Hi guys,

Well, we are 50 days out of the Falls and have made it to Tashinga/Matusadona National Park, not too far from Kariba now. We should have been in kariba already but were delayed in Binga for almost two weeks which was super frustrating. I won't go into to detail at this stage - su fice it to say that bungling bureaucracy was to blame. Anyway, let's dwell on the positive and there has been a great deal of that - it has been an amazing adventure already. We have walked hundreds of kilometers, been to some very interesting places and met a bunch of fine people. Lots of excitement and lots of fun, a fair amount of hardship too, I might add. Anyhow, am trying to download some pictures for you all now and will add them to the bottom of this thread.

Cheers, David

good to hear from you Dave. I hope all goes well and looking forward to the pictures.
How are your feet doing?

Ian

Hi Ian, feet are super tough now but they took a pounding the first couple of weeks!

I am not surprised. Cant wait to hear the stories you will have to tell by the end of this.
Keep up the good effort and good luck for the rest of the walk.

Good luck David and be safe!!!

Brett

What an adventure!

Good luck David, have a great time get back safely.

Hi Dave, I am glad to hear things are going well. I bet you have some great photographs to show.

Quite simply, I envy you!

David:

Best of luck and stay safe.

Will you be visiting your family's homestead on Ruware? Barry and Rob tell me that game is making a comeback there as the level of squatters has decreased greatly and increased antipoaching patrols are having a positive effect. Much better than when Les and I were there in 2007.

Regards,

RCG

Yes, looking forward to your pictures and some more reports. Be safe!

David, how is the SatPhone working? have you been able to upload any pictures, etc.

Safe Travels and keep in touch,

Larry

David,
Safe travels,looking forward to your pictures.

Sorry guys, I am having a torrid time with photobucket. Have managed to download some pictures on the borderline facebook group if you want to have a look.

http://www.facebook.com/photo_...87252808047&view=all

Am still downloading there and will add captions when I finish. Thanks for all the encouragement.

Cheers, Dave

David,

Thanks for the update. I really admired your writing in Shangaan Song and wish you the best on your journey. Go well.

David

David: What was with the bushbuck that you pulled out of the water?

Awesome stuff David.

Just keep on walking....

The damned bureaucracies will lead us all to frustration and an early grave.

Good Luck.
May your knees, hips, and back be strong.

Thanks again for the good wishes.

Well, we are still cooling our heels in Tashinga. I have a fair amount of work to do (posting and article and photos etc) and this is the first decent chance I've had on the net since we left the falls, but there is a far more serious reason for why we are still here.

A terrible tragedy took place the day before yesterday. Jephita headed off with some Parks guys across the Ume River in a boat to buy some supplies from a store. On the way back, the boat went under and everyone was pitched into the river. There were seven guys on the boat and only five made it to shore. Jephita was the only one who swam the entire distance, the rest of the guys were picked up by canoes. Jephita ended up swimming about 300 meters through water full of crocodiles. He has quite a story to tell. Poor lad, but he is bearing up okay. People are searching but the two bodies have not been found yet. We have just been hanging around to give Jeph time to wind down, and in case the police want to talk with him. Needless to say, everyone is glum here at Tashinga. I am so grateful that my buddy made it - although he can swim he is not a strong swimmer. He says he remembered what I have long lectured him about re ending up in the water - keep calm, don't splash about (crocs) and swim breastroke slowly, especially if you are a distance from land. About halfway to shore he became very tired and turned on to his back for the rest of the way. There was a lone woman on the shore and she shouted encouragemnet to him the whole way in. What a guy, I am very proud of him. In a way, I wish I had been there, because I am a strong swimmer and maybe I could have done something for the guys that went down. But hindsight is easy and all I can do right now is thank the Lord that Jephita is okay.

I promise to post the promised update before we leave. It won't be very involved though - you'll have to read the articles when they come out in africanxmag.

Cheers for now, Dave

quote:

Originally posted by Use Enough Gun:
David: What was with the bushbuck that you pulled out of the water?

UEG,

Ah, the bushbuck, what a drama! That incident took place at the furthest point on Kariba dam from the dam wall. That day we left the Zambezi River a few kilometers from where it enters the dam, cutting across the bush to the bay in question. We were in forestry land and picked up quite a few snares along the way. Upon arriving at the bay, we came across a couple of fisherman who agreed to ferry us across the Mlibizi river. They said we should meet them at a point closer to the rivermouth in a couple of hours as they were still busy setting their nets. We set off for the rendezvous point in due course and after a few hundred meters walking the shorleine came across the bushbuck in a snare. I know the reutation of bushbuck and was a little nervous but of course we had to get it out. It had obviously not been in the snare long as it was still pretty strong. carefully I approached and grabbed its horns, before loosending the snare and taking it off. then I pulled bushbuck away from the thicket which it was in, pushed it away from me and commanded it to 'go bushbuck'. Not understanding english, the bushbuck turned around and plunged into the water! It immediately became entangled in grass and weed, and of course I hade to initiate phase 2 of operation bushbuck. Soon I had the buck back on land again and I once more tried the 'go bushbuck' line. I don't know whether it understood the second time around, but by now bushbuck was really angry and he turned on me, charging with horns lowered from close range. Luckily, I turned my back at the last instant and he only managed to get one horn into substantially padded flesh where left buttock meets left thigh. Bushbuck was angry but weak and the wound he inflicted was minor, but it may have been worse had it been a full frontal. After that? 'jephita hold this ungrateful tsoma, ndakabiwa!' (I have been stabbed!) ha ha. jephita took bushbuck up the hill, reeased him and came running down fast! He seemed okay when he moved off, but for some hair missing from his neck. All his legs were sound and although tired I'm sure he we in reasonable shape. I hope he makes it in that area, but I doubt it. I have no doubt that the snares we found around those bays were set by none other than the fishermen who took us across the Mlibizi.

Dave

If you would like to help us on the Borderline Walk, please consider buying the new, improved version of my book, The Shangaan Song, available here: http://www.lulu.com/content/pa...hangaan-song/7445615

quote:

Originally posted by David Hulme:
Sorry guys, I am having a torrid time with photobucket. Have managed to download some pictures on the borderline facebook group if you want to have a look.

http://www.facebook.com/photo_...87252808047&view=all

Am still downloading there and will add captions when I finish. Thanks for all the encouragement.

Cheers, Dave

Fantastic photos. Be sure to view from the last to the first, it will give chronological order.

Fantastic photos Dave. What a trip!

Sorry to hear about the boating acident. Bushbuck goring to boot!!!

Brett

What a fantastic feat!!! Great photos, can't wait for more.

You can age the photos with your beard.

Best regards, D. Nelson

Dave,

Thank you for the update. I only wish I were with you for part of the journey.

Greg

Well, it was extremely trying from the word go, as we expected it to be. After numerous delays we left the Falls on July 21 and walked straight into what must be some of the most challenging terrain we are likely to encounter. Flanking the river below the Falls and for many a mile downstream there is nothing but gorges. Gorges, gorges and more gorges which tested our determination from the onset. We stuck with the Zambezi for the first 30 kilometers and two days, dealing with the mighty gorges as we got to them (either through or around), but at a little village called Chisuma we were forced to cut inland, walking parrallel to the river anything between 5 and 10 kilometers from it. There were a couple of reasons for this - the gorges obviously, and the fact that we were warned about intensive police support unit activity in the Batoka Gorge region. Apparently armed Zambian cattle rustlers and poachers had been causing problems in the area and we were advised to make for a support unit base at the village of Kasakili and report our presence before progressing further along the river. We were happy to oblige, not keen to get caught in any crossfire. The march to Kasakili from chisuma was 30+ kilometers and we did it in one day. It was a trek I will never forget as early on in the day my feet began erupting in blisters. the final 10 kilometrs to the support unit base were sheer agony and I had to call on all my reserves of willpower to keep going. Jephita coaxed me in and I collapsed in a heap at the police base, so thankful to shuck my backpack, sit on my rump and drink tea. We stayed at kasakili for two days whilst I recovered and then walked (hobbled) down a rough track to Batoka Gorge through the hills. The plan was to try and find a route closer to the river from Batoka gorge, but it was a rather ambitious plan and it came unstuck fast. We soon found ourselves backpedalling from Batoka later that day, looking for country more conducive to footslogging. We camped that night in the bush a few kilometers east of Kasakili, and walked a good distance the next day through mopani forest between the border road and the river. we eventually cut the road close to a village called Lumbora and camped the night there, before heading back towards the Zambezi the next day and getting as far as the Matetsi River, close to its union with the Zambezi. We were on the Zambezi early the following morning and at Deka Drum before midday. We spent a day at Deka, recharging, washing our kit and bodies etc, and then we continued on our way, taking one day to reach a fantastic holiday/fishing resort known as Msuna. Many people consider Msuna the beginning of Kariba, because the pushback from the dam reaches this flattish area and has created a number of large bays and lagoons. very scenic and we were well cared for by the chairman of Msuna, Larry Cumming, and his wife judy. Such good folk who helped us out, not least of all by ferrying us across the Gwaii river in their speedboat when the time came to press on. The country between the Gwaii and the beginning of Kariba is brutal and it tested us to the extreme. It is just a seemingly never ending series of rocky ranges that flank the aptly named Devil's gorge. devil's gorge continues for many a mile and we spent the thirteenth night of the walk camped on its lower end, a few kilomters from where the Zambezi meets kariba. Tough country but most spectacular indeed. Two weeks after leaving the Falls we emerged from the bush at the furthest point on kariba dam from the dam wall, startling a couple of fishermen in the process, Once we had assured them we were not zambian poachers, we struck a deal with them re getting us across the Mlibizi river mouth. They said we should meet them on the far side of a large bay closer to the Mlibizi ina couple of hours as they were still busy settin nets. En route to the rendezvous point we came across a bushbuck ram in a snare (we had already lifted a number of snares in the area). The buck had not been ensnared long and of course we had to free it. This was achieved after a time but the disorientated buck then leapt into the dam! I went in after it and got it to land once again, whereupon it turned on me, lowering its horns and charging! Fortunately I turned my back at the last second and received only a minor wound in the well padded area where my left buttock meets my left thigh. Might have been a bit more serious had it been a full frontal!
the fishermen got us across the Mlibizi and after a couple days walk along the lakeshore we came to a super spectacular place - the Sebungwe river mouth. We were ferried across the sebungwe by some fisherman in a decent boat but it was overloaded, there was wind and wave and the crossing was fairly nerve-wracking, the boat taking water and all. Anyway, we obviously made it and spent the night camped on the north bank of the Sebungwe, before striding out to a very interesting place called Lokola, close to the Lokola River. in Lokola we met Makson, the headman of the area who lives with his family on Lokola Island. We had to cross the Lokola and makson offered to help us out. He rowed us to his home on the island where we met his extensive family (his brother has 6 wives and 30 children), and enjoyed one of the finest meals I have ever had - fresh salted bream cooked on hoat coals and sorghum sadza. how we ate that day! Makson's children rowed us across the Lokola and dropped us at a point about 10 kilmoters from Binga. we arrived there at sundown and marched to Binga by starlight, arriving there after 10 pm. For various reasons that i will not go into right now, we were delayed in the one donkey 'town' of Binga for almost two weeks. suffice it to say at this stage that bumbling beurocracy was to blame. eventually we go on the road (shoreline) again and were soon back in the thick of it, bumbling through sijarira forestry area and Chete safari area. It was disappointing how little game we saw in these areas, and we came across plenty of poaching sign - one poached elephant and plenty of snares. Chete was a major challenge, the going really tough. We spent a lot longer than we imagined there (not helped by the fact that we were kind of lost for a couple of days), but eventually we managed to cross the Sinamwenda River and leave Chete behind. We hung around for a couple of days at Mwenda fishing camp, recharging appliances and recuperating from chete, and then we set off for Sengwa, arriving there after dark 10 days after leaving Binga. At sengwa we met Mr Mark fourie who was kind enough to arrange a speedboat ride for us across the Sengwa mouth. Then it was through Omay communal land to Sibilobilo, Chalala and Bumi Hills. Upon reaching the Chalala/bumi area we began to see game, which made a pleasant change. We saw more game between Chalala and Tashinga National Parks post (15 kilometers apart) than we did during the hundreds of miles between the falls and Chalala. there is obviously much more control this end. right now we are at tashinga, in Matusadona national Park. besides the boating tragedy which i have briefed you on, things are going well. It has been an incredible adventure already and unfortunately i cannot fill you in on everything right now. We have met a heap of fine people, seem some stunning country and are having a blast. We should be heading out again tomorrow morning (If I get all my work done) and should be in kariba within a week - I don't want to rush this stage as i want to get a photograph of a big elephant bull if possible, and whatever else we may bump into, of course. In the falls, I estimated we would take 6 weeks to get to kariba. as it is it will be nearly two months. If it weren't for the delay in Binga we would have made it in 6 weeks. The Falls to Binga took 19 days, but only 15 of those were spent walking. It has taken us 20 days to get from binga to tashinga, but again there have been a number of rest, washing, recharging days. In any case, there is no rush. As i have said, we are having a blast.

Andrew Mclaren - where are we meeting and when?

Best wishes to you all and thanks for the support, David

Keep posting pics ...
Your pics are very interesting

Seloushunter

Continued success David. What an adventure!
Regards,
David K.

+1

Hope you can boat some of Kariba. After that, the Northern border of Zim along Moz is pretty rugged, too. Be careful on the downhills--they'll hurt you worse than the up-hills.
Best of luck to you.

Wow, just saw this, great pictures of a terrific adventure, talk about some life-long memories in the making! Keep it up Dave!

David - All the best, and what a life changing experience.

Is there anywhere else one can purchase your book? I cannot come right on the Lulu website I keep on getting the following message "We cannot find any valid ship methods for your address. Please enter alternate shipping information or contact support"

I am in RSA JHB

I would really like to support your cause!

Cheers

Well done so far Dave, keep it up. Good luck to you both.

Hi Ghundwan

Lulu do ship to SA just bought "african hunters cook book" and was delivered fine.

should also get it from amazon.com as well.

Dave, thanks for the reports and pictures. What an adventure!