Gem and Stu’s World Tour

The Zambian boarder was a barrel of laughs! After waiting ages on the hot bus to see what documents they wanted we were then told that us (the British citizens) would be having to pay $150 US to get into the country!!!! This was $10 more than expected - I am not sure what the British had done to upset the Zambian people but $150 is quite a steep fee for 2 days and especially when the Kiwis and Auzzies only had to pay $50! Never mind. Getting over the border was hilarious we were in and out of the truck with yellow fever docs and god knows what else. Poor Becs then had to do lots of paperwork for us so by the time we left the boarder it was pitch black. Another night putting up our tents in the dark!

The next day we traveled to Lusaka in Zambia and had a mad rush at the supermarket to get all the supplies for our 12 days in Zimbabwe (as we knew we could not rely on the supermarkets there having anything on their shelves). The town was very western and there were loads of shops etc but we were so grubby and scruffy looking we stuck out and looked out of place!

We then drove to the Zim border (via a place by the road that sold huge giraffes) - I think we may have bought one if we had been able to get it home. We passed though the Zim border with no problems and avoided the baboons who live at the boarder steeling our lunch! After a beautiful drive we arrived in Kariba town. However, the drive to the campsite was so steep that Ronnie (our driver) made us get off and walk - in case the truck fell off the cliff! I noticed some rather large bugs at this campsite - and the fact that no-one else was there! Shame.

I was so excited to get on the houseboats on Lake Kariba - it took a while to load all our stuff (and food onto the boat but by lunch we were off)!!!! The boat was like a small battleship (made of grey metal) and our rooms were below deck and squished (4 to a room) but they did have a bonus of a toilet that you sit on and look out onto the lake! They were so cool though. We were fed, watered and looked after so well. I was just pleased that I was feeling better and could eat again (and boy did I make up for it)! There was lots of sitting in the sun, playing cards, some of the boys went out fishing, swimming in the cage (but we did not do this as I was too wary of crocs and hippos) and getting up for sunrises. Our 1st night on the boat we had the bad taste party - it was hilarious ans a lot of fun (especially with the lovely punch) but I must say I was one of the quieter people there - shock horror!

The day after the party we went on a game cruise on one of the little boats with Colin- it was really cool to see elephants from the water and we even saw a croc. We got a little too close to the hippo’s for my liking but the guides seemed to think it was all good!

We loved the housboats - spent the evenings listening to hippos calling from frightengly close by, staring at the vast milky way (which is so much clearer than anywhere else we have ever been) and drinking beer!