Day 25 - 27 - Zambia en route to Malawi

Day 25 (Acacia day 22) – Kafue River Gorge
After our time in Livingstone it was finally time to go out and get back on the road. We were driving towards Malawi but had a lot of ground to cover. We were going to stop three nights as we crossed Zambia to Malawi.

The first stop was the Kafue River. We jumped on a river boat for a cruise and a few drinks. We ate dinner as the sunset on the way to our camp. There was a speed boat or two out with people on tubes. Which looked really cool until we noticed a couple of groups of hippos in the shallows of the river?

We were camping on a community run campsite that Acacia has negotiated a deal with the local tribes for. It is done in part to help them create some sustainable revenue and economy. Otherwise they subsist from fishing and minimal farming. The main source of income is from charcoal they make from burning their surrounding trees and you can imagine how long their forests will last.

Along with camping, a few local guys brought out a few drums and taught us some beats. We sat by the fire until what felt like late at night (it was probably only like 9 or 10 but camping always feels later) playing drums and chillin. MORE FIRE!

Day 26 (Acacia day 23) - Lusaka
We got up and broke camp so that we could do a 2 hour village walk. We followed our local guide around the way to a set of huts on the hill. We talked with a local fisherman about his family, his life and the struggle and pleasure of living in the Kafue River Gorge. Their elections are coming up soon, so there was a fair amount of unsatisfied discussion of what the government does and doesn’t do for the native populations, especially those that are isolated. After a bit we returned to the camp and loaded the boat.

However on the return boat trip or guide was asking us about the tour. He was expecting us to do something different and talked to the local operator. They agreed that we only saw a fisherman’s family and not the village proper like we were meant to. So we got into the speed boat and went to the closest landing to the actual village. We got off the boat in front of a 6 foot wide section of wooden fencing that served as a gate, but there was no real fence anywhere else. The local guide said that the fence was to keep the hippos from eating the corn. Apparently the hippos will only walk on their path so therefore fencing wasn’t needed, just a gate!

We then spent the next several hours walking around the village area visiting families. None of them were actually expecting us so our guide would ask if it was ok to interrupt them and ask questions and stuff. On the walk we went to the two room school house and one of the local churches. The village is a scattering of several homesteads or family compounds. Most compounds had several huts and a few outbuildings for animals. They were all kind of mud brick with thatched roofs. It was really cool and interesting way to get a look at the everyday life.

Then it was back to the speed boat to the truck. We drove into Lusaka to pickup supplies from a shopping center and grab some lunch. After some grocery shopping and 15 minutes on the internet, we drove over to the campsite to setup and cook dinner.

After a long day, it is always nice to discover that the campground has a usable pool. So after we setup camp, a requisite dip in the pool is necessary. From the pool we noticed that there was a nice avocado tree, heavily pregnant with fruit nearby. It was a good day and now our larder was stocked with almost two dozen fist sized avocados that just need to ripen… Going native, Africa will provide.

Day 27 (Acacia day 24) – Chipata
Today was a moderately earlier start for a long drive up to the Zambian/Malawian border town of Chipata. We were meant to take off from about 7 which means getting up around 6 to have breakfast and break camp. However we had some neighbors who arrived late in the night and left early and when a campsite packs up and the trucks take off, it’s hard to not be woken up.
Also guilty of causing me to stir earlier than expected, where the camp trio of Mutley, Jeff and Brutus (or so I’ll call them), the camp dogs. The loudest and, of course smallest, was Mutley – a female Jack Russell – I think. Jeff was a male Labrador and Brutus a huge mastiff/bull terrier looking thing (I found out later he was a Rhodesian Ridgeback) with a head bigger than mine – seriously. These three proceeded to run around camp all night. At one point I woke up and Mutley was sleeping on my tent near my head while Brutus was sitting on legs – despite the tent… As dogs are – anytime anyone in the camp got up, they would tear off towards them barking… all night. The campsite was part of a nature park, so there were wild impala and other animals around – supposedly giraffes are known to investigate the campsites. So my first thought at 2:30 in the morning when I heard a thumping running towards me was that some animals had gotten spooked… nope. The Three Canine Amigos here were just roughhousing and charging around camp. They were cool dogs, just in the way, especially Brutus when we were eating.

Then we were off to drive to Chipata – Mama Rula’s campground, for the night. Not too much along the way, just lots of people on the side of the road and a big driving day.