Today was the first of two back to back five hundred kilometre rides so I was up and ready to go at about 6:30am. However the guy who was to take my payment was hilariously slow with his paperwork. I sat and watched him spend fifteen minutes deciding which one of two pieces of carbon copy paper to use. In the end he chose neither and went out to fetch a new piece.
While this was going on, a cook came and asked me what I wanted for breakfast. I wasn’t that hungry but he insisted that I eat something. He volunteered to cook me an omelette and I asked him for a glass of any type of juice along with it. Lemon juice was all that was available. Interesting. It took him almost an hour of flapping around to cook it and in the meantime my carbon paper man could not complete my bill until I had eaten it. Just go with the flow in Africa.
While all this fuss was working itself out I used the time to have Simba ready to pull out. Once breakfast was eventually eaten I paid the finely itemised bill which included in detail what I had had for dinner the previous evening. I said my goodbyes to all and pulled out at 8:15am.
The first three hundred kilometres or so of The Great East Road, as it is called, was the best road I had yet experienced on this trip. No road works, no off road and straight as a ‘tramp’s nightmare’.
There was very little traffic too which meant that I was able to make good time.
Tucked in off the road behind the bush there were hundreds of little villages all along the route.
This poster appeared regularly which was obviously sponsored by NGO’s working in the area.
As the road started to climb into the mountains everything slowed down. Potholes started to appear frequently, as did the dreaded roadworks. This was compensated however with some magnificent scenery punctuated by one beautiful river crossing in particular.
But that was just before hitting what is probably the most disgusting, dirty and seedy crossroads town in all of Africa. It is called Luangwe Bridge and this photo doesn’t remotely capture how grotty it is. It marks the junction which almost sits on the Mozambique border and where you turn south to drive the short distance to the Zimbabwe border.
This was not a place that I wanted hang around so I pushed on quickly. Just past the town, while stopping for a pee, two guys got off their bicycles and came right up close to watch me. That issue of space and boundaries once again.
Another three hours or so brought me to Lusaka where I stayed on the outskirts of the city. Tired but it had been an enjoyable day. Oh and the joy of a really hot shower….
ZIGZAGGING AFRICA BY MOTORBIKE 