Last Thursday I returned to Oshakati after being away for a
couple weeks. I was in Katima for a while helping Elephant Energy with some work
and then I went to Livingstone, Zambia for a few nights with some friends.
During my time in Katima, I slept in a tent along the
hippo/croc infested Zambezi river. Although the
nights were rough and wet, I still enjoyed my time sleeping in the yard outside of the
nice Zambezi Protea Hotel.
After my stop in Katima, I began my trip to Zambia, which
was the first time I had been out of Namibia in almost 9 months. Once we crossed the border, I quickly
noticed how different Zambia was from North Central Namibia, which is the area
that I’ve become so accustomed to. First of all, it was far greener in Zambia
than where I live. When I was
first told that I’d be going to Africa about 13 months ago, I always imagined
that I would live in a jungle-esque setting, but Oshakati is nothing like
that. Although the road from Katima to Livingstone wasn’t a jungle by any
means, it was certainly closer to what I thought Africa was going to look like.
Another stark contrast between Namibia and Zambia was the quality of the road.
As soon as we crossed the Zambezi river and into Zambia, the road was instanly covered with potholes.
Some as wide as the road itself. In Namibia, I’ve gotten used to traveling at
lightening speeds and I expected the same in Zambia. However, due to the
terrible roads, it took us forever to travel the 200km to Livingstone.
Livingstone is tourist town where people go to see Victoria
Falls and it was the primary reason for my trip. Victoria Falls is
one of the largest waterfalls in the world. Although rainy season was meant to
be over by March, there was still been a lot of rain recently and we got
really wet while crossing the bridge and the walk along the trails near the
falls. Due to all the spray, it was slightly difficult to see the falls at
times but it was still pretty amazing. The highlight of the trip was doing the
Gorge Swing off the bridge. I did a tandem swing with my friend Andrew and it basically involved us taking a step off a bridge while connected to a swing and going over
the gorge. It was one of the most frightening things I have ever done in my
life but is something that I will never forget.
I spent the other days at Livingstone lounging at the
backpackers place, eating greasy western food, enjoying the sunset at luxurious
hotels and visiting the local craft markets. It was very relaxing trip and
definitely worth it.
