Day 38 – And then there was blood
We got up lazily to a cloudy day. We thought of going to the Victoria Falls with a taxi, but then decided against it. We folded the tent up and packed everything in. Just as we were about to leave at about 10:00, Hugo went to get the GoPro from reception where it was charging. As Hugo bent down to grab the GoPro he hit his head against the sharp end of a TV frame that has been grinded open to remove the TV. Hugo immediately held his head as one does, at the time it just felt like a normal bump. Someone asked if it is bleeding, upon inspection his hand was full of blood and blood started to drip on the floor.
The dodgy looking stitches
Caro rushed over with the First Aid kit and cleaned the wound and gave Hugo cotton wool to press on the cut to stop the blood. Sam found a hospital on google, just as Caro was about to start the engine the backpacker manager came and said there is a hospital just around the corner, he will accompany us. We accepted the offer and Caro drove the 500m to the dodgy looking hospital. At the reception Hugo’s temperature and weight was taking while the only doctor, Dr Shafik, was called to come to the hospital. He arrived a while later and led us down some spooky corridors to his office. After looking at the wound he asked us to leave the office while he ‘prepares’ some stuff. He then ‘negotiated’ a price with the backpackers manager before calling us in again. After some more waiting he took us to the ‘operation’ room through some more corridors stacked with old furniture. The room looked like a prison hospital with tools from the second world war. Hugo lied down and got injected with local aneasthetics. Caro tried to hold Hugo’s hand, but had to run out twice as she got too nauseas from looking.
Hugo got two or three stitches that intertwined with his hair as it wasn’t first cut away. After everything was done we had to pay 1600 Kwacha, about R2200 on the credit card. We’re still trying to claim it from Travel Insurace.
Back at the backpackers we decided not to go to the Vic Falls today, but to rather just take it easy. We sorted out some admin and tried to do some research on what lies ahead.
The backpackers only has cold water showers, with only a small stream of water coming out. Caro boiled some water and washed Hugo’s hair, which was still full of blood, before we went to bed.
22 March
Day 39 Victoria Falls
We stayed in bed until the heat baked us out. We had to pack up the tent again as we were really going to the Vic Falls today. At 11:00 we were finally ready to leave and the Brudis plus a Zambian girl from Lusaka, living in Germany, joined us. At the Falls we paid the 190 Kwacha entrance fee (just 12 Kwacha for Zambians), and proceeded down the walkway. It was still cloudy, but with some spots of blue sky.
The water was coming down with so much force that we could basically only see 50m sections at a time, with the rest just being a thick white cloud of mist. We got soaking wet at all the viewpoints facing the falls, but quickly dried again walking down to the boiling pot.
Back at the backpackers we just chilled for the rest of the day.
23 March
Day 40 Real drop day
Today Sam flew to Vietnam, so Caro helped (or distracted) him to pack his bags. We decided to take him to the airport and thus had to take the tent down yet again. The Brudis, however, helped for one last time and made light work of it.
Just before 11:00 we set of for the airport via a print shop, which we didn’t find. The airport building is quite modern, especially compared to the area we are staying in. We stayed with Sam until the final moment when he entered through the baggage check.
At the airport, dropping Sam off
Back at Zinga Caro tried to do some Unisa assignments while Hugo worked. At 15:00 we headed to town to meet another couple from South Africa, who we found on Workaway. They are working at a primary school in a township in Livingstone.
They’re also travelling through Southern-Eastern Africa for a few months. We had lot’s to talk about and hope to meet them again somewhere in Africa. They still had to cycle back to the village and left just before it started getting dark. We saw that the market was still open and strolled through all the stores, admiring the beautifyl crafts without buying anything.
Caro started to not feel so good, probably from the Kapenta she had for lunch. Hugo thus had to make dinner, with Caro shouting instructions from the roof top tent. He made pork strips with potatoes.
24 March
Day 41 Last drop day
Today Mario left to a Workaway volunteer project, so after 41 days of travelling together the Brudi/Monkey team was no more. Hopefully we’ll reunite again in Switzerland or some other destination.
We packed up our tent yet again and headed to town in hopes of finding faster WiFi. We went to Cafe Zambezi and Hugo managed to do some work while Caro worked on her UNISA assignments. We stayed for pizza, before driving up and down Livingstone in search of insurance and gas refills.
We found Nico Insurance and enquired about getting COMESA Yellow Insurance, but as some forums suggested it is not possible for South African registered vehicles to get the insurance in Zambia (or perhaps anywhere else) anymore.
After stopping at various places we finally got directed to a hardware store next to Finta Dairies. We needed help with our Cadac gas bottle which acted very weird and made big flames. They ‘tested’ it and first thought the wrong type of gas was put into the bottle in Katima Mulilo. After opening the bottle full blast, with white gas spraying two meters high for what felt like a few minutes, the guy declared that it is the correct gas – there was just too much of it. The Pupkewitz in Katima Mulilo filled the 5kg bottle with probably 8kg of gas, this caused the gas to simply escape too fast for the stove top to handle.
We decided we are definitely leaving tomorrow, so we tried to pack everything in before going to bed.
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