Zambia

looking back to our lives in the last couple of months, it felt like covered by a thick veil of mist. physically functioning but with wounded souls we accepted the fact that the pandemic would persist for longer than everyone had expected. it was just a logical consequence to get back into our daily swiss lives as we were looking for new jobs and a new home. weeks and months of tears passed without losing this vulnerable feeling that something was taken from our souls… the first relief happened on a day in november when we received the positive message from our swiss honorary consulate friend in malawi that borders had opened again. without hesitation, it was crystal clear for us that we will give everything to make a journey to malawi possible. three weeks and an enormous laboriously administration preparation phase later, we were ready for take-off to africa! travelling to a rural african country in times of a pandemic is extremely challenging (starting from finding an airline still operating, over organizing and conducting several pcr tests in the respective countries to small annoying sensations like wearing ffp2 masks, protection shields and gloves during the entire trip…) and connected to lots of uncertainties. but no one and nothing could hold us back from returning to a life we were harshly separated from without the possibility of saying goodbye. thirty hours later, we happily arrived in macondo, mzuzu, the place where our life dream had ended rapidly and dramatically. after 264 days, this moment of return was accompanied by an explosion of feelings that are hardly to describe. in fact, we did not only awake Flora from its slumber but also ourselves! thanks to the supportive care for Flora by macondo’s employees, our defender was still in a very good shape and after an intensive cleaning of the same and some hour of paperwork, we decided to leave the country as fast as possible since a new virus mutation originating from south africa was starting to spread towards north. of course, we would not have done so without saying hello and thank you to our honorary consulate friend as we passed the capital lilongwe. this decision turned out to be very wise as one day later, the border to zambia got already closed again because of increasing numbers of covid-19 incidences. how lucky we were that we made it right in time! from this moment on, we could start to enjoy the yearned continuation of our journey. being back on track was one of the most wonderful moment for us in this year and the most precious christmas present we could have made to ourselves.

we were not only surprised about how quickly we could adapt to our former overlanding life, but also how lucky we were with the road conditions since we were traveling in the middle of the rain season when dry roads are turning into torrential rivers. the pandemic and consequently the missing tourism forced many campgrounds and lodges to temporally or even constantly close their services. nevertheless, regular touch points with the locals let us always find nice spots for staying overnight. our first stop was a campground directly at the riverside of south luangwa. it was the first time on our trip we have seen so many hippos and crocodiles in a heap what became an ordinary situation on our trip through zambia. being back in africa’s wilderness and living withing nature made us so happy we have never been since a long time before. we have not forgotten our skills in reading and understanding nature and so we got blessed with many breathtaking wildlife encounters like playing baby hippos in the river, mating lions on the road and a lying leopard on a tree. on the way from south luangwa national park to zambia’s capital lusaka to spend christmas eve, we passed vast agriculture land with thousands of mango trees. with their yellow-golden ripe fruits they looked like beautifully decorated christmas trees. Flora was all the time running and passing tricky mud roads like she has never had a major break in between.

as the country was missing the tourism from abroad, the prices of accommodations decreased tremendously and thus, travelling in their own country became suddenly affordable for more local people. to see the locals’ joy of spending time together with their families while experiencing their country was very blessing. but also, wildlife got less disturbed by tourism, and they could often successfully conquer some abandoned land as their new territory, as happened at a campground in lower zambezi national park, where shortly after our arrival Flora got inspected (and tolerated) by a curious elephant.

in the north of lusaka, we got the chance to encounter with two half-wild cheetah brothers. they were found and raised as babies after their mother was killed by poachers. accustomed to humans, they now live in a 10’000-acre area, where they can hunt on their own.

driving through zambia, green and lush agriculture defines the countryside, occasionally and fortunately interrupted by several national parks that pose nutritious habitats for zambia’s wildlife and of which one is more beautiful than the other. truly spoken for kafue national park where the most beautiful campsite we have ever been, kasabushi, is located. being out in the bush always makes us unprecedented happy and it was such a good feeling and relief to experience psychological recovery from the past months.

as we reached livingstone, our final destination of this time’s trip, we enjoyed the last couple of days and the turn of the year in a beautiful lodge at the zambezi river. on one hand, it was hard to pack and to prepare Flora for an indefinite time in storage again. on the other hand, we were extremely grateful that we could go back to africa, to digest the abrupt trip interruption and to continue our trip even if it is not the same as before. but the positive side is that our journey is indefinitely prolonged and like others having a vacation home, we are having now a vacation car on our beloved continent africa, always waiting and ready for us. we cannot wait to return again and to continue the next stage of our journey!