I've put up a few photos albums on Facebook:
Kenya & Tanzania, you just click here
Malawi & Zambia, you can just click right here
and for Botswana & South Africa, you will have to click on this link
Showing posts with label zambia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label zambia. Show all posts
Tuesday, 9 March 2010
Tuesday, 23 February 2010
Livingstone, Zambia Part 2
So the plan for today was to go and watch Tom bungi jump off the bridge between Zambia & Zimbabwe and then continue our way accross the bridge into Zimbabwe to see Victoria Falls from the other side, but at breakfast we learned that Zambia might give us a hard time about leaving for the day on our single visit visas, but we set off with high hopes.
Tom's bungi jump was 111 metres and I had a hard time watching him do it, but I managed to get a video of it, which I hope to share once I get to an internet connection which isn't super slow!
Unfortunately before getting to Tom's jump, we had to pass through Zambia's immigration where we learned they would charge us US$50 if we wanted to come back into Zambia, cause they've changed the rules and don't let you cross over just for the day anymore. So our original plan of US$30 for Zimbabwe's visa plus US$10 for entry into Victoria Falls turned into a US$90 for the day instead of US$40, which we had all decided anything under US$50 was acceptable . . . so after the jump, we just turned back around & went back to The Waterfront campsite. We actually weren't even allowed to cross the white line on the bridge which divides the two countries, but Sara being Sara of course put both feet over the line and before getting a photo was told to step back, so I have no photo evidence of it, but I know I was there!
Once back at the campsite, we had lunch and just relaxed in the sun by the Zambezi River. Now off to grab some dinner . . .
Tom's bungi jump was 111 metres and I had a hard time watching him do it, but I managed to get a video of it, which I hope to share once I get to an internet connection which isn't super slow!
Unfortunately before getting to Tom's jump, we had to pass through Zambia's immigration where we learned they would charge us US$50 if we wanted to come back into Zambia, cause they've changed the rules and don't let you cross over just for the day anymore. So our original plan of US$30 for Zimbabwe's visa plus US$10 for entry into Victoria Falls turned into a US$90 for the day instead of US$40, which we had all decided anything under US$50 was acceptable . . . so after the jump, we just turned back around & went back to The Waterfront campsite. We actually weren't even allowed to cross the white line on the bridge which divides the two countries, but Sara being Sara of course put both feet over the line and before getting a photo was told to step back, so I have no photo evidence of it, but I know I was there!
Once back at the campsite, we had lunch and just relaxed in the sun by the Zambezi River. Now off to grab some dinner . . .
Monday, 22 February 2010
Travel Facts about places I've been thus far
Masai Mara National Reserve is in the south-western area of Kenya. Named after the Masai people (the traditional inhabitants) and their description of the area when looked from far away and "Mara" which is Maa (local language) for spotted (description for the trees, scrub, savannah and cloud shadows in the area). It covers 1530 square kilometers.
Serengeti National Park in Tanzania is most famous for it's annual migration of over 1.5 million white bearded wildebeest and 200,000 zebra. The park covers 14,763 square kilometers (5,700 square miles) of grassland plains as well as riverine forest and wooded areas. It's located in the north of the country, bordering Kenya on the northborder, where it is continuous with the Masai Mara National Reserve and just to the south-east is Ngorongoro Conservation Area (NCA), which we visited as well.
The NCA is situated 180 kilometers (112 miles) west of Arusha in the Crater Highland area of Tanzania. the Ngorongoro Crater, a large, unbroken, unflooded volcanic caldera, which formed from a giant volcano explotion followed by it collapsing on itself about three million years ago, it is 610 meters (2,000 feet) deep and its covers 260 square meters (100 square miles). The estimated height of the original volcano ranges from 15 to 19 thousand feet (4500 to 5800 metres) high. We spent one night sleeping on the rim of this crater & then went for a morning game drive inside the crater. The NCA also holds Olduvai Gorge which is in the flat area and considered to be the seat of humanity since the discovery of the earliest known specimens of the human beaings. This excavation work was pioneered by Louis Leakey and his wife Mary back in the 1950s and is still going on today thanks to their family.
Lake Malawi is the third largest in Africa and the 8th in the world and second deepest in lake in Africa and an African Great Lake. It borders Malawi, Tanzania, and Mozambique. This great lake's tropical waters supposedly has more species of fish than any other lake on the Earth. It is 580 kilometers long, but only 75 kilometers wide at it's widest point. The lake also supports large populations of snails, some of which are known to carry , a reason I never swam in the water, cause I sure as heck don't want to have schisto, but then maybe some of my mates in London and Saranac Lake could do research on me - LOL.
Victoria Falls also called Mosi-oa-Tunya (the Mist that Thunders) is a water fall located on the Zambezi River and considered to be one of the seven natural wonders of the world. It was first recorded viewing of the falls was by David Livingstone the Scottish missionary. Even though it is not the highest or widest in the world, it clains to be the largest based on it's widthe of 1,708 meters (5,600 feet) and 108 meters high (360 feet), making it the largest sheet of falling water in the world. Apparently 1,000 cubic meters per second fall over the falls, which equals tons of water as well - CRAZY huh?
Serengeti National Park in Tanzania is most famous for it's annual migration of over 1.5 million white bearded wildebeest and 200,000 zebra. The park covers 14,763 square kilometers (5,700 square miles) of grassland plains as well as riverine forest and wooded areas. It's located in the north of the country, bordering Kenya on the northborder, where it is continuous with the Masai Mara National Reserve and just to the south-east is Ngorongoro Conservation Area (NCA), which we visited as well.
The NCA is situated 180 kilometers (112 miles) west of Arusha in the Crater Highland area of Tanzania. the Ngorongoro Crater, a large, unbroken, unflooded volcanic caldera, which formed from a giant volcano explotion followed by it collapsing on itself about three million years ago, it is 610 meters (2,000 feet) deep and its covers 260 square meters (100 square miles). The estimated height of the original volcano ranges from 15 to 19 thousand feet (4500 to 5800 metres) high. We spent one night sleeping on the rim of this crater & then went for a morning game drive inside the crater. The NCA also holds Olduvai Gorge which is in the flat area and considered to be the seat of humanity since the discovery of the earliest known specimens of the human beaings. This excavation work was pioneered by Louis Leakey and his wife Mary back in the 1950s and is still going on today thanks to their family.
Lake Malawi is the third largest in Africa and the 8th in the world and second deepest in lake in Africa and an African Great Lake. It borders Malawi, Tanzania, and Mozambique. This great lake's tropical waters supposedly has more species of fish than any other lake on the Earth. It is 580 kilometers long, but only 75 kilometers wide at it's widest point. The lake also supports large populations of snails, some of which are known to carry , a reason I never swam in the water, cause I sure as heck don't want to have schisto, but then maybe some of my mates in London and Saranac Lake could do research on me - LOL.
Victoria Falls also called Mosi-oa-Tunya (the Mist that Thunders) is a water fall located on the Zambezi River and considered to be one of the seven natural wonders of the world. It was first recorded viewing of the falls was by David Livingstone the Scottish missionary. Even though it is not the highest or widest in the world, it clains to be the largest based on it's widthe of 1,708 meters (5,600 feet) and 108 meters high (360 feet), making it the largest sheet of falling water in the world. Apparently 1,000 cubic meters per second fall over the falls, which equals tons of water as well - CRAZY huh?
Livingstone, Zambia
We arrived into Livingstone yesterday afternoon around 2pm, after driving in the rain all morning long. The rainy season is Southern Africa is in full swing & everything is soaking wet at this point. Sara woke up in a puddle this morning, literally a puddle! The mattress had kept her mostly dry, but the edges of the sleeping bag which had slipped off the sides were very wet & goodness only knows when it will dry, since the weather is forecasted to rain for next 10 days (aka the rest of our trip).
Upon arriving in Livingstone, we went straight to Victoria Falls for 2 hours - what fun to see - Niagra Falls is apparently 1/5 the size, but since Sara has never been to NF she cannot compare, except to say that Victoria Falls is breathtaking! It was almost sunny during our time at the falls, which considering how wet it's been the past few days was a miracle :-) Sara was able to take a few photos, but some times the spray from the falls was so heavy that she couldn't take photos without risking ruining her camera with water damage.
In front of the falls there is a walking bridge, which Sara went on cause the mist/spray from the falls was so heavy she couldn't see how high up she was and therefore wasn't scared to cross it - lol. In doing so, anything that wasn't covered by her raincoat got DRENCHED, but was able to dry since it was reasonably warm for the rest of the time. Sara got to see some people bungy jump off the bridge which goes to Zimbabwe & decided NEVER in a million years would she ever even think about doing that, I mean for goodness sakes you all know what a woose she is about going on rollar coasters, can you imagine her going on something like that???
We'll be here in Livingstone for the next 3 nights and then we head to Botswana and then South Africa.
This morning as I was walking from our tent to the buffet breakfast which is offered with our camping fees I almost thought I was in Florida for a second. The grass is the same type as I remember from my aunt & grandmother's yards in FL and there are many palm trees and the small after the rain in FL is similar to here as well. Plus it's the type of rain which isn't so bad since it's warm weather you never really feel cold, just WET!
Hi all, Sara here, just wanted to say quickly that I have to be honest, I'm getting a bit sick & tired of camping in the rain. I love camping, but camping in the rain for a week straight where you wake up with a puddle in your tent is not exactly my idea of a holiday! But to be honest, compared to some others I'm with I'm dealing with the weather quite well. Today my tent mate, Stef & I decided to upgrade to a "permenant tent" which is only slightly larger than our travelling tent, but it's up on a cement slab (so no waking up in a puddle), had electricity (small lamp & fan) and 2 beds in it - smaller than Boy Scout tents which I spent many a summer in, but to be dry is very important, as I've been sneezing a lot & woke up with a sore throat today. Last thing in the world I want is to get sick right now!! Only 9 more nights before I'm in Jo'burg & then I fly to Sydney, Australia - YIPEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!! I'm really looking forward to that . . . not to say I'm not enjoying this as I am, but I've been wanting to go to Australia since I was about 10!
Upon arriving in Livingstone, we went straight to Victoria Falls for 2 hours - what fun to see - Niagra Falls is apparently 1/5 the size, but since Sara has never been to NF she cannot compare, except to say that Victoria Falls is breathtaking! It was almost sunny during our time at the falls, which considering how wet it's been the past few days was a miracle :-) Sara was able to take a few photos, but some times the spray from the falls was so heavy that she couldn't take photos without risking ruining her camera with water damage.
In front of the falls there is a walking bridge, which Sara went on cause the mist/spray from the falls was so heavy she couldn't see how high up she was and therefore wasn't scared to cross it - lol. In doing so, anything that wasn't covered by her raincoat got DRENCHED, but was able to dry since it was reasonably warm for the rest of the time. Sara got to see some people bungy jump off the bridge which goes to Zimbabwe & decided NEVER in a million years would she ever even think about doing that, I mean for goodness sakes you all know what a woose she is about going on rollar coasters, can you imagine her going on something like that???
We'll be here in Livingstone for the next 3 nights and then we head to Botswana and then South Africa.
This morning as I was walking from our tent to the buffet breakfast which is offered with our camping fees I almost thought I was in Florida for a second. The grass is the same type as I remember from my aunt & grandmother's yards in FL and there are many palm trees and the small after the rain in FL is similar to here as well. Plus it's the type of rain which isn't so bad since it's warm weather you never really feel cold, just WET!
Hi all, Sara here, just wanted to say quickly that I have to be honest, I'm getting a bit sick & tired of camping in the rain. I love camping, but camping in the rain for a week straight where you wake up with a puddle in your tent is not exactly my idea of a holiday! But to be honest, compared to some others I'm with I'm dealing with the weather quite well. Today my tent mate, Stef & I decided to upgrade to a "permenant tent" which is only slightly larger than our travelling tent, but it's up on a cement slab (so no waking up in a puddle), had electricity (small lamp & fan) and 2 beds in it - smaller than Boy Scout tents which I spent many a summer in, but to be dry is very important, as I've been sneezing a lot & woke up with a sore throat today. Last thing in the world I want is to get sick right now!! Only 9 more nights before I'm in Jo'burg & then I fly to Sydney, Australia - YIPEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!! I'm really looking forward to that . . . not to say I'm not enjoying this as I am, but I've been wanting to go to Australia since I was about 10!
Saturday, 20 February 2010
Lusaka, Zambia
Last time we wrote I think we still in Kande Beach, Malawi, right? Well since then Sara has been to Livingstonia, for one last night in Malawi, where it POURED starting at 3am & kept on going through to lunch time the following day - making camping oh so much fun, cause who doesn't love setting up & putting away tents in the pouring rain?? Luckily I get to stay locked safely away in the truck & rarely need to get soaking wet :-)
Sara likes to call Malawi the land of 1,000 one lane bridges, cause there are hundreds of little rivers going to & from Lake Malawi.
From there we drove across the border into Zambia yesterday, stopping in Chipata, Zambia, just over the border for the night at Mama Hula's campsite, which was rather non-descript and again with the rainy season here in Southern Africa, we didn't see much but the inside of the bar, where we were able to watch Tiger Woods give a 15 minute speech . . . not that any of us were really interested, but that's what was on before dinner.
Today we drove what feels like a million miles, but probably only about 600km to reach Lusaka, the capital of Zambia, where we've stopped at a little mall, similar to Aviation Mall in Glens Falls, New York.
Tomorrow we drive another long day to Livingstone, near Victoria Falls where we will set up camp for 4 nights, woo hoo to not moving for a few days!!
Sara likes to call Malawi the land of 1,000 one lane bridges, cause there are hundreds of little rivers going to & from Lake Malawi.
From there we drove across the border into Zambia yesterday, stopping in Chipata, Zambia, just over the border for the night at Mama Hula's campsite, which was rather non-descript and again with the rainy season here in Southern Africa, we didn't see much but the inside of the bar, where we were able to watch Tiger Woods give a 15 minute speech . . . not that any of us were really interested, but that's what was on before dinner.
Today we drove what feels like a million miles, but probably only about 600km to reach Lusaka, the capital of Zambia, where we've stopped at a little mall, similar to Aviation Mall in Glens Falls, New York.
Tomorrow we drive another long day to Livingstone, near Victoria Falls where we will set up camp for 4 nights, woo hoo to not moving for a few days!!
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