26-Nov-10Zambia Border Crossing
The Zambia border exiting from Namibia that we had so feared proved to be more humorous than dangerous. We entered into a partially fenced dirt yard where dozens of young, aggressive touts looking to change money or just take it outright surrounded our jeep. A couple of military clad guards with AK47s stood at the entrance to the non descript, concrete immigration building. $50 for each visa after manually filling out the large, lined register with our stats. At the other end of the long, wooden counter we were met by a sexy, young black woman in a full length, teal, sequined gown who kindly offered to “guide” us through the process. She represents and auto insurance company and deftly leads us to her trailer a short distance across the tout infested yard.
A 15 foot completely dilapidated trailer with no doors or windows and the floor falling through is the official office of Prime Insurance. After succumbing to a lecture on the difference insuring a rental jeep vs a privately owned one we were forced to purchase a 90 day policy for our 5 day stay in Zambia. The precariously balanced table flipped over when I attempted to sign the forms. Our guide called in a money changer to take our $50 and convert it to 225,000 kwacha, with a commission to our lovely lady no doubt. The we paid the Council Levy, (no idea what this is) and the carbon tax (to assist with poor health of the citizens of Zambia due to our carbon omissions), finally back to the concrete building to a small room housing customs indicated by teen tiny letters in un-even black marker at the top of the door “customs”. Cases of Hunter’s Beer stacked against the wall, 2 men in uniform behind mismatched desks, a guard with an automatic weapon , an older white couple and now us all in a room that was about 10x10 . We went behind the desk to pay our fee in cash that went into the drawer with no receipt, finally 90 minutes later we were allowed into Zambia. 200 km to Livingstone to celebrate Thanksgiving and pay our respects to Victoria Falls after our 16 year hiatus.
We treated ourselves to a room after a month of camping. Charters guest house has a lovely garden, small pool and internet. The $65 rooms have AC, showers and an extra long bathtub, it was a real treat and feels like a “boomermoon”.
We dropped laundry and ran errands on our way to the Falls only to be put off by the $45 entrance fee. Given the low level of the water and poor reviews from others exiting out, we opted for sundowners and dinner at the Royal Livingstone, a lavish hotel reflecting the bygone British, Colonial eta. A long stretch of rolling emerald green lawn with shade trees dating back hundreds of years surrounded a spectacular deck perched on the Zambezi River. We located a couple of overstuffed chairs to enjoy a view of the rapids and rising mist from the falls, and a hippo with jaws agape made it a post card moment.
