All aboard!! A trip on the Royal Livingstone Express

To celebrate our birthdays, which are about a month apart, Mike and I decided to treat ourselves to a night out on the Royal Livingstone Express.

The Royal Livingstone Express consists of a 5 carriage, club/ kitchen car, a lounge car and is pulled by either a 10th class No. 156 or a 12th class No. 204 locomotive. The night we travelled on it, we got the 10th class No. 156, which was originally owned by the Zambezi Sawmills Limited and was used to pull logging carriages from the forests in Mulobezi to the railhead in Livingstone. The Locomotive was restored and carriages sought to provide the current service today.

The train travels along the old Mulobezi Line, which has also been restored and was once the largest privately owned railway network in the world and was set up by the Zambezi Sawmills in 1916. The journey is actually only a short ride, travelling into the Mosi-oa-Tunya National Park where the train briefly pauses in the hope of catching glimpses of wildlife, and then crosses out of the Mosi-Oa-Tunya National Park over the Sinde River and stops 17 kilometres out of Livingstone for dinner.

The 10th class No. 156 Locomotive:
The ‘Runs Around’ to the back of the train

The Lounge Cart

When we arrived for our train ride Mike and I found a red carpet and were presented with what we thought was a glass of sparkling but actually turned out to be apple juice.

After that brief moment of disappointment, we were immediately impressed with how beautifully the train carriages had been restored inside. We sat down in the lounge car, with canapés next to each seat and our drink orders immediately taken (for alcoholic beverages this time).

Canapés and drinks in the Lounge Cart 

Mike enjoying a cold beer

The journey itself felt a little strange at first. Mike and I went outside to have a look around, but felt a little uncomfortable as we moved Dumbwa, a high density and relatively poor suburb of Livingstone. Both of us have done work in Dumbwa and felt strange having young children and adults waving at us. Needless to say, we went back inside and left the rest of the guests to do their “royal” waves.

The train then moved toward the Mosi-Oa-Tunya National Park. Inside the park the train stopped in the hope of seeing wildlife (which we did not) and to allow the guests to enjoy the sunset. While this is happening the Locomotive ‘Run Around’ occurred; basically when the locomotive detaches itself from the front of the train and ‘runs around’ to the back of the train, re-attaching itself on to the Observation Car. This was a highlight of the trip for Mike, as he was welcomed to join the driver as the “Run Around” took place, even with beer in hand!!

Mike "assisting" the drive as the Locomotive ‘Run Around’ is about to occur

View outside as we waited for dinner

Once we were all back on board we were moved to the dining carriage, elegantly fitted out with silver cutlery, crystal glassware, damask linen and more detailed wooden interior.

The Dining Cart: Elegantly fitted out with silver cutlery,
crystal glassware, damask linen and more detailed wooden interior

For dinner we were served a yummy 6-course meal and of course, plenty of wine! The highlight of the dinner was slow cooked lamb, our first lamb since leaving Australia and cooked perfectly, falling apart with only a fork. The Apple Tart dessert was a bit of a highlight as well.

The main course: "Slow Cooked Lamb Shoulder on a Potato
Lyonnaise with Baby Carrots and Balsamic Jus"

Dessert: "Green Apple Tart with Granny Smith ice-cream and a
Lemon Reduction"

Unfortunately the night did come to quite an abrupt end after dessert, as the train headed back to Livingstone while tea & coffee was being served and barely finished when the trained pulled in.

The Royal Livingstone Express all lit up after our journey

Nonetheless, we had a fabulous night out and the train trip was worth all of the $150 they charge. It was a rare opportunity to experience what it might have been like to travel through Africa on a train in style 150 years ago. Exquisite!!

Mike and I after a lovely night out

Living in Livingstone

After being in Livingstone for five months now I thought it was time that I provided a bit more insight into the town itself and what it is like to live in. I’m also hoping it may generate some interest for any potential visitors J

Mosi-Oa-Tunya Road: The main street of Livingstone



A typical street in Livingstone, branching off the main road



I feel very lucky to have been placed in Livingstone. The town is large enough to have most things required on a day to day basis, with an estimated population of 150,000. However it is still small enough to have that “community” or town feel about it. Livingstone is also not the crazy tourist town that I had imagined prior to arriving here. It definitely has tourist aspects to it with numerous backpacker places, the Mukuni Park Curo Market and advertisements everywhere for Safari tours and the Falls. However most tourists tend to remain hidden away in their lodges, never fully experiencing the town and what it has to offer.

Mukuni Park Curo Market: A great place to buy Zambian and
African handcrafted goods

In terms of amenities Livingstone has a number of major banks such as Barclays and Standard Chartered Bank, cafes and restaurants that provide Wi-Fi (albeit super slow internet), a massive Shoprite Supermarket and bustling shops and markets full of all sorts of knick- knacks.

Mosi-Oa-Tunya Road: Shops and cafes

Mosi-Oa-Tunya Square: The home of Shoprite Supermarket

After being here for four months we have definitely found some favourite places to hang out, which is what I thought I’d focus on the most.

Olgas

Probably my favourite! Olgas is an Italian restaurant serving REAL Italian food. It has woodfire pizzas, homemade pasta, coffee and other great Italian food. It is managed by an Italian man, Guiseppe, who is always welcoming, as are the staff and has a lovely relaxed atmosphere. But perhaps one of the best things about Olgas is that is a social business started up by an Italian NGO CeLIM, with all profits going into their Youth Community Training Centre. So there’s no need to feel guilty about indulging in a yummy pizza.

Olga's Restaurant

Lucana Pizza: Sausage, Mushrooms, Onion, Tomato & Basil
YUM!!

Golf Course

We only recently discovered the golf course, however it is a lovely place to go for a run in the evening or a drink on a Sunday afternoon.

Zig Zag

Zig Zag is actually a Bed & Breakfast with a restaurant attached and beautiful garden surrounds. It is a lovely place to go for a coffee on the weekend and read a book outside under the guava and lemon trees. It also has (I think) the best cheese burger in town!

Zig Zag Coffee

Zig Zag restaurant & grounds: Beautiful & relaxing place
for coffee and reading a book

VJs

We used to go to VJs a lot for a beer in the afternoon when we first arrived, given it was unbelievably hot at the time. VJs is right next door to Shoprite and we still occasionally have an evening drink there as I love the bustling atmosphere around it. It has very reasonably priced drinks and high tables and stools from which you can watch the craziness of the town go by around you.

VJs bar: Always bustling! A great place to people watch and enjoy
a cool drink

N.B. Many of the lodges on the outskirts of the town are also great places to have a drink or weekend lunch. However they really deserve their own separate blog as some are quite amazing.

Finally this blog would not be complete without mentioning one of my favourite “landmarks” in town.

I continue to be amused by the “Zambian Architecture” of the building pictured below. From all accounts it has been under construction now for over a year and shows no sign of being completed anytime soon. Still unable to ascertain what it will eventually become (hotel perhaps?), however I’d strongly advise against ever entering it as it may collapse at any given moment. The walls on this building are not straight and actually bow out in some parts. That all said, I think the lions are possibly the most quality aspect of the building. They will probably survive the building collapsing, even if their legs are not in proportion to their bodies.

"Zambian Architecture": Not too much is straight on this
building; check out the wall at the front left which bows out nicely.
I do like the lions though!



Close up shot. Difficult to capture on camera
but look closely at the "straight" alignment
of the floors, walls and pillar barriers.



Update on the Falls

Last weekend Mike and I decided to re-visit Victoria Falls to check out how they had changed with the recent rain.

I have to say that I was expecting something pretty cool given that at the moment you can see huge clouds of spray from the falls in Livingstone, a good 10km away. However, I still wasn’t prepared for just how incredible they are at the moment.

The amount of water was amazing! Not great for trying to take photos, so you’ll have to forgive my photography; it was very difficult trying to take photos without getting the camera really wet.

Victoria Falls: Amazing the increase in water since we last visited!

The bridge where I took a lot of photos from last time was perhaps the wettest part of the Falls, to the point where it was nearly impossible to see one end of the bridge from the other.

Fortunately it was a warmer day so it didn’t matter that we got absolutely drenched! Most of the people around were wearing ponchos, however I think that just takes away from the experience.

Me completely drenched after crossing the foot bridge

Mike enjoying the cool spray 

In October we were able to cross the top of the Falls to get to some of the pools (you can swim in them when the water is lower). However this time full caution is required to not get to close to the water for fear of being swept away.

At the top of Victoria Falls

The amazing thing about seeing the Falls now is that they are not actually at their peak, with at least another month to month and a half before they are at their best. Again, not great if you’re a tourist wanting to get photos, but fantastic for us, with Victoria Falls virtually in our backyard!

View from Victoria Falls Bridge

Life in Zambia after (nearly) 4 months

It’s hard to believe, but we have now been in Zambia for nearly 4 months; it feels much longer! I don’t say that in necessarily a bad way. I think that time just goes so much slower here and it does make me wonder what the next 20 months or so will be like.

Since my last blog prior to Christmas, life has been relatively busy here with plenty of visitors, a trip to Namibia, work which has been actually quite busy, the set in of the rainy season and a few sadder events that are so typical of Zambia.

Onset of wet season

Perhaps I should get the sadder events out of the way first.

The first was the loss of our security guard’s 9 month old son. Well, truth be told he was never our guard, he was there for our neighbours, but we did get to know him well as he would often sit on our porch to read (we would leave the light on for him). His son died of malaria, something that should be completely preventable, but was initially diagnosed as malnutrition caused through teething. Unfortunately we became aware of the gravity of the situation too late and were unable to offer help. Made worse is that he has been reassigned to a different property and after we found out he earns only 150,000 kwacha a month (the equivalent of $34) for 7 nights a week, 12 hours a day.

Our other sad event was the death of our puppy Manqui (pronounced as “manky”). We adopted Manqui after he turned up on our door step unfed, flea infested, frightened of people and well, manky! Nearly two weeks with us saw him turn into a happy, playful puppy until he didn’t come home one night. Our puppy had caught a virus of sorts that seemed to attack his brain and nervous system. Long story short is that we had to have him put down to stop him from any further suffering. Unfortunately Zambia has some pretty violent dog viruses and the vets here are not resourced to deal with them.

Manqui: When he was still a playful puppy

Manqui sitting in our bookshelf

So life does suck sometimes in Zambia!

However, it hasn’t all been sad and there have been happier events…..

The first was spending Christmas in Zambia. Definitely not the same as spending it with family in Australia, but great to be surrounded by a good group of people, a braai, a few drinks, a couple of carols and all on the red African soil.

Christmas in Zambia helped by a great group of people to spend it with

We have had quite a few visitors over the past month which means we get to visit some of the cool places in Livingstone without needing to make an excuse! One of our trips took us (back) out to Taita Falcon Lodge; a lodge situated about a 40 min drive out of Livingstone due to the state of the road but in a stunning location at the top of the Batoka Gorge. We had Zambezi Bream and chips there for lunch, all washed down with a couple of cold beers.

Taita Falcon Lodge: Overlooking the approximately 200m drop to
Batoka Gorge. Me with VSO Volunteers Phyl (left) and Emily (middle)

Work has picked up in the new year as new opportunities to receiving funding have come the way of my organisation and an increased focus has developed on building organisational capacity for the challenges that lie ahead. We have been working together hard as a team to get things done and meet deadlines. I was also able to finally meet the our board members at our first board meeting for the year. Apart from some of the members struggling with my accent, it was great to meet them and discuss what needed to be done to kick off 2011 in the right direction.

The team working hard on a proposal

Our first Board Meeting for 2011

And so, the past month really has been quite mixed. Wet season is well and truly in full swing, but has been a welcome relief from the heat. We still continue to encounter regular power and water cuts, sometimes for up to 12 hours at a time, but you do learn to adapt. And over the coming month a number of the friends we have made here in Livingstone will be leaving us to return home to their respective countries, so the ups and downs will continue. But I guess that is the life of a volunteer in Zambia!

Mike and I

Taking it easy having sunset drinks

An introduction to Namibia

This post has been a long time in the making. We actually visited Namibia after Christmas for a week, but haven’t gotten around to writing about it yet. However I do think it rates a mention as Namibia was fantastic.

Namibia is a developing country, however there are times when driving around it that it’s easy to forget that. The roads and infrastructure (unlike in Zambia), is first world. We drove quite long distances and were amazed at how well planned and maintained things were.

One of the many well planned and maintained rest spots along the way

Our trip was a short one this time (a much bigger trip is planned for later in the year- Namibia and Botswana road trip- can’t wait!), but we did make it as far as the famous Etosha National Park. Unfortunately it wasn’t the best time of the year for animal sightings and we didn’t see any really exciting animals on this occasion, but was still great to get there and check it out.

Giraffe: Would have been a better photo without the car in front!

Plenty of Zebra

I know they're only Guinea Fowl, but I thought they were cool anyway

A lone Impala: Was the story of our day!

Mike loved the chance to take “Ruth” through the puddles (some more like small rivers).



"Ruth": Mike is so proud of this photo



Salt plain

So we were close to Etosha, we decided to stay in the town of Tsumeb. The town was actually quite strange, too quiet, but was still somewhat pretty and you could feel the German influence throughout it (and not just because of the beer). 

Windoek is Namibia's very yummy beer

Tsumeb

Tsumeb's main street: Not really happening

The camping ground we stayed at was great, fully decked and felt shiny and new. We also enjoyed a well cooked steak and nice red at the onsite restaurant “Dros”, our first in about 3 months, since we left home.

Our campsite in Tsumeb

Our first steak since leaving home. Loved the cow touch!

Enjoying a nice glass of red

On our way back to Zambia we stopped off at Ngepi Camp, a good half way point located in the Western Caprivi Strip, Kavango region.

Ngepi Camp had a great write up and we were looking extremely forward to staying there, even booking one of their Bush Huts as a bit of a treat after camping all week.

The camp is set up in a beautiful enclosure, with a “pool” fenced off in the river and a relaxed bar.

Ngepi's swimming pool

Ngepi Bar

I just loved this; was next to the pool

Our Bush Hut was a great concept, with open rooms looking out into the bush surrounds and open bathroom. However it all didn’t quite work. When we were there it was wet and the solar powered hot water was cold. So no warm shower! And to get to the bathroom we had to walk out of our room to the back of the hut in the rain. And the staff, mostly expats, all came with attitude problems, which doesn’t make for a pleasant stay.

Mike in our bush hut

The very cool view from our bush hut. Was lovely to wake up to!

Outdoor bathroom & shower. Was nice except for the cold water.

So we were a bit disappointed with Ngepi, but still tried to make the most of it sharing a bottle of sparkling.

Our bush hut celebration. We found a bottle of "Flexirent" which we
were quite excited about (for those who understand the joke)

"

Overall a great trip despite a few things not going to plan. But loved Namibia and definitely looking forward to coming back later in the year.