We rolled into a chilly Joburg on Saturday afternoon, in desperate need of a shower, some clean clothes and a long overdue afternoon nap. Who says three weeks of holiday is easy? Kev has really surprised us on the trip, returning an average of 15km per litre, no flat tyres, no mechanical difficulty and besides a window that won’t stay up was the perfect car for a long trip like this. We rewarded him with a day at the spa on Sunday and he is now looking like new. They had to wash out some Etosha dust, lake Malawi beach sand, Zambezi mud and a variety of bugs from all the countries we visited, not to mention the coffee stains from numerous early morning garage coffees where Kevs bonnet was used as a table. Coming home on the N1 was a surreal experience. We have been negotiating tiny roads littered with goats, people, bicycles and at times elephants and now we were confronted by multiple lanes (an endangered species anywhere North of SA) and fast moving traffic. It took us a while to get out of the slow lane an accelerate above 80km/h!

Clean me

So shiny

KFP

We left Kasane and headed for Nata on Wednesday. Our progress was halted slightly by a herd of elephants crossing the highway! As you head down Botswana it gets drier and flatter, similar to what we experienced in Namibia a few weeks ago. We found a camp site near Nata and Kev got stuck for the first time on this trip. I would love say he got stuck on a 4X4 course, but we somehow managed to beach him on the road into the CARAVAN PARK!    We set up camp, made what we now think may have been a donkey or goat stew with some beer bread and hit the hay.  Hard to believe we will be at the finish tomorrow.

Nata

Ellies – you can never get enough of them

Don’t get stuck Kev

We took a trip onto the Makgadikgadi pan yesterday afternoon. Unfortunately Kev couldn’t join us as the roads get rather hairy. So we hopped into a landcruiser with our guide “KK” and headed off. The pans are flooded at the moment and will dry out again in Sept. We were treated to one of  the best sunsets of the trip. Check out the pics!

Landcruiser…and also the vehicle

So flat

The pans

Shaaaaaame!

Too much the perrdy…not Michael…the sunset

KFP

We really do love alliteration! After Kev’s boat cruise we pulled into Kasane and found a cheap and cheerful camp site on the banks of the Chobe River. It took a while as half of SA is up here at the moment! We booked a sunset cruise and had hippos and crocs swimming around the boat,  herds of elephants crossing the river in front of us and huge herds of buffalo within spitting distance. After all that we were treated to an amazing sunset over the river. It really was an incredible experience and we would highly recommend making a trip up to this special place.

Yawn

Shame

Hippos and croc

Ellies

More Ellies

Spotter

How perrdy

Special place

You will never regret watching every sunset

KFP

We pushed on from Lusaka to Livingstone to get an early jump on the border at Kazangula the following day. We arrived at the border post to find masses of people, long lines of trucks, road works and hundreds of money changers! Luckily we found a kind gentleman who, for a small fee, helped us negotiate the crossing in quick time. Once we stamped passports,  paid our tenth local municipality tax and the ferry fees we got in the queue for the ferry. Kev had to pick up some pace to get through the two meters of Zambezi between the shore and the ferry, but he negotiated that with little effort. The Botswana side of the border was a complete opposite to Zambia, with a beautifully paved ramp to receive us and about five people, a goat and a rather mangy looking dog. Hello Botswana!

Kevin on a ferry

Looking good

Zambia to Botswana

So Happy old Kev dog

Mike and Kev

KFP

On our first stop in Lusaka we said goodbye to Amanda, the sensible one. She had to get back to varsity and work. We made a few rules to keep safe on the trip, like no night driving. African roads are full of people, animals,crazy truck drivers and bicycles. Not 4 hours after her flight left we drove for about three hours in the dark to get to Chipata. It was the the scariest, most pot holed stretch of road we have ever encountered. Once we arrived in Chipata we then discussed making use of the 24 hr border and getting an extra day on Lake Malawi! Luckily we decided against it, but the quality of decision making and quality of living has definitely decreased since Amanda left! From dodgy roadside motels to Russian sausages from street vendors, we definitely miss the sensible female influence.

The sensible one is the one in the middle – just to be clear

The sensible one is the one on the left – just to be clear

The sensible one is on the right this time – just to be clear

Drake Fund Advisors

The second checkpoint party was held at the SANPAR resort on the banks of the Zambezi, a few k’s upstream from the mighty Vic Falls. The theme was the Royal Barefoot Banquet. After an amazing dinner, an excellent band from Cape Town played long into the evening. The atmosphere at the checkpoints is great with many stories over a few cold beers. We heard about one crews breakdown in a herd of elephants, another’s 5 breakdowns in the Caprivi strip and about the Mini in motion completing a full on 4×4 trail! Kevin is holding up well in comparison to some of the other non 4×4′s. Malawi here we come!!!

SAFPAR

Zambezi Sunset

Royal Barefoot Banquet

Royal Barefoot Banquet

Will the real Livingstone please stand up

Drake Fund Advisors

We spent our morning helping out with the Put Foot Foundation’s shoe drop at a small primary school in Livingstone. The morning started with a parade of all the put foot crew cars through the streets of Livingstone. The little mini lead the police escorted parade from the camp site to the school. We were greeted by hundreds of children and after a few speeches and some lovely singing the fun started. Each child was given a new pair of SA made school shoes and a bag with some new socks and some stationery. It was truly an privilege to be part of such a special occasion and were all left humbled by how much joy and pride a new pair of school shoes can bring.

Mini in motion

This dudes name is fluffy…or fuzzy..can’t remember now

the convoy

Put shoes on kids…do it

size 7

Team AK

How classic is that green Merc

Another kid another shoe

Drake Fund Advisors

A tired Kev and team pulled into Toshari Lodge at about 3 on the 21st. 1900 long, dusty km’s down, 7100 to go. We all pitched our tents on a thin strip of grass next to a walk way. 60 crews, not much space. The sundowners started early, apparently the drive was thirsty work for all the crews. We had a great dinner and then the party got started. At some point in the evening Shirley was elephantnapped. We managed to get her back after an intensive coordinated search. She was a bit shaken, but is happy to be reunited with the rest of the team. DJ Wags (not even joking) continued long into the evening as 200 people dressed as the animal kingdom got into gear!
At some point in the evening the smell of bacon filled the air, this wasn’t the start of our neighbours day, but the end of his evening! We got up at 5 the next morning, packed our tents and headed for Etosha.

Check Point 01

Check Point 01

Close Proximity Camping

Shirley

Forgive us for not posting more pictures on this…but we had a few drinks at the checkpoint party…and then a few more.