Southern/East African Trip 2019

Days 10 - 13 – 20 th – 23 rd June 2019 On the way to Mutinondo we stopped in at Kundalila Falls.   The falls are were really impressive, but the height of them could not be properly photographed from the view point.    This was the best we could do at the top of the falls: Kundalila Falls After the stop at the falls we pushed on to Mutinondo, where we stayed at a campsite that had a lovely round shelter with a fire place.   We were looking forward to the birding here. Mutinondo is a proper wilderness camp and ideal for hikers.   One needs to take your rubbish with you upon departure, the toilets are long drops, but the showers are decent and the water is warmed by a donkey boiler. Not a bird was to be seen or heard, so we decided to push on to Kapishya Hot Springs the following morning. Kapishya Hot Springs We absolutely loved Kapishya Hot Springs – the hot springs, the camp site, the birdlife.   We decided to stay for three nights instead o

Day 6, 7 & 8 - 15 th – 17 th June 2019 Initially the road from Mongu to Kaoma was good but deteriorated drastically.   The potholes were so bad that every opportunity you got to drive on dirt next to the tar was taken.   Seven hours to do 330 km’s – welcome to Africa……   The last section through the Kafue National Park was great, delivering the biggest herd of Roan Antelope we’d ever seen, Puku, Impala and a number of warthogs. We would not have made Kasabushi (a Lodge in the park) by nightfall, so we stuck to Plan A and spent a night at Roy’s Camp, just over Hook Bridge, on a game management area on the banks of the Kafue River. We had heard so much about what a nuisance the Tsetse flies were in the Kafue area, but were pleasantly surprised that there was not a fly in the camp.      The night skies brought lion roars and hippo shenanigans echoing across the water all night – really exciting!   The next morning, Mark, the camp manager, told us that the lion had come throug

Day 4 & 5 – 12 th and 13 th June 2019 The drive through the Chobe to Katimo Mulilo proved uneventful and we passed through the Wanella Border Post quite quickly.   The Sesheke Border Post (Zambia) however, was the most disorganised border post we had ever been through and took about 2 hours due to the Road Tax guy being on lunch for an hour.   Tip to travellers: don’t arrive at a border post between 13h00 and 14h00! Because they don’t take cards and only Zambian Kwatcha is accepted as cash, our first stop was the ATM.   Yay, It had money in it!   With Kwatcha in hand, we proceeded through the process: 1.        Health Desk, who take your photograph (?) 2.        Immigration 3.        CIP (ZMW 200) 4.        Vehicle Clearance 5.        Road Council Tax (ZMW 30) 6.        3 rd Party Insurance, which we had arranged on line with Phoenix Insurance, Lusaka, at a cost of R140.00.   The Insurers at the border were charging up to R500 for 30 day’s insurance. 7.    

Day 1 – 9 th June 2019 Having spent our last evening in SA at friends in Lephalale, we used the Grobler’s Bridge / Martin’s Drift Border Post on route to Francistown.   The Botswana side’s card machine was not working to pay the fees, but there was a bureau de change where we could swop rand for pula.   The cost of the crossing was BWP 217 for multiple entry.   It took an hour collectively to go through both sides. A pleasant surprise was bumping into our travel companions at Grobler’s Bridge.    We all stopped off in Francistown to buy meat (as we could not bring any over the border), and were looking forward to getting to know each other over a braai at Woodland’s Stop Over, 15 km’s north of Francistown on the A3. A super first evening was had by all.   By evening 18h00 we needed to don jackets as the chill crept in.     We agreed on an early start for Kasane, where we would be staying at Senyati Safari Camp. Day 2 & 3 - 10 th   and 11 th June 2019 Because