UPDATE:
The bridge is now officially open! The opening ceremony was held on 21 April, 2016 – we drove over it several hours later on our way back from South Africa. Since mid-March several pontoons have been washed away while attempting to cross – between washaways the bridge was opened temporarily until another pontoon could be brought into service. But now the pontoon at Sioma-Sikuka is a thing of the past.
Since our arrival in Mongu, Ed had been compiling a list of the hardware that he would need in order to complete some of the maintenance tasks at Mutoya and the Village of Hope. Now that we had our temporary work permits – only obtainable when our 30-day, single-entry visitor’s visas were about to expire – we were able to leave Zambia in order to visit Katima Mulilo in Namibia, where some of the locally unobtainable parts were available. Our plan was to leave at 4:30am and hopefully return the same day. The distance is about 320kms but this includes the unavoidable pontoon crossing at Sikuka/Sioma, and the border post at Sesheke/KM, both of which are impossible to estimate with respect to time – we packed an overnight bag, just in case!
Crossing the mighty Zambezi on the pontoon, the ‘Sikuka Drifter’, has become an essential, if somewhat despised, part of the route between Mongu and the Namibian/Zambian border at Sesheke. A bridge over the river is currently under construction, due for completion later this year, at a date as yet unknown – it looks as though it could be operational quite soon but for now the pontoon provides the link between Sikuka on the eastern side of the river and Sioma on the west, for locals and foreigners alike. Prior to its inception the only way to cross was by boat, or, during the dry season, in a 4×4 over the floodplain on a sandy track that, apparently, would induce severe car-sickness because it was so uneven. For those who had experienced the route without the pontoon, using it was undoubtedly an opportunity to count one’s blessings – for the rest of us it was an exercise in patience . . . When the pontoon is functional, operating times are from 6am to 6:30pm (or 06:00 hours to 18:30 hours in Zambian parlance), with a lunch-break sometime during the day. Other than that, there is no schedule and departure times are anybody’s guess.
We had packed our camping gas stove and cereal with the idea of having coffee and breakfast while we waited for the pontoon. As it turned out it was pouring with rain when we arrived at Sikuka and the pontoon was nowhere to be seen – there was a car waiting and we could only assume that it was operational. Desperate for our morning coffee we made a plan, brewed our coffee and were busy drinking it when, suddenly, out of the gloom, Ed spotted the pontoon, three-quarters of the way across the river. We had a moment’s panic but then realised that it was making slow progress, battling against the current, weighted down with s
everal cars as well as a huge truck, which was about 15m long and heavily laden with electricity poles – the front ramp of the pontoon, the one that should be raised during crossing but never is, was ploughing through the water. We were able to finish breakfast and pack up before it arrived.
Seeing the truck I was reminded of our last trip on the pontoon, on our way to Mongu in January. As we were approaching the launch site at Sioma I had been so relieved to see that it looked as though the pontoon had just arrived and the vehicles were disembarking with a double-axle truck busy making its way off. We were only third in the queue so within half an hour we’d probably be on our way across the Zambezi. Our elation, however, was short-lived – the truck making its way off the pontoon had, in fact, been like that for about an hour – one of its drive-shafts had snapped with its rear axle still on the pontoon.
A tow-truck had been sent for, as well as someone despatched to Katima Mulilo to get a new part. The thermometer in our car was reflecting that the outside temperature was 49°C! When the tow-truck (actually a heavy vehicle transporter from the company busy constructing the new bridge over the Zambezi) it was unable to shift the truck and, after several attempts, the steel tow rope finally snapped. The pontoon captain had seen enough – he organised the bystanders, managed to get the rear wheels of the truck propped up with rocks, and then he began manoeuvring his craft until it was free. We finally boarded the pontoon two hours after arriving at Sioma. But it could have been much worse – others from the base at Mutoya have told us about being stuck for four days while the pontoon was being repaired and on another occasion having to go around on a dirt track through Livingstone after waiting for seven days!
Thankfully, all went well this time and we crossed without incident but by the time we reached the border it was about 9:30 am. We had been advised not to go to Katima on a Monday or a Friday because of heavy border traffic and today was Tuesday – we had forgotten, however, that it was also the first of the month! The queues of people leaving Zambia and entering Namibia were very long! While we were waiting a friendly local informed us that all the Zambian civil servants were paid at the end of the month, so presumably, they, or their families, were now going shopping . . . it was 11am before we reached Katima – in order to make it back in time to catch the pontoon before it closed for the night, we would have to leave by about 3pm – an overnight stop was beginning to seem inevitable, and we did, indeed, end up staying overnight.
The trip from Sikuka to Sioma is downstream and only takes about 20 minutes, but in the other direction, especially now, with the river beginning to swell because of good rains, the ferry is battling against the current and it took about 50 minutes to get across. The weather was the usual, hot and sunny, and, as I boarded on foot (no passengers allowed in vehicles), I was using my new umbrella, purchased in Katima, as a sunshade.
Ed and I found a spot at the front and we were enjoying the breeze and the scenery when we noticed spots of rain on the water in front of the pontoon – and then the heavens opened! The rule regarding passengers in vehicles is totally disregarded during a downpour with everyone who can crowding into a car or a truck. And then, as suddenly as it had begun, the rain was over and by the time we reached Sikuka the sun was attempting to break through the clouds again.
As frustrating as it is with its frequent delays due to breakdowns or lunch-breaks I think our lives are richer for having had the pontoon experience. Whenever I use the new bridge it will probably be with a sense of extreme gratitude, tinged with a slight hint of nostalgia!
The Hills in Mongu 