Livingstone - Gweta

etc etc etc..
no comment

sunset on vic falls. wont forget that in a hurry
mist in africa!
me and some local chinas chilling on the ferry boat
zambiam botswana border crossing
another straight road calls for another bob marley song in hebrew

Well left Livingstone early in the morning for a long days ride to botswana gweta. krikey the roads in zambia and botswana are boring. so boring in fact that i fall asleep. the only way to keep me awake is to drink coke

or red bull. but im so tired that it really helps. so i sing to myself. i sing all kinds of songs. i make some of them up and then i often sing songs that i know in chinese, russian, dutch or german. i cant speak any of these languages but singing away in strange tongues does one thing for me, it keeps me awake and alert! strange i know...

i came acorss a big truck flipped onto it's side. we see a lot of that in africa. incredible accidents in chilled out places on the road. how do they crash things like that in these places? well never know.so apart from nearly having a huge truck reverse into me at the border the other highlight of the day was getting hit by a huge bug and whilst i was peering down i hit a great big wopping pothole. a big one. and i thought,,, thats it, here we go again! turns out i only badly damaged my rim (later i realized it went a lot further - but thats another story). so nothing really exciting exept long straight boring roads with a bearded weirdo singing the russian of Staying alive.

Livingston – Gweta (19.245 km)

The ferry leave just without me

Finally on the other side of the river

Big elephant along the road

One of the big Baobabs trees

A forza di fare l’intrepido sulle cascate mi sono beccato un bel raffreddore, cosi’ mi e’ toccato guidare per piu’ di 500 km con due fazzoletti infilati nel naso.
Alla frontiera con il Botswana bisogna attraversare il fiume Zambesi e l’unico modo per farlo e’ prendere la nave Kazungula. Com’era facile immaginare non e’ stato nulla di piacevole. La prima volta la nave e’ partita senza di me lasciandomi ad appena un metro dal pontile. Mentre la seconda volta il macchinista a pensato bene di abbassare l’argano del ponte levatoio proprio con la mia moto sotto! Fortunatamente il bauletto ha attutito il colpo e non ci sono stati danni.
Dopo pochi chilometri ci siamo fermati davanti ad un elefante che stava mangiando alcune foglie da un albero proprio sul ciglio della strada. Fa un certo effetto trovarsi a pochi metri di distanza faccia a faccia con questo grande animale. E’ completamente diverso che vederlo durante un safari dall’interno di un robusto 4x4. L’elefante, invece, non sembrava per nulla sorpreso ed ha continuato a mangiare indisturbato rompendo con la proboscite i grandi rami dell’albero come se fossero grissini. Ogni tanto si limitava a lanciare qualche rapida occhiata nella mia direzione e sembrava pensare: “Ma che cos’ha tanto da guardare questo piccoletto? Forse non ha mai visto un elefante prima d’ora?”. In effetti lungo la strada abbiamo poi visto talmente tanti elefanti e zebre che alla fine non ci facevamo neanche piu’ caso.
Gweta si trova sul bordo settentrionale del Makgadikgadi Pans, un grande lago salato che nella stagione secca si trasforma in un’enorme distesa di sale bianco. In questo periodo, pero’, e’ completamente ricoperto d’acqua e quindi non siamo riusciti ad attraversarlo. Ci siamo fermati a dormire al Planet Baobab (S 20 11,360’ E 25 18,344’), un bellissimo lodge nel bel mezzo di una foresta di enormi baobab.
Colonna Sonora: “Effervescing Elephant” Syd Barrett

The result of myself acting like a lion-hearted brave man in the proximity of the falls was a bad cold, that had me driving for more than 500 km with a dripping nose.
At the Botwana border we had to cross the Zambesi River, and the only way to get to the other bank is by the Kazungula ferry. As you can easily imagine, crossing the river was no fun at all. The first time the ferry crossed the river without me: I was left just 1 m away from the jetty. The second time the machinist activated the drawbridge ramp with my bike beneath it! Fortunately the locker cushioned the impact and the bike suffered no damage.
After a few kilometers we stopped before an elephant eating leaves from a tree along the road. To be face to face with an animal as huge as an elephant is very impressive indeed. It’s completely different from watching him from inside a safe 4WD during a safari. The elephant, on the contrary, didn’t look surprised at all and went on eating the leaves totally unimpressed, crushing big branches with his proboscis like they were breadsticks. Every now and then he glanced at me, maybe thinking to himself, ‘What’s the matter with this little man staring at me?’. Well, we saw so many elephants along the way that after a while we didn’t pay attention to them any longer. They became just a usual sight.
Gweta lies at the northern edge of Makgadikgadi Pans, a large salt water lake that in the dry season becomes an endless stretch of white salt. This time of the year it’s full of water, though, so we could not venture through it. We spent the night at Planet Baobab (S 20 11,360’ E 25 18,344’), a fantastic lodge in the middle of a baobab forest.
Soundtrack: “Effervescing Elephant” Syd Barrett

Victoria Falls

Le cascate Vittoria sono una delle sette meraviglie naturali del mondo.
In questo periodo dell'anno, alla fine della stagione delle piogge, la portata del fiume Zambesi e' 20 volte superiore rispetto alla stagione secca. La nuvola d'acqua che s'innalza al di sopra delle cascate e' visibile da oltre 40 km di distanza ed i 108 m d'altezza e 1.7 km di larghezza valgono il primato delle piu' grandi cascate del mondo. Nella lingua Kolokolo queste cascate sono conosciute come "Mosi-oa-Tunya" che significa "Fumo che tuona".
Appena arrivati sul ponte che collega lo Zambia con lo Zimbabwe siamo rimasti a bocca aperta vedendo la potenza e la grandezza di queste cascate.
Subito dopo abbiamo percorso il Knife Edge Track che corre parallelamente alle cascate. Qui ci si trova esattamente difronte alle cascate a meno di 100 m di distanza, ma c'e' talmente tanta acqua sospesa nell'aria che e' difficile riuscire a vedere qualcosa. In compenso, pero', ci si puo' fare una bella doccia fresca.
Prima di tornare a Livingston siamo andati dall'altra parte, a monte delle cascate, dove abbiamo provato il brivido di camminare nell'acqua ad appena 5 m di distanza dal bordo del grande salto.
Colonna Sonora: "Victoria" The Kinks

Victoria Falls are one of the seven natural wonders in the world.
This time of the year, the end of the rainy season, the waters of the Zambesi River are 20 times higher than in the dry season, forming a cloud above the falls you can see from 40 km away. Victoria Falls (108 m high and 1.7 km wide) are the highest falls in the world. In the Kolokolo language these falls are known as "Mosi-oa-Tunya" (Thundering Smoke).
We first saw them from the bridge linking Zambia to Zimbabwe: the power and the size of these falls are absolutely jaw-dropping.
We cruised along the Knife Edge Track, a trail running parallel to the falls. Here you find yourself exactly in front the falls, just 100 m away, but there’s so much water floating in the air that you can hardly see anything. Don’t worry, in compensation you can take a nice cool shower!
Before getting back to Livingston we hiked upriver from the falls, and we felt shivers down our spine while we were walking at just 5 m distance from the big drop.
Soundtrack: "Victoria" The Kinks

Lusaka - Livingstone (18.727 km)

Non c'e' molto da dire su questa tappa. La zona occidentale dello Zambia e' completamente piatta e tra Lusaka e Livingstone non c'e' nulla d'interessante. L'unica nota "divertente" e' che lungo la strada sono stato investito da una nuvola di strani insetti ciccioni che mi si sono spiaccicati addosso ricoprendomi dalla testa ai piedi come una marmellata.
Colonna sonora: "Land of 1000 dances" Wilson Pickett

Not much to be said. Western Zambia is totally flat and between Lusaka and Livingstone there is nothing remarkable. The only funny thing to report is that while driving I was attacked by a cloud of strange fat insects: they covered me from tip to toe like a fruit jam.
Soundtrack: "Land of 1000 dances" Wilson Pickett

Lusaka - Chingola (chimpanzee orphanage)

riding in the bush - seems like australia hey Marco?

Sheila and he family have done the impossible here. such wonderful and warm people.
i felt a part of the family after just a couple of hours there.

me and my new friend dominic

the driving in Zambia is so boring! straight straight roads!

this was taken with a 50mm lens!!! the most dangerous animal in africa!

ouch

I just spent 3 days at the chimpanzee orphanage. which has been one of my highlights of the trip through africa. its near Chingola. northern Zambia. it was incredible being with them. it is the largest chimp sanctuary in the world with over 100 chimps there. they've also adopted a baby hippo 16 years ago, and it is now a tame 2 tonne pet. sheila (owner of Chimfunshi chimp sanctuary) is so tiny and its fantastic so watch her boss around this 2 tonne beauty. i spent a wonderful 3 days there, and have just come back tothe real world, without animals, and i wanna go back! i really recommend going to anyone who ever goes to zambia. it is a must!

Luangwa Bridge - Lusaka (18.239 km)

Big Baobab tree

Kids running to receive some gift...

...but I don't have so many gift!

TseTse Control

Lunch break on the way

La zona attorno al fiume Luangwa e' infestata dalla mosca Tzetze e prima di entrare nella provincia di Lusaka abbiamo dovuto superare un posto di blocco dove un ufficiale con un retino effettua il "controllo tzetze". Tutti i veicoli provenienti da est vengo ispezionati ed a quel punto inizia un’esilarante e buffa “caccia alla mosca con retino”. Arrivati a Lusaka siamo stati multati per eccesso di velocita' nonostante stessimo viaggiando a soli 70 km all'ora su di una superstrada a tre corsie. Ma questo e' l'unico modo che hanno i poliziotti per "arrotondare" il loro misero stipendio. A Lusaka ci siamo fermati al Chachacha Backpackers (S 15 24,700' E 28 17,552') Colonna Sonora: "Zobi La Mouche" Les Negresses Vertes

The surroundings of the Luangwa River are infested with tsetse flies, and before entering the Lusaka Province we had to stop at a checkpoint where an officer with a net makes ‘tsetse-fly’ inspections. All vehicles coming from the East are inspected, and it’s very funny: everybody’s hunting flies with a net. In Lusaka we were fined for fast driving, despite our speed was only 70 km/h on a 3- lane freeway, but this is the only way the traffic police can make some extra money to ‘round off’ their low wages. In Lasaka we stopped at Chachacha Backpackers (S 15 24,700' E 28 17,552')

Soundtrack: "Zobi La Mouche" Les Negresses Vertes

Lilongwe - Luangwa Bridge (17.989 km)

Drowing some clouds in the sky

A lot of coal on the road

The coal guard

Lwanga Bridge

Our Camp

Alla frontiera con lo Zambia non abbiamo avuto grossi problemi, anche se gli zambesi sono di una lentezza esasperante. La strada ed il panorama in Zambia sono terribilmente noiosi, tent'e' che ad un certo punto, per rompere la monotonia ci siamo fermati a disegnare alcune nuvole nel cielo. Per fortuna negli ultimi 100 km sono arrivate le colline e tutto e' diventato piu' divertente. Dopo aver superato il modernissimo ponte sul fiume Luangwa ci siamo accampati al Luangwa Bridge Campsite (S 15 00,302' E 30 12,9125')
Colonna sonora: "C'mon everybody" Eddie Cochran

At the Zambia border we didn’t have difficulties of any kind, but the slow-pacing locals are just too much.The road and views are extremely boring in Zambia, so to give it a break we stopped and spent some time drawing the clouds we saw in the sky.Luckily enough, the last 100 km are hilly, and so everything was more fun. After crossing the ultra modern bridge on the Luangwa River we spent the night at Luangwa Bridge Campsite (S 15 00,302' E 30 12,9125')

Soundtrack: "C’mon everybody" Eddie Cochran