We were up early this morning. Our car was leaving at 8:00am to begin our long trek to Zambia and ultimately Victoria Falls. We woke up and had breakfast that was provided by the hotel we were staying at. They had an entire buffet of papaya, other fruits, cereal, toast, eggs, sausage, bacon, mini pancakes and someone making omelettes. It was pretty good. I grabbed some flapjacks (I KNOW RIGHT?!!) for anyone that knows me, you know that I absolutely hate pancakes. BUT these were smaller and fatter, so they were doable. One of Holly’s requests for me to bring was maple syrup so we busted that out and had it with our breakfast. It was a nice morning to start and then we were off. Today and tomorrow are big travel days.
We had to drive two hours to the Malawi/Zambia border first. We are traveling by mini bus. It is this VW sized bus that has about four rows in it. We have paid for our own private transport since it ended up only being $15 more than getting our own taxs and shuttles and at least with this, we can pull over any time we want. So the five of us climbed on in and headed to the border. Once we got there, we got out, and entered customs to let them know we were leaving Malawi. After filling out forms, we got back into the car and the driver Boniface drove us maybe another thousand feet across no mans land to Zambia Immigration and the actual border of Zambia. We walked into immigration, filled out more forms and paid for our visa to enter Zambia. On our way out, we noticed that the Zambia immigration office was offering free condoms for anyone who wanted them. Just a box, sitting on a bench, casually inside the immigration office.
We had to drive two hours to the Malawi/Zambia border first. We are traveling by mini bus. It is this VW sized bus that has about four rows in it. We have paid for our own private transport since it ended up only being $15 more than getting our own taxs and shuttles and at least with this, we can pull over any time we want. So the five of us climbed on in and headed to the border. Once we got there, we got out, and entered customs to let them know we were leaving Malawi. After filling out forms, we got back into the car and the driver Boniface drove us maybe another thousand feet across no mans land to Zambia Immigration and the actual border of Zambia. We walked into immigration, filled out more forms and paid for our visa to enter Zambia. On our way out, we noticed that the Zambia immigration office was offering free condoms for anyone who wanted them. Just a box, sitting on a bench, casually inside the immigration office.
We walked back to the car, which is literally at this wooden barrier that is the dividing line between the two countries, took all of our bags out and walked 20ft across the border where Mophy (the guy Holly booked this all through) was waiting with another driver and another car. We piled everything into that car and began what was an 8 hour journey across Zambia to Lusaka. Car rides. They are fun. SO long. But we made it work. This ride was filled with a lot of watching the drive and the view, playing lots of cards, and talking.
There is a game played here in East Africa called Bawo (pronounced bow, to take a bow on stage). I would say that is is similar to Mancala but double rows. Meg had a board made and on this car ride taught us how to play. It is eight rows and four columns with two seeds in each pit. You use the seeds and move them accordingly to attack and steal your opponent’s seeds. The object of the game is to take all of your opponents seeds or make it so they can no longer attack. It was a really fun game! Mitch and Meg played first and then Meg taught me. I beat her! But only because she helped me.
There is a game played here in East Africa called Bawo (pronounced bow, to take a bow on stage). I would say that is is similar to Mancala but double rows. Meg had a board made and on this car ride taught us how to play. It is eight rows and four columns with two seeds in each pit. You use the seeds and move them accordingly to attack and steal your opponent’s seeds. The object of the game is to take all of your opponents seeds or make it so they can no longer attack. It was a really fun game! Mitch and Meg played first and then Meg taught me. I beat her! But only because she helped me.
We were rather impressed upon entering Zambia. It is very obvious that Zambia has a stronger economical climate based upon a majority of the roads being paved. This also included a lot more stoplights, larger shopping centers, and guard rails on the sides of the highways. The roads here, even though paved, like home, still have lots of pot holes, but unlike home, can still be exceptionally bumpy. Not only that, but they may even switch back to a dirt road, which is a similar experience to riding Indiana Jones, if it is not a city based road.
As we drove, it was lunch time and we did not want to stop. We busted out the snack bag which included, bread, peanut butter, and bananas and decided we would all have a peanut butter and banana sandwich for lunch. Well, we definitely did not bring any sort of cutlery for this, so Holly and Bec got creative. They used the lid of the peanut butter to spread ridiculous amounts of peanut butter on bread while Bec handed everyone a banana and we all just sort of smashed up the banana and broke it off with our fingers. For as messy as it looked in the process and as messy as you could predict it to be, it did not turn out too bad. Overall, it was a successful, entertaining lunch.
Our drive included playing lots of cards. Bec and Mitch asked if anyone knew how to play a game called Presidents and Assholes. For those of you at home who know, it was essentially just Asshole that we played. The starting card was different, the high card was different, but overall, the same concept. If you know what Asshole is, you know it is typically a drinking game. Bec and Mitch, dang Aussies, do not play it as a drinking game (WHAT!?) and we did not play it that way, obviously, in this car. Ultimately we ended up playing this semi-hybrid of both countries versions of this game. We played for a looong time and it was unbelievably fun. Holly and Meg had never played and we just played round after round in this car, down this bumpy road, all the way through Zambia. It was intense, people were yelling and laughing.
This is what we did. Ate, laughed, talked, and slept as we drove. It is acceptable and common practice here to throw trash out the window. So as people ate bananas, you were expected to just toss the peel out of the window at any time. Bec did this once, without looking, because she was in conversation, and nearly through this banana at peel at a group of kids! She did not hit them or anything, but all of them watched this banana peel fly and looked at it like “What the heck” and it she felt bad, which was the entertaining part. Along this drive today we also saw mice being sold on sticks as a snack. Children on the side of the road just hunt mice, put them on sticks, cook them, and then sell them. We did not eat them. I was genuinely thinking about it, as was Meg, and considering it (as gross as it sounds to me) but then Meg brought up the point of disease and being unsure, so we opted out. No mice for us. But they do sell crickets in the local markets…so maybe that.
The sun set, which was beautiful, and next thing we know we are driving in the dark. Which actually felt super sketchy at times. There is no streetlights, which is fine, but people pretty much just pass other cars whenever they want. Bumpy roads, night time, passing, headlights, driving fast, just felt…. a little sketchy at times and I think made everyone nervous. In my short lifetime, I have done well with sometimes finding myself in situations that may stress me out or make me nervous, but are entirely out of my control. I have learned to talk myself out of being stressed, understanding that there is literally nothing I can do about it and being stressed only makes the situation worse for me, but will not change anything, so why put myself through it? I chose to stay relaxed and truly, we were fine. We arrived in Lusaka and Mophie took us to a local Mall (which blew Holly’s mind) and we went to an ATM to get some Zambian Kwatcha and food. I opted for a Chinese restaurant and got some Sweet and Sour chicken with steamed rice. Meg, Mitch, and Bec all went and got burgers and fries. We took our food to go and headed back to the hostel to devour it. We all went to bed and crashed, the plan is to leave at 6:00am tomorrow to head even farther south to Livingstone, Zambia which is just closer to Victoria Falls and Zimbabwe.
The Wandering Sandals 