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Livingstone

June 2

South Africa

The weather finally came good in Cape Town and I visited Robben island where many political prisoners were kept such as Nelson Mandela and Thabo Mbeki in cells along the same corridor. The tour is given by ex political prisoners and they explained how many inmates were able to use the prison to study for qualifications, political science was banned but through underground organisation and mentoring they were able to discuss and make other inmates politically aware.

The next day we climbed Table Mountain taking the most direct route which actually involved low-level rock climbing and took 2 hours. Spent the day wandering around on the table top then caught an amazing pink & purple sunset and an almost full moon over Cape Town.

I've really enjoyed South Africa more than I expected, the country has had a lot of problems but is such a diverse and beautifull place and at this time in it's history is an exciting place to be. If they manage to get it right here it will surely be one of the greatest countries in the world.

Namibia

I then caught the bus up to Windhoek the sleepy capital of Namibia that feels a bit like a German version of South Africa. The distances here are a lot to cover without your own vehicle or spending a lot on tours so after some time relaxing I travelled onto Tsumeb with Lisa a slighty mad fashion designer from Leeds. From here we hired a car for 2 days to drive around Etosha National Park.

dead zebra

elephant group etosha

The drivable part of Etosha park is about the size of Switzerland and during the 2 days we must have seen around 150 elephants. The drive borders vast white flat dust pans as far as the eye can see and animals congregate around the water holes. That evening while sat around the waterhole we witnessed only 15 metres away family herds of 30, 20, then 10 elephants drinking, playing and taking dust baths. Followed by 4 rhino and a zebra herds waiting to take there turn for an evening drink. Finally heard a lion roar as we left around midnight and first thing in the morning Giraffes.

flamingos etosha

impalas etosha

jackal etosha

osterich etosha

Early next morning we sped out along white dust plains and came across a pack of 7 lionesses and cubs on the edge of the pan. An old zebra skeleton lay by the side of the track and all you could hear were the sounds of birds flocking in the sky. A herd of Wildebeest and Zebra came nearby to drink, they were very cautious at first but then panicked and were frightened off when some of the cats started to prowl.

Back in Tsumeb I made an impulsive desicion and bought a mountain bike from Chris, a Swede who'd been travelling in Africa for the past 6 years. Being a cyclist as well it's always been a bit of a dream of mine to cycle-tour abroad so I thought why not give it a go. I'll give it a try and either carry on it the bus and sell it if I'm not enjoying it.

Namibia is a harsh country for cycling and so I took the minibuses up to the border passing through Rundu and Katima Mulilo. From here I cycled 70km along the Caprivi Strip to the Botswana border at Ngoma. I arrived late in the day and so pitched up my tent inside the customs area. Was feeling very hungry by this point and went along to the local village bar for chicken, chips and a beer. The main activity there seemed to be drinking and playing pool and I was greeted with a huge friendly hug as soon as I walked in. But I got rescued by a trainee teacher who was obviously trying to improve himself and wanted to know if I could buy him an encyclopedia.

Botswana

For a few hours I caught a lift in a lorry across Chobe National Park in Botswana, it's not safe to cycle this bit because of the wild animals.

Zambia

Yesterday after crossing on the ferry across the Zambezi into Zambia I set off on the bike for the 80km to Livingstone. I hadn't changed any money at the border as there was not much there but there was nothing along the long stretches of undulating straight road except small villages. I finally got into Livingstone in the late afternoon having only eaten a packet of nuts all day. The last 10km all I thought about was the free beer waiting for me in the hostel.