Zambia-
Malawi was the bus company we should have taken on the way to Malawi. It was
leaving 5 hours later so we decided to go with the earlier bus and regretted it
deeply. Let me say, it certainly redeemed itself. To begin with, the bus
actually left ON TIME. I almost wanted to cry or kiss the driver at this point.
We noticed some milk crates in the aisles and were nervous at first that they
were going to over pack the bus. NOPE at the first rest stop a few hours in
(which by the way if you weren’t off and on in about 10 minutes they left
without you) they filled the crates with Fanta! Alright this was nice, now since we weren’t going to
stop again if we were thirsty we could by a nice drink. Ummmm no this was a
complimentary drink which came with a pack of shortbread cookies. They even
came around with a bottle opener because they were glass bottles! We were
astonished that the other company even still existed. They played some gory
movie as we ate our snacks then to make our jaws drop even more, they came
around with a garbage bag. At the next stop the crates were gone and we could
safely move up and down the rows again. It really was a lovely bus ride.
We arrived in
Lusaka and shuttled off to Livingstone where we were going to stay for the
night. This was quite an uneventful bus ride, we were exhausted, so close to
home and familiar faces and languages, but we got to watch the new Escape Plan
movie! Nothing says kick back and relax like two of America’s greatest action
stars in one movie.
Livingstone
is home to one of the greatest natural wonders of the world, Victoria Falls. We
were meeting up with a bunch of other volunteers at a super fun backpackers
hostel and had a nice relaxing night. All we needed to do was travel one more
leg to Namibia and another to our nearest home in Rundu. It was going to be
quick and easy and even better, we found a guy at the hostel with a new car
that was willing to drive us for free. PERFECT. OH THANK HEAVEN.
As with
every other leg of the trip that we thought would be easy, this one did not
fail to disappoint in that department. Yes the car was new however so were the
tires. The tires were also a size too big for the car so when 5 grown adults
with their hiking packs that are overstuffed with souvieners from a foreign land,
the car rides pretty low. Add that to the fact that this short 100km road was a
land mine of potholes that could destroy a small sedan in one wrong swerve of
the wheel. We are now traveling at about one third of the speed we should be
going and stop every now and then to check the tires which are rubbing and
grinding on the low wheel well. It was slightly irritating, I would have paid
for a fast taxi, but the guy was nice; he was actually a soccer player in the
Netherlands so he was moving back to his home of Zambia for the winter.
The cake
topper of the leg was actually when we got stopped by a police check point. We
stop, the guy and the police woman chat. Between the 4 of us we
speak/understand more than 5 languages spoken in southern Africa but of course
this is one of the languages we do not know. The driver is now in the small
police shack and keeps coming back and forth going through papers trying to
find something. We ask if everything is okay and he embarrassingly confesses
that while the car is “new” he bought it from someone else and failed to change
the official ownership. So in other words, to the police this vehicle carrying
4 white people and a Zambian who has been living in Europe making a fortune for
the past few years, is technically stolen. WTF.
No big deal
though, just pay a simple bribe and we can be on our way. BUT the guy has no
money and now has to ask us for whatever we have. We empty our pockets but have
next to nothing in Zambian. The police tried to flex a little muscle by bringing
out their armed guards but I think they realized we literally had nothing and
let us go. The driver felt so bad and promised us he would pay us back when we
got to the border town. Well at least he would have had the only ATM in the
border town accepted his international VISA. Okay just cross the border with us
and take out money in Katima. Oh he doesn’t have his passport either. I don’t
know what was going through this guys mind when he got in his car to drive but
it obviously wasn’t making sure he had his passport or money on him…
We
eventually arrived at the border, crossed, and found hikes to Home Sweet Rundu
in Namibia. The trip to Malawi was an adventure to say the least. It gave me
heart attacks multiple times a day until I just told myself I was going to die,
then I thought I was going to die multiple times a day.
We
conquered southern Africa in one piece but not without some painful and scary
souvenirs. For those who do not know, for as beautiful as Lake Malawi is, a
large majority of it is the primary drinking, washing, and waste source for
thousands of villages. In the northern part where we were staying there have
not been any “reported” cases of ailments such as schisto (a parasite that can
be contracted on skin contact with infected water) but there was definitely
something. Any small cut or scratch became infected within a day or two. Another
guy and I each had a nice infected blister that resulted in a hole in my foot
for about 2 weeks (don’t worry I still have my foot and its all healed….I think) Nothing a few doses of antibiotics can’t
clear up. Nice try Africa.
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