Legends 2004 - Part 2

Day 3 - 4 April

Our destination for the day was Maramba Lodge and Campsite in Livingstone Zambia. The day started off with repairs to Willem's Landy.

Willem, Jakes, Andre and Johan tackled the job. The cracked part was sawed off and the ferrel reamed to fit over the end of the pipe. Unfortunately the pipe blew out of the ferrel within 2 Km's from Nata Lodge. Luckily I spotted an open workshop where they have a braising kit. Johan towed Willem in where the job was quickly dealt with. The ferrel was brazed onto the pressure pipe end. A repair which ultimately lasted the entire trip.

With a slow start to the day and with the time it took to effect the repairs it was pretty late when we started our drive to Kazangula. Mike, Jacque, Jakes and I stopped quickly for a beer at Panda Camp while we waited for the slower vehicles to catch up. Willem had to tighten the securing nut once of twice but his vehicle was running very well. In Kazangula we filled with petrol and then proceeded through the border. The formalities went very quick. The Zambezi at its high level was quite a sight to see. It was also very obvious that it will take very long to get our convoy across. The ferry was slow in the fast current and there was a long queue of waiting vehicles. Most of the waiting cars were cheap Japanese imports that are taken to dealers in Zambia. Many of them on A-Frames. With three hours to kill we were all hopeful that we'd be able to make the crossing the same day. In the meanwhile the two Dave's from Cape Town had crossed into Zambia via the new bridge in Katima and had a quick and easy drive to Maramba where they were waiting for us.

But ! As they say in Africa. We may own a watch but Africa owns the time. Before we knew it it was 18H00 and there were still a queue ahead of us. The border was closed and the ferry stopped running. We were politely asked to leave the compound. It was time to make a quick decision. Another party of overlanders in the queue decided to spend the evening at Toro Campsite and try the queue again early in the morning. We decided to head for Livingstone via Zimbabwe and Vic Falls. Fortunately the Bots/Zim border at Kazangula only close at 20H00 and the Zim/Zam border in Vic Falls at 22H00. Border proceedings went surprisingly quick and we headed for Vic Falls. The road was quiet and there were a few ellies next to the road in the bush. Carbon Tax for my 4.1 Chevy powered Landy was Pula 170 :-(

Vic Falls was dark and very quiet and we drove straight through. The border was also quiet and the proceedings at both ends were very smooth and very little time was wasted. We were asked to come back the next morning to buy third party insurance. We could see very little of the falls as we crossed the bridge and apart from the mist the thundering sound of the water gave evidence that we were very close to one of the seven wonders of the world. We reached Maramba where the Capetonians had a nice fire going. We clocked in at 19H30 and soon camp was set up and we all relaxed. It was the end of a very long day. We were all happy to meet up with our Cape Town friends and exchange our stories thus far.

Day 4 - 5 April