|
Updated Information
|
Date |
Camp Site or Accommodations |
GPS |
Distance Today:
213km |
Meals
pasta, soup, salad |
Weather |
The Bush, Zambia
Witt & Jen |
12 September, 2004 |
BushCamp |
13°34.275’S x 31°34.377’E |
Odometer: 35970km |
Sunny, 102(F)
degrees |
|
Urs and Elza set off across
the park this morning, headed for the western side of the park and the
Great North Road. Jen and Witt went for a morning game drive. We spotted a
porcupine, which is somewhat unusual in daylight, but not much else. After
lunch we went south down a piste toward the great east road. We drove for
a few hours, then started to hunt for a bushcamp. I engaged low range to
pull into a dry riverbed to camp. The sand was softer than it looked, and
I backed out rather than spend time deflating the tires. When I tried to
re-engage high range, the lever wouldn’t fully engage. Still in low, we
located a bushcamp. The tsetse flies were still out and we battled them as
we made dinner until they went home at dusk. |
|
Updated Information
|
Date |
Camp Site or Accommodations |
GPS |
Distance Today:
277km |
Meals
Beef Curry |
Weather |
230 km E of Lusaka, Zambia
Witt & Jen |
13 September, 2004 |
Luangwa Bridge Lodge |
15°00.308’S
x 30°12.913’E |
Odometer: 36247km |
Sunny, 96(F) Degrees |
|
We set off early in hopes of
avoiding the tsetse flies, still in low range. The plan was to reach the
main road to find a good fly-free spot to look at the problem. The piste
was fairly good, but we didn’t loose too much time stuck at 40kph. At the
junction with the tarmac road we found a campsite. We pulled in and set to
work. As I started to remove the transmission tunnel, a local arrived who
said he was a mechanic. I was skeptical, but eventually I realized that he
knew what he was talking about. With his (Harry) help I was happy to
discover that a pin connecting two arms on the transfer box lever had come
loose and jammed against another part, preventing the lever from moving in
to high range. Harry used a piece of copper wire to replace the missing
retaining clip. Harry was concerned because apparently other people
hanging about were jealous that he was working for a white man and were
asking him how much I was paying. I gave him four dollars in such a way
that no one would see, and at his suggestion a small bag of peanuts, which
he claimed was his payment. After lunch we headed out, waving to Harry as
he munched on peanuts with a friend. |
|
Updated Information
|
Date |
Camp Site or Accommodations |
GPS |
Distance Today:
270km |
Meals
Restaurant |
Weather |
|
Lusaka, Zambia
Witt & Jen |
14 September, 2004 |
Pioneer Camp |
15°23.719’S x 28°27.088’E |
Odometer: 36510km |
Sunny, Hot 92(F)
degrees |
|
We arrived in Lusaka just
before lunch and met Elza and Urs in the internet café. We discussed our
plans to visit Zimbabwe. Jen found an article on a website indicating
recent fuel shortages in the country. We decided that a phone call to an
embassy was in order before we headed in. In the evening we met Louise, a
friend of Jen’s family who has been volunteering in Zambia for dinner.
Elza and Urs joined us and we spent a nice evening chatting. |
|
From left to right, Rafiki, the Pinzy, and a Swedish couple's landrover |
|
Updated Information
|
Date |
Camp Site or Accommodations |
GPS |
Distance Today:
40km |
Meals
Grilled T-bone with pasta |
Weather |
Lusaka, Zambia
Witt & Jen |
15 September, 2004 |
Pioneer Camp |
15°23.719’S x 28°27.088’E |
Odometer: 36550km |
Sunny, 95(F) Degrees |
|
Urs phoned the Swiss embassy
in Harare this morning. They weren’t too optimistic, reporting current
fuel shortages and some recent violence against tourists. The four of us
decided not to risk going in. Jen and I tried to convince Elza and Urs to
come with us back to Malawi, but that’s in the opposite direction from
where they need to go. While they discussed it, we went to Pilatus
Engineering, the Land Rover dealership in town to try again to get the
worsening leak in the front differential repaired. The place looked
expensive, all clean with fancy Land Rover and BMW flags flying. They
quoted about $100 for the repair plus a general check of the car. Two
hours later they reported that they couldn’t repair the differential
because their welder was broken. The bill still came to $60, for nothing
more than greasing the propshafts. I protested, but only managed to get
10% off. The mechanic recommended another shop, so we battled downtown
traffic to go see them. It was 330 when we arrived (after stopping for
lunch), and they asked us to return the next day. |
|
Updated Information
|
Date |
Camp Site or Accommodations |
GPS |
Distance Today:
40km |
Meals
Grilled boerewors |
Weather |
|
Lusaka, Zambia
Witt & Jen |
16 September, 2004 |
Pioneer Camp |
15°23.719’S x 28°27.088’E |
Odometer: 36590km |
Sunny 99(F)
degrees |
|
We drove back across town to
speedy exhaust (the place we visited yesterday afternoon). Kelvin welded
the hell out of the front diff. I was convinced that he had melted the
insides together into a non-moving mass of metal. It did move though, and
after paying the $20 bill we headed back to the shopping center where we
bought some food for our trip back to Malawi. We spent the afternoon
reading and relaxing. In the evening we watched “swordfish” (a movie Elza
bought in Cape Town) on the laptop. |
|
Updated Information
|
Date |
Camp Site or Accommodations |
GPS |
Distance Today:
230km |
Meals
Mexican mince with rice |
Weather |
|
230 km E of Lusaka, Zambia
Witt & Jen |
17 September, 2004 |
Luangwa Bridge Camp |
15°00.308’S x 30°12.913’E |
Odometer: 36820km |
Sunny 98(F)
degrees |
|
After saying goodbye to Urs,
Elza, and Bayo, we went back into town to check our email and buy one last
Zambian T-Bone. Shortly outside of town we discovered that the steering
shudder at 50mph has returned. We stopped early and while Jen made dinner,
I tried to tighten the panhard rod. Unfortunately it seems well in place,
and I bent one of my wrenches trying to tighten it. The camp site is low
in the Luangwa River Valley, and we stayed up quite late reading until it
cooled off enough to sleep. The temperature here is 10-15 degrees warmer
than either Lilongwe or Lusaka. |
|
Urs, Elza, Bayo, Jen, Witt |
|
Updated Information
|
Date |
Camp Site or Accommodations |
GPS |
Distance Today:
484km |
Meals
T-Bone |
Weather |
|
Lilongwe, Malawi
Witt & Jen |
18 September, 2004 |
Kiboko Backpackers |
13°59.957’S x 33°45.563’E |
Odometer: 37304km |
Sunny 92(F)
degrees |
|
We spent the day driving to Lilongwe, trying
to avoid speeds between 70-90 kph, as that’s where the shudder is. I
thought about having it looked at in Lilongwe tomorrow, but today is
Friday and I don’t want to hang out there all weekend. We arrived at
Kiboko just before dark and enjoyed our T-bone steak. |
|
Updated Information
|
Date |
Camp Site or Accommodations |
GPS |
Distance Today:
182km |
Meals
Leftover Mexican mince |
Weather |
|
Massasas, Malawi
Witt & Jen |
19 September, 2004 |
Bushcamp |
14°25.719’S x 34°26.768’E |
Odometer: 37486km |
Partly cloudy, windy, 85(F)
degrees |
|
We left Lilongwe this morning at about 10am.
We drove up higher onto the plateau, and as we went south the terrain
became more mountainous and quite beautiful. We drove through the town of
Dedza, the setting of which reminded us of Flagstaff. We drove a short
distance out to the Mozambique border and renewed our insurance, which is
about to expire. We managed to find Corby’s house, a peace corps volunteer
whom we met a couple of months ago in Livingstone. We talked with her for
a few hours, then headed back toward Dedza, turning off on a dirt road
that will take us back toward Lake Malawi. We found a bushcamp overlooking
a village. We expected a big audience, but only two young guys showed up.
We chatted for awhile as the sun set and they went home before it got
dark. We enjoyed listening to the sounds floating up from the village as
evening set in. Children laughing and playing, people talking, someone
playing drums. |
|
Corby and some of her friends |
Bushcamp |
|
Updated Information
|
Date |
Camp Site or Accommodations |
GPS |
Distance Today:
125km |
Meals
Chicken brochettes |
Weather |
|
Cape McClear, Malawi
Witt & Jen |
20 September, 2004 |
Fat Mondey's camp |
Not Recorded |
Odometer: 37429km |
Sunny 97(F)
degrees |
|
When we awoke this morning our two friends
were back. They kept their distance until I went out to talk to them. We
invited them to tea, which we enjoyed as the village woke up below us.
After saying goodbye, we drove off in search of Nzeto John, apparently a
master carver of model cars. The road was very scenic as it dropped from
the plateau to the lakeshore. After a fruitless search, we finally
discovered that he lives in Massasas, where we had slept last night! We
decided to press on, and just before lunch located John, the final
volunteer on our tour of peace corps sites. It was a Sunday and he was
happy to have visitors. We went with him into the village and walked
around the market enjoying the sights and sounds. He treated us to lunch
at a local restaurant. The meal of chips and salad cost 50 kwacha each
(about 50 cents), which seems cheap until you learn that a peace corps
volunteer earns about $120 per month (hence “volunteer”). We left John at
about 4pm and headed for Cape McClear. On the way we found another “car
artist” and placed an order which is to be ready in a few days. We arrived
at Fat Monkeys (on the lake) after dark, and found a place to camp. We met
an Isreali couple who have been here for about a month learning to dive.
We also spoke to a manager at Kayak Africa about a sea kayaking trip. It’s
pretty up-market, but we decided that this would be a good place to enjoy
our postponed anniversary celebration from July. We made arrangements to
set off on a three-day trip to some nearby islands tomorrow morning. |
Repairing fishing nets Melembo Eating lunch with the proprietors of the restaurant
Repairing fishing nets Melembo
|
|
September 21 |
