Once there all you need to do is leave some identification at either boarder post. then drive down to the car park at the edge of the wall. From there you can walk onto the wall and enjoy.

Yet another stupidly slow internet connection so I'm not even going to attempt to upload any photos, which are really, really cool.  Will try to as soon as we hit some kind of semblance of fast internet, or a really slow day when I desire to spend two hours in front of a computer in a stupidly hot room in a hot country and wait, doing nothing.  As you can guess its not top of my list of priorities right now.  Unlike ice cream and cool beer, which I really could go for right now.

You know when people say that there isn't a cloud in the sky, they are usually exaggerating, there's usually a small one just behind that tree over there, or a clump of wispy ones if you squint at the upper atmosphere.  For four of our five days on the Lower Zambezi in the last week, there was not a cloud in the sky.  It was phenomenal.  At the moment we are approaching the end of the Zambian winter and going straight into the Zambian summer.  Seasons run: wet, dry, windy, hot round here, and we arrived during the windy (between the hours of 12 and 3 only!) and consequently dusty season, but with the winds dying down, the temperature is able to rise to above 30 (as opposed to the glorious 25 or so that you get during the winter) and it becomes a little too hot to be canoeing all day!  Hopefully we'll be gone by the time the temps hit the high thirties.  But after a couple of summers in cooler climates its really nice.

Anywho, we've been canoeing!  Down the lower Zambezi, the might zambezi, and it is an awesome river.  Incredibly wide, two km in places apparently but it gets really hard to judge distances.  And rather shallow,  three, four metres at most, many places less than a metre.  Lots of islands, the land of the Zimbabwean side is so flat that you could block it out with a little finger at arm's length, leaving just sky and water.  On the Zambian side the kilometre high plateau that forms most of the country looms above.  As it forms the border between the two countries it also means I've technically illegally entered Zimbabwe twice and stolen their natural resources (well, wood). Shhh!  I deny everything.  We were camping beside the Zambezi everynight in lion-proof tents barely ten metres from the banks (apparently the crocs don't attack humans here!).  I've also been informed that the tsetse flies round here don't carry sleeping sickness, which is good, because I got bitten, and they do have a painful bite.  No mosquitos suprisingly, which is a relief.  But we have all managed to be ill, which is a really good start inside the first week, though I was the only one not to resort to vomit.  Nice.

The campsites were beautiful, the second one especially had to be the nicest campsite I've ever visited.  Such an awesome view over the river.  We've seen countless hippos, which you need to avoid in a canoe, lots of elephants, which you don't need to avoid in a canoe and so can consequently get really close (5m or so!) to provided your in deep water.  The elephants were amazing, it was an awesome sight, so big and majestic and beautiful and wow!!!!  There have also been crocs, baboons, monkeys, warthogs (suprisingly cute despite being ugly), lots of birds, various antelope species ("oh, another impala" was a phrase often uttered), and a herd of water buffalo, which were also amazing to watch.  We heard a lion but didn't see it.  We got a game drive during a middle day spent off the river, a walking safari and a trip to an African village, which was a very very humbling experience.  Oh yes, and used a toilet inside a boabab tree.  (Not like I'm lowering the tone or anything, am I?!?)

Would right more, but time is against us, as usual.  Anyway, we're back in Lusaka now, which to be honest, isn't a particularly nice city, I intend to write an entry about it next time, which will probably be in Livingstone, as that is where we're heading next.  Onwards and upwards.

Adios Amigos

Nick

We arrived late in the evening, and were greeted by the owner Maurice, who turned out to be a great guy, with many a great tale to tell over a BBQ with a beer or two. the rooms are nice with very comfy beds! food was great, Maurice put on a great 'Braai' (as they call it!) which had heaps of meat, and even whole fish from the river. the service was a bit slow especially during the day around the pool, but the staff were very courteous, and the quality of the food throughout the stay was excellent which more than made up for it. had a sweet party during the week we were there with some of the locals there at the hotel pub by the pool. muarice's son took us on a sunset wildlife cruise which was beautiful, and we have heaps of great pictures from that. ask him for a booze cruise! all round a great stay, perfect for some relaxation.

Kick off: Gathering at the central point in the campsite, to breakfast. This would take an hour, meeting new people that also signed in. Than in an old truck up to the river Zambezi.

Arrived there, we had to descent into the rift. Putting on our saving shirts and helmets, first action was practising peddling. Yes, this morning rafting was on the menu. It spended somewhat 2,5-3 hours, but is was so cool, breathtaking and especially adrenaline rushing. We had a flip twice and I had nearly a drowning experience. Almost I paniked, after be sucked down by the streams, but after realising I had a swimming vest, I stopped grapping and went to the surface. Some minutes later and gallons of river water swallowed, I was picked up by another boat. Wow.. 

At the end of the morning the fun was over and we were driving back to the camp. That day two man were injured, but none of our group. We had something to eat and after that I had to wait.

Around 2 o clock it was time. With some curieus groupmembers, I took a cab again to the falls. We had to check by the border and went to nobody's land at the bridge. Walking that bridge, the nerves started to tingle. I was the only one, and it was my first. 

And there I stood, taking a breath and jumped. Man, this was amazing. Again, that momentum of fall, but to fast that jojo effect. Back at the bridge they offered me another jump. "You wanna kill me?", I hampered still shaking. It was awesome, but in contrast to skydiving I had never the feeling to do it again. It was a splash ending this trip and it was enough.

That evening we went to a restaurant, more or less as a farewell party. Back at the camp we made up the beer supplies. And more than a little tipsy I want back to the tent.    

"Fuck, no money anymore!" No problem, in this place there are many ATP's. Wrong, they don't accept our western passes. I did not had any credit card, so I had to use my traveller cheques. Oh no, the banks are closed and they will also tomorrow, *sight* Sunday... and now?

But, again, Lady Fortune, brought a little bit luck. First of all, our last night in our own tents has ended. We know had to do with ready made tents. The whole group was so pleased. We even had a lamp in these tents. It was almost decandancy.

Than the campowner, this time not an European, New-Zealander or Afrikaner, but a normal Zambian, was able to cash in the cheques. The exchange rate was even not that high. So, I could pay the activities the next day. But, before that, today we had to see Mosi-oa-Tunya, The Smoke that thunders in its whole glory. It was the dry season, but it was impressive after all. More annoying were the craftsmen, who managed me to buy one of their things. Well, it was not that annoying. Still, going to bed early (what a delight, such a matrass) for the excitement the next day...

I made myself mad! 3 hours sleep and we were off again. It was just a half an hour drive to the border Botswana-Zambia. No time to sleep in the truck. It was even fun, after passing some soldiers doing their morning drill. We took the ferrie and ended up in the queu, all waiting for this thing which was kept together with rust. It looked we had to wait for hours, but with some extra money, the truck stood surprisingly in front of the line. That was not so hard!
But, after passing the river, the passport control began. While Tom and Dion were busy with the borderpolice, we just sat, watched and enjoyed all activity around us. I saw no pity men, who were begging for money like in Cape Town or Smakopmund. I saw proud women and smooth bargains, Change money? You want to exchange valuable Botswanian into worthless Zambian? Of course, but always to little.
Finally, we went on to Livingstone. Our stay, the last 2 days in Southern Africa.

The Lusaka bus station can look a bit chaotic, especially if you just got off a red eye and are about to take a 6-10 hours bus journey for your first day in Africa. The taxi drops you off outside and you walk in getting swarmed by touts in the uniform of their bus company. I took the bus to Livingstone, of which there are a few companies, but there are buses to several locales. The touts will want to take your bags and send you to the ticket booth. This is probably fine, they aren't stealing your bags or anything, but you might want to have a plan before you get there. Buses tend to leave a few times each morning for Livingstone and I got the impression most locals just turn up and get on. I recommend the blue bus, Mazunda I think it was. It was the only blue coach service there. They took reservations by phone the day or so before and they are the nicest and newest buses in the lot. You won't have a toilet on any of the buses so plan ahead. The bus ride takes 6-10 hours or more depending on breakdowns and road conditions. I'm told the blue ones are the most reliable, which when you get one the road you'll feel good about. Most of the drive is spent swerving off the road to avoid massive pot holes, so pick a sturdy looking bus. You stop a couple of times at markets and cafe type areas which don't offer a whole lot, but a toilet and a cold drink. Before you board you can go to a cafe across the street which made us a good breakfast before the trek. It’s a long day so be prepared! You can fly as well, but the bus will be 1/10th the cost and is a good experience. The scenery isn't great, mostly arid land in the middle of nothing.

A couple of tour companies offer Canoe tours above the falls on the upper Zambezi. We chose the company Bundy Tours which offers a half or full day trip. The full day isn't that much more than the half day ($90 I think it was) and I thought well worth it. You get picked up at your lodging, stop by the tour office to pay and drive 25 minutes or so up to the drop off. Your guides inflate the canoes (2 seater), give you some rules and tips, load your possessions into a waterproof bag and off you go. When we went the water was high so rafting wasn't an option, canoe was the only way onto the river (late April). We were spoiled being the only 2 punters with a lead guide who did all of the talking and his apprentice who was on look out for wildlife and gave some information. They said that sometimes they'll have 20 or more boats out there. The day is long (7-8 hours) with two breaks 20 minutes in the morning and 45 minutes for a lunch that they prepare and drop off for you halfway down. In total it was about 20km that we did, but isn't too bad of a workout. You see wildlife on the banks and can stop and check it out, loads of hippos and some crocs in the water which guides are careful to stay very far away from and you can see the spray from the falls the whole way down. Due to high water there were several rapids along the way, class 2 and 3 that the guide leads you through. Swimming in the Zambezi is not safe due to the crocs, but the guide assured me that in one of the smaller rapids I could jump in and get back in the boat very quickly. Probably not something you do with a large group, but pretty cool to say you swam (albeit briefly) in the Zambezi! You pull out quite close to the top of the falls and navigate a rapid on the way to the river bank, which is a little excitement to keep you going for the 10 minute drive back to Livingstone.

Jollyboys comes highly recommended on many travel sites and for good reason. The location is right in downtown Livingstone, 5 minutes walk from the bus station and 10 minute drive to the Victoria Falls. The complex is walled in with security 24/7 manning a gate. Zambians are some of the nicest people you'll come across and the staff at Jollyboys did not disappoint. Got on really well with the bar staff and the reception/tour booking agents were helpful for setting up expeditions and giving general advice on what to do. The hostel offers a mix of room types, private huts for 2, dorms of all sizes (I think 4, 8 and maybe a 12?), as well as camp sites. They cook dinner for $8 or so every night (sign up in advance during the day) or for a cheaper option you can use the full kitchen they offer with loads of fridge space and storage cabinets. Grocery stores are a short walk in the centre or you can take a shuttle to a good sized Spar for a big shop. Buy your own beers and wine or get them from the bar for a few dollars each, they don’t care either way. The pool, which is very modern and clean, is surrounded by deck chairs and right next to the bar area where you will find most people. Some days we never left, just lounged in the sun and relaxed. They've also got a pool table and ping pong which were a bit dodgy but offered some entertainment. They've got loads of tour books to set something up through their agent. You'll get picked up at the gate and dropped back off. Tours range from $25 for a sunset/booze cruise to $100s for multi day safaris. The place is great value for the money and can be an even better value if you chose to bring your own tent and don't mind shopping/cooking for yourself. Some people stay a night, while others will do 4 or 5 days it seemed like. Some other backpackers would come to the bar and said it was better than their lodging. Easy to meet people here, check it out!

Righty-oh.  This is going to be about as long as I can type in eight minutes as the internet here is slow and a quick email home has taken priority, plus we're in a big rush.  Apologies for any crap spelling but I'm not really going to checking as I type.  Basically we've arrived safely in the wholly unremarkable city that is Lusaka, the capital of Zambia.  A safari type thing that we want only leaves weekly and there isn't one next week so we've had to completly rejig our plans for the first two weeks and as a consequence are aiming to be on a bus out of Lusaka in about half-an-hour.  Instead of going to Livingstone as was our original plan we are now off to the Lower Zambezi to say hello to some hippos and the like.
They really like their fried chicken and chips here.  Weather is awesome.  Sunny, reasonably but not too hot and theres a refreshing breeze.  From what we've seen Africa seems to be quite vast in everyway.  Zambia is rather expensive so we don't know how long we'll be here for.  basically things are costing similar to what they would in the UK, but you can imagine how tough that makes life for people on tiny salaries.  Petrol is even more expensive so getting around ain't cheap.  Having said that, everybody here is really warm and friendly.  its not some kind of major tourist cliche.  Its also hard to do anything round here.  They are not geared up for tourism in the way that South Am was, so sorting everything out is tough and time-consuming.  They also don't seem to have a concept of restaurants where you go for a nice meal.  Though fried chicken places are in abundance.  Mosi beer is very nice, its their local lager.  Apologies to people I was going to send proper emails to but it'll have to wait until we're back froms safari which will be Sunday or Monday sometime I guess.  Hope all is well, best way to contact me will be hotmail or comments here as these two sites are the priorities when it comes to internet cafes that are rather slow.

Adios Amigos
Nick

Good if you like poker nights althogh this is not a casino. The foreign lady manager was very accommodating. Reasonable fishing with a boat and access. I would rate this 3 star and will return next year when I am in the area - Food average - pool dirty. I would not recommened for families or couples. Great camping spot much wildlife to see.

Yeah I totally agree with that review. You get what ever you like there I will most definately return.... :-) as I left a happy man

Days 6-7 Livingstone

We leave Nata early for our 380km drive to Livingstone via Kasane, where we cross the border into Zambia via a car ferry. We spend a couple of nights here to discover the magic of this region, including a visit to this thundering sheet of falling water that is Victoria Falls. In and around this spectacular region, there are also many activities on offer including bungee jumping, white water rafting and gorge swinging. If you want something more sedate, you can take a 'flight of angels' in a helicopter or small plane for a bird's eye view of the falls, or drift lazily on the upper stretches of the Zambezi in a canoe.

Days 6-7 Livingstone

We leave Nata early for our 380km drive to Livingstone via Kasane, where we cross the border into Zambia via a car ferry. We spend a couple of nights here to discover the magic of this region, including a visit to this thundering sheet of falling water that is Victoria Falls. In and around this spectacular region, there are also many activities on offer including bungee jumping, white water rafting and gorge swinging. If you want something more sedate, you can take a 'flight of angels' in a helicopter or small plane for a bird's eye view of the falls, or drift lazily on the upper stretches of the Zambezi in a canoe.

How I get in Livingstone comming from South America
This is really not the beginning of this trip, since the adventure starts in São Paulo where we catch the flight to Johannesburg in South Africa. I've decided to not blog since the real start point since I think there's really no reason for, however I would like to explain, mostly for those one who not live in South America, about few things I realized about the logistic's plan for such travel.

Traveling to Africa requires more planing than other countries that I've been before (i.e. Europe and US). The very first concern is about the air ticket. As you probably know, Johannesburg in South Africa is the main hub in the Africa sub-saharian. Flights to all countries in that continent departs from there and also to Asia and Europe. Recently a daily flight arrives in Johannesburg Intl Airport comming from South America, São Paulo. This is the only flight comming from South America and also very likely to be the only flight comming from Americas since there's no way, as far as I know, to reach Southern Africa directly when you are comming from the North Hemisphere (The same as you fly from South America to Northern Africa - You need to connect in Europe or recently Dubai first). Also, Johannesburg is the only place connecting South America to African Continent, which means basically that if you plan to go to any place at southern africa, better to plan at least a connection in Johannesburg.

So, the original plan was really to fly directly to Zambia, but these restrictions and also the good price of South African Airlines ticket conviced me to go through Johannesburg. Flights to Zambia are very common and in fact you can choose to fly straight to Livingstone or Lusaka. It's about 2 hours non-stop flight operated by South African Air Lines or Zambian Air Lines.

As I could see, it's the same way if your final destination is Gaborone (Botswana), Harare (Zimbabwe), Lusaka (Zambia), Windhoek (Namibia) and major cities in South Africa.

So, Finally in Livingstone
My real reason to stay for few days in Livingstone was about to get closer to the one of largest waterfall in the planet.  It's in fact  a Natural wonder that surprise anyone and in my case fill my soul of energy, enthusiasm and happiness. Besides the waterfall, Livingstone can provide you a large set of atractions and activities like a Walk Safari at the Mosi-oa-tunya National Park, or a rafting at Zambeze River, a bungee jump on the border of Zimbabwe or even a walk around the little city center of Livingstone.

Travel to Africa may be cheap or as much expensive you want to. In my case, I've tried to do not spend much money in hotels but also taking care to book places that I could feel confortable enough reminding that in southern africa the sunset is about 7pm and when get dusk and dark you may find problems to catch a cab or even walk due the proximity to wild open areas.

Most of the hotels and lodges in Livingstone are not located centraly. So, forget about to stay in a good hotel in the downtown. These are really few options in fact. The major lodges and hotels are spreaded over. Luxury hotels are generally located close to the Zambeze and it's affluents for several reasons (better landscape, lower temperature, easy access to river safaris, and so on). There also lodges located near by the rivers with decent prices.

The Lodge
As mentioned before, lodging in Livingstone is not difficult to find. We stayed at Maramba River Lodge. Pretty decent in price, nice accomodations and good prices. Of course is not a place to be comparable to Zambezi Sun, Royal Livingstone and other luxurious lodges, but it is very amiable place. You may find more information about Maramba River Lodge at their website: http://www.maramba-zambia.com

We stayed on both Tents and Rooms. Tents has a small inconvinience which is the high noise at night. Lots of insects and frogs are all around and if you can't sleep in a highly noisy environment, best to book regular chalets.

Cabs from the Maramba lodge to the city centre or Vic Falls are about US$10,00 one way. It's not really cheap, but there's no other option. They charge pretty much the same no matter where you are staying.

Victoria Falls
Victoria Falls are situated in between Zambia and Zimbabwe. In fact the falls is responsible to divide both countries. Years ago, Victoria Falls (the city, at Zimbabwe) used to be the best spot to stay and enjoy the falls, however today Zimbabwe is experiencing lots of financial and social problems related to the actual government and it's policy. The result is a lack of food, fuel, water and all major supplies that makes Victoria Falls a place not really enjoyable. (Zimbabwe).

But, the Falls itself it's really amazing and an undescribled wonder. Not even pictures or movies are enough to describe the feeling of staying in front of a such beatufull place. Once there you forget the scenes that you just have to pass through to enter in the park. Outside you have to deal with people trying to sell cooper artifacts (mostly smuggled from Zambia) and handycrafts besides children asking for money. Inside the park, if you are lucky enough to be there early in the morning or in a day not too much crowded, the sounds of the water makes you understand why the locals refer to that place as "The Smoke that thunder".

Walking on the trails sometimes you get really wet due the spray generated by the falls. It may be necessary some water-resistant jackets but no matter what, you'll allways experience a perfect rainbow growing up on the bottom of the falls. From the top you may see people rafting the river, the helicopters and microlights flying around the falls besides the astonish view of Batoka Gorge.

Mosi-ya-tunya National Park


Transportation
Transportation in Zambia is not really the best of them. Even in the airport Taxis are not abundant and prices are not cheap. We had to wait for about 25 minutes to get a taxi ready to drive us from the Airport to the Lodge. When the taxi finally arrives we got informed that we would be sharing the cab with two other people, but the rate would be the same (about US$20,00 p.p.). Local buses are very few and not suitable for tourists. The best and virtually way to move from one place to the other is booking taxis. All the hotels and lodges has a set of taxi driver's phone number that you may call and you get a taxi ready in a matter of couple minutes.

Of course, when you book any activities such as Kayaking, rafting or Helicopter tour, the company will send to your hotel a transportation which will care to drive you back when your tour ends.

Activities
There are several activities to do in Zambia. Besides to visit the Vic Falls, you may enjoy water activities such as kayaking, rafting, bungie jumping, safaris, water safaris, etc. The activities will vary between US$80 to US$150. The helicopter and microlight tours are more expensive. Safaris may be done in half day while rafting may take the hole day. For the most radical sports fans, the Bungie Jump at border of Zambia and Zimbabwe (over the Zambezi river) is the second largest in the world reaching 110meters aprox. of free fall.

I was just about to pay US$100,00 to jump over the bridge, but at the very last moment I declined and just spend couple minutes watching people to fall which was really fun. Some of them start to scream even before to jump. Others just jump and got back mute and pale...