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I'm now in Lusaka, capital of Zambia. I've spent the last 2 weeks between the excellent Jolly Boyz hostel in Livingstone and Bovu island on the Zambesi. After my two days on the bike I took a rest in Livingstone and soon became part of the traveller crowd there playing pool and drinking.

Southern Africa - part 4

Stevemonty
2005-09-23 18:41:53

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Zambia
I'm now in Lusaka, capital of Zambia. I've spent the last 2 weeks between the excellent Jolly Boyz hostel in Livingstone and Bovu island on the Zambesi. After my two days on the bike I took a rest in Livingstone and soon became part of the traveller crowd there playing pool and drinking.
Went with Luke and Emily from England to visit 'Mosi-oa-Tunya' (The Smoke That Thunders) or Victoria Falls. It's high water season at the moment and the falls are raging. The path crosses a small bridge and follows the opposite side of the gorge to the falls. In many places the falls are so great that even though you are right on top of them you cannot see a thing, rain and mist from the falls obilerates most of the view and you are soaked to the skin.
Yet the sheer power of these falls is breathtaking, and the views from the bottom and from the bridge of the 'boiling point' look like heaven and hell in the same place. From above it looks like swirling brown and white marble, giant whirlpools swirl out of control with smaller whirlpools spiralling off it. A few days later a large group of us took inflatable canoes 18km upstream of the falls, seeing hippos, elephants drinking and giraffes from the National Parks on either side.
I cycled 40km back upstream and then down a 12km sand road to join Luke and Emily on Bovu island. This is a small tropical place only about 1km long in a remote part of the Zambezi. Brett and Evelyn made our time there memorable especially the late nights around the cocktail bar, spinning firesticks, treasure hunts, learning Zambian drumming and playing guitar.
I was camped only 4 metres from the river bank and walking back to my tent under a starry night you can hear hippo's laughing to each other over opposite sides of the island. We spent a whole week here relaxing, reading books and playing chess.

We also visited the local village on the Zambian mainland and saw the locals making bamboo cone shaped fishing nets. The rains have not been great this year and the crops aren't doing so well so the villagers survive on aid delivered mainly with overseas money. Yet they have foot pumps to irrigate their land, and they are not used. It turns out that all along the chain people are paid to deliver aid and so the villagers decide to not farm instead. This reminds me of the book Catch 22 I've just finished where after the war people buy farms in the USA so they can be paid to not grow anything there.
Back in Livingstone Sue and Jen at the hostel took everyone down to the falls to see the full moon rainbows. We were soaked through once more crossing the bridge but were treated to incredible views of the falls with rainbows arcs over 180 degrees either side of us. One of those incredible moments that can't be photographed and you just have to try and capture in your mind to remember.

Back at Jolly Boyz a fire was lit, a Japanese student started playing the saxophone and we sat around and talked to the early hours and the following night we all went to see 'Out of Africa' at the local 1930's Art Deco cinema. Yesterday I caught the bus to Lusaka and here bumped into Chris whom I travelled with in Swaziland and Maputo 2 months ago.