What is it with Elephants and Chilli?

Elephants are the most majestic creatures in the world in my humble opinion but they can be a hazard to farmers as they indiscriminately access farmed land to feed or merely to get to another place and that’s an issue.

Farmers in Zambia have found a unique solution: Chilli fences. They simply put up rope and cover it in Chilli Oil, which deters the Elephant.

That said, Elephants are not stupid. They have worked out that if they go through the fences backwards, they don't smell the Chilli.

Who would have thought ay?

Anyway, as you may have worked out we were in Zambia. A great place to chill out and meet other Overland travellers which is rare for us.

One such traveller is Henrietta. A single girl travelling Africa alone on a Motorbike!

Henrietta chills on her bike.

We met Henrietta in Morocco 18 months ago and have kept in touch since but never met again until Zambia.

She is a brave lady and we admire her greatly. Her social media is For the love of wheels of Youtube if you want to look.

Whilst in Zambia we also saw some delightful puppies being homed at a Tourist lodge. These were puppies collected from the street and then they were starting their training as anti-poaching dogs, helping to sniff out poachers, but at the time of writing, they were more interested in play fighting than finding poachers but oh, so cute.

The butterfly collectors and their assistants.

Another anomaly was bumping into some fellow brits from the ANHRT. The African Natural history research trust. This was a bunch of guys and girls camping in the bush with some of the biggest butterfly nets you have ever seen.

They go out at night and collect data on the moths in the area. I have to say it was great comedy value watching them with their nets but there. The actual function was a little beyond me. Great folks though and good on them getting a gig in Zambia at such tender ages.

On a more serious note, we did some research into the Aids situation in Africa and what it means.

When we broke down and decided to stay in a local village, we gave this lady several colouring books for the kids as payment for hosting us.

The governments initially blamed the west and told everyone it was a western disease; Even worse they advised people that if they wash after a sexual encounter, you would be fine.

Many countries went into denial and refused help.

In Africa currently, there are around 8,000,000 Aids orphans and many are orphaned as their mums have died and the fathers abandon them and seek another wife.

Africa certainly has its problems and each country has its unique problems as well as generic problems throughout. Zambia has such issues and more than anywhere else we have seen at least the proliferation of Charcoal production. Vast areas of forest are being stripped to make Charcoal. This is from softwood and hardwood.

It appears that everyone in Zambia makes and sells Charcoal with bags and bags of the stuff up for sale on the roadside and are visible for miles and miles everywhere in the country and supply is far outweighing demand with a bag full of charcoal taller than me selling for around £1.00.

That's a lot of work to get £1.00 return!

Charlotte sat with the ladies from a village when we broke down. See the obligatory Charcoal in the background.

From Zambia we headed for Malawi and as we entered we met a Swiss couple in a Landrover heading the opposite way. As we see so few white faces we always stop for a chat and they congratulated us on our bravery in entering Malawi whilst there was such an acute fuel shortage.

What fuel shortage we replied.

There is no fuel in the country as the government had run out of American dollars to buy the fuel they need.

At this stage, we had committed to going and had passed out of Zambia and into no man's land between the two borders. We had to continue and out came the map to make a quick calculation ion we could get through the country without needing fuel. We have around 1100km with a further 100km in Jerry cans on the roof.

This roadside vendor adds a whole new dimension to Takeaway Chicken.

After a quick calculation it appeared we were short by around 100 litres but we had to continue.

A few days on Lake Malawi eased the nerves and what a lake it is. It has a land mass of almost 30,000 km2. That's a lot of lakes and many smart entrepreneurs have set up tourist lodges on the sandy banks and made them a delightful place to hang out.

Whilst on one such lodge/campsite, we chanced upon the camp owner and South African guy and his wife who set up business some years earlier and had the place just right.

Two budding entrepreneurs sell their goods on the roadside.

This is how we do 99% of our shopping and the best bit. You stop and the guys and girls hand the goods up into the cab.

He was interested in our truck so the conversation drifted along nicely and then I mentioned the fuel situation.

The guy then tells me he owns a Fuel station, how much Diesel did I need? Job did and problem solved until we reached the Bailey bridge we had to cross.

As you watch the video, just think of my surprise when I got halfway across and looked down into the ravine below and saw a perfectly acceptable drive-through we could have/should have taken.

Malawi and Zambia are so African but each has its personality.

But I said earlier that Elephnmats are the most majestic creatures in the world..... But that was before we went to Uganda Gorilla trekking...... Next time.

And lastly, a few random shots.

Thank you for reading this blog.

Two boys with their only toys. A wheel and a stick.

What a smile.

It's not all glamour you know.

Mops for sale!

Matting for sale.

A boy displays his toy car.

And I said to her ........

Fish from Lake Malawi drying before being packed and sold. Good job this isn't smellavision!

Vendors moving their Charcoal.

More charcoal for sale.

The sun over Lake Malawi

Hello, I'm Fabulous, pleased to meet you

Some of the Southern Africa open and deserted roads

Hello, I'm fabulous, pleased to meet you. Not your usual greeting, but in Zimbabwe where children are often named after their parent's aspirations for them, so names like Fabulous, Blessing, and Wonderful are not uncommon.

And that's where we met Fabulous, in Zimbabwe when we parked up at the N1 Hotel by Victoria Falls on the Zimbabwe side (they are accessible from Zambia as well).

The Salt Pans. Open and vast.

Fabulous was the Ablution block cleaner or toilet cleaner if you prefer and although that role may have fallen below his parent's aspirations for Fabulous, the Ablution blocks were always fabulously clean.

But that was a hook to get you to read on. Did it work? It's all true but before Zimbabwe, I want to tell you about Botswana.

Botswana is a country the size of France with a human population of 2.5 million and an elephant population of around 130,000.

Elephant Sands. Probably my favourite place.

A country that still supports capital punishment and hangs an average of one person per year.

An English-speaking country (as is Zimbabwe) that also favours driving on the left but this is Africa and so it's optional really.

Botswana was for us, a bit like Marmite, or should I say, how Marmite should be. Thinly spread.

We could drive for a day or two and see nothing or nobody but when you hit the major sights and Oh ’boy!

The first major site we encountered was the Salt Pans with miles and miles of open space and no vegetation, just dry salt pans for miles. We spent the evening alone under the stars as far away from human civilisation as almost possible. Just beautiful.

Next up was the Lodge at Elephant sands.

Someone had the foresight to build a tasteful lodge and camping area next to an Elephant watering hole.

The bar/restaurant was so close to the watering hole, you could sit with a G&T, keep warm by the campfire and almost touch these majestic creatures whilst they played, showed their authority to each other, gurgled the water, farted (a lot) and then moved on. They were queuing up to come and drink. Even writing this brings a lump to my throat. It was a sight I will hold dear forever. There were dozens of them all vying for space and supremacy. The young males play fighting as the old bulls looked on.

The owner did also share with me that while building the accommodation chalets for the lodge, he had lost around 17 toilets as the elephants would come into the camp, pull the thatch off the roofs and tear down the walls and then smash the toilets to get to the water! Thankfully, that’s all stopped now as I imagined being sat in a certain place looking up at an elephant!

During our jaw-dropping visit, I did hear one younger female guest who ventured to the watering hole say, the Elephants weren’t as big as she thought they would be and they were nothing like the ones she had seen in The Jungle Book movie and then, she excused herself as the WiFi was better nearer the bar some 50 meters back from the Elephants. Such a sad reflection on how some humans perceive the world I guess?

An Elephant washing the grass before eating it on the River cruise.

An Elephant crossing a river. Majestic!

When we embarked on a River Safari we were mesmerised, on one river bank, we saw Kudu, Giraffes, Crocodiles, Baboons, Zebra and of course the beloved elephants. In all my years, I have seen these creatures, sure. But never all in one place.

We even heard a Lion roar and I reckon we saw a couple disappear into the undergrowth.

Anyway, on to Zimbabwe and Fabulous.

The reason for us being in that area is Victoria Falls. One of the seven natural wonders of the world.

I won't dwell, but, words like Awesome, incredible, and epic come to mind. Simply, you have to see them understand.

Victoria Falls

Victoria Falls are just over the border from Botswana (and Zambia) and the town built around the falls has no real soul but is a convenient location to get to see the falls and so we soon moved on and headed south leaving Fabulous to his….. well, fabulous ablution block.

And so Zimbabwe. The country welcomed us like a warm bath. The people couldn’t have been nicer.

The weather was good, the food was average. And we soon settled in.

Part of the tour of Zimbabwe took us to the Kalahari desert to see the San People. A native group that had been displaced some years earlier as the Government had found various minerals on their land and so re-housed the San people so they could access the valuable treasures that lay beneath the earth's surface.

The San dressed for the tourists.

The San people in their now "for tourists only" Traditional dress.

The San people went from hunter-gatherers to living in basic housing, and a more civilised way of life but a few had kept their tradition’s alive and would dance for tour groups and take people into the wilds to show how to make fire, how to dig and forage for traditional medicine. Anything to keep the tradition alive.

We found a lodge specialising in showcasing the San’s skills and we latched onto a tour group who had kindly paid the San people to dance. It all appeared a bit too staged for us so we went back to our truck and made a campfire and broke out the beer.

When they finished the San finished their dance, attracted by our campfire they, came over to see us and asked for Beer.

Drinking our beer and eating my dinner!

We obliged and also fed them with a hot curry we had prepared and arranged to go on a bush tour the next day and we saw how to make fire, forage for medicine including a particular route from a bush that is good for fertility and we have that one stored away…..

Zimbabwe will though, I’m sure be remembered for President Mugabe and his actions around the turn of the century and removing white farmers from their land and giving them to the black locals and the catastrophic failure that has caused, the total collapse of the economy thereafter.

We witnessed some of the aftermaths in Harare, the capital after an invite from a friend of a friend who invited us to stay on their land surrounding their home.

Apart from being amazing hosts, they told of the heartache they had gone through back then having had their farm taken from them. They classed themselves as lucky as they had a little notice to plan where are others had been thrown off their land with minutes to pack a few valuables only.

The worst affected was anyone married less than 6 years and evicted immediately.

Many had taken out bank loans to expand their farms and still owed the banks even though they had nothing and were paying the banks to this day.

Some farmers had seen it coming and sent their sons to Zambia which was offering land for free at the time as they understood the economic benefit of having experienced farmers growing crops. They are thriving whilst Zimbabwe slowly implodes.

Finally, a few words on poaching that is rife throughout southern Africa and an alternative view that a gamekeeper put forward to me whom we met in Harare.

In some areas, the licensed hunting of older games is allowed as this keeps the breeding stock young, raises finance to fight poachers and the meat harvested is given to the local villagers who are then encouraged to shop the poachers in exchange for free meat.

It's not for me to judge?

A few facts about poaching in Africa

(The recognised currency in Zimbabwe is the US dollar after the collapse of their currency).

The value of a poached Pangolin is around $6000.00

An Elephant tusk is worth around $2500.00

The prizes are big and if you have nothing and you need to feed your family?

Thank you for reading this, if you got this far, well done!

The colourful street markets that are all over Africa.

Avocados - 50p a punnet.

A visit to an Elephant orphanage was very emotional.

They also had Giraffe and a Pangolin that had been rescued. And as the sun set, they gave us finger food and Champagne.

The keeper spends 11 hours a day taking the Pangolin to Ant hills to feed. He is the only person allowed to handle this delightful creature.

Some kids on their way to school taking an interest in the truck.

Ice Cream anyone?

Bulawayo street views, Zimbabwe.

Gimme hope Jo'anna, give me hope.

A symbolic photograph depicting modern South Africa.

What do you think?

After all the repairs were completed on the truck we left Cape Town and headed East, taking in Route 62 and the Garden route.

Leaving behind the mechanics' lovely dog, Dusty was hard to do.

Along route 62, there is the famous Ronnie's Sex shop which despite its name, was a general store set up by ….. Yep, Ronnie. The other bit came after his friends decided to play a practical joke on Ronnie and painted the word sex along the side of Ronnie's shop already painted and it has now become a tourist icon, but we must off caught Ronnie on an off-day as the place was closed when we passed. Not that we were looking for sex or anything!

The Iconic Ronnie sex shop. It's now a bar but it was closed when we passed by.

The Garden Route and Route 62 was for us, twee after being in gritty west Africa but enjoyable all the same, with lots of eating and drinking opportunities to temp a stray tourist or two.

Some of the attractive, manicured stops on the Garden route.

Well designed to capture the tourist Rand.

Next up was East London, and St Francis bay to name a few places where, after 21 years, I was able to meet old friends from Cradock Round Table. It's been 21 years since we all last crossed paths in a European Round table exchange to Cradock, but it was as though it was yesterday. Just the drinking was much more subdued this time around.

All that behind us and we headed for Lesotho. A small country that packed a big punch.

The mountains held some amazing treats and the local village people moved around by horseback with leather pouches on the horse's flanks to store their goods. As they passed us by dressed in their traditional blankets we were greeted with huge smiles and warm hellos, but boy, wasn't it cold up in the mountains.

Wonderful Lesotho and the people of the country.

This way of life hasn’t changed for centuries, apart from the introduction of mobile phones of course. I think the scenery here is my favourite of the trip so far.

The mountains offered some wonderful views and whilst exploring, we saw various homes built in the traditional stone style with thatched roofs, but we became confused by some homes that were sporting a flag that was no more than a white plastic bag. Eventually, curiosity got the better of us and we had to ask what it meant. The particular family we asked couldn't have been more friendly and laughed out loud at these two daft tourists asking such a question. The answer was simple, the white plastic bag indicated a Shebeen or unlicensed drinking den serving home-brewed Millet ale or similar. We didn't sample!

Horses play a big part of Lesotho life.

Leaving Lesotho was not easy but we had to crack on and Johannesburg was on our sites.

We wanted to add a couple of new lockers to the truck and we had started conversations with several Aluminium fabricators in Jo-berg to make them (more shoe space for Charlotte) and I decided we would use one guy that had been quick in responding to my enquiry and sounded just the ticket to make our new lockers and he suggested we drove down with the truck to get measured up and agree on a cost.

When we arrived at the workshop, it was in the middle of the Hood and we stood out like a sore thumb. The area was called Regent Park but I hasten to add, not like the Regents Park that I know. This was like something off the movies.

Djomo, the owner was outside and greeted us. The temptation to drive off was very strong but we bit the bullet and smiled through gritted teeth.

Djomo spent a few hours measuring and head scratching whilst we stood with our backs to each other hoping that we had all bases covered in the event of an attack! But as time passed, we started to relax and to our surprise, people started talking to us and asking about the truck.

Everyone was really friendly and not at all scary. They told us they were the good guys and the Nigerians down the street sold the hard drugs and to stay away from them but the local weed dealers came and chatted and even posed for a photo.

I asked why they moved around in a pack as they all wanted to sell their weed and how did that work as a group? The answer was simple, they worked as a type of Co-operative and moved around as a group for safety as they carried products and cash and so to work together made much more sense.

Eventually, Djomo finished his measuring up and we were free to go until he had the materials ready.

Djomo measuring up for the new lockers.

When the materials arrived, we headed back to the Hood to start work and en route, the truck developed a grating noise coming from one of the wheels on arrival we removed the offending wheel to find we had damaged the studs holding the wheel in place and that day was the start of a Bank Holiday weekend.

The lockers under construction

The truth soon dawned on us, we were stuck in Djomo’s yard until the shops opened again 4 days later. You couldn't make this stuff up. Honestly.

Djomo reassured us we were safe and he had a night watchman in place who would protect us.

Guys on the street corner just hangin'

A small fruit and veg stall typical of any African street.

The local weed dealers posing for a photo.

Djomo told us he had worked in the area for 15 years since coming into South Africa from his native Cameroon. He told us he had been robbed 7 times in the first 2 years of opening his workshop and how he had told his father he was going to find the thieves and punish them (he is a big strong guy) and his father had told him two leave them alone as if he took revenge, the thieves would surely kill him.

Just an everyday scene from the Hood.

The truck starting to gain some interest.

They are rough, tough streets but the people are so nice.

He told us how he took his father's advice and carried on working hard and ignoring the break-ins eventually they left him alone and he became a respected member of the community locally and he told us that's why we would be okay.

The following day Djomo came to work despite it being a bank holiday and worked all day on our lockers. As the day started to fade, his wife and various friends started to arrive and we were invited to an impromptu BBQ, Cameroon style with the meat being cooked on an open fire and then roughly cut up as everyone ate with their fingers and no one was sure if the sauce was Cameroon style mayo or axle grease and nobody cared. These guys took us into the world and their hearts and much alcohol were also consumed by one and all.

A last stir of the sauce before the meat is cooked.

Everyone awaiting their food.

I am sure they had sanitised the newspaper before putting the meat on it.

Djomo and I spoke of our fondness for Whisky and, of my love for Irish whisky and suggested I went to buy a bottle from the local liquor store. Djomo insisted he chaperoned me and fleeced me to ensure my phone was left in the compound and all other valuables. Just in case ????

On our return, all the men mixed the Irish whisky with Coca-cola and ice and said they liked Irish whisky too. This wasn’t quite how I wanted them to taste a true drop of Tullamore Dew, but never mind.

We survived the weekend and have many new friends as a result.

We even got serenaded whilst the meat was cooked.

That's how to prepare meat?

The lockers were completed and Charlotte now has more storage for her shoes and I have more storage for my tools.

A parting gift to us from Djomo and his family. A fish-prepared Cameroon style.

All well that ends well.

The road north was now beckoning and it was time to go. We headed for the Botswana border and on to the next part of our wonderful adventure.