Kasane -> Kazungula -> Livingstone
Distance & time taken
121 km
2 1/2hrs
Accommodation
Zambezi Waterfront Lodge (www.thezambeziwaterfront.com)
between Livingstone town & Vic Falls on the T1
Trip Notes
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| Lilac-Breasted Roller |
As usual, up early (just after 6) & put kettle on the gas for an early cup of tea. After a lekker hot shower, had cereal & boiled eggs for breakfast. Early morning visitors (of the feathered kind) included another 2 new sightings:
- Orange-breasted Bushshrike
- Tropical Boubou
Today we head off to Livingstone & Ang is not looking forward to the border crossing. We went through the process as described by a previous traveller on the blogspot for www.4x4community.co.za. After packing up, we left Thebe at 09h00 & headed through to a bureau de change in Kasane to try to get Zambian Kwachas but this was a fruitless exercise - although they are a border town, they don't deal with Kwachas - so we will need to do the exchange at the border.
Refuelled at the Engen in Kazungula as diesel is cheaper in Botswana & then headed to the border. The interesting thing about this border is the ferry crossing, you have no idea which ferry you are going to get - a bit of a lottery as the Zambian ferries are in worse shape than the Botswana one.
We were processed through Botswana very efficiently, now we needed to clear customs & queue for the ferry. The customs guard must have been a bit board as he had me open the canopy & then wanted to investigate the Bush Baby gas stove. Once he was satisfied that it was what I declared it was, we were allowed to proceed.
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| Temporary bridge being built over the Zambezi at Kazungula border post |
Unlucky, the Botswana ferry wasn't in service today so it would be a Zambian lucky draw. While we were queueing, we observed the bridge being built. This was being mooted 2 years previously when we crossed through here but we never held much luck of it coming to fruition - African delays / time & all that. It is projected to be operational within a year on the temporary bridge while the permanent structure is finalised over the next 3 years.
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| View from the ferry towards the Zambian border post |
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| On the ferry - felt dwarfed by the trucks |
As soon as we opened our doors, we were accosted by a number of touts offering to either keep an eye over the vehicle or assist us through the process. A middle aged guy by the name of Phillip latched onto us & we had a quick discussion as to what I required from him, what I was going to pay him & what he was not to do. This seemed to work pretty well as we completed the process within 1/2 an hour.
We got our passports stamped, then went to process our Temporary Import Permit(TIP), exchanged $100 at a kiosk for a resonable rate of ZMK10 to $1 (Standard Bank offered us ZMK10.13 the following day in Livingstone so we never felt ripped off). Once we had our Kwachas, we bought 3rd Party Insurance at the kiosk next door (ZMK103), then went back to pay our TIP in Kwachas (ZMK150). When then had to go into a different building to pay our Community Levy of ZMK30 before finally paying the Road Tax of $20.
When all this was complete, Ang took all the papers & proceeded to the gate to get them checked by the border guards while I went to the Toyota, paid the car guard ZMK20 & then headed to the border gate. Once Ang was in with all the paperwork, I paid Phillip his $10 & we headed into Zambia. As usual, there was a police checkpoint shortly after the border post to ensure that we had everything in order.
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| Lunch at the Ocean Basket |
After enduring another delay, we headed slowly through the park to Livingstone. We decided that we would have lunch at the Ocean Basket before trying to find a campsite - more out of reminiscing than need as we had stopped & had lunch 2 years ago when we arrived. I pulled into the parking at Shoprite only to find no Ocean Basket. We were a little disappointed as we were now hungry but decided to start looking for a campsite. As we exited the parking, we saw the Ocean Basket signage about 200m down the road - they had relocated to a standalone venue which proved top be much nicer. We ordered a Feesh & Chips, Calamari & fried Halloumi cheese to be washed down with Mosi's.We then headed out towards the Falls to find Taite Falcon Lodge as there campsite was recommended by Tony Weaver on one of his trip feedbacks. It was quite some drive out there & for this reason as well as the fact that the sites weren't completely finished for occupation after a little refurbishment work, we headed back to town & went to the Victoria Waterfront Lodge (also recommended by a fried who had stayed there previously.
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| Nothing like a bucket of beers to complete the day |
When we got back, our neighbours across at #5 had settled in - a biking tour group from Germany were busy settling in. The Germans hadn't arrived yet but the coordinators were setting up camp & checking all the stocks in anticipation of their arrival on Saturday. We were in bed by 21h00 but had the occasional disturbance from the bar waking us up occasionally until midnight but all in, it wasn't too bad.
Costs for the day
| Accommodation | Zambezi Waterfront Lodge |
US$24,00
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| Diesel | Engen Kazungula |
BWP421,80
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| Ferry | Kazungula |
BWP200,00
|
| Road tax | Zambia |
US$20,00
|
| TIP | Zambia |
ZMW150,00
|
| 3rd Party Insurance | Zambia |
ZMW103,00
|
| Community Levy | Zambia |
ZMW30,00
|
| Tout | Zambia |
US$10,00
|
| Parking | Zambia |
ZMW20,00
|
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| Sunset over the Zambezi |
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