South Africa – Kruger National Park & Shangaan Cultural Evening

Kruger National Park

On October 23^rd, we entered into South Africa.  The weather was the hottest I have experienced in my entire life – 43C plus humidity!! We were all melting in the truck.  The wind that entered through the windows was sweltering hot and every part of us was sweating.  It was not a pretty sight.  It was a welcome relief to finally arrive at our campsite after over 500km of driving and have a nice cold shower.

The next morning we were up early for our full day game drive in Kruger National Park.

On our game drive, we saw buffalo, rhinos, impala, elephant, lions, lions sleeping after enjoying their succulent buffalo dinner, giraffe, a dung beetle pushing a ball of poop, a turtle, a tiny 2 week old elephant, many birds, a hyena and more. Unfortunately, I didn’t see a leopard so my mission of seeing all of the Big 5 in Kruger wasn’t accomplished.

Here are photos from the Kruger Game Drive:

 Rhino

Buffalo

Buffalo gnawing on green grass

Elephant eating...nom nom nom

2 week old elephant following its momma

The lion is sleeping after polishing off her succulent buffalo. Must be suffering from a food coma :)

Shhh....lion sleeping!

"I see you"

 "Roar, this is my buffalo"

Pretty!

 Zebra

 Lots of elephants in the park

Giraffe

Shangaan Cultural Evening

After our long day in Kruger National Park, we went back to our campsite to get ready for our Shangaan Cultural Evening.  This involved traditional African dancing and a traditional African cuisine dinner.  I was pulled up on stage (black eye and all) to join in on a dance routine. I can’t dance if my life depended on it, but at least it was fun for my friends who were onlooking and having a great laugh. LOL!

Here are a few pics:

Kat and I - scar buddies forever.  Kat was the one whose knee I took a bite out of and whose knee battered my face. Ahh, memories.

 Traditional dance

Our evening feast!

This was also the final night of us all being together as our tour was ending the following day and it was the last night that I would have to sleep in a tent!

On October 25^th, we made our last overlanding truck journey into Johannesburg.  When we arrived, it was also time for me to say goodbye to new friends and to catch my evening flight to Cape Town.  The safari was an amazing experience and one of the top highlights of my trip.  My month in Eastern and Southern Africa has been so incredible that words cannot describe the experience I had.  Absolutely loved it!

Botswana - Chobe National Park

On October 20^th we left Malawi and entered Botswana.  We arrived at our campsite early, ate lunch and then went for a sunset game cruise down the Chobe River.  We saw heaps of elephants and buffalo, as well as many hippos during our cruise and capped the evening off with a beautiful deep red sunset.

Here are some pics from the sunset cruise:

 What do you do when you don't have a diving board?  Use the tree branches!

 Elephants roaming everywhere

Crocodiles in the Chobe River

 Elephant

 Buffalo

 More elephants!

 Hippos

The next morning many people went on an early morning game drive in Chobe National Park. I planned on doing this as well, but instead I learned that there was a dentist at the local hospital in Kasane and my wiggly front tooth took priority over the game drive.  I took a taxi to the hospital in Kasane, registered with the front desk and paid the consultation fee (so cheap, like $3 USD).  I was then told to queue to get my blood pressure and temperature checked as I couldn’t be seen without having it documented.  After looking at the long line of over 30 people waiting to get their assessments, I headed straight to the dentist room in the hospital and pleaded my way to the top of the queue for the dentist.  Thankfully I found favour with the dentist and he said it would be okay for me to skip the blood pressure and temperature check.  In addition, he told me he would take me in next after they sanitized the room!!!

I sat in the waiting room for about 20 minutes and then the dentist called me in.  I explained the situation and his first recommendation was for me to get my face checked out as it was so swollen and to ensure that nothing was broken. I assured him that I had already seen a doctor in Livingstone. I then read him the e-mail from my dentist at home.  Unfortunately, the x-ray machine in the hospital was broken so I couldn’t get an accurate assessment of any root and bone damage.  The only thing he could do for me was give me some local anaesthetic and have ME re-position the tooth so that at least it would heal in the proper position.  So, that is exactly what we did.  Once the freezing set in, the dentist had me re-position the tooth myself as he said his force would be too strong…so I did.  I also ensured that before I received the injection that they only used NEW needles – very important!

After, I chatted with the dentist for a bit and then walked back to the SPAR shopping store to meet up with my group.  I noticed that the tooth started to descend a bit again because nothing was securing it in place. I think a dental splint would have helped but TIA (This is Africa).   

After I met up with my group, we continued our journey heading south and went to our campsite, Elephant Sands.

What a cool campsite!  Elephants literally come right up to the campsite to drink out of the drinking pool.  It was amazing to see the elephants so close up.

 I had a pretty awesome time in Botswana despite the injuries I was dealing with :)

Zambia - Victoria Falls, High Tea & White Water Rafting the Zambezi

Driving to Zambia

The drive from Malawi to our destination of Livingstone, Zambia took 2 days.  On night 2 of the long drive, we camped at Eureka Camping Farm.  After spending some free time wandering the open farm land in search of zebra, giraffe, monkeys and impala, I only ended up coming across impala – boring!  I would have come across more animals if I wandered further into the farm land, but I kept hearing “buzzzz” from the insects/bugs flying around…and that sound freaked me out!

I spent that evening playing cards under the bright star filled sky.  While playing cards, a group of zebra came within 25 feet of us and were gnawing on the grass for a good 20 minutes or so.  What a cool experience! 

Victoria Falls

The following day we went to Victoria Falls. When we arrived at the Falls, we learned that a tourist had died there earlier that morning.  We were not provided with any details of how it happened etc., but our minds were filled with questions.

We started walking along the marked path and most of us felt slightly disappointed as it was the dry season and the Falls weren’t like the photos we had all seen in the past.  While taking photos of one of the areas of the Falls where there was a steady flow of water gushing, we noticed a bunch of people crowded in that area.  As we continued to look on, it appeared as though there were guys jumping between cracks in the Fall’s surface…but within moments we realized they were the rescue crew as we saw them lift a lifeless and limp young white body up about 20 meters from below the surface.  I then watched them drop his lifeless body on the surface and I stared at his left arm as it dangled off the edge of the cliffs.  I felt sick to my stomach and was not prepared to witness that.  Immediately I began to think about how his family was going to deal with the news once they are notified, I wondered whether he had friends/family there watching his body be rescued from the depths of the Falls and how this would impact them, I wondered how it had happened…unending thoughts and an image that will be engrained in my memory for a long time.

 Definitely the dry season...I will have to return!

The bridge where people bungee at Victoria Falls into the Batoka Gorge

After we left the Falls, we drove to our campsite, the Waterfront, which is located on the Zambezi River in Livingstone, Zambia (and only about a 15 minute drive from the Falls). It was so nice to finally be settled into one spot for 4 nights.

Livingstone

Livingstone is the adventure capital of Zambia. There were tons of activities to do: elephant walks, lion encounter, gorge swing, bungee jumping, white water rafting, helicopter rides over the Falls, abseiling, river boarding and more!  The only activity I had my heart set on was White Water Rafting down the Zambezi River.  It’s one of the best locations in the world to raft and is known for its many awesome class 4 and 5 rapids.  I’ve rafted 2x before in Squamish and loved it – I couldn’t wait to do it again!

6 of us from our group booked our rafting trip for our last day in Livingstone, so for the first 3 days at the Waterfront, I basically chillaxed by the pool, went into town and enjoyed afternoon High Tea at the posh 5 Star Royal Livingstone Hotel.

High Tea

High Tea was a bargain at only $20 USD.  When we arrived at the Hotel, we were all so impressed by the surroundings and the details of the Hotel and High Tea room.  The view overlooks the water that feeds into Victoria Falls and you could see the mist that is generated from Victoria Falls as well as a few hippos in the water.

Here are a few pics from High Tea:

White Water Rafting

Oh what a memorable day White Water Rafting was – for many reasons. We started off with breakfast at our campsite and then were picked up by the guys at Raft Extreme at 8:30am.

We drove about 20 minutes to Victoria Falls where we got out of the vehicle and walked down the gorge to the Zambezi River. There, we had our safety talk and before you knew it, we were ready to get on that raft and attack the 25 rapids!

Neil and Ruben sat in the two front spots, Kay and Adriane sat in the middle and Kat and I held the back positions and our guide, James, was seated at the very back. We successfully attacked rapids 1 to 7.  During one of the spots where we were just paddling along in the calm parts, James dumped me into the water!  Oh man, everyone had a good hard laugh and I had a nice swim catching up to the raft.

On Rapid 8, the two guys at the front decided to river board it.  Us girls were given the option of whether we wanted to flip the raft or not and we were split, so James decided that we would approach the rapid at the centre, with a 50/50 chance of flipping. Well, we flipped big time and during that flip, I injured myself. Something happened underwater where my face made some major contact with Kat’s knee. Immediately, I felt my front tooth get kicked back and as soon as my head got out of the water, my tongue was manoeuvring around my mouth trying to assess the damage to the tooth, gums and surrounding structures.   I prayed hard that the tooth and my mouth would be okay and my only request was that I wanted a dentist ASAP.  I didn’t even notice that the rest of my face took a beating as well.

The guys on the kayaks came to rescue us and the only thing I could say was “MY TOOTH!!!”.  When I finally got out of the water, it was apparent that my nose was also bleeding and it continued to bleed for at least another 6 hours. I didn’t realize any other impact to my face until time passed during the day and my face began to swell up. I had tooth marks on both upper and lower lips, my nose was swelling and wouldn’t stop bleeding.  My tooth was knocked back and I moved it forward, but I could feel that it wasn’t right. It was sitting about 3-4 mm lower than the other tooth and the gum was exposed. I felt sick just thinking about it but I didn’t have very many options. There was no ice available and I couldn’t get any medical help until we were done rafting.  We had only completed rapid 8 of 25.  So, I had the choice of whether to sit on the safety raft or continue rafting with my crew. I put on a positive face, held my tooth in place with one hand and held my nose with the other to help stop the bleeding and chose to continue rafting with my crew. I sat at the back with James and thankfully didn’t have to paddle – otherwise I would have taken the safety boat.  Thanks guys for paddling – you did great!  The rest of the rapids were awesome.  I held on for dear life during the class 4 and 5 rapids to make sure that I wouldn’t fall off. There was one rapid where Ruben, Neil, Kay and Kat all fell out of the boat but Adriane and I held on for dear life. Adriane was freaked out too because on Rapid #8 she ended up under the boat – scary!

When we finally finished the entire run, we took the cable car up the gorge.  There, I finally had a chance to see what happened to my tooth.  I took a photo and was shocked to say the least. I didn’t realize that the entire left side of my face had swollen up and that my lips were double the size.  I also saw the gap between where my tooth should have been and where my gum was and felt weak.  I deleted the photo right away in disgust and put ice from the beer cooler on my face.  

After everyone had finished eating their post-rafting meal, Raft Extreme dropped everyone off and I was then driven straight to the private medical clinic/hospital for assessment.  Mike, the video recorder from Zimbabwe came with me. Thankfully I received immediate service when I arrived at the hospital, but unfortunately the doctor couldn’t do much for me.  He did a quick assessment of my face and determined that nothing appeared broken, but agreed with me that I needed to see a dentist as soon as possible.

When I got back to Waterfront, I got the reactions of my new look from the rest of the group. I also e-mailed my dentist at home to get his opinion on what I should do and what the likely treatment options were as I only trust him and my orthodontist with my teeth.  The next morning, my face looked even worse in that I had a HUGE black eye, but the good news was that my super awesome dentist wrote back and I now knew what my potential outlook was and what I needed to do to get the situation rectified.  Thanks Ryan – best dentist EVER!

Anyway, what a day! I had an amazing time on the rapids despite the injuries and would definitely raft again!

Oh...would you like to see a photo of my face after the incident? Well, here's a photo of my 2 days after the incident.  I thought I should take the photo for medical insurance purposes to prove that I did indeed receive a blow to the face as that affects the accidental dental benefit I receive.  Here's a pic taken from the hospital room in Kasane, Botswana where I was finally able to see a dentist:

Surprisingly, this is a remarkable improvement compared to the day of the incident and the following day.

Next post is Botswana!

Malawi – Lake Malawi, Kande Beach Village & Fancy Dress Parties

From Tanzania to Malawi

On October 9^th, we packed up our tents and loaded up the truck bright and early and began our long drive to the Malawian border.  There were a few pit stops en route to the border - pee stops which involved doing your business in the bush or in a nasty looking & rank smelling porcelain hole in the ground and a stop at the petrol station which allowed us to purchase snacks and to stretch our legs.  Many hours later, we were finally at the Malawi border where we had to fill out entry forms and received a new stamp in our passport.

As soon as we crossed over into Malawi, the scenery changed.  Instead of worn out roads where you felt every movement in the truck, the Malawian main roads were paved and in good condition.  This could be due to the fact that there were very few cars on the road which resulted in less wear and tear and also due to the petrol situation (it’s very difficult to get petrol in Malawi. At the few petrol stations that exist, it is not unheard of for cars to wait several hours to fuel up).  Instead, the roads were filled with people either walking or cycling.  The housing also changed dramatically from Tanzania.  Instead of the grass/straw/tree branch huts which we were used to seeing in Tanzania, the housing in Malawi relied more on bricks and appeared to provide a structure with greater sturdiness.

After a long day of driving, we pulled into Chitimba Campsite (located on Lake Malawi) just before sunset.  The usual overlanding routine commenced which included the packing team removing our tents from the truck and all other necessary supplies, us setting up our tents and the cooking team getting to work on preparing the evening’s meal.

 Campsite

Lake Malawi

Shopping at the Local Markets & Hanging out at Lake Malawi

The following day I went with two friends from my tour to the markets located right outside our campground.  With collective bargaining power, we successfully negotiated rock bottom prices for the items we purchased! We bought customized carved wooden key chains and I purchased a large carved wooden bowl featuring the Big 5 along with a fork & spoon serving set for salads.

 My customized wooden keychains being made.

Here's Joi polishing the wooden bowl he carved.  While talking to Joi, I learned that he and his brother learned how to carve from their dad.  Their dad passed away 3 years ago and they are continuing the business to support their family (mother and sister).  They both aspire to be something better and are tired of doing the same business of wood carving. They say their dad was a much better carver than they will ever be and showed me a huge lamp that their dad had carved.  Amazing! 

I spent the rest of the day at the campsite and took a short stroll down the beach where I ran into a group of local kids who were eager to talk and have their photo taken.  One kid had a small fish in his hand and after shaking his hand, my hand smelled of fish – LOL!

During the evening, I had a refreshing freezing cold shower in the dark and once I turned my torch on (everyone outside of North America refers to a flashlight as a torch. I’ve now gotten into the habit of calling it a torch too), I noticed that there was a tiny dead gecko on the shower stall’s floor.  Eeek, I hope I didn’t step on it!  The evening finished off us watching Blood Diamond under the clear star-filled sky. 

On the Road Again…to Kande Beach Village

On the morning of October 11th, we left Chitimba Campsite for Kande Beach.  The drive was about 250km long. One of the stops we did en route to Kande Beach was to a Curios market where we spent a maximum of 500 Malawian Kwatchas (about $3 US) each on a costume for the person we were secretly paired up. When the names were being drawn, I got Ruben and purchased for him a rainbow frilly skirt, a sexy top and scarf!

Kande Beach Village

On our first full day at Kande Beach, I went on a village walk.  The village walk started off with a visit to the local children’s day care that is run by an Australian lady, followed by a visit to the maternity clinic where babies are delivered and expectant mothers are treated for HIV and then concluded at a primary school.

The visit to the day care was amazing. The kids were all under 5 years old and were full of love & joy.  They clung to us, wanted to hold hands and be picked up.  Together with their teacher, they sang a few songs and danced – these kids have some mad dancing skills!

Our tour guide then took us on a short tour of the village.  He explained to us the importance of cassava as a food staple and showed us how it is prepared, talked to us about the housing structure, visited a chicken coup, and saw how the bricks used for housing are made. 

 Cassava

Brick making

Next we were off to the local maternity clinic where we met with the male midwife who explained to us what they do there – deliver babies, provide aid to mothers/babies who are HIV positive, provide prenatal care etc.  It was really interesting to see what they do and how they do it with such limited resources. 

We then walked a short distance to the local primary school where there are only 10 teachers and about 1,500 students.  Can you believe that ratio!?  The kids were totally clinging to us and asking us all for pens and wanted their photo taken.

Here are some photos below of the kids from the school and the kids in the village who followed us around!

 

Fancy Dress Party

I mentioned earlier that we stopped at a Curios Market on our way to Kande Beach.  We held our Fancy Dress party on our 2^nd night at Kande Beach Village.  It started off with us meeting at 5pm to exchange our outfits.  Once we had our outfits on, we chowed down on a tender goat that spent the day roasting on the spit. The goat was accompanied by roasted veggies, potatoes and a big batch of spinach (one of my favourite vegetables).  It was delicious!!  It was also Kelly’s birthday, so we donned our party hats and blew on those obnoxious sounding bazookas throughout the night. 

It was a fun night! Here are some photos:

 The goat roasting on the spit

 Exchanging outfits prior to the Fancy Dress Party

 Animal Prints!

 Ruben and I - don't you like the outfit I picked for him? I also did his makeout.

Next stop: Zambia!