Water

Our next destination was Chobe National Park, and the drive in featured a half dozen elephant sightings (some only a couple of meters off the road).We had an evening cruise on the Chobe River with lots of hippos and crocs on display. We finished up with the usual sunset...ho hum.

It was a short drive to cross into Zambia, but required a ferry crossing to do it. We passed a good two kms of trucks lined up on the way in; some having been there over a week. We id much better as our crew ,Rogan and Alison, had us on the ferry with minimal delay. This feat requires cutting into lines,dodging touts and pressing our case with every official- great and small. We eventually wound up in Livingston and Victoria Falls. It is a rather luxurious campground/lodge and we enjoyed the comforts. Best of all the mist of the falls is visible from the bar. That first day there were two torrential downpours and we were concerned about what the next days might bring, but the rest of our stay was gorgeous.

There is an endless variety of exciting activities offered in Livingston ranging from bungi jumping off the gorge bridge to horse back riding. A happy coincidence putMike into a kayak to paddle rapids 11 to 25 in the Zambezi Gorge, a class 3-4 run with very high levels. He was pretty chuffed if somewhat beat up. He met a British pro paddler/photographer who has spent much time at the Lachine Rapids.

The next day Jane did her adrenalin thing, with an early morning ultralight

flight over the falls and gorge. She actually held the controls as they passed through the circular rainbow in the mist of the falls. We should say something about Victoria Falls. It is not your usual waterfall arrangement .Think of a capital T with the top of the T being the falls and the tail being the gorge ( but zigzaged).The falls are two kms across and about a hundred meters deep. The gorge runs for almost 200 kms. Quite rightly it is a world heritage site.

After two long driving days ,which Mike has named “truck it “ days, we made our way down a challenging road to South Luangwa National Park where we camped on the river bank. All day long we could see hippos and crocodiles along the shore or lazing in the water. We were told to keep our eyes open if we left the tents at night as hippos may be grazing in the camp.

Christmas Eve saw us at concert featuring a choir made up of workers from the various camps. They were superb as was the setting-a large open potatoe field, which had both elephants and giraffes in the distance. Our group had a great Christmas dinner with Mike's cook team hosting; including an enormous trifle , mince tarts and a Christmas cake. We had a gift draw ; a nice bracelet for Jane and three tennis balls to juggle and a ...wait for it ...a slingshot for Mike. Our camp grounds sometimes feature aggressive monkeys and baboons and theslingshot has already been put to use.

That night was everybody's Christmas gift. We woke about 4:15 to the sound of pots crashing and assumed the garbage had been left out. Our first thought was baboons , until we heard a rumbling growl and the clattering of the truck which made it clear it was something bigger. We. were unable to see anything as our tent had it's back to the truck; we could see the night watchman creep forward using a flashlight and clapping his hands to no avail. After 10 minutes we could see out the side window of the tent a set of enormous legs, followed by a full grown elephant at our front door. Eventually 5 or more adults and two calves ended up outside the front of the tent eating the shrubs and grass in front of the tent. Amazing how big an elephant looks when you are lying on the ground.(Note to Kimberly-the noise had prompted Mike to pull out his leatherman , but seeing the elephants he quietly put it away. Now he says he needs a bigger one.) After the elephants departed we gathered at the truck to see that the elephants had torn a steel plate door off the truck, to devour a stash of mangoes and cornflakes.

A view of a locust cloud over Lake Malawi.

Two more travel days have brought us to Kande Beach on the shores of Lake Malawi , the second largest lake in Africa). Tonight is New Years and our roast pig is roasting as we prepare this. All our very best to you for 2012 – we hope it will provide.. some great surprises and good health.

Jane and Mike