The next port of call on our adventure was to be Kasane, Botswana, which is a short drive and a ferry from Livingstone, Zambia. On our way, we really wanted to visit a small village, since we haven’t really seen the stereotypical village set up since we got here. We were hoping for mud huts in the middle of the bush, and we got mud huts in the bush!
About twenty kilometers outside of Livingstone, we stumbled
upon a small village that we think is called Simonga. From our car, we saw the
straw roofs rising above the tall grass that lined the road, and figured that
this must be the place. No sooner than we pulled over, about a dozen children
emerged from the bush with massive smiles and excitement.
We spent the next hour or so touring their small village. We
started at the most important part, the football pitch, and moved on past the
houses towards a small school, which had recently been built, but definitely
not finished.
The village and the school were so cool. The bricks for everything in the village were made from the ground, there was no paint or wallpaper anywhere, and the roofs were all thatched from straw. There were wooden beams everywhere. Houses were just one small room, with a “kitchen” outside, which was a small structure with hot coals in the middle of it where they cook, open so that smoke can leave. Even though everything is so basic, it is really clever.
We talked to the school founder and teacher for a little
while, took some photographs, and just enjoyed being with the children in a
picturesque African village. It was one of the many highlights of a fantastic
trip.
Africans (possibly overgeneralizing) have a reputation for
being really friendly, and the people of this little Zambian village were no
exception. They were so welcoming, and their happiness was contagious.
Experiences like this one make us feel really grateful for what we have, but also
make us realize that if we can’t be happy in whatever circumstance we are in,
then we really have nothing.
After our fantastic stop in the village, we headed to the
Kazungula Ferry. The ferry connects Zambia to Botswana, which is actually the
shortest international border in the world, at 150 meters in length. The
crossing is sandwiched in between borders with Zimbabwe and Namibia. Similar to
the four corners of Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona, you can see
Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, and Namibia from the ferry, all four countries that
we would visit on the trip.
The Kazungula Ferry can only transport one truck and a few
cars with each trip, so you can imagine that the border is quite hectic. Trucks
are lined up along the side of the road for what seems like a couple of miles,
and money changers, sellers, car cleaners, etcetera line the streets around the
border.
While we were getting our paperwork done, a guy ignored Dad’s
wishes and washed our car. Dad told him that he did not want it done, and that
he wouldn't pay him if he did it, but that didn't deter the guy one bit! We
thought we would get away from him on the ferry, but he just followed us on. He
turned out to be a nice guy, although annoyingly (and disobediently)
persistent. We suppose it all paid off though as he was paid in the end, and
Dad made a new friend. Sometimes you just have to give in and go with the flow.
Travel is more fun when you give in every now and then.