Leaving Chobe National Park on Tuesday 23 September, we make our way to the Zambezi River ferry where we will cross from Botswana to Zambia. There is no bridge over the wide river here, and a huge line of trucks waits to cross. We join the crowd of locals waiting to cross on the bank, where music plays from someone's car, people stand around guarding loads of blankets, beer and electronic goods, and a breakfast kiosk of nsima (maize meal and water) is run out of the back of a Subaru station wagon.
Eventually we board the ferry, cross the mighty Zambezi, and pass through Zambia immigration. We are soon back on the truck and make our way to Victoria Falls, or as it is locally known, Mosi-oa-Tunya - the smoke that thunders. Even at low capacity (currently 15% as it's the dry season) the falls are a spectacular sight. Water cascades into the vast chasm which returns the water to the Zambezi. One positive of the low water level is that it enables us to capture some decent pictures - at full flow we'd be soaking wet looking over the falls. Seeing the Falls is a great experience, and we can hardly bear to leave.
The next few days are spent camping at The Waterfront on the Zambezi River, near Livingstone in Zambia. We get a chance to relax, do some washing, and spend some time in the town of Livingstone. There are plenty of tourists here, but up until about five years ago most people visited Victoria Falls from the Zimbabwe side, so the place is certainly not overdeveloped.
On the main street of Livingstone Andrew seizes his chance to obtain some souvenirs in the form of high face value Zimbabwean bank notes. Surrounded by about six guys, he picks out the best notes and negotiates a price. One of the guys tries to pull a swiftie by keeping some of the notes folded in his hand, but we call his bluff and he hands over the notes and leaves quickly! We walk away, holding 9 bank notes which total about 700 billion Zimbabwean dollars! A young boy of 9 or 10 approaches us and says "Excuse me, that money you bought, it's no good, it's worth nothing." He can't understand us handing over perfectly good Kwacha for worthless Zimbabwean currency. We thank him and explain we just want to look at it. His concern is somewhat placated, but he still seems a little perplexed.
The days in Livingstone include a white-water rafting trip on the Zambezi for Andrew, which includes grade four and five rapids. It is an awesome thrill, though he injures his knee when the guide takes the wrong line and the raft is hurled into a hole in one of the rapids. A visit to a doctor in Livingstone (and then a Dutch doctor later at a mission hospital in Lilongwe, Malawi) confirms that it's just a sprain to the medial ligament, and after some initial concern the recovery seems to be going smoothly. The doctor in Livingstone, a Lieutenant Colonel, bizarrely recounts skits from the Paul Hogan Show, which he used to watch in the middle of Zambia in the 70s and 80s!
Mariska chooses a safer option than the rafting and goes for morning tea at Livingstone Island at the top of Victoria Falls. The trip includes a swim in the Devil's Armchair, a deep pool literally on the edge of the falls! It is a beautiful sight from up there, and the sun paints spectacular rainbows in the mist from the falls.
We spend plenty more time relaxing in Livinstone before moving on, and our time there includes the surreal experience of watching the mighty Cats lose the AFL Grand Final at 7am on Saturday morning, overlooking the Zambezi. Disappointing result, but we're too far away to really care - plus, the Cats won it last year.
Next, it's off to travel through Zambia on our way to Malawi.
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