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On 8th April we set off from Cotonou in Benin to Lagos, the capital of Nigeria. We had arranged to rejoin the overland tour in Kano in northern Nigeria. After considering our schedule carefully we decided that we would fly from Lagos up to Kano since the journey sounded boring and time consuming. On arrival at the domestic airport in Lagos we found that there was a flight to Kano leaving in twenty minutes. We frantically rushed around to change money on the black market and buy the tickets. A few minutes before the scheduled departure time Paula and I were running across the tarmac to get to the waiting jet before they pulled away the boarding stairs. Exhausted we rushed up the stairs, the crew closed the main door behind us and before we could find our seats the plane was taxiing to the runway - only in Africa!
1992 Diary - Africa (Part 2)
Gjcmcclurg2005-12-23 14:25:40
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scale down to the river. We all apprehensively climbed aboard the rafts which were in a calmer wide bend of the river. Our guide gave a further crash course in the raft and then we were drifting towards the first rapid. We had 26 km ahead of us with 16 sets of rapids, most of which were Grade 5 - the toughest possible for commercial rafting! We went round a bend and there we could see the first huge rapid coming up on us. We all braced ourselves as our raft was sucked into the raging class 5 water - breathtaking. The water crashed over the raft and we all held on for our lives. Before the lunch stop we successfully navigated rapids 4 to 10 which included rapids named 'Stairway to Heaven' and the 'Muncher'. After lunch it was rapids 11 to 16 including the infamous rapid called 'Oblivion'. The huge 3rd wave of the Oblivion rapid sucked our raft under and we were all catapulted into the bubbling turmoil - what a rush! With the help of the safety lines we all eventually managed to climb back aboard. I enjoyed the whole thing so much that I did it all again the next day - a true glutton for punishment!
After the Victoria Falls it was off to Botswana and the word renowned Okavango Delta. The delta is on the northern edge of the Kalahari Desert and is formed by the River Okavango flowing down from the Angolan heights into a basin that has no exit. The crystal clear waters nourish this arid area creating a wonderland of meandering waterways, green islands and lush vegetation. The ecosystem is filled with a diversity of flora and fauna including hippo, crocodile, elephant and even the big cats. We began our journey into the delta by taking a 1.5 hour speedboat journey from Maun and then we transferred into dugouts. Our guide punted our dugout along the narrow channels through the reeds and pointed out the wildlife. As evening approached we set up camp on one of the many islands and sat around a camp fire discussing the animals we had spotted during the day. Back at Maun a few of us took a trip in a 6-seater light aircraft over the delta - this really gave us a good perspective of the beautiful delta.
From Maun in Botswana we traveled back through Francistown and to the border with Zimbabwe. We crossed into Zimbabwe and then drove up to Bulawayo where we spent a pleasant afternoon, before bush camping for the last time of the trip. Next we visited the impressive ruins of Great Zimbabwe, the ancient city of the Karanga people. The ruins are some 500 years old and are the most comprehensive south of the Sahara. We spent a few hours exploring the various enclosures and then had a few beers at the Great Zimbabwe Hotel.
Next we traveled up to Harare, the capital of Zimbabwe. Harare seemed a fairly modern bustling capital with all of the normal amenities. We all took advantage of being back in a big city hitting the shops and restaurants. I went out for a farewell meal with several of the guys from the trip and on the evening of 18th August I caught be direct flight to London. It seemed amazing how the flight whisked me back to London in 9.5 hours after we had spent 7 months traveling overland down to Harare!
See photographs from:
Zambia Gallery
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Tanzania Gallery
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Malawi Gallery
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Kenya Gallery
,
Zimbabwe Gallery
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Cameroon Gallery
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Burundi Gallery
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Botswana Gallery
,
Nigeria Gallery
