Countries
Each country we have visited has left its own impression.
Namibia – is all about the scenery, in particular the ever-changing dessert. Its vast, apparently empty and with large distances between everything pretty much all on gravel roads. We later found out that 45% of the country’s land mass is owned by just 7000 white farmers or commercial farms. That means these are vast estates, but with everything being so dry water and nutritious food for livestock is short. Its very western, Swakopmund in particular, and it was kind of functional rather than interactive. There was no suggestion of any political unease.
Botswana – Is all about the animals, the delta and sand. So much wild life, so many game parks, so much sand to drive on. The Delta is amazing, but was dry when we were there, so will have to come back in Oct/Nov some time in the future. All the people we met were in the tourist industry so had a job to do rather than showing us any of their own personalities. Politically it has been stable since independence in 1966, but that may be changing. The current president is not so popular as predecessors, seems more “African dictator” than “benevolent leader” so forthcoming elections may see some change. A big topic currently is whether to hold a third “one off” sale of ivory stockpiles. Bizarre situation is that the EU, having a big vote, may be the deciding factor.
Zimbabwe – The bit we saw was just Vic Falls which needs no explanation. Again, the people were all in tourist industry so not “real”. We had never intended to do anything more in Zim than Vic Falls, which was just as well. While we were there, the President withdrew the old currency, banned the use or holding of US$s, had not issued a replacement currency and everyone was having to use bonds. Money stuff in African countries and at borders was hard enough anyway without this added chaos. Thank God we had not planned to do any more. Petrol/diesel was hard to come by apparently.
Zambia – A vast country, we did over 2000km. We saw four attraction, Vic Falls in south east, Ngonye Falls south west, Lake Tanganyika and Kalumbo Falls in the far north. There are a couple of game park to the east and west in the middle of the country, but they are all so far apart it would be difficult for the country to make a tourist circuit in the same way most other countries have. Add to that political unrest over elections four years ago and the tourist industry is really struggling. Our host at Lake Tanganyika said it had been declining badly for two years. The country was a basket case for decades, but has been somewhat of a success story over the last couple. A large part of this is based on copper, but it seems a lot of the profit still leaves the country through the multinational corporations. That being said, from end to end every village had a primary school (we must have passed hundreds) and we understand every district has a secondary school, so some value must be making its way into the Government coffers. Life seems to exist on the road. Where ever we drove there was an almost constant stream of people walking and a few bicycles. People still seemed to live in mud/thatch rondavels, but were nonetheless clean and brightly dressed. All the kids want a wave as you drive past which was a never-ending pleasure. Big smiles.
Tanzania – A relatively short stretch (250km) to access Lake Malawi on tar. Much more commercial activity, the first part on the plain was virtually all urban/semi-urban with much hussle ‘n’ bussle going on. Tuk Tuks and other Indian influences. Then we climbed into the mountains that define the Great Rift Valley and the land turned very fertile agrarian. Every square cm of land was cultivated, almost to the edge of the road and way up the hillsides almost to the peaks.
Malawi – all about the Lake on one side and the Great Rift escarpment behind it. The people generally live on the plain in between. A much gentler pace of life, lower speed limits (generally 80kph and 50kph in villages) and time to meet some of the real people. Lovely, warm, poor but so welcoming. Politically, Malawi had been a very stable country since independence in 1962, but that is changing. They inherited a good education system from the Brits, but in a well tried and tested tactic of keeping they people down by keeping then stupid, the Government had been running it down. While we saw schools, there may not necessarily have been any teachers. But the people have had enough. The election earlier this year is widely believed to have been rigged. There have been demos (and a couple of deaths) and the people want the head of the electoral commission to stand down. She won’t without a court decision which was due Monday 29 July. We decided we should leave before that and exited the border on Saturday 27. On one leg of our journey we had to detour round the back streets of Mazuzu as there was a demo on the main street. We had hoped to stock up there but all shops were shut and being guarded. Either side of the town there were rudimentary roadblocks, but they were easy to navigate round. The climb from the plain up the escarpment was steep and hair-pinned. The day we pitched at Dedza was clear and sunny. The next morning was cold and shrouded in hill fog. Common apparently for this time of year.
Mozambique – is all about the coastline. Hundreds of km of white sand Indian Ocean beaches. Moz had been unstable and off the tourist circuit for many years and has only in recent years become safe. All the guide books say the country is hard work, bad roads, corrupt cops, speed traps, difficulty accessing money, visa situation at borders uncertain. Our experience could not have been more different. The Malawi-Moz border was the best, most organised and quickest we came across. The hassle from the fixers we very gentle. There were even signs telling what to do and where. The roads were generally very good, the emptiest we had driven on, the speed limits higher (100kph and 60kph) and in the middle of the country virtually devoid of villages with the slower speed limit. We didn’t get stopped once in the three-day drive from border to Indian Ocean. The first day was quite scenic. No escarpment but a barely discernible decent among large mountain peaks. Dozens of cones or domes seemingly deliberately placed on the vast plain. Day two, these petered out and day three it became flatter, thicker bush. There were more villages on days one and two, but no signs of schools. Day three was less populated, but there did seem to be more schools. The people in town have all been fine. Generally not interested in us, just going about their daily life, but not as outgoing as the Malawians. The beaches, oh the beaches. Miles of white coconut fringed sand. Vilanculo and Tofo are nice tourist towns. Morongulo was extraordinary. A fab campsite on the beach, no town, four sunbathers, three fishermen and us on a beach that was probably 10km long and 200m wide at low tide. Never seen anything so beautiful and so empty.