Dangerous roads in ZAMBIA 🇿🇲 LIONS everywhere! [S7-E91]

In this episode, I am planning to ride to a small village called Mfuwe, in Zambia, right at the South Luangwa National Park. There is a long dirt road leading there, but that route is not without dangers. It’s still rainy season, and the rivers there are full of crocs and hippos and there are no bridges. So I have to figure out if the water levels are low enough so I can cross but I’m getting mixed information from the locals..

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Yeah no, they also said do not go there, it’s way too dangerous There are so many lions Lusaka, ZAMBIA Season 7 – Eps. 91 Good morning Internet it is 9:05 in the morning and welcome back to the channel

Welcome here in Lusaka, the capital of Zambia and today I am starting to make my way towards the east side of Zambia  But again, there’s a little bit of uncertainty about the route that I will be able to take So let me show you on the map kind of where I’m trying to go to

So I am now right over here, and I am planning to go to.. I think it’s this area Uh, around this part of of Zambia, so I’ll first follow the main road to Petauke and from there I really want to cut across through here

But I don’t know if that’s possible because if it has been raining then the water levels might be too high And there are some river crossings  and if the water levels are high there’s   actually crocodile and hippos in there. And it is way too dangerous to try and cross them

So in Petauke I’ll just start asking around to see if it’s possible to take that route And if not I’ll have to find out uh, yeah I have to figure out a different route And there she is nice and shiny! Thank you. Bye bye! Bye bye

It’s hard to imagine, because since I’ve crossed in Zambia the weather has been like this It has been hot, it has been blue skies and dry. No rain whatsoever Even though we are still in the Zambian rainy season So that just shows that you know, it’s always a bit unpredictable

I don’t know if you can see this, but like how is this car like.. It’s going like this! How is that possible? It’s impressive, impressive It’s a lot more hilly on this side of Zambia And I’m also noticing that that changes the weather, see

So.. I don’t know I would not be surprised if it has been raining here Even though it was dry on the west side of Zambia Wow, this is bad, ooof. Can’t see anything ah My goodness [Dutch], this should be illegal This is not normal [Dutch] Oh wow! It is beautiful here That’s a cool bridge

Wow, look at this All right This is the town Petauke The edge, I’m just going to ride a little bit more into town And then just uh.. start asking around, if people know if the road is doable or not Hey, how are you? Um yeah, I have a question first

From here to Mfuwe , is the road open? Is it dry, do you know? Yeah Yeah sure.. there is no there no rain, there are no rains No rain – No rain – For a long time no rain? Yeah sure. Okay, but do you know anybody who has traveled that route recently? Mfuwe?

We don’t know how bad it is But it will be okay, but we don’t know how bad it is right now Yeah, ’cause I heard that 3 weeks ago, there was quite some water But not now, because.. three weeks ago? Yeah We have not been experiencing many rains for.. for about a month now

About a month, okay For the wet place.. the ground is no no.. *inaudible* Yeah, so it should be dry Certainly! Certainly – Certainly – Okay, I like the certain! Okay For a month, there has not been falling, so.. not been so Hm? For a month, nothing has been falling

No rain for a month No rain Okay. Okay that’s good news but I think I’ll.. I think I go tomorrow You go tomorrow – Yeah It’s quite far So you spend night around Yeah. I think so Huh? – Sure it’s okay – Sure okay All right, thanks so much for the info. Bye bye Thanks

Okay, that sounds promising. That really does sound promising No rain Yeah, I’ve seen some pictures of people on that road about I thought it was 3 weeks ago And then there was a lot of water But like too much. He says no rain for a month so.. that sounds good

But I think I’m going to do it. I’m going to attempt it but not today Because it’s now 2 o’clock, so it’s not super late But it’s 175 kms and yeah, never underestimate how long that can take you, you know

So I think it’s a better idea to stay one night here, and then start early morning tomorrow So then also just in case if it turns out that it’s not possible, I can still turn around I still have time to turn around because uh, yeah it’s quite remote you know

There’s not much out there, so I’d rather have the full day to uh, cover that distance I passed a couple of uh, places to stay so I’ll just stay somewhere Okay, change of plans again. I’m not going to stay here So I thought let me ask uh, this manager

You know, if he knows anyone who has traveled that road recently And uh, when I asked him like, hey can I take this road? He’s like, absolutely not! I was like, oh He even made some phone calls to some people in Mfuwe, that know that area really well

Um, and I was just listening to the conversation with that guy and yeah no, they also said do not go there It’s way too dangerous. So I’m going to follow the advice you know They all said don’t go there, especially on your own on a motorbike It is full of animals and like, the dangerous kinds

Crocs, hippos, elephant, lion and you know sometimes the track is blocked by fallen trees And yeah, they said only go if you’re, if you have like a proper good expedition vehicle, you know Or at least if you’re two people but they said don’t go alone

So I’ll take their advice. Uh, it’s a shame because I think it would be a really interesting route But I think I should listen in this case. So I’m going to go around Well, I’m still going to go to my destination but I’m going to take another route

And so I thought there’s no point in staying there, because now I have to ride more tarmac And it’s only 2:15 so I might as well just continue Oh, I wish I had one of those little parasols ‘Cause it is so hot I love these I am getting closer and closer to the absolute wilderness

How are you? – I’m fine, how are you? You from where? – I’m from the Netherlands From the Netherlands – Hm Go and see our beautiful Mfuwe in the National Park Yes I will thank you, bye bye I am getting closer to the big river So.. oh.. ha ha

That’s a little bumpy So I’m already passing all sorts of, hi Little rivers, like this one But uh.. everywhere there’s bridges so far, so that’s good for the crocodiles and the hippos Getting real close to the river now So that’s of course also where the big animals come to drink, like elephant

I’m just riding careful just in case, if there’s an animal Oh, there’s an elephant! Look, there’s an ellie Hi It’s not a very big one Aren’t you gorgeous huh? Not quite sure what to make of me probably See That’s why I was riding careful, because I was like it’s possible that I encounter some animals here

Oh, that was my first elephant I’ll probably see plenty more because there’s a lot of wildlife here It’s like, they’re so big and still they hide well because I only saw it at the last moment I was like hey, there’s an elephant standing behind that tree Oh, there’s some uh.. gazelle

Uh.. what are these? Impala? No yeah surely impala A bunch of them So this is my home really cute right? And then here.. I have a porch and I can just sit here overlooking the river And there’s monkeys All right, there we go

All right, it’s time to head deeper into the forest and see some animals Unfortunately, I am not allowed to go  on my motorbike, so I am now in a game drive vehicle Uh, with a guide and a driver and we’re going to see if we can see some animals They’re so close

Look the river is full of hippo. I don’t know if you can see them. Look at the hippo Amazing right? Wow. What a place, there is so much wildlife everywhere, it is insane   And as you can see the sun is now setting, so it’s going to be dark soon. It’s going to be interesting

All right, so it’s getting pretty dark now So let’s see if I will come across some animals that are active during the night Such as lion, hyena, what else? Porcupine There are so many lion! I’m going to end this video now because there’s lion everywhere. See you in the next episode