Day 36 – North Luangwa shortcut
We had 3 options to get to Tanzania, in order to avoid the 3 day very boring tar road back via Lusaka.
1. The hard but short way: From SL there is the notorious ‘05’ road which leads up to the Great North Road. It has a tricky river crossing at the start (only recently rebuilt and made navigable) followed by a difficult ascent straight up the Mafinga Escarpment. Locals said it was OK, and people had been using that route recently. Estimates were at 4 hours, but that is overly optimistic.
2. The easier but longer way via North Luangwa, staying at Somala Camp when exiting the park. Herbert and several others recommended this route. It was said it could be done in a day.
3. The easy way: go back to Chipata, cross into Malawi and cruise up the lakeshore road back to Songwe over into Tz.
Option 3 would be awesome, but we have already driven that road, and we haven’t yet been to northern Zambia. Malawi will be visited again on a future trip.
Option 1 sounded a bit hard, considering my lack of rock crawling experience. Option 2 sounded interesting, and would enable us to see more of northern Zambia: some waterfalls etc.
So we got up early and headed towards North Luangwa. We needed cash and the ATM wasn’t working in Mfue (usual power outage), so we had to divert to Mfue airport: they have an ATM and a generator to keep shit running for the Safari tourists.
We started on the dirt road a bit late at 9.00am. The road roughly follows the Luangwa River upstream (northwards). You get occasional sightings of the river, but it’s mostly narrow sand tracks, countless dry stream & river crossings and a lot of mud hut villages. As expected, the huts were all beautifully and skillfully crafted, and well maintained. Courtyards were all kept well swept and there were no signs of litter.
Friendly locals returned our waves with a wave and a smile. Children chased after the car with their hands held out looking for sweets or money.
This dirt track just kept taking us further into the wilderness. We crossed part of SL NP and Luambe NP. Since we were transiting, we didn’t have to pay any park entry fees.
There were numerous small villages dotted amongst the lovely Miombo & Mopane bush. We didn’t see much game: some Zebra and Elephants. Maybe the locals hunt the game outside the parks.
After many hours we reached the pontoon raft which crosses the Luangwa river into NL NP. There is no charge for the pontoon, but they accept donations. I gave them 200 Kwatcha (about £6).
The raft was made from old oil drums welded together and some wooden planks on top. The raft was pulled across the river by hand, using a cable.
Four of the workers jumped on the raft to help it across. There was a lot of grunting and heave-ho -ing, and the raft very slowly inched its way across. Three guys jumped in the river to push it along, again with lots of grunting. I was a bit puzzled: the raft clearly wasn’t beached. A grounded raft wouldn’t move at all, it would be firmly stuck. This raft also takes much heavier fully kitted-out Land Cruisers. The river depth was just above knee height, so there would have been 1ft clearance. I was considering the options: the water wasnt too deep and it could be driven through off the front of the raft if need be.
I noticed a spare spot on the heave cable, so jumped on it to give the guys a hand. To my surprise, the raft then started moving quite easily across the water. Now I’m not at all strong, certainly not when compared to these wiry bush-folk. Suma mentioned that we should give them a bigger tip considering how hard it had been for them. I disagreed. They certainly put on a good show.
Then there was an uneventful drive through NL NP. We didn’t see any game at all, but were moving too quickly to spot any.
Due to time constraints, I had been driving as fast as I could safely and respectfully do so (going very slowly through villages and past people so as not to cover them all in dust). The road was very slow going in places, with many river crossings, washouts, ruts, tree roots and all manner of easily navigated obstacles, provided you cross them slowly. I had to almost lock up the wheels a number of times to scrub enough speed off in order to deal with these obstacles. If you crawl along these roads it will be a 2 day drive.
Not wanting to be driving these bush roads at night, we were racing the sun towards the end. Through the Rhino protected area the roads were very lumpy and had a lot of loose large pebbles, with frequent speed bumps, making for very slow going. This was intentional by the park services, probably to hinder poachers.
After leaving the rhino area, the roads were a lot smoother, so we made better time as we climbed up the twisting road up the escarpment, the vegetation getting lusher, taller and greener after every turn. We eventually arrived at Somala camp just after sunset but before dark had fully descended.
In all it was 9 hours of intense narrow bush road driving from Mafue to the northern border of the NLNP. A long, tiring day but well worth the effort. With hindsight, and more time, I would definitely break this journey up over several days; there is a campsite near the pontoon, and this would be a great spot to explore North Luangwa. It is a very remote area, so you would need to bring everything you need for the duration of your stay.
A hot shower, a chat around a big camp fire and a few drinks was a good end to a tough but awesome day.
Day 37 – Kapishya hot springs
We had a chilled start to the day so we could enjoy our surroundings before leaving. Samala is a fairly new camp. The facilities are great, the camp pitches are right next to the Mwalushi river, a small but lively river originating further up the escarpment, noisily gushing past camp to feed into the Luangwa many miles below.
It is very lush and green here, the trees are taller than in the plain below, and theres plenty of moss growing on the rocks. it reminds me of wild camp spots in mid Wales.
Which reminds me: now may be the time to refit the rain fly to the tent – I don’t want to wait until it rains.
We are only about 1 1/2 hours drive from the great north road. Our next stop at the hot springs is not far from there. We will go there and hope to find some locals or fellow travellers to help plan a route for our last week in Northern Zambia. There are countless beautiful waterfalls here, plus some nice beaches on the southern shore of Lake Tanganyika. It will be a case of picking an achievable route through the area, to see some highlights within the limited time we have.
On the way to the hot springs we drove through a really odd place called Shiwa. It’s a large 1800’s Wild West Montana style ranch, with elements of English country estate and sets from US slave plantation movies. Plus a few Zebra roaming around. Very strange place indeed, and still very pretty.
We arrived at Kapishya hot springs lodge & campsite by noon, and were immediately taken aback at how beautiful it is here. We had arrived in Eden: the land of milk & honey. Even if yesterday hadnt been tough, we would have decided that this place is too nice to stay for just one night. We decided to just relax here for 2 days, spending most of it in the spectacular hot springs. This is undoubtedly one of the best campsites of all time. It is absolute paradise. The owner Mark was a really nice guy, and was able to tell us about the local history.
Day 38 – Kapishya rest day
We had about 4 hours in the hot spring and did a short walk up a nearby hill. The views from the top were very nice: Forested low hills and broad green valleys stretching far off into the distance.
Day 39 – Drive to Kalambo Falls
We left Kapishya around 9am and headed down the dirt road to join the Old Great North Road which goes all the way towards Lake Tanganyika and the Tanzanian border.
There was nothing Great about the road. With the exception of an approx 20km section of smooth road (for which a 20 Kwatcha toll was payable), the road was in a dire state.
Numerous large nasty potholes were everywhere, many sections looked like Swiss cheese. By the time you have got the car into 5th gear, a rough patch appears and you have to virtually stop, crawling through in first or second gear. Then crawl along, find a clear bit of tar, get back up into 5th gear and then have to stop again. Rinse and repeat for approx 300km. It made my left knee ache with all those gear changes.
If you lose concentration and hit one of these holes at speed, it’s game over. I often misjudged the depth of the smaller holes and it led to some loud bangs as the car went over them. It’s not a road I’ll drive again, probably ever.
The 30km dirt road to the Kalambo Falls Campsite was in pretty bad shape too, the final section being a bit of a rock crawl down a steep incline. We arrived with just enough daylight left to go have a look at the famous falls.
They are very nice. Due to the shit condition of the roads in northern Zambia, the tragic border crossing at Tunduma, not many foreigners travel here. They understandably opt for the easier and very spectacular drive through Malawi.
The campsite was empty. We looked at staying in one of the rooms, but there was no electricity or running water so we camped instead. The very friendly and helpful campsite workers gave us firewood and brought down some buckets of hot water. They let us use the shower room and toilet in a nearby Banda.
Day 40 – Travel to Tanzania
We left early for the long drive to our next stop: the famous Lake Shore Lodge on Lake Tanganyika.
We were expecting an easy border crossing from Zambia into Tanzania, but it ended up taking about 3 hours. We had to pay $50 USD each for a visa. We had plenty of Tanzanian Shillings (Tsh), but for some reason they only accept USD. Why you cannot enter a country and pay for a visa in the local currency baffles me.
We had no USD, so I tried to do the visa application online. It was a real pain: slow wifi hotspot, the website kept freezing, loads of daft questions, multiple documents to upload (with annoying file size limitations resulting in me having to edit stuff in photoshop) etc.
The immigration and revenue guys were really helpful though, and did their best to help us through the process. In the end, we got around it by transferring the Tsh equivalent of $100 USD into an immigration officers personal bank account. He then gave us the $100 USD cash so we could get our visas. He was happy to give us the dollars and for us to drive away to Sumbawanga, then transfer the money his account at the bank. That was very trusting of him.
We managed to get Suma’s Tz CRDB online banking app working so we did the transfer there and then. After spending more time sorting out new Tz SIM cards and data plan, we left the border post. A word of caution: when arranging a new SIM, a common scam is for the agent to connect the MPESA to his own bank account, so if you pay using MPESA then he will pilfer the amount. The agent pulled this scam on us, but Suma noticed before any funds had cleared. She had to visit the bank and also get a new SIM. This will only affect you if you use MPESA, which most tourists wont.
Starting the car brought up some engine warning lights on the dashboard. I had gone through a stream crossing a bit quickly earlier that morning, so I wonder if some water got into one of the many sensors on these new vehicles.
I checked the oil and knocked some dust out of the air filter. Everything sounded and looked fine with the engine, so we carried on to the next large town: Sumbawanga. This place is apparently known in Tz for having lots of practitioners of witchcraft and juju nonsense.
I didn’t need the services of a witchdoctor, just a mechanic with a computer to plug in and diagnose the fault with the car. We managed to find such a guy: the faults were related to the air/fuel mix, and some exhaust gases. He cleared the fault, gave the air filter a proper clean and we went on our way.
The warning light came in again a few miles down the road. I’ll get it looked at by a proper garage in Morogoro.
We reached Lake Shore Lodge in time to see the beautiful sunset over Lake Tanganyika. The mountains of the Congo are just visible in the distance on the western lake shore, but only at sunset when the sun drops behind them.
This is a luxury lodge in a remote part of Tanzania. The owners and staff are very welcoming and the place is everything you would expect from reading the many gushing online reviews. I’ll say just this: we were wondering how we could find anywhere more awesome than Kapishya. This is that place.
It is far from the regular tourist trail, so sadly gets far fewer visitors than it deserves. The quietness does add to the charm though.
The usual clientele are here are on long overland journeys, so come here for a few days of luxurious R&R, a welcome break from the trials of long trips through Africa.
We opted to splurge $145 USD per night for 3 nights in a luxury Banda right on the lake shore. The water level in the lake is extremely high at the moment; an El Nino event earlier in the year resulted in a huge increase in rainfall. This, plus other factors have led to all the Rift Valley lakes being very full this year. Three of the lakeshore bandas were submerged in the water, a very sad situation. The water level is slowly dropping though, so hopefully they will be able to renovate next year.
Day 41 & 42 – Lake Shore Lodge
Two days relaxing by the lake shore, doing emails and work. But mostly doing nothing.
The afternoon on our last day we drove into the nearby village with a very helpful but smelly chap to eat some good local food. I was getting bored of noodles & crisps and fancied something nice, tasty and cheap. The dinners at the lodge, as amazing as I’m sure they are, are a bit pricey.
We got a meal in Kipili for 50p each, (rice, ugali, beans and greens). I splashed out £3 on a kilo of the best kitimoto (roasted pork chunks) ever.
Suma handed out some sweets to the local kids, who all had fantastic manners, a credit to them and their village. In Zambia if you hand out sweets, both the kids and adults scramble, wrestle and snatch, without so much as a smile or thank you.
Suma was chatting with a very small toddler girl who was interested in her shades. On spotting me she quickly ran back into her house/shop and hid. Suma called me over to come take a look. The terrified little girl had curled up in a ball with her head buried in the corner of the room, her tiny bare ass on full display. Very small children seem to be quite terrified of white people.
