Southern Kafue - Zambia (Continued)

It was just after 4pm when we arrived at Mupasha, the campsite, if it could be called that. It was not readily apparent being down a narrow overgrown track which petered out into a small area surrounded by thick bush. Chris had described Mupasha as being a lovely spot beside a rocky kopje on the shores of Lake Itezhi-Tezhi and he wasn't wrong.

At one time there had been a thatched hide to watch the lake from but sadly this had now fallen on hard times, the thatch long gone, taken either by Ele's or more probably locals and what was left was just a shell.

There were no facilities whatsoever and virtually nowhere to pitch a tent unless you battled on foot through the bush towards the lake. There was certainly no sign that anyone had camped here for sometime and no sign of Marcus & Tanya either.  There were some very recent tyre tracks so it's possible they had stopped by but thought the place was too bush and continued on out of the park, we would never know.

However, for us that was not a realistic option as it was getting towards Sunset and as we didn't know what lay ahead and the views across the lake were so lovely we decided to put up the roof tent and stay the night. It was in fact a great spot to enjoy a wonderful sunset with some G&T's in glorious solitude.

The lake was formed in 1977 when they dammed the valley and you can still see the remains of the forest which was lost in the flood. Covering some 300km Itezhi-Tezhi is a massive body of water, we would be following its shore line until reaching the dam which we would then cross on our way Northwards out of the park.  

From the dam we would be crossing through one of the Game Management Areas (GMAs) that surround the park on our way to the Lusaka road separating the two halves of the Kafue. We had originally planned to continue straight on into the Northern Kafue but now couldn't do this because our visa's still needed extending so we couldn't stray too far from civilisation just yet.

Next morning we headed North, Mupasha had been a lovely stopover, it was just a shame that apart from a couple of Fish Eagles we had seen virtually no game.

The park exit was manned by a lady ranger with just her small daughter for company. The ranger spoke little English and seemed genuinely surprised to see us, but cheerfully signed us out. While I was filling in the departure book the little girl never took her eyes off us, the Southern Kafue is at present off the main tourist track so it was possible we were the first white couple she had ever seen. 

We always carry loads of pens, pencils, sweets and other small gifts which we give out to the kids when we pass through the towns & villages. For this trip we had also brought some inflatable globes like the one Michael Palin took on his 'Around the World in 80 days' TV series plus some small inflatable footballs from the last World Cup.

By now loads of kids had appeared from the nearby village so we started handing out the pencils, pens & sweets. The kids go crazy when you start giving stuff out and there is always the cheeky ones who try to con you into getting second helpings.

Unfortunately we don't have enough globes and footballs to go round so we need to pick carefully who gets one and make sure they know its to be shared with the others. There was one little girl standing quietly to the side looking very sweet so we decided to give her the globe as she looked like she would let the others share it - however as soon as she got her hands on it she was off like a flash before the other kids could even work out what it was she had grabbed!

We reached the dam at midday, even though we were on a public road because of its importance to the country the dam is guarded so we had to sign out before we were allowed to drive on over the dam wall, at this point we could say we had left the NP and we were now in the Namwala GMA.

We were aiming for a lodge Chris had recommended called Kaingu. Situated on the Kafue River the lodge is new and according to Chris was well worth a stopover with a really good campsite. The road through the GMA is renowned as one of the worst road in Zambia and it lived up to its reputation with loads of potholes and bad corrugations.

For the first time since our arrival in Cape Town we now faced one of the scourges of the African bush - the Tsetse Fly. Further South in Botswana etc the Tsetse has been virtually eradicated but from here on up in Zambia we would be going through a number of Tsetse areas or belts as they are called.

For those who have never seen a Tsetse they are big, similar in size to the horseflies we sometimes get in the UK but infinitely more aggressive. They tend to be at their worse in heavily wooded areas and once you enter their domain you become their prey and they will hunt you remorselessly and when they bite you certainly know it as it feels like someone has stuck a red hot needle in you.

As you drive through a Tsetse belt the car is besieged by flies, sometimes a 100 or more whose sole aim is to get inside and bite the shit out of you. At least now we would get the benefit of the expensive air conditioning put in at Foleys as there is no way you can stand driving for hours on end through bad Tsetse areas with the windows open so without an A/C you choose between roasting or be bitten to death! 

The last 38kms on the track to Kaingu wound through a forest and we were accompanied all the way by Tsetse's flying alongside and in front trying to get in the Landy. There are a number of theories about what attracts them to humans, the colour Blue for instance is said to be a big attraction and certainly they use this on the Tsetse traps you see dotted about the bush. 

However, another theory is they are attracted to movement and considering the amount which were flying alongside us all the way in it seems as good a theory as any. To show how seriously they take the Tsetse problem about 5km before Kaingu we reached a Tsetse control point where we had to get out and spray Rupert thoroughly with an insecticide. There was only one problem as soon as I opened my door hordes of Tsetse's came in so while I was fending the flies off outside Sue was fighting them off inside!

Eventually we arrived at Kaingu in mid afternoon to find the guests at the lodge just finishing lunch. The lodge is managed by South Africans Tom & Viviane Heineken and has been constructed to a high standard. We were met by Tom who via Chris had been expecting us to turn up sooner or later. First task was to have a cold beer on the sun deck over the river, a lovely spot, then Tom took us round to see the campsite.

Zambia is unusual, in that a lot of it's top lodges also cater for campers. This is a welcome change as you usually get much better facilities at the lodge campsites. Kaingu, however, goes on step further as apart from the communal campsite they also have two excellent private riverside campsites which have their own individual bathrooms and loos. You pay an extra US $ 4 per person per night for the privilege but its well worth it.

Our neighbours on the other private camp where John & Pam from South Africa. They were on their way back to RSA from a trip to Ethiopia, it turned out they spend most of their time  travelling in Africa so they proved to be a mine of information on the countries we were about to visit. After dinner we invited them over for a few drinks and ended up chatting around the camp fire till 1am, alright for us as we were staying on but John and Pam were off in the morning to Liuwa Plains a very remote park to the West.

We also planned to go to Liuwa once we had sorted out our visa's, certainly Chris was very keen for us to go as it is supposed to be a real expedition and he was keen to get as much information as possible for the next edition of his guide. John & Pam had never been before either so they promised to text us on how they got on.

We had only been in bed for a couple of hours when suddenly at 4.30am we were woken by a Lion roaring off in the bush, we had got so used to not seeing much game that it came as quite a pleasant surprise to hear it.

Next morning John and Pam very kindly spent a quick hour before heading off to give us a list of people and places to look out for as we headed North to Kenya. John spoke to me while Pam spoke to Sue and we scribbled down as fast as we could all the detail they bombarded us with. This was really great of them as they still had a very long and difficult days travel ahead so could hardly afford the time, typical of the camaraderie which exists between overlanders, many thanks guys. 

We were sorry to see John & Pam leave as we had got on well but a couple of hours after they left a new couple arrived and took up residence on the other private site so we went over to say hello to Hugh & Denise.

Denise originally from Manchester has lived in South Africa for years but still has the Northern England sense of humour. Hugh a self confessed Anglophile was not like your typical South African so from the moment we met we got on really well. They live in Hilton South Africa, not too far from the Drakensberg where we had been back in January and like John and Pam  were on their way back to RSA after a visit to Zambia and would stay at Kaingu for just a few days before the long push for home.

In the afternoon we went on a trip down the Kafue river in an inflatable raft, we like to take river trips in Africa as their always atmospheric and you never know what you might see. However, except for a lone Elephant some way up the river in this case the river was as bereft of game as the drive up had been.

We shared the raft with a young couple from the UK who were on their honeymoon. This was their first visit to Africa so Kaingu seemed a strange choice considering the other well trodden honeymoon destinations in Kenya or RSA. They had booked through Sunvil Africa or Expert Africa as they now call themselves, which Chris manages, he obviously had sold them on the place however despite the lack of game they were enjoying themselves and it has to be said if you want to be away from people then the Kafue is as good a place as any.

That night Hugh & Denise went off to have dinner at the lodge so we were on our own in the campsite. We had been told that the day before we arrived an Elephant had wandered through our camp so when as we sat around the campfire drinking Gin Riokey cocktails we suddenly heard a loud rustling we thought the Elephant may be back but to our great surprise and joy when we shone the spotlight it turned out to be something we had never seen before - a Long Tailed Galago or Bush Baby.

We had seen plenty of the short tailed small Bush Baby's before but never one of these, he looked more like a Sloth than a Bush Baby as he very slowly climbed a tall tree and eventually disappeared into the canopy. This made up for all the lack of game so far, we have never seen one since and may never do so again.

Hugh & Denise returned around 9pm and we sat around the camp fire till midnight. They would be staying on for a few more days but we were leaving in the morning for the Northern Kafue but first we had the little matter of our visa's to sort out!

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