Zambia
Day 213 03/08
Mukambi Safari Lodge, Kafue National Park
19 617 miles
We made our way from Namibia, through the wilds of southern Zambia to Mukambi Lodge where Ben and Maria are working. We took the direct route which as usual is not necessarily the quickest. We ended up on tracks that haven't been used by a vehicle in a very long time. We weren't too worried though because the GPS said there was a campsite on that track and all the locals we asked said we were headed in the right direction. Eventually, in the fading light, we arrived at our campsite waypoint and even found a sign for it on a tree - but that was all. As we hadn't seen any sign of human habitation we decided to bush camp there. A bit nerve wracking as we didn't know exactly where we were and what sort of wildlife was about - we definitely heard hyenas through the night. In the morning we found that we had camped next to a lake and were greeted by the sound of Fish eagles and a flock of 8 wattled cranes flying by.
We set off in the hope of reaching Mukambi that night but as usual it was not to be. The road we were on took us through Kafue NP through a back entrance where there was no gate. When we got to the other end of the park the lady warden wouldn't let us out without us paying her our entrance fee ($45). We refused, saying that there should have been a sign at the other end warning us of the fee, we thought it was a public road, etc,etc., but she wasn't having any of it. So we said we'll turn round and find another road so she said fine. So we turned round and did a 120km detour on really rough tracks and had to use a local ferry across the river ($20 for foreign vehicles). To top it all we had also managed to fracture afuel line on the bumpy roads and lost about 30l of fuel - talk about cutting off our noses! But at least we didn't have to pay park fees.
We got to Mukambi the next day without any mishaps and had a great time catching up with ben and Maria we also went on a game drive with the Lodge which was really good value as you get to do 2hrs of night driving. We saw bush pig and porcupine among other things that night and a huge herd of buffalo during the day. The cats avoided us though.
Day 219 09/08
Isanga Bay Lodge, Lake Tanganyika
20 545 miles
After a quick stop in Lusaka we headed north. A few stopovers later we found ourselves a really graet spot on the shore of lake Tanganyika. It was areal mission to get there as the road in is really bad condition but it's well worth the effort. We spent a couple of days relaxing there and doing some snorkelling. Then off to Tanzania.