September 2014
Rather than head to the main ‘super-highway’ crossing into Zambia at Chirundu, we decided to try the quieter Kariba border-crossing. Not only was driving over the Dam Wall across the Zambezi an interesting way to enter Zambia, but it proved to be a good decision as there were no queues at the immigration desks.
The border crossing facilitator!
One particular ‘investment’ that we made before leaving Europe, has proven to be surprisingly effective in easing our way through border customs formalities: a rubber snake! Yes, you read correctly….. a rubber snake! “Why particularly a ‘rubber’ snake?” you are now surely asking yourself. Or more likely you will be wondering which planet we just arrived from.
Here’s why….
Some time ago we read that a strategically placed and realistic looking ‘fake snake’ can deter monkeys and baboons from encroaching on your campsite. Anyone familiar with travel, and particularly camping, in rural Africa will know the problem of primates (usually ververt monkeys or baboons) stealing food, or practically anything, left lying unattended.
To digress for a moment with a quick story from a bush-campsite in the Serengeti last year ……. one evening, our backs were turned for just a second, when a baboon swooped-in, swiped some sachets of sauce from our dinner table and ran a short distance into the bush nearby. After a few seconds and a bit of rustling around, there came a very loud, rasping “hrrrrghh…… hrrrghh…… hrrrghh” from the bushes. Ha!! So the baboon had bitten into the sachet of extra-hot chilli sauce then!! Maybe he won’t steal from campers’ tables quite so hastily in future 🙂
Anyway…. back to the snake story…. we had previously read that monkeys were sufficiently scared of snakes that a realistic fake would deter them. We were particularly keen that monkeys did not venture inside our camper-truck, so we thought we would test the theory and buy a rubber snake!
“But what….” you may be wondering “…. has this got to do with facilitating border crossings?”
Well ……. To have the desired effect, the ‘snake’ needs to be strategically placed just inside the cabin door-way. We have got used to it sitting there on a more or less permanent basis. However the presence of the ‘snake’ comes as a huge surprise to the border/customs officials when they brusquely approach the door to check inside the vehicle! Their initial brief reaction is little short of sheer terror and they run some metres in the opposite direction. When they realise that the ‘snake’ is not real, they laugh and call their colleagues over to have a look, with much hilarity all around the border team. The humour of the situation is a real ‘ice breaker’ and their fascination with the ‘snake’ overcomes all the formality of the customs process. So far, without exception, all the customs officials at the four borders that we have crossed, have ended-up waving us through with a big smile and not even a cursory glance through the vehicle! Mission accomplished!
But did it work for the monkeys? Well so far, yes! In Hwange a couple of weeks ago, a large vervet monkey approached the steps of the truck door, clearly intending to have a snoop inside Cuthbert. When he saw the ‘snake’ he made a loud clicking noise with his mouth, screeched and ran away. A little later, he gingerly returned with his friends and looked carefully at the snake from a distance, obviously trying to work out whether this was ‘friend or foe’. He must have concluded on the latter, as neither he nor his friends came back that day. Well done Mr Snake!
So after a ‘snake assisted’ border crossing, we continued our journey. First, the short distance into Siavonga to relieve a local bank of some of our savings, in Zambian Kwacha. Then on to a campsite a couple of hours down the road in Lusaka.
On entering the campsite, the presence of a ‘monster’ over-landing truck (together with its load of a dozen ‘twenty-something’ youngsters enjoying their gap-year) immediately reminded us that we have left our journey through the rough tracks of northern Zimbabwe and are, for now at least, well and truly back onto the ‘Trans-Africa Tourist-Truck Route’.
Before this trip we were of course aware of these ‘over-landing tourist mega-trucks’ that take anything between 10 to 30 people on a whistle-stop-tour of ‘Africa’s Best Bits’, but we have been astounded by how many of these there now are on the road. In Vic Falls we saw five or six parked up in one camp-site, and at one campsite in Zambia, we were told that their over-night record was nine trucks at the same time! The dubious pleasure of travelling on one of these trucks is however, no longer reserved solely for the young gap-year student. On the contrary… the majority now seem to be, shall we say, well into middle-age… much like ourselves in fact 🙂 !
The sheer number of travellers on these trucks can sometimes overwhelm otherwise small and peaceful African bush-campsites, which can make the trucks unpopular with solo-over-landers. But it is perhaps a bit unfair (not to mention rather condescending) of us to deride these ‘monster’ overlanding-truck arrangements, too much. They are, of course just as entitled to roam Africa as we are. And whilst their style of travel may not be to our personal taste in experiencing Africa, we occasionally have to admit that it would sometimes be nice to have someone else managing the hassle of our admin, arranging border-crossings, finding the best campsites etc.
It is also true to say that some ‘roof-tenting over-landers’ take a similar view of us, in our large ‘luxury’ truck, with our built-in hot-water shower, own toilet etc, etc, etc….. Not their idea of the true African ‘bush experience’! Which is also a fair point of view.
However we have ‘been there, done that, got the T-shirt…’. Many times over the years. We have tried all combinations of Landies, Toyotas, Nissans with roof tents, ground tents and often (in the Middle East where there are no predator animals) no tent, just a rolly-mat and sleeping bag on the sand. So whilst we watch the campers setting up their tents and traipsing off to the, sometimes less than sanitary, ablution blocks, we are reminded of those times, but still feel grateful (and admittedly occasionally, just a little smug!) that we are now fortunate enough to have our own reliable hot-water supply, and can get up in the night for the loo, without worrying about bumping into a lion on the way! However to conclude on this…. we do have to make one concession to any ‘Landy with roof-tent’ drivers out there… if in your travels around Africa, you come across a large blue Iveco Daily 4×4 camper-truck, struggling along a back-road, getting bashed and scratched on the low tree branches (or even worse, taking a long and unplanned detour route) due to its 3.3m of height and restricted access, then please do feel free to smugly remind us of why you chose your Landy, as you go flying past us 🙂
As the old English saying goes: “Horses for courses and each to their own”. There is plenty of room in Africa for us all.
Anyway… after an overnight stop in Lusaka (which we suggest is more than enough for any traveller, regardless of your truck size!) we moved-on swiftly, transiting across Zambia towards Malawi.
Moving on… now with a Yellow Card
It was not due to the presence of the over-landing mega-trucks that we moved-on so swiftly through Zambia. And neither is it because Zambia is a particularly unpleasant place. Although not spectacularly scenic, Zambia has a pleasant landscape and the people generally quite friendly.
The main reason for our haste through the country is that from our research, we found that Zambia’s main, and probably only, tourist attraction is its safari parks with up-market lodges and luxury tented camps. Fabulous though these places no doubt are, we are not staying in luxury lodges, and it was never our intention to turn this trip into a one-year safari trek. There is much more to Africa than animals and safaris, and we had already seen plenty of the wildlife on our journey so far.
So although we did have a sufficiently open plan to allow for us potentially getting distracted and staying for longer than expected, it was generally our intention to spend only a few days in Zambia, and head straight across the south of the country to Chipata and the Malawi border.
In Chipata, just before heading to the border, we decided to have another try at obtaining the elusive COMESA Yellow Card for Cuthbert’s third party liability insurance. This is not a particularly fascination subject for anyone other than those seeking to do a journey similar to ours. For those interested, we will write up the details and post on our ‘Practical Stuff’ page. It is sufficient here to say a big ‘Thankyou!’ to Harrison in Madison Insurance, Chipata. ‘You are the insurance hero of Africa!’ 🙂
Here is a quick overview map of our route in Zambia (note: red line = our route on this trip in Cuthbert; blue line = our previous trips in other vehicles).
Moving on then… have a look at our Malawi page for further adventures!