Let me, as an experienced and seasoned African traveller, give some basic do’s and don’ts when you are out there:

• Zip up your tent – no matter how hot it is in side, zip up for various reasons. It keeps out bugs, mosquitoes and slithering things like snakes.  A lion will not bother you in your tent.  They do not realise that they can rip open the canvas with a quick stroke of the paw and no, an elephant will not trip over your tent.  Elephants are amazingly gracious when they walk.
• When you go to bed stow all food (and garbage) either in your tent or vehicle. Inquisitive animals like hyenas, jackal, etcetera will come and have a look what is there to taste.
• Do not wander off in the dark and outside the light of the fire. There are creatures watching you that you do not even know of.  If  you do have to go for a nightly routine walk let somebody go with you with a torch and keep close to your tent.  Night animals have keen eyesight and spot you long before you even notice them, so take care.
• Be extremely vigilant when vervet monkeys and baboons are around. They are very quick and will grab your food before you know it.  Do not challenge a baboon, if this does happen they can be dangerous.  Rather back off.

• Mana Pools is famous for its “dagga boys” (i.e. a lone stray buffalo) that venture into camp even in day times. Be on the look out and try to avoid them totally.
• A rather difficult one to do is if you have an encounter with a lion or elephant – DO NOT RUN!   I say again – DO NOT RUN!  Your instinct will tell you to get out of the way, but stay put, stand very still .
• At rivers and dams be on the lookout for crocodiles that lurk in the muddy waters especially on the banks when you approach.  Also keep an eye out for paths that animals (i.e. hippopotamus) use that lead to the water. A hippo looks clumsy, but they are not.
• Do not misjudge the small animals as they can bite you and there is a possibility that they carry rabies. Rabies are fatal.  Wild animals that are prone to rabies are:  monkeys, mongoose, meerkat, jackals.

Remember that you are in the wild and wild animals can be unpredictable and “a lot” quicker than you think.  Do not party – alcohol impair your judgment towards wild animals and may land you in unexpected trouble.

—oOO—

“You have to look after wealth, but knowledge looks after you. — Zambian Proverb”

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If you like your own company and have some travel savvy then going solo is for you.  Going solo gives you freedom of choice and total independence to change your travel plans on the spur of the moment if something interests you on the wayside.

Things that you need to consider when planning your next solo African trip are the following.

You will need the ability to navigate.  There are not many countries left on mother earth that is unexplored, thus you will need a basic ability to navigate as there can be hundreds of tracks and footpaths not necessarily indicated on maps.  You must be able to understand and read maps whether it is a paper issue or a digital issue.  Sometimes you need to trust your instinct and basic sense of direction to find your way.

So you own a GPS, but do you know all the functions of your GPS, such as marking waypoints that you can return to later?  This can be of great value when bush camping as you need to mark a nice camping spot early in the afternoon but need to return to it later in the evening after dark when things have quietened down.

A reliable vehicle is not even questionable and some bush mechanics can take you a long, long way as everything is not always available in remote areas.  Even if you can phone somebody on your satellite phone it may take days or weeks for a specific part to arrive.

You will need a willingness to interact with the local people to ask directions or permission to camp or even buy some firewood.  If there is a village around do the decent thing and ask permission from the headman to camp there for the night.  They may even provide some security to you as a sign of respect.

Can you adapt and react to changing situations such as hazardous roads,  political climate, etc or are you set in your ways and love your comfort zone?  If you love your comfort zone you need to reconsider the urge of going solo.

The bottom line, and I think the most important aspect, that you must ask yourself is if you are prepared to rough it at times and skip a shower (or maybe two) to experience the joy that wild camping can offer?

Wanderlust: === the desire and irresistible urge to travel

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Today we will be revisiting the Victoria Falls after nearly 20 years.  The mission of this?   To show the wonder of the Falls to some newby Africa travelers to marvel at one of God’s creations.  The first thing I noticed was the spray of the Falls forming the background of a rather quiet Victora Falls town.  The buzz of tourists wandering the streets lingering at sidewalk popup vendors are notably absent.   Instead “sale hunger” vendors follow your every step in the desperate hope to put something on their table tonight.

We parked our vehicles in the shade of a tree at the Kingdom Hotel where the hotel staff can keep an eye on it (and of course earn an extra tip on the side) and took the walk down to the Falls area.  As we made our way through the hotel grounds toward the Falls I hardly noticed visitors and was wondering how the Spur and Panarottis, being patronless despite it being lunch time, keep the doors open.

Entrance fee, as everything else, in Zimbabwe is charged in US Dollar.  As a SADC citizen you qualify for a discount, so remember to take your passport along as proof.  Although the facilities at the entrance gate is a bit rundown the service was efficient and in no time we could enjoy our walk in the park.  A quick reminder:  put on comfortable walking shoes that will dry easily as you will get wet along the route.

As we made our way to the first viewpoint at the Cataract we were greeted by some vervent monkeys having a brawl over food.  This is also where we met up with David Livingstone, the famous explorer.  I could not help but wonder what went through his mind when he first laid eyes on the Victoria Falls.

Our first glimpse of the Falls was the Devil’s cataract and although the water levels were not high, being August and the end of the dry season, a perfect full rainbow was on display when standing at the right spot.   Maybe Livingstone was also lucky enough to see a perfect rainbow on his first glimpse of the Falls.

But on with the walk.  We made our way along the entire route, which can be slippery at places, admiring Trumpeter Hornbill in the treetops keeping watch over the visitors.  I can recall that the birdlife was somewhat more prolific on my first visit to the park area than from what I observed today.   Maybe that is sadly an indication to what the state of the wildlife is at the moment in the country.

At each viewpoint we admired a different angle of the Falls taking in the Main Falls, Livingstone Island and Danger Point, as we progressed along the route until we reached the end of the walkway at the iron bridge that spanned the mighty Zambezi linking up Zambia with Zimbabwe.

It was getting late and we still had to negotiate the Zambian border post and do some shopping in Livingstone before we could pitch our tents for the night in Livingstone. It was time to move on.   As we were leaving the gates of the park we were immediately joined by a policeman who escorted us back to the hotel grounds.  This made us all a bit uncomfortable about security while we picked up our pace to get back to the hotel parking lot or was he merely expecting a tip to aid his survival in a cash stricken country?

Despite this it was good for the soul to introduce some newbies to the wonders of Africa and marvel at God’s creation once again.

Life is either a daring adventure or nothing (Helen Keller)

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