real 4WD-track had to be negotiated in the dark, as well as putting up our tents. Springbok was a necessity given the distance; we stayed in a small but nice hotel, enabling us to recharge all our battery-powered things and to have an early start the next day.

Our first stop in Namibia was Fish River Canyon, only second in size to the Grand Canyon in the USA. On our way we crossed our first desert; the nothingness and outstretched, dry landscape really impressed us. Glad to have 30 liter of water on board! We stayed at a luxury (swimming pool and hot springs!!) camping place at one end of the canyon. Most people arrive here after a 5-day hike through the canyon, but we just enjoyed the hot springs, swimming pool, the good weather and an occasional gin-tonic.

On our way to the next stop, an extinguished volcano near Berseba, we stopped at Keetmanshoop just in time to do some shopping. Peter managed to talk himself into the local supermarket that had actually closed doors already, while Claudia experienced a less nice moment inside the car, with a beggar banging on the window ‘asking' for some money. Again we arrived too late at the camping site on the slopes of the volcano. Nobody there, the place was really deserted. We opened the gate ourselves, it was too late to turn around and look for another place to spend the night. We spent an arousing night, bothered by a stormy wind and fantastic thoughts playing through our minds, all four sleeping together in one tent. Glad that the night was over, we packed our stuff and drove on, heading for our next stop: Duwisib Castle.

Duwisib castle was nice. It was built by German Baron von Wolf in 1909 during the period that Namibia was a German colony. Really strange to see a German-style castle in the middle of the Namibian desert. The camping site turned out to be nothing short of an oasis. We really enjoyed our stay there. Clean washrooms and toilets and every morning the boilers were heated with wood so we could take a warm shower. The owner was a second-generation German-decent Namibian, who was really nice to us: he did some shopping for us (nearest town with shops 120 km away) and Lasse and Sil were allowed to feed the ostriches.

Our next stop after Duwisib was Sossusvlei. We found a nice camping in Sesriem, close to Sossusvlei and Deadvlei, the famous orange dessert dunes of Namibia. We did not have reservations, but we were lucky and secured a camping spot for one night (more than enough in this hectic and touristic place). The same day we climbed ‘Dune 45' (just one of a thousand dunes that happens to be located at km-sign 45) and watched the sun setting; a magnificent sight. The next morning we got up at 5 o'clock, brushed our teeth and had breakfast in the car. The drive from Sesriem to Sossusvlei is 65 km, which we drove in the dark to be able to see the sunset over Deadvlei. Again a magnificent sight, these orange dunes slowly coming to life in the setting morning sun.

Our next destination was Swakopmund, the German-style town at the seashore. We got as far as Walvisbaai, 30 km before Swakopmund and took a hotel for the night, tired of all the driving. The next day we drove to Swakopmund, found a nice lodge annex camping site, did grocery shopping for a week, as we intend to stay here for 4 -5 days. Enjoying civilization and wondering about the ‘absolute nothingness' called south Namibia we crossed in order to get here. Time to update our weblog and get two new tires for our Disco. As the rear tires would not survive our trip around southern Africa, we thought it better to change them now, so we can benefit from them fully. Also, we need some days without travelling to keep on schedule with teaching Lasse and Sil.

Most of south Namibia is dessert. Nearly all roads we drove on were un-tarred gravel roads. Sometimes very bumpy, even too bumpy for our Land Rover Disco. We had actually bought two maps, however, both not 100% correct (as we found out along our way). We missed our exit a couple of times, simply because they were not on the map, while other roads were shown on our map, but we could not find them in the real world. This can all become very confusing. The towns that we went through are merely some houses scattered around either a church or petrol station. There appears to be no social cohesion or a real town-centre, making it difficult to connect and to find your way. We were glad to arrive at a small town called Helmeringhausen, where we found our first signs of civilization after we entered into Namibia! Often, what we perceived as civilized is found in ‘mixed' towns, with white and black people living together. It's still a little bit difficult for us to connect, or feel at ease, in 100% black areas. We wonder if that is still to come.