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Sesheke Border

Oct 26th-Oct 29th, 2021

It was border crossing day. There is always a little bit of trepidation when crossing a border in Africa. Nothing to be scared of, but mostly a wonder; will our plans be disrupted, will we be delayed, do I have the right paperwork?

To start we needed our PCR tests. We drove to town and picked up the results from the Namibian Institute of Pathology lab at the Katima Hospital. We arrived at the same time as the five other travelers that we had tested with yesterday, and we all were given a copy of our results (negative) within a few minutes. First hurdle cleared.

One of the other couples was Swiss, traveling in their Namibian registered Land Cruiser. They asked if we had our police clearance, a document required to bring a vehicle into Zambia. We did, but it was 18 months old. They were worried for us, because apparently it must be no more than one month old. They said last time they’d been sent back into Namibia by Zambian authorities to get one, not a good sign for us. 

For South Africans (and South African vehicles) this document, the police clearance, is a notorious pain to get, as the South African police don’t issue a police clearance, meant to establish that they vehicle is verified as not having been stolen, unless the vehicle is being exported permanently. As we hadn’t been to South Africa since March 2020, there was no way to obtain a new one. Fingers crossed we wouldn’t have issues, there are many stories of travelers being held up or asked for bribes to resolve the stalemate.

After getting our test results we headed the couple short kilometers to the border. We were in and out of Namibia Customs and Immigration in record time, six minutes. Can you believe it! I couldn’t, and it turned out to be too good to be true. We wound our way around a long line of trucks to the final police boom that crosses the road before exiting Namibia, marking the no-mans land between border posts. The bom was down and after some waiting and no action Jenny investigated, finding that no one could leave until some dispute involving a lot of police further up the road was resolved.

More waiting. Remember what I said about waiting being a skill we needed to hone? Here we were again, honing. Jenny was serene and happy, I mildly agitated. Lets go, we are so close! I wandered up to the boom and was sent back. More waiting. It was hot. Bonus though, we were parked in the sun and the new solar panels were making over 10 amps. I call this “the electron update”. Jenny doesn’t always appreciate the electron update, particularly in the early morning. She says she checks the battery in the morning not to see how it’s doing, but to see what kind of mood I will be in after I see it is too low.

After an hour, watching more and more police walk back from the dispute, a police woman told us there had been an altercation with the Zambian money changers. They illegally walk across no-mans land and come over to the Namibian side to change money with travelers and truck drivers. When the Namibian police drove them back they resisted and threw rocks at the police, resulting in both Zambia and Namibia authorities closing the border until they could get it all settled down.

Another little while passed and we were let through, after the police woman asked us if we were ready, even if we got rocks thrown at us. We were not the target of the money changers frustrations, but to show respect we treated the threat seriously.

No rocks were thrown, and a few minutes later we were on the Zambian side. The Zambia side has all but one stop in a single building, much more streamlined than the Kazungula border we took in 2018. 

Details of the border crossing in the Nitty Gritty Section. No mention of police clearance was made, I think because we were traveling with a carnet. Due to a computer being down it took an extra hour. Four hours total and we were across. Not fast, but plenty of time.

The M10 Sesheke – Livingstone road

We still had to drive the feared Sesheke road. A couple we met who’d just spent six months traveling to Uganda and back and they said it’s the worst road they traveled the whole trip. To avoid this road the alternative is to drive all the way up to Mongu in, adding a day to the trip, or transiting through Botswana, adding another border crossing. 

We decided to bite the bullet and just get on with the Sesheke/Livingstone road. The first 30km is fine, where we began to think that maybe it was all hype. But it went to pieces fast, and then complete shit until a couple kilometers outside Kazungula. 

In the beginning the road is so bad it’s funny. After some of that, annoying. Then grim. Then just stoic silence. Thankfully there was hardly any other traffic, I assume because everyone else knows to avoid this road, and we could wind our way to whichever side of the road seemed least bad. More pothole than road, mostly you drive on a dirt road adjacent to the “road”. These dirt roads are so bad that there is another dirt road adjacent to them, and the whole time you are weaving back and forth looking for the least awful way to proceed.

It was so hot that the heat shimmer causes a mirage, making the “paved” portion look like smooth tarmac in the distance. Like a shipwrecked sailor running to the mirage of an oasis in the distance, many times we thought we’d passed to worst of it, optimistically popping back onto the “tarmac”, only to see the illusion broken, that we’d been duped. 

Four hours later the suffering was over, we passed the last hour between Kazungula and Livingstone in the relative peace of uneventful road, arriving at the Victoria Falls Waterfront Hotel and Campsite.

Livingstone

Last time we were in Livingstone we stayed at the Maramba River Lodge, but this time around we thought we’d mix it up and this place looked like it might be a modest upgrade to the already very pleasant Maramba. Though not terrible, it wasn’t really an upgrade. 

It does have a lovely bar deck over the Zambezi river, a bit up from the falls, and we arrived just in time to have a beer and watch the sun set over Zimbabwe’s Zambezi National Park on the opposite bank.

With excellent timing our friends Pete and Melissa walked up and we enjoyed a rendezvous over food from the restaurant, discussing our upcoming plans together for a Zambia tour, two weeks and a bit of seeing some highlights of Zambia. After which they would fly home and we will continue north. 

They spent the next day seeing the falls, and us taking care of a few odds and ends. Part of our day was spent reorganizing the vehicle to figure out how to shoe horn us all in.

Though Victoria Falls is amazing and well worth the visit, we have been there three times and would no doubt return again, so no great loss to give it a pass this time. 

The plan for the first leg was to try to make it all the way to Mvuu Camp on the banks of the Zambezi, outside Lower Zambezi National Park. It is a long drive and I wasn’t sure we’d pull it off, so we had a plan to stop early if we got behind or were tired of driving. Last time we did this the road from Mazabuka to the T2 junction was terrible and slow going, which wouldn’t help our time. 

To the Lower Zambezi

With the upcoming bad road in mind we made an 0600 departure. The T1 had light traffic, light enough that we didn’t get stuck behind any slow trucks for much time. There are two road toll booths now along the way, 20 kw each time. You show your road tax and they staple a new receipt to it to show along the way if you need to. I am happy to pay this surcharge, the road was in excellent shape. 

We passed the Moorings Campsite, more or less a half way point to either Lusaka or Lower Zambezi, but too early to stop for us. In Mazabuka we fueled and took a detour out of town, because they are working on the main road! The gas station attendants informed us that the road has been repaired, and they smiled when we told them we remembered it from before. Sure enough, back on the T1, the formerly disastrously rough stretch was now new tarmac, what a relief. We sailed along swiftly. 

Turning onto the T2 ahead of schedule Mvuu was easily in our sights. The T2 drops south and is the main route for trucking to Zimbabwe, and along the way we saw terrible accidents that had happened, the burned out shell of turned over tanker trucks, smashed 40’ containers along the side of the road, reminding us to drive with vigilance. Chirundu is the border town, if we continued on the road brings one to Zimbabwe. Also it is our last fuel stop, with jerry cans and tank topped up we turned left onto dirt road that parallels the mighty Zambezi river. We arrived at the very pleasant Mvuu Camp 10 hrs from leaving Livingstone. 

I felt pretty good about this. 10 hours is a long day in the car, but Zambia is a big country and it’s sort of unavoidable, or if you break up all the long stretches it adds quite a few days to the trip. I was feeling a bit anxious, having been in charge more or less of the itinerary, and thus committing all of us to a number of long days in the car between attractions. But watching Zambia pass by is so much more interesting than what we see on a long day on the road at home, it is much more bearable. Also it always gives rise to more questions about how it all works. What are those storage bins for, where is all the charcoal going, why are some roads so good and others so bad? Always more questions, it’s part of what is interesting about being here.

Mvuu is on the banks of the Zambezi, a large camp in mostly shaded campsites, as well as bungalows on the opposite side of the bar, restaurant and pool area. We were the only campers that day, but we had pre-booked as we wanted to get one of the two riverfront sites. Each site is named, and the riverfront sites are Elly and Mvuu, both equally good, though Mvuu is adjacent to one of the bungalows.

Each site has private outdoor ablutions (Only one small scorpion, 5/5!), hot water, baboon resistant trash receptacle, fire ring, and a camp attendant to helps you and other campers out to keep you safe(er) from wildlife, builds you a fire in the evening and does dishes in the morning. Fancy camping, but also not cheap. In our case this was Stanley, and he pointed out the absolutely monstrous crocodile about 20 meters from our campsite down on the grassy bank. This croc sat sedately, but it certainly prevented our interest in a closer view of the river.

Stanley, wanting to ensure our respect for the wildlife risks that exists here I suppose, pointed out that we must be careful, a guest was killed here a few years ago by and elephant, and his own wife was killed by a crocodile while doing the dishes at the river bank last year. That cool water tempered the mood somewhat, and not long after Stanley ordered us down from our camp to a sitting area near the bank, high enough to be safe from crocodiles, but low enough to be safe from the heard of elephants that came through camp. It was quite a welcome to Zambia for Pete and Melissa. 

After a long day in the car getting here we set aside the next day for a short exploratory drive in the Game Management Area (GMA) adjacent to the park, and then an evening boat trip organized by Mvuu.

Driving around the GMA we saw elephant, warthog, impala, all very skittish compared to the animals that we’re used to. My goal today was to take a look at Chongwe Falls, on the Chongwe river that makes the border between the GMA and the Lower Zambezi National Park.

We wound our way through the tracks up to the falls, to find a dry river bed and empty falls. Not surprising since it is the end of a long dry season. The falls are also accessible from the park side, and we decided to drive a rough track up onto the park side and to the park gate to chat with the rangers at the gate. 

At the gate we met a guide told us about a huge pack of wild dogs in the park, and where to find them. We’d already booked the boat trip for that afternoon, and going into the park was going to cost us. On the other hand, wild dogs are a fairly rare sighting, particularly a large pack, and after agonizing for a bit we pulled the trigger and went for it. 

Not having been into this park before we weren’t confident we’d be able to follow the guide’s directions. Crossing the wide open plain we found the conspicuous termite mound he mentioned and noted his tire tracks. Sure enough, a little off the road was a very large pack of wild dogs. Thirty-three by our count, a huge pack. There were pups that were beginning to mature, all in one pile, getting up and reorganizing themselves frequently. A heap of less active adults about 20 meters away. We were able to spend quite a while with them, and even though it was their rest time in the heat of the day they did move about a bit to give us some interactions to watch.

We were pretty pumped up by our wild dog sighting, but it was time to head back for the boat trip. We departed the park by the main road, which requires a river crossing that was about the height of our tires, but along a rocky riverbed with good traction, so little chance of getting stuck. 

Only a few hundred meters from the river crossing, into the GMA we sighted a leopard. Incredible luck. the leopard watched for a few seconds and took off parallel to the road. We moved up and were able to spend a few minutes with it (not sure if it was male or female) before it took off. The Lower Zambezi was certainly starting off well, it was turning into quite a day.

Getting on the water for the boat trip was a nice break from the heat, the Zambezi Valley being one of hottest places in Zambia, only rivaled by our next planned stop, the Luangwa Valley. We zoomed along glassy water as our guide and boat driver pointed out birds, hippos and crocs in extremely pleasant riverine scenes. 

He brought us to a carmine bee eater colony nesting in little holes in the riverbank, and we turned the engine off and drifted along the bank, watching them swarm the bank and the trees, many with beaks holding moths or bees and other insects. They fly into their nests and feed their young, or perch on the crest of the river bank, posed in near perfect afternoon light for us next to their comrades. Beautiful. This nesting is exclusive to this time of year, one benefit of tolerating the heat of October or November.

Further along we watched a herd of elephants organize themselves on the Zambia riverbank and plunge into the river, crossing to the Zimbabwe side. At the deepest part it is just their trunks above water, and the littlest elephant is in the middle of the group, being held up, squeezed in between larger adults to stay afloat. 

After watching the sunset on the boat we disembarked back at camp after and absolutely incredible day of watching wildlife. We sort of messed up, setting such a high bar on our first day in the bush for our friends.

The park is about 45 minutes from Mvuu, so it doesn’t make much sense to do a traditional morning and evening game drive, too much time is taken by going back and forth. This inaccessibility is part what makes this park less visited. Determined to try to get to know the Lower Zambezi better the following day we headed in early for an all day game drive. 

We explored countless tracks through wide open plains, through forests along the river bank and in denser woodlands. Many of the river bank areas having channels that hold water inland from the river with wetlands that have abundant birdlife and wildlife. We saw an endless amount of impala, many warthogs, lots of jumpy elephant, waterbuck, great big herds of buffalo, some bushbuck, but no predators. One of the few other vehicles we ran into had just seen a leopard, but we couldn’t find it. 

Overall we had a really nice day in a park that felt very wild. Some of the tracks were rough and dense, Pete thoroughly enjoyed the 4×4 driving as we ranged around the bush tracks in the wilderness. T4A did not have many of the park tracks that I imagine are seasonal, as much of the area we explored must flood or become a morass of black cotton mud in the rainy season. 

The wildlife seemed skittish, usually bounding away from us as we came into view, whereas our experience is other parks is that wildlife is quite tolerate of vehicles. We wonder if this is due to poaching pressure, or perhaps during covid the lack of tourists has made them lose their previous comfort with vehicles?

That night in camp an elephant came through while we cooked on the fire. Stanley was off by then, not there to supervise us, but we retreated on our own to the cooking area. After spending a little time eating leaves from the tree right over Pete and Melissa’s tent the elephant moved on in not too long a time.

Knowing our plans for the next stretch would be busy we took a rest day in camp. Fixed a couple odds and ends, Pete and Melissa honing their setup in the ground tent, we decanted jerry cans, the camp staff did our laundry, and we jumped in the pool several times to cool off. We’re really roughing it here in Africa.

The plan coming up is to cross Lower Zambezi National Park, exiting to the east. This road did not used to be passable, more used by poachers on foot we are told. But now it has reportedly opened up, if not always passable. We had asked at the gate and they said it was open. This would allow us to not have to backtrack through Lusaka. Also it appeals to me to explore deeper into the park and make a crossing of the park that I have not read much about. On the other hand, since I am the planner on this portion of the trip, I do have some trepidation, having signed the rest of our party up for this more “interesting” route, whether they want to or not. After the crossing we intend to wild camp east of the park, or perhaps make it all the way to Bridge Camp, a normal halfway point between Lusaka and South Luangwa National Park.

After that I am also keen on trying the Petauke Road. This is the back road to Mfuwe and the Luangwa valley. The normal route to South Luangwa is along the Great East Road, the T4, turning Northwest at Chipata. I was hoping to avoid this long and relatively boring drive, taking the Petauke road, only accessible during the dry season. 

Now I sort of feel like the trip is really starting. It is funny, there are a lot of big milestones to kicking off a big trip like this. The last time we walked out of our house. Getting on the plane. Arriving in Windhoek. But meeting up with our friends on this long delayed trip together, and now diving deeper into the bush it feels like we are really starting.

Next time: 

-We Learn the hard way about black cotton soil, getting very stuck deep in the park.

-Crossing the Lower Zambezi National Park

-The Petauke Road and bush camping in the Luangwa Valley

The Nitty Gritty

Katima/Sesheke Border

We were the only one wearing masks, and we went through the paces. Because of covid, first stop is health. The heath officer inspected our PCR tests and filled out our covid medical questionnaire for us, without asking about symptoms, just checking “no” for everything. You take this slip to immigration. 

We had a 3 year multiple entry visa issued in the USA. The price is $100 USD, and as we knew we’d use it at least twice (north bound and south bound) it is at minimum the same cost of the normal $50/ea. Also it saved us some time. The immigration officer was surprised, but after inspecting the visa and the receipt she stamped us in, though only for 30 days instead of 90. She said they are under orders to not offer more than 30 days, even on 90 day visas, and that if we needed longer we could get an extension before our 30 days runs out. We’ll see if that works.

After this you take your health slip, stamped by immigration back to health and they take it. After that, customs. At this point, wanting to speed things along, Jenny and I divided. I took customs, she road tax. This is our first time traveling on a carnet, so I handed it over and the customs officer filled it out, thankfully knowing the drill. It’s incumbent on the carnet owner (us) that it’s filled out correctly, but everything was in order the first time around. 

Jenny had less luck at the road tax desk. The system was down and he had called his supervisor. After some waiting around I went outside and managed to change some money and buy SIM cards from the money changers. 50 kw/ea SIM and air time, 20 kw for 2gigs for a week. Exchange rate is ~ 17kw:1USD. We’ve found the weekly data bundles to be the most economical, though without too much calculating. Cheap enough for us. If you have data left over after you get this first week at 2G you can get the next week at the minimum data amount and the remainder will rollover.

Still waiting for road tax I chatted with the money changers for a while. They were very laid back, not pushy like at lots of places. With no other customers they were happy to chat. Eventually they pointed out that the road tax guy can fill out the paper by hand, he is just too lazy. They told me to go insist that he do it by hand and not wait for the computer. It worked! 20 dollars and a few minutes later we were done. I believe there is also supposed to be carbon tax, which we asked about more than once, but I think in the confusion of the system being down they forgot. 

Last stop is council tax. Drive 100m or so around the corner to the right and they flag you down. Council tax was cheap, I think 50 kw. 

The actual last stop was booth by the gate where they glanced at our paperwork and were waved on. We were through! And no mention of the infamous police clearance. I suspect this is because we were traveling on a carnet, though I didn’t want to ask lest it become an issue. A shame to not get to the bottom of this.

I would say the Katima/Sesheke border post is good and I wouldn’t hesitate to use it again, even though there were a few hiccups this time around.

Livingstone

Insurance

We purchased our required 3rd party insurance online from Phoenix Insurance. This meant at the border we already had the insurance in hand and didn’t have to fuss with the local insurance sales people. Phoenix Insurance has an office in the Falls Park Mall in central Livingstone to allow us to purchase COMESA from them. 

COMESA is 3rd party insurance that is valid through many African countries, including most of East Africa. Having it ahead of time would simplify our logistics for the many border crossings ahead. You could also buy insurance at each border, but it is not always available and you might have to proceed to the next town, turning it into an extended chore. COMESA works as a rider of sorts on top of existing insurance. We decided to buy a year’s worth of insurance for Zambia, price roughly 400 kw (sorry, I forgot to get the precise amount before we threw away the receipt) and then a year’s worth of COMESA for all valid countries. The price for validity over 200 days is the same, so no loss to go all in if you are past that number. You might save some money if you are going to less countries or for less time, the insurance person will have a chart showing the price for whatever combination you require. The year’s worth of COMESA was ~1,300 kw. They were cash only, but in not too long we were sorted, very hassle free. I’d definitely recommend dealing with Phoenix for ease, I believe the prices are fixed between companies, so I don’t think there is any advantage to shopping around. 

Victoria Falls Waterfront Camp

There are about a dozen campsites set fairly close together amongst the trees. The property is within the Mosi-Oa-Tunya National Park, though fenced to discourage visits from elephants. Each site has water, a washing up sink, and theoretically power, though we found many didn’t work. The day we arrived camp had one large group in ground tents and two other vehicles. To my surprise on the second night they were full of private vehicles. Some South African, some europeans with vehicles they owned. 

Ablutions – two blocks that are shared amongst the campers. Cleanliness, lighting and functionality was mediocre. They certainly did the job, but I wasn’t impressed. I wonder if they cut staff during covid and perhaps the facilities suffered a bit? 2.5/5.  There is a large wonderful pool in the shade, very clean.

Food was decent at the restaurant and the view of the river is really nice. A big place and clearly locals come for food and drinks, not just overnight guests. In the future we’ll probably go back to Maramba River Lodge.

Logistics

We shopped at the well stocked Shopright in central Livingstone. Nearby, Heartland’s Best Farm Shop, on iOverlander, also had a good selection of specialty stuff, including a hard to find item in Africa we always keep an eye out for, limes.  

We refilled our water tank from the Nyanjawisi Aqua Mineral Water bottling place west of town on the M10, about $5 to fill our 60 liter tank with very good water. We’re experimenting if we might try this more often.

Mvuu

Excellent Camp in the lower Zambezi area. I believe the closest camping you can get to the park gate, though in the past there used to be a community campsite that was closer, however that is closed. There is a sign at the entrance to the GMA that [undesignated] camping is not allowed in the GMA, unlike some other GMAs. 

Price varies by site, the waterfront sites of Mvuu and Elly being more expensive. All the sites are good really and I would take the inland sites happily, you can walk just 50m to the river whenever you want. Mvuu and Elly sites are relatively expensive, ~$38.50 pppn

We asked at the gate about camping in the park. They said a campsite had been started but is on hold due to lack of funding, same as we were told in 2018. When pressed the gate rangers said you could camp at the gate and enter as soon as they open at 0600. 

Mvuu Boat trip is $44/pp USD

Details on the park and park fees in the next post.