PHOTO-A-DAY CHALLENGE
Along the Mighty Zambezi River - From Victoria Falls to Lake Kariba
Week 129 of the photographic documentary of my daily life
What a week it has been. I arrived a second time at the beautiful Victoria Falls. The biggest, longest, and most impressive waterfalls I’ve ever seen. We swam in the Zambezi and later followed it down to where the largest man-made lake in the world has been created.
While we had planned to move further along the shore of Lake Kariba, heavy rainfall and bad roads forced us to take an 1100-kilometer detour. We tried to avoid it, but once we realized there was no way around it, we made the best of it.
We're still on the "detour". Staying three nights at one campsite simply because it's so beautiful. And because we can. Because we have time.
This week started with our excursion on the Zambezi River. We went white water rafting. The adventure started with a long hike down into the gorge and ended with an even more exhausting hike out of the canyon again.
In between, we paddled, we laughed, we saw waves coming over us, we swallowed water and floated down the rapids on our life jackets.
The next day, we visited the local market and bought some fruits, walked through town to get some supplies from a hardware shop and relaxed in camp.
Did I mention we ate sushi? Yeah, we ate amazing sushi somewhere in the middle of the African continent.
And then, finally. We walked to see the full 1.7-kilometer width of Victoria Falls. We got rained on by the mist that is rising from the falls. We felt the waterfalls, and we certainly heard them.
We saw rainbows every now and then and simply enjoyed seeing this natural wonder.
Then it was time to pack up and move. We left navigating deeper into Zimbabwe. Stopping at every fuel station because who knows where you can get fuel in this country?
Late in the afternoon, we arrived at the very beginning of Lake Kariba. The said largest man-made lake in the world. We found a lovely spot in the wilderness to camp.
Yes, right there where hippos were playing in the water and birds were singing in the trees above our heads.
This is the view we woke up to. And this is the view from our kitchen counter. We decided to stay two nights and experienced the worst rainfall we've had so far on our trip.
We also realized our solar panels don't help when it's overcast all day long, and our fridge and freezer struggled, but we managed to keep everything cold enough not to go off.
Oh, and I was talking about the wildlife we encountered. Possibly 30 to 50 hippos were chilling in the water right in front of us. Just as many crocodiles were on land or in the water. And birds. Hundreds of birds.
Butterflies were dancing in front of our camp, finishing up the picture of this beautiful place.
The following day, we just wanted to drive to a nearby campsite. We only should have had to drive 3 hours for about 60 kilometers but just 6 kilometers before the destination, when we were facing a sandy road in wet conditions, our 4x4 wouldn’t engage, and we had to make the safe decision to turn around and go someplace else.
We did not buy a local sim card and cannot, therefore, contact anyone when on the road. We know we have to rely on ourselves, which is why we make decisions accordingly.
We drove into the fishing town of Binga during heavy rainfall, got fuel and some drinking water, and headed further East. We started on a newly built road which soon stopped, and as we continued on the road under construction, we almost got stuck in the worst possible spot.
The road was elevated and made of fine gravel and sand. It was blocked off ahead, and we had to turn around at a space as wide and long as our vehicle. Toward the sides of the road, we’d sink in while walking. Now we had a heavy-loaded vehicle, and those tires sank quickly down into the sand.
It started to rain even harder when we got out to collect bigger rocks and put them under the tires. Thanks to the amazing driving skills of David, we got out of this position in something like a 20-point turn.
Realizing we couldn’t go further east toward the end of the lake where the dam sits, we now knew we had to take an 1100-kilometer detour to get there.
Not today. But in the next few days.
We drove back out and spend almost 8 hours in the car this day until we settled in a campsite with hot showers.
The following morning we packed up again and drove another 5 hours east and then north again. We drove through the first big city in Zimbabwe, which was certainly scary.
Lots of people, lots of traffic, and chaos from all sides. We did some grocery shopping, fueled the car, and left as quickly as possible.
To arrive just before sunset at this magical campsite inside a private game reserve where we decided to use it for more than just a stopover.
But for now, we're going to sleep while listening to the frog's concert with birds singing in the background and cicadas chirping in between. Another piece of paradise in Africa.
See where we've been driving and where we are on the map:
This has been my week in photographs. 7 days. 7 photographs. Anyone can join. Once. Or weekly. It doesn’t matter. We welcome everyone! Dennett started this photography challenge in 2020 and many have participated ever since.
Erika / Eileen / K. Barrett / Juan / David / Mia / Susan / LensAfield / Kim / Barbara / Diana / Barb / Sandra / Shruthi / Ellie / Pene / Olive / Gustavo / Jane / Penny / Jillian / Shell / Ivy / Lisa / Lynne
And these are the previous weekly photo essays:
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