The Mighty Zambezi River

[helge]

ts a massive [at][at][at][at]...what river does it swim up in Oz again...wasn't their an attack on a Navy guy or something a few years back, massive [at][at][at][at] of a shark

Perth ?

[Mandaloopy]

Nice pics, nice thread. Part of the world I am still yet to explore.

[Bonecollector]

Aye that's the one Willy, glad he didn't die.

I've heard the Brisbane river is packed full of the fuckers.

Helge they boost up rivers all over the joint, I think to have babies.

Aggressive bastards

[whiteboy namkhiao]

damn awesome.. cool trip. Fishing for tigerfish.. Goliath Tiger in that river. Good luck. damn cool. Please post pics if you catch any tiger fish or other cool oddballs. i am an avid freswater aquariest who likes the oddballs, and fond of many african river species... have kept tiger fish (Vittatus, not Goliath) in aquarium but only up to about 2 feet in length. full size Goliath tiger looks like something out of a horror movie.

[DrWilly]

full size Goliath tiger looks like something out of a horror movie.

that's true. We didn't have much luck this time around, but we'll head back again when the fishing season gets really busy.

You dont want to get your fingers caught in that maw.

[cyrille]

i am an avid freswater aquariest.

Sagittarius, meself.

[DrWilly]

Anyway, the youngest fella was getting a bit bored, we'd tried a couple of other places near the bank and over some drops but no more bites. We told our boat driver we'd give the fishing a rest and look for some wildlife instead.

So we drifted down the river, we saw some crocodiles, some hippos and some elephants.







But then we got stuck on a sand bar 30 metres from these guys above… couldn't reverse, couldn't go forward.

Had to get out into the water & try and push the boat while keeping a close eye on the herd of hippos who were positioned in the deeper water, so directly towards them. The hippos didn't want to move. They were not perturbed by the sound of the board engine and just kind of humphed and puffed. Show us their teeth, plashing around int eh water a bit.

Pushing the boat was hard work and we still had little or no luck. Eventually we phoned a friend who helped drove another board over, transferred the kids over to the other boat so they could then push the empty boat out over the sand bar.

[Bonecollector]

Africa is on another level, cannot wait to go there. I approve of your move to Africa, definitely makes a change from an Asian city

[DrWilly]

Some videos of the hippos and boat while stuck on the sandbar.

hippos hippos hippos everywhere


damn heavy boat to push while watching the hippos and looking for crocs.

Trying to get the boat off the sandbar in croc & hippo infested waters - YouTube

Some elephants cruising the river banks for food.

Elephants cruising the Zambezi River - YouTube

Sunset.

Sunset on the Zambezi - YouTube

[bsnub]

Hands down the thread of the year so far.

[DrWilly]

Thanks Subs. Got a couple more lined up when I can get away.

damn awesome.. cool trip. Fishing for tigerfish.. Goliath Tiger in that river. Good luck. damn cool. Please post pics if you catch any tiger fish or other cool oddballs. i am an avid freswater aquariest who likes the oddballs, and fond of many african river species...

The weekend is already over, but we’re planning to head back in October (best month to go Tiger fishing, they tell me) I’m keen for a proper fishing trip and not just a once off 2 hour fish while on a weekend getaway. October is also one of the driest months before the rains come, which means it’s also the best time to see wildlife as there is no grass and bush hiding the animals and less water around means they all need to visit the river to drink (not so much now, despite the drought conditions around the region).

But it’s also damn hot then! kinda song khran hot. 40°+ temps during the day and not much lower in the evenings.

[DrWilly]

Although we had a small kitchen attached to the lodge Zambian power cuts out regularly so we did most of our cooking on the outdoor Braii.

First season some T bones.



It was a touch dark cooking outside, though we did have solar powered lamps. With and without lights on the Braii.



And the result.



Cooking breakfast or lunch was just as easy.

Sizzling eggs - YouTube

[DrWilly]

No WiFi here, the kids weren’t much impressed but in the end enjoyed swimming and reading all day.

[DrWilly]

I’m not sure it’s that impressive in the photo, but managed to catch this little firefly bug towards the bottom of the photo… it really just looks like a photo glitch. But it was a firefly.




And one final sunrise before we drove back home.

[david44]

Great stuff, do they use local currency or like places with inflation pay in $ which are used for airlines international transactions and Zim clams at mom and pop store.shabeen/barber shop?

[DrWilly]

Yes, small places local currency. The lodge charged us in dollars.

[DrWilly]

Around here it’s common for locals to sell products (fish, vegetables, crafts, plants, furniture, carvings, and charcoal) by the roadside. You just stop and ask, I’d by told to expect a price around $5 equivalent but these bags were $4 so I bought two. These three ladies in colourful clothing helped load the vehicle.

Safely home and in use at about 1/5 of the price of the supermarket version. Though looking at the size of the bag it might be even more economical. I think the extra coal at the top is a cold war version of trying to attract customers because I’ve seen the bags get taller and taller. Some of them literally twice the size of a standard bag.

[armstrong]

People selling things by the roadside. What a novel idea.

[cyrille]

Where did he say it was novel?

He specifically posted that it was 'common'.

[armstrong]

Where did he say it was novel?

He specifically posted that it was 'common'.

Common "around here". Like it's not a thing in every country in the world.

[david44]

He's briketing it well, armo, I have even scene ladies selling something in Soi reverse khaogirl Patwrong

Tired of Pattaya bars so sleazy
Maltesers that are just easy peasy
Don't toss turn and be silly
Canoe grip your paddle like Willy?
Be an African queen in the Zambezi

[BLD]

I sometimes got tasked with driving a truck from savannakhet to vientiane and we would load it up with charcoal bags for my t
Relative half the price they paid in vientiane. I did feel a little guilty about keeping my Re llo's (relatives) in the charcoal age but they said hey, that's how we roll

[david44]

charcoal bags

IN iTALY YOU COULD HAVE BEEN A CARBONARA, ALAS IN WEST BUMMWEDGE A MERE BAGGY WAGGY