{"id":3800,"date":"2022-05-30T07:03:31","date_gmt":"2022-05-30T14:03:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stuckinlowgear.com\/staging\/1919\/?p=3800"},"modified":"2026-01-10T10:16:06","modified_gmt":"2026-01-10T18:16:06","slug":"livingstone-moremi-botswana-withoutbookings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stuckinlowgear.com\/staging\/1919\/livingstone-moremi-botswana-withoutbookings\/","title":{"rendered":"Solo In Africa, Part 1: Livingstone to Maun Via Moremi (without bookings!)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

May 11th – May 24th<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Into the Delta, Moremi without Bookings <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jenny had flown back to the States<\/a> for an undetermined period of time, but our hope was about three weeks. Her mother was going through the most difficult part of cancer treatment, thus the ambiguity. I was going to continue on solo, with the plan to rendezvous with Jenny in either Windhoek or Maun. Jenny\u2019s mother is fiercely independent and had already expressed her desire that Jenny\u2019s visit not last too long, that she should return to finish our Africa adventure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As I\u2019d be alone I didn\u2019t plan to tackle anything too remote. Any safety fears were the mundane over the exotic, like breaking my ankle coming down the ladder and thus being unable to drive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For other risks, such as breakdown or getting stuck, I had the same strategy as when Jenny is with me, to attempt self rescue or just wait for someone to come along. There was always the sat phone as a last resort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To kick things off I made the fourhour drive to the Moorings campsite, half way between Lusaka and Livingstone. I was the only guest at this modest but perfectly decent campsite. The previously terrible section of road on this route, near Mazabuka, has been repaired. I suspect was not good for business at the Moorings, where many people used to break the journey to\/from Lusaka.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The next day to Livingstone was another uneventful drive on good tar without much traffic. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Livingstone<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

There are a few good campsites in Livingstone, namely the Maramba River Lodge, Victoria Falls Waterfront and Taita Falcon Lodge. On iOverlander I noted a campsite we hadn\u2019t heard of before, called Overland Missions Rapid 14. The rapids downstream of the bridge are numbered, and this place is situated with a view of rapid 14, thus the name.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I WhatsApp\u2019d ahead and they said no problem, they had a spot for me. Arriving at the property the first thing I saw was a large and perfectly groomed football pitch and a swimming pool. Not at all what I imagined. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"rapid
Not too shabby<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A woman introduced herself, I could tell she was American. She brought me through a huge landscaped area full of bungalows to a central building. My guide showed me around and told me about the place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is the main operations base for Overland Missions<\/a>, a church group that conducts mission work throughout \u201ccentral Africa\u201d (by which I understood to mean Zambia and Angola, but I\u2019m not sure). More than an operations base it looked like a pleasant holiday retreat, with manicured lawns, tidy bungalows and a stunning view from the main building of the Zambezi river\u2019s rapid 14 in the canyon below. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I generally take a dim view of mission work, but these people were so unerringly friendly and upbeat that they were very hard to dislike. I was shown a cliff top bush camp at rapid 13, around 1km up river from the base. They had plans of building some training center for local chiefs here, but until that work progressed they said it made a great campsite.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And did it ever! I was the only one there, with a stunning view of rapid 13 below. I couldn\u2019t believe how pleasant it was. I spent the rest of the day mesmerized by the river canyon below.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"zambezi\"
Just before dawn<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

I found that if I balanced my phone on top of the snorkel I could get enough cell service to receive WhatsApp messages. By this inconvenient arrangement I was able to check in with Jenny. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"zambezi
The Zambezi River Gorge view from camp<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Rapid 14 is also where the Zambezi rafting companies put in when the river is running too high to start below the falls. There is a steep and rugged path down the river gorge where Overland Missions is in the process of installing steps. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I made the hike down to the river, and after returning my legs were burning from the more than 350 steps down and up again. I didn\u2019t complain though, the guys putting in the steps were mixing cement at the top and then carrying the concrete down in buckets by hand, very impressive. I chatted a bit with the masons doing the work, who seemed like good upbeat fellows, in part I\u2019m sure because they were charged with troweling cement into forms and not with the backbreaking work of hiking the buckets of cement down the gorge. <\/p>\n\n\n

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\"rapid
Just 349 steps to go…<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

On my way back to camp I met the boss of the Overland Missions operation, who had seen the Cruiser and wanted to talk 4x4s. He showed me his quite fancy V8 Range Rover and one of the nicest 4×4 trailers I\u2019ve ever seen. On the way to his vehicle wewalked in front of his house, which had folding glass doors facing a panorama of the river gorge below. As an example, these flashy digs and vehicle are far nicer conditions than what even the most coddled humanitarian field workers live under. I will leave it at that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the afternoon I visited the Zambia side of the Victoria Falls. The rains this season had been plentiful and the river was very full with the falls running in full force. I paid my entrance fee, got my rain jacket and made the hike around the falls. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

By the time I approached the footbridge across the spray was intense and falling like heavy rain. So much that I couldn\u2019t even really see the other end of the bridge. Even with my jacket I was soaked through in short order and crossing the bridge felt like traversing the deck of a ship in storm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Everyone that braved the journey was laughing at the ridiculousness of the spray and the power of the falls, it was good fun. I made this video, all shot and edited on my phone. The iPhone SE 2 is purportedly waterproof to 1m and I certainly put it to the test! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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