Driving from Ngonye to Sitoti

From the park's office at Ngonye Falls it's about 61km northwest to Sitoti pontoon. On the way you'll pass the turn-off west to the Nangweshi Refugee Camp (GPS:TUNANG) and a second turn-off, this time to the east, for CB Riverside Lodge (GPS:Turning to CB Riverside Lodge TUCBRI), a very, very basic establishment which is still largely under construction. There is a toilet here, but no obvious showers.

About 45km north of Ngonye, and 16km south of the ferry, there's a substantial road junction (GPS:TUSHAN) with a road heading west to Shangambo, which is on the Kwando (aka Cuando) River. A sign here points to Cuando Lodge, which proudly advertises that it has 'showers and lights', and the Shangambo Mission. This turning is beside a small settlement known as Matebele, where there's a small bridge over a tributary to the Zambezi. Just north of this, the road forks and the right fork drops down on to the lower-lying grasslands of the Zambezi's floodplains – and thence to the Sitoti pontoon.

The left fork here probably leads to what, in theory, is a very difficult and sandy track along the western side of the Zambezi floodplain to Kalabo.

Sitoti pontoon

The pontoon across the Zambezi (GPS:FERRY2) is a little over 20km (40 minutes) south of Senanga. It's a good, large pontoon which can take several vehicles at a time. During the dry season it costs Kw25,000 for a typical Land Rover, and runs from 06.00 to 18.00. It crosses when full; there's no set schedule. In the wet season it has a similar schedule, though costs Kw45,000 and the crossing is longer.