Day 8 and 9: 29 and 30 June

Zambia – Livingstone, Bushfront Campsite

We sent Stu whitewater rafting (thanks to the great people at the Livingstone Waterfront) while Evan and I worked all morning on the only decent network so far on the trip. I could have been bleak about this but my temporary office overlooking the Zambezi River definitely beat the office in the concrete jungle.

That afternoon all the teams gathered outside the Bushfront Campsite and drove in convoy to a school just outside Livingstone for the Bobs For Good Foundation shoe drop. It was a pretty surreal experience. There were over 26 cars driving along the main road in town. People hooted and whistled and blew on their vuvuzelas as we drove past. We were greeted by a marching brass band when we arrived. They led us to the school where over 200 children were waiting for a new pair of school shoes thanks to the Bobs for Good Foundation. My job was removing the children’s old shoes and replacing them with new ones – a very humbling experience. If you’d like to make a donation to the Bobs for Good Foundation, click here. They’re an amazing bunch of people doing some pretty incredible work.The Put Foot Rally team had flown up local comedian, Paul Snodgrass, and band, Me and Mr Brown (famous for entertaining people at Café Roux in Noordhoek on lazy Sunday afternoons), for the Checkpoint 3 party. Thanks must go to the incredible staff at the Zambezi Waterfront, especially Tony and Sarah, for hosting the teams and doing everything they could to make it such a success. The party rocked on until the wee hours of the morning.

We were meant to leave for Lusaka the following day, but we decided to stay an extra day in Livingstone with the #shoesonfeet crew (Dan Nash, Mike Sharman and Richard Mellon). We’d spent so much time working that we’d hardly experienced the adrenalin capital of Africa! Evan and the #shoesonfeet crew took a helicopter flip over Victoria Falls – returning with the most unbelievable footage. We then took a drive to the falls to watch the sunset. It costs US$20 to get in o the Zambian side and US$30 on the Zimbabwean side. Although there’s huge debate whether they’re best viewed from the Zambian or Zimbabwean side, it’s the time of year that sets them apart. I’ve been to both sides at different times of the year and they’re both equally as impressive. Although Zambia seems to be the best at this time of year.

An early night was needed for an extremely long drive the following day. We worked out that the drive from Livingstone to Chipata would take about 10 hours and, with our track record, it would probably take us a whole lot longer.

The Getaway team would like to thank:

4×4 Mega World for their fully kitted out VW Amarok

K-Way – the official gear partner to the Getaway team on the Put Foot challenge

MapStudio for their Southern and East Africa map

Contact

The Bushfront Lodge, Livingstone
Tel +44-845-293-0512
www.victoriafalls.net/bushfront/index.htm