This past month I haven't blogged. The first two weeks of it I didn't blog because we were traveling. These past two weeks I haven't blogged because I didn't know where to start. :) So this is me starting to write about our camping trip through Eastern Zambia and Malawi! This will just be an introductory post.
Why did we go? We wanted to take a family holiday and Malawi is really close. You reach the Zambia/Malawi border within 2 1/2 hrs of our house. We decided to take a few days of holiday around Lake Malawi, and then we extended the trip to take advantage of the opportunity to visit 3 of our more distant students -- 1 who lives in southern Malawi, and 2 who live in Eastern Zambia. It would be difficult to visit these men during term time so it made sense to do it during the term holidays, in conjunction with an already-planned trip in that direction.
Why do we camp? Believe me, it's the affordable way to travel with a family! We bought our tent in 2011, our first year in Zambia, so that we could join our colleagues on a 10-day camping trip through northern Zambia. At that point Elijah was 1 year old. We bought a large 6-person tent, figuring it was an investment which would last our growing family for a long time and would make affordable travel possible. Then last year we camped as a family for 10 days in Livingstone, visiting Victoria Falls, with nearly 2-year-old Elijah and 6-month-old Ketzia. This time Elijah was nearly 3 years old and Ketzia was18 months. We find that camping is an excellent way to travel with kids because kids love the outdoors, and because staying in the same familiar tent every night is easier on the kids than staying in a strange hotel room every night or two! And it is so cheap! I don't know how much camping costs in the USA, but most places here in Zambia don't charge more than $10 a night (2 adults) and some are even less. Since you're saving money on accommodation, you then have the flexibility in your budget to eat out a bit more, or to make it a really cheap holiday by cooking all your own meals (we did a bit of both).
But... camping?! What about laundry? And drinking water? And hot showers? And bugs? :) Hey, camping isn't everyone's cup of tea, but if you are relaxed AND prepared, it can be a fabulous low-key inexpensive way to 'get away.' You do need to be prepared though... especially camping in Africa. Not every campground will have clean drinking water available, so some places you will need to bring your own. (In 2011 we had to bring our own water - it was real off-road camping in wild and remote spots; this year all the places we stayed -being more 'touristy' - had safe drinking water.) I washed laundry by hand, trying to keep up with it throughout the trip. Since there are 4 of us, I didn't manage to actually keep up with it, but I at least kept it under control so that we did have clean clothes to wear throughout the trip and I didn't have 6 loads of filthy things to wash when we got home (only 2). :) Hot showers? Not necessarily guaranteed... even in places which advertise hot showers. Sometimes the hot water has been used up already by other campers. :) I certainly had my share of uncomfortable showers during the trip. But it just makes you more thankful for your shower at home. :) Bugs and other undesirable camping buddies? Well, be prepared, but not freaked out. Bring insect repellant, citronella candles, and Doom. Don't leave food or dirty dishes out for them to find and bring all their relatives to the feast. We camped with our fair share of ants, and not just bugs as camping buddies -- monkeys, too! (Nothing as worrying as having hippos, warthogs, and elephants in close proximity to our camp in Kasanka National Park in 2011, though!)
Do you have other questions about camping? Share them with me!
I will be continuing my blog posts about our trip, so keep checking back. They will be posted in date order (beginning 20 May 2013) below this post.
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