Tuesday, 18 August 2015

Zambia day 1

Today I arrived in Zambia after having a few days in South Africa, which was great fun. Yesterday I went to the Cradle of Humankind which is where the earliest fossil evidence of humans has been found. Part of this site is the Sterkfontein Caves, which I also explored. They were stunningly beautiful, and have underground lakes. If you're a Harry Potter fan, imagine the caves and lake Harry and Dumbledore went through to find the horcrux (minus the poison and zombie folk) and you've got a fairly good mental picture. Again, the old 'white girl in Africa' issue came to the fore when my tour guide told me I "mustn't feel guilty". I don't feel guilty. I was born in the 1990s, long after this slave trade and apartheid rhubarb kicked off. I don't know my family tree that far back, but even if my ancestors turned out to be raging KKK members or obsessive slave collectors, well, it wouldn't be a subject I'd bring up at parties but I wouldn't feel personally guilty - in the same way that I don't expect most Muslims to beat themselves up about 9/11, or most present day Germans to feel personal responsibility for the Nazi regime. 

The flight here was the scariest I've ever been on... including the one from Nairobi to Johannesburg! The pilot seemed like a code red nutter and kept turning the plane from side to side as we started to descend. These weren't just a normal couple of little turns though - they were full on 'things sliding off the table' turns, and I'm sure there were far more than necessary. As we got lower he managed to keep the plane the right way up, and I could see groups of trees, and then individual trees, and then branches, and then leaves, and then a fence, and then finally runway. There was also a group of school children sitting on the runway... TIA (This Is Africa). Once I'd got there unscathed, and no children got hurt, Livingstone airport felt like one big tourist trap. Of the entire flight (approximately 250 people) only 7 were Zambian nationals, meaning the other 243 had to queue up to have their passport checked by the 2 people working there. It felt like I was the only person on the flight to have thought of getting visas before I set off, because I had to stand behind 240 of them buying them at the desk. The 2 people behind me were so obviously American - they had the guidebooks, the hat, the rucksack, the shorts, the sandals with socks, and the Nikon around the neck. They introduced themselves to me (Mary and John from Utah, if you were wondering) and as soon as they found out I live in Cambridge they asked if I know Prince William. They were the perfect cliche, bless 'em.

Arriving at the campsite was amazing. Okay, so it was called 'The Waterfront', but Luton airport is 'London Luton'. A healthy degree of TIA and some cynicism that perhaps my £22.74 British Pound Sterling wasn't going to go very far made me feel like quite the pessimist when I arrived. I checked in at reception and could see the Zambezi. There are bars and swimming pools where you can lounge around and watch the sky change colour over the river. It's the best £22.74 I've ever spent; plus the shower situation is a HUGE improvement on Ghana, although unfortunately not quite level with my Joburg hotel. The hotel itself is situated within the Mosi-Oa-Tunya ('the smoke that thunders') National Park, and there are lots of signs saying "please do not feed the monkeys" and "beware of crocodiles". Given that I've seen plenty of monkeys already I'm trying not to read too much into this, but I have a feeling Zambezi crocodiles might not be coked up to their eyeballs like they were at Hans Cottage. 

The part of my adventure which I'd been looking forward to most happened this afternoon; my microlight flight over the Falls, which I had to lie through my teeth on the medical declaration to do. Richard had briefed me to expect a complete disregard for health and safety so I felt psychologically prepared for the experience. Now it's 2015 you DO get a seatbelt, and a helmet too, which makes me think it's probably just a platitude. On reflection, I'm not sure what I expected the degree of ascending trajectory to be (possibly similar to an aeroplane?), but it was not the 45 degrees I got. The pilot and I could communicate via a mic and earpiece, and I could hear him muttering something about "it fighting with [me]". I grabbed onto the side, and then realised I needn't be worried because I had a belt and a hat, so I was definitely protected if we went down! I opened my eyes again to see a family of elephants having a wash on one of the islands in the river, and a rainbow in the falls. That's the second time in my life I've seen a rainbow from above, and it gets no less beautiful. I was really enjoying it by this point, so he told me to close my eyes and stick my arms out to feel like I was flying. I did this and then felt some bloody massive turbulence because he was doing the same. I felt quite strongly that I had not paid him $180 to voluntarily surrender control of the big metal bird thing I was trusting my life with, and verbalised this. When we landed (a far nicer landing than I had courtesy of BA) I felt a bit bad, so I had a look through the pictures he took from a wing mounted camera. They were great, so I asked how much they were, and he said $20 for a disc with dozens on. Sold.



This evening I met up with the people I'll be travelling through Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana and South Africa with. We went out for dinner (a main meal, alcoholic drink, and taxis to and from the hotel cost me $10!) and they seem like a great bunch. It's quite a young mix of people, and I think it's going to be brilliant fun. Tomorrow I'm doing a tour of Victoria Falls, and I'm hoping to have a dip in Devil's Pool, too. 

The only bad bit of news I've got is I think my Crohn's is relapsing. I had a bit of travellers tummy in Ghana, but in Joburg I had the agonising feeling of being pulled apart which only those with IBD - and not just IBS - can understand. The feeling of horrible tenderness even after the cramps have subsided, and knowing you're internally bleeding without having to glance at what's just come out of you. At one point, in Joburg, I considered cutting my loses and flying back early (feverish, cold sweats, tachy of 120+, couldn't eat, every muscle ached, excruciating headaches), but I'm necking loperamide and opiates, and staying well hydrated, so I'm sure it'll be fine. I've not had any eye symptoms which is encouraging, and I've got prednisolone with me if it gets that bad. I was incredibly lucky to go almost 2 years with no major relapses, and this still could turn out to be extreme travellers tummy.

P.s. I've had a read through past posts and noticed they're littered with typos and autocorrects. I've been doing all my blogging from an iPad with a smashed screen whilst I've been travelling, and it seems to love inappropriate apostrophes!

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