Saturday, January 5 I arrived at the border post of Zimbabwe around 6:30 at 3 km away from Victoria Falls Rest Camp. I were alone, the procedure of the exit stamp on my passport and on the carnet de passage en douane with detachment of the export voucher of the vehicle lasted hardly 10 minutes. After the crossing of the bridge on the Zambezi river I stationed in front of the border post of Zambia, here, always alone. The procedure was longer, as usual, as well for the passport with payment of US$50 for the one month visa as for the customs; the carnet de passage en douane required waiting for the exchange agency to change American dollars into Zambian dollars, ZMW, to pay ZMW275 for the carbon tax and ZMW25 for Council General and finally US$20 for the road toll fee. It has was necessary to juggle between the US$ and ZMW bought with US$! Why make simple when one can made complicate. The unit lasted 50 minutes. I left the enclosure around 7:30 i.e. one hour from beginning to end.
In Livingstone I made supply in food, the purchase of a SIM card then the withdrawal of ZMW to a ATM. I begun again the road around 11:00 under a torrential tropical rain with flooded streets. Around 13:00 I decided to find a bivouac on the road to Lusaka crossing of spaces without village and without culture so much the ground is sterile. While arriving at Kalomo I was posed in front of the police station with the agreement of the police officers to make a quiet night.
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Sunday, January 6 I left the police station after having thanked the police officers for having authorized me and protected during the night. My destination was Lusaka, but too far to do the way peacefully in the day, I stopped halfway. The road is not of any interest moreover it is furrowed by heavy trucks going to Zimbabwe. I spent the night at The Moorings Farm Campsite.
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Monday, January 7 was still a day of connection road to reach Lusaka where I was going to DHL to take the new Visa Infinite card with the confidential code in two separate letters sent by the HSBC agency in Draguignan. Then I visited Zambia Tourism Agence to obtain information concerning the national parks that I wanted to visit; alas neither booklet neither map nor reservation of the camps. I sought Travel Agence given by Lonely-Planet which GPS knew but it sent me in suburb! Lusaka is located at approximately 1300 meters of altitude but does not have the spirit of Harare; the city is very encumbered with vehicles in streets, certainly very broad but sometimes tortuous and dusty. I gave up my research to go to pose my vehicle in Wanderers Backpackers for one night.
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Tuesday, January 8 I left as of the dawn for Kafue NP, Mayukuyuku Camp, without reservation nor permit to circulate in the park. Contrary to the statement of the hostess of Zambia Tourism Agence I passed the Check Point without encumbers and palaver to arrive at the above-named camp. I have any difficulty to have a camp-site, I was the only intrepid one to face the rainy season. Admittedly I am not certain to see many wild animals because only some tracks are practicable. An employee “lit fire” under a can of 100 liters furnished with ground and stone to have warm water for the shower; what a delicacy! It is true that one day of camp-site costs US$20 plus US$40 of governmental fee for the foreigners who are the cash cows of the gangsters penguins (one armed bandits) of the government.
Wednesday, January 9 after a shower with tepid water coming from the 100-ltres barrel heated the day before, I left in exploration the open tracks to track the wild animals. It was not the large crowd of the South-African parks; admittedly it is the rainy season and the animals are hidden under the foliage of the dense forest. Zambia as Zimbabwe is very green and the altitude, here, is of 1100 meters. On the M9 road which crosses Kafue NP I warned a pylon of telecommunication; I moved towards it by a practicable track. Bingo, I had an Internet connection.
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Thursday, January 10 on the way towards Kasabushi Camp in the southern part of Kafue NP I stopped again at the bottom of pylon of telecoms. Then I traversed the track of 45 km for Kasabushi Camp. On the track Spinal Road I fortuitously met the Roupsy with their Defender Azalaï; they had been announced to me as being in Livingstone to visit in the area before going to Namibia. Of course we exchanged information on the already visited countries. I continued my way to the camp where a couple of Scot managed the site.
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| Un couple d'Azalaïens, France, Marne | Bivouac Kasabushi |
Friday, January 11 I tried to locate wild animals. Spinal Road which leads from M9 road to Kasabushi Camp is practicable all year around; the adjacent tracks are misadvised. I projected to go to Hippo pool while going along the Shishamba River with the eponymous loop. The manager of the camp asked me to be careful; effect I am alone in the camp. In the event of problem the providence will not send to me the help. The mobile communications are non-existent in Kafue NP. I entered the loop by the southern part of the river. I was stopped less than one kilometer further by a tree across the track. I turned back to try my chance by the northern part of the river. The track had not been used since long months and it became muddy. Extremely of my recent experiment in Southern Africa, I gave up my project: The wise man knows his limits!
Saturday, January 12 I left Kasabushi Camp definitively to establish my bivouac at Mukambi Lodge for two nights with the hope to see some one of Big Five predators. Of course on the way I stopped at the bottom of pylon of telecoms not knowing if there were a Wi-Fi connection at Mukambi; there is a connection, not being very far away from the pylon. Mukambi Lodge is upscale lodge.
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Sunday, January 13 after one rainy night the rain did not cease all the day with a temperature slightly higher than 20°C making any activity impossible on the softened tracks. All the customers at Mukambi Safari Lodge, a couple and two individuals, remained all the day in the living room.
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