Livingstone I presume

Friday 28th March

I didn't have much choice for breakfast so had to make do with a couple of pies. Pastry is something that I have been without for months which has been good for my belly but hard to handle seeing as in the past I've been sad enough to collect tokens and send them away for a "Ginsters" t-shirt. It seems that the appearance of pies and sausage rolls has been synonymous with the appearance of white people so I'm pretty happy about both.

The road from the start was a dream to roll on. Time absolutely flew by and before I knew it I could see huge clouds of smoke kicking up from the ground. It wasn't smoke, it was the spray coming up from Victoria falls and I knew way before I got there, that the falls were going to be something special to behold.

Cycling into Livingstone I immediately felt an America air about the whole town. Wide roads, take away cafes and restaurants and lots of tourist signs for lodges and excursions. I was initially looking for the Guesthouse where Team Norway #2 were staying but I could t find it so I decided to go to another Backpackers that had been recommended by Andrew from Lusaka. I found "Jollyboys" straight away as its renowned as being the first and best in town and it was just off the main road.

All the dorms were taken but they had a little grassy area for camping which I didn't mind at all. Compared to Lusaka backpackers, Jollyboy's didn't feel as friendly at first but it was certainly clear why it was the best in Livingstone. Jollyboy's was alot busier and there seemed alot less individual travellers and more groups so meeting different people was harder to do than in Lusaka.

Despite this fact, It didn't take long for me to be involved in a few groups of people and have myself double booked for the evenings festivities. I was awaiting a call from the Norwegians as I knew they wanted to do something but they hadn't contacted me and in the meantime, Jo and Jenny had invited me out for dinner to celebrate Jenny's birthday. I don't like plans and for the past 7 months i haven't needed to worry about plans as I've been completely alone and gone with the flow. Having tonight's predicament was just a small reminder that I was nearing the civilised world where plans are made and people do things by the clock etc.

I decided to go and celebrate Jenny's birthday and typically as I was waiting for them to arrive, the Norwegians came round to take me out for dinner. I agreed to meet up with them on Saturday and had a lovely evening with Jo and Jenny. We went for an absolute belter of an Indian and ended the night with a few drinks and met a very memorable couple from both halves of Ireland.

It really was a great ride and a great evening and its rare that I've had such a successful day and evening as after a decent ride, the evening is normally spent exhausted or locked away in a place that isn't really ideal for wandering around in after dark.

I booked myself on the bus going to Victoria Falls at 10am tomorrow morning and if the weekend continues the way that today has started then this weekend could be a highlight of the whole ride.

Zam-tastic

Thursday 27th March

My breakfast was almost as good as yesterday's, cold pizza. I had a few cheeky slices last night but saved it for breakfast and was very happy I did so. In true Jo fashion, I was welcomed in the morning with yet more sweets from home. Incidentally yesterday it was starburst and today was fizzy candy and coconut chocolate to add to Sunday's fizzy shoelaces (Jo must've brought a suitcase of sweets over from England!)

Jo had the morning off so we were able to go around Choma and do some filming. We went to a few different locations that really take in quite alot of what its been like cycling through Africa so I hope we can make a successful short video that I can use in the future for various things.

We had a quick drink and as time was getting on I said my goodbyes or "see ya tomorrow" as the case was, and hit the road towards a town called Zimba. The road was amazing and today really encapsulated the whole reason I chose to cycle Africa. I have a few of these "moments in time" where everything in life is just amazing. It makes me want to close my eyes and fly down the hills but i've done that before and got the scar to prove it (not the Kenyan incident, one ages ago) anyway, I didn't close my eyes but I just took some huge breaths and realised how blessed I am in life in general. Family, friends, experiences, people i've met, where I am, what I'm doing, the weather, the road, Nigel's current condition, just everything really. I'm thankful everyday but I particularly enjoyed this moment in Zambia today.

The road did help make a huge difference to my mood as I wasn't in constant pain for hours. Instead, I could actually take in more of the surroundings and show genuine happiness throughout as opposed to grimacing through some of the pedalling and showing happiness when I finished! I had a quick stop in a place Kalomo, today was a short day compared to Tuesday. The stop was good, I enjoyed approaching towns that were getting more and more civilised the further south I got. I've had my fair share of the other parts of Africa through Sudan, Ethiopia and Kenya and so now I was lapping up tarmacced roads, supermarkets and the odd fast food outlet.

I arrived at Zimba in no time. Happiness makes the wheels go faster and I had soon found the only "backpackers" in town. It wasn't really a backpackers and it wasn't really cheap either, but "Trekkers" was good enough for me as I was another day down and only had a short cycle tomorrow into Livingstone. My room was big, had two double beds (at least this time I wasn't charged for two beds) had an ensuite with a bucket of water ready for me in the bath and it also had a TV...with no plug.

I had an extremely cold bucket shower with the water that was already poured in the bucket before I realised that the hot tap actually worked! Then to save a bit more on the budget, I cooked some noodles in the room and almost caught the second bed on fire with a bit of a ball of flames which also nearly turned Beirdre to ashes. 

After that I tried to catch up on this blog. The last few days and evenings have been absolutely manic in comparison so I was happy for a slightly quieter more relaxing end to the day just to get my breath back before this weekend which will undoubtedly be another crazy one!

Another great day to add to a great week so far and hopefully tomorrow and the weekend will continue the trend!

Go with the Jo

Wednesday 26th March

I don't know whether it was the mattrice or the pillows but last night's sleep was amazing. To add to this, my morning was pretty darn good aswell, as Jo made bacon butties which I haven't had since England.

The day started with a nice walk through the market. Markets to me are very much the same wherever you go and I normally don't bother with them especially when there's no point buying anything. However, when you're with somebody else markets can be good fun and we had a laugh being very much the only two white people in a very VERY local market.

For lunch Jo picked at some chicken and chips and I had my chicken chips and also the remainder of hers, which was pretty much a whole meal. I was still pretty tired from yesterday's ride and wasn't really up for getting back on the bike and filming so we headed back to the house to chill. As it happened, the weather turned tropical on us and rain stopped play anyway so we eventually (after lots of disappointments with faulty downloads etc) ended up watching a film called Gravity...it was alright!

For dinner we went out to the local Chinese. Jenny didn't come in the end as she had some things to do so it was just myself Jo. I. The way to the Chinese we stopped off at Dragona's house who was kind enough to make me a pizza to take in my ride tomorrow. I had only met her for a few hours! The pizza was amazing and Dragona cooks and sells them out of her home and is apparently very popular with the locals!

The Chinese menu didn't exactly go up to the hundreds as far as options were concerned but the few choices we did have turned out pretty good and a very welcome change from Nsima and goat. As we waited for our meal I ha the pleasure of meeting a local man called Gilbert. Gilbert is one of Jenny's neighbours who has very open and African views on life. Jo has met him once before and he caused such a stir I had already heard about his views before today. Knowing his lively character I provoked a few funny conversations in which I asked Gilbert if Jo had a good job as a TV producer (she does have a very good job) "no" he said "she is not fit for the studio, she should be a housewife. She should clean and wash and pound nuts for dinner" he said. "And is she allowed out of the house?" I asked, "only to take the kids to and from school" he said.

We laughed a lot and I would definately like to here more of his views as it also sounds alot funnier in a Zambian accent. After the Chinese we went back and watched another film to end a really great day. I've made a big fuss about the generosity I've received from locals but here's where the Brits can enter the spotlight. Jenny and Jo have been amazing and if they hadn't of offered and I hadn't of accepted, Choma would've been just another stop on the way to a tourist attraction. Instead, Choma has its own place in my ride and will be one of my Zambian highlights for sure. 

Jo has really made this week enjoyable aswell and I think I will be meeting up with them again in Livingstone as they are both driving down there on Friday for Jenny's birthday. Talk about making every last minute count! That's what I'm trying to do for sure and I'm loving it!

A welcome sho in Cho with Jo & Co

Tuesday 25th March

My day started with a monster breakfast. I double checked my poxy map and it seemed that I had a bit of a marathon on my hands if I wanted to get to Choma by the end of the day. I had agreed to meet Jo there and I was kindly offered a place to stay by a lady that Jo was staying with called Jenny.

I messaged Jo yesterday morning saying I would see her in two days so didn't want to keep them waiting as we had planned to go out for a Chinese and there was no way I missing out on that!

Despite my ominously long day ahead, I still wanted to take things slowly to savour every minute. This also coincided with breaking in the new chain, so for the first hour or so I pussy footed the pedals. My leg muscles had been so used to tensing without applying alot of pressure on the pedals I couldn't shake that out of my system.

The road was good and so eventually I got confident in pushing hard and putting my handy work through its paces. This had nothing to do with the fact I had picked up two riders who were slipstreaming behind me and I wanted to beat them in yet another made up Tour de Afrique!

I stopped for a big lunch. I love being able to eat copious amounts of food and not worry about it at all. I had cycled around 50 miles and I still had at least another 50 left. Today was going to be over 100 so two huge meals were definitely warranted. After lunch, I got quickly back in the zone and it appeared the chain change was a huge success. For the first time since I can remember, Nigel wasn't making any daunting noises at all and the terrain allowed me to go faster and use gears that for the last week or so have been like skating on ice.

I had one more break just before arriving in Choma and managed to find my destination with the first time of asking. I got to Chodort Training Centre in high spirits but unfortunately Jo had gone! Jo is currently volunteering at the Centre for a few weeks and Jenny is the principal. The Centre works with the locals to give them a range of different skills that will help them with finding jobs in the future. Thankfully one of the lecturers was able to ring Jo who was at Jenny's just around the corner. They hadn't expected me as they thought when I said two days on Monday that would mean I would arrive on Wednesday! I dunno! Must've been the language barrier!

Jenny had actually cooked for two friends (Dragona and Michelle) but she was kind enough to make me up a plate as I gate crashed a very nice three course meal with 4 very diverse women. Jenny, an Irish School Principle based in Zambia, Jo, an English TV producer i met just 3 days ago with a heart of gold who's volunteering in Zambia, Michelle, a Canadian who has signed a religious contract of some sort and is extremely reserved and Dragona, a Serbian live wire in leopard skin tights who doesn't mind talking about anything (and I mean anything) at the dinner table...oh and me. If this was an episode of "come dine with me" I'm sure there wouldn't of been too many people changing channel put it that way.

I was very grateful for Jenny's amazing generosity in providing me with a shower, a nice bed and a beautiful meal which I embarrassingly had fourths and fifths of as the others kept filling my plate. (I couldn't resist!) I was even offered an extra night's stay so we could go for Chinese tomorrow which I accepted as my legs were feeling pretty shot and the thought of getting up tomorrow and doing it all over again was a bit too much for me!

Jo was even going to help with making a quick video of me riding around town and be my tour guide of the market so it was really a no brainer! It was an impromptu stop but after getting on so well on Saturday it was not like I was meeting a stranger when I met up with Jo again. Jenny is great too and doing great things as Principal for the people of Choma so I was happy to have put the effort in such a long day and give myself an opportunity to spend more time with them both.

Chain reaction

Monday 24th March

I was feeling better about leaving today. I could still stay longer but I had a great week to look forward to so I was able to prize myself away from the hostel.

As usual it didn't take long to pack up Nigel and I sat and had breakfast with a couple of the guys. Time was pushing on so I said my goodbyes and made one quick stop at the drinks vender about 20m from the hostel. 

The next half an hour would officially be the worst start to a days riding in "a ride for their lives" history. I pulled away from the vender in a medium gear, as I went to change the gears, the selector would move but nothing would happen! I was already having issues with the chain slipping and now I couldn't even change gear!

To add to this, the road was busy and sandy and the wind was kicking sand up all over the place. My glasses fell injured when I broke my collarbone so I have no eye protection at all. Even though my mind was on my gears i still had to be wary of the speeding cars and swirling sand which made the first 10 minutes a bit of a struggle.

Upon approaching a roundabout I tried to time my arrival so I could maintain my current speed. Mother Nature didn't let this happen though as just as I got to the roundabout, so too did quite a thick sand cyclone that I had no choice other than to duck into. As I tried to pedal through it a bit faster my gears slipped massively and so I found myself in not the most ideal positions as a sitting duck, in a sandstorm, on a very busy roundabout in Lusaka.

Thankfully I got through it ok but i decided to pull over to see if I could fix my gears. There was no way I could cycle anywhere with just one slipping gear! I played around a little and the past few months of African sand and dust had clearly taken their toll. A wiggle here, a wiggle there and a spray of WD40 soon did the trick and once again i was a very proud owner of a fixed Nigel.

I managed to cycle for another 10 minutes before, boom, scrape, CRASH! I looked to my right. The guy that I had noticed out the corner of my eye who was cycling in the same direction as me but on the other side of the road and was constantly staring at me, must've hit something. He then displayed a very impressive superman impression as he flew head first with outstretched arms over his handlebars and onto the ground. He was ok but in the same way I will never be seen again on a bike in Kenya, he will probably stop staring at people when he should be watching where he cycles! 

After that, the road was good and I was given the opportunity to take in the miles. Unfortunately though, my chain wasn't having any of it an the constant slipping was spreading to pretty much all the gears. I knew the chain must be the issue because of this, as some of the gears were still rideable. Progress was hard on my legs and I had to try and keep very consistent with no extra pressing. The road wasn't too hilly and so I was able to make slow but steady progress until a monster of a hill turned up which provoked me to get off and not for the first time, push.

I checked google maps briefly before I left the hostel and much to my delight, they told me that my destination was only 50km away. They lied. It was 110km away but the area began 50km from Lusaka. The second half of my road was not so good. A narrow cycle section combined with cracked roads and speeding coaches made the second half of my day tough and not exactly enjoyable. The only thing that kept me going were the fizzy shoe laces that Jo had left me yesterday!

I stopped for some biscuits and drinks just before i arrived in Mazabuka so I was in a good mood and ready to shop around for the cheapest possible accommodation when I got there. I had been recommended the "Golden Pillow" by Andrew but that was too expensive. I couldn't find the Golden pillow's recommendation and the next guest house I stopped at wasn't the cheapest either. I managed to find their recommendation however which was called "youth project"and from the outside it didn't look anything like a hostel. It turned out to be another little gem and I'm sure there's no way I would've stopped there if it wasn't for a little inside info. I walked into an Internet cafe that was full of students and feeling a little stupid, i asked the guy at the front desk about accommodation. He called someone else who escorted me around the back to a row of very clean little rooms.

The price was right, the nearby restaurant was decent and cheap and the shower was amazing! I didn't need anything else in my life other than a new chain!!! 

There was no way I could handle another day with the same chain so I decided to change my current chain with the used chain that Duncan had given me way back in Sudan. It wasn't guaranteed to work but I changed it anyway as nothing could be worse than what I was dealing with. Changing the chain was not as simple for myself as George from Thessaloniki made it look in the bike shop all those months ago. He's probably changed thousands and my total to date was 0. Yes that's right, I have embarked on a cycle trip across Europe and Africa and I have never ever change a chain. You have to start somewhere though don't you. I've seen how its done, I've read how its done and I've got the tools to do it so what's the problem? 

The problem arose when my tool broke but I managed to do it eventually and if the chain gets me to the end (of tomorrow) then I will be again, a proud owner of a fixed Nigel.  I would only find out for sure when I start cycling tomorrow if my handy work had improved Nigel's condition. It was all well and good me turning the pedals and checking if the gears changed when he's lying on his back but I needed to know how he faired under pressure with a full load of weight on him!

Either way, it wouldn't be the end of the world so it wasn't worth losing sleep over! 

Got that fuzzy feeling

Sunday 23rd march

If Friday morning I was as fuzzy as a kiwi fruit and yesterday I was a teddy bear then today I was like Channel 5 in a thunderstorm!

My day started well with Jo coming in to wake me up with some sweets, she wanted to go around the town but i had to decline so we just said our goodbyes. This would not be the end of Jo however as we had planned to meet up again on my way to Livingstone. The morning consisted of some good conversation with Andrew from last night and a Zimbabwean pilot called Geoff. 

Andrew was waiting to be picked up by a local friend who was going to give him a bit of a tour of the town. By the time the guy turned up I was feeling better and I was kindly allowed to join. The tour turned out to be slightly less of a tour and more of a cultural experience into what your average Zambian does on a Sunday in Lusaka...we went to the pub. It was good though as for the most part we were outside and there was good music, lots of people and some unbelievable smells radiating from the BBQ. The butcher's was right next door so the done thing is to buy your meat and get the man on the BBQ to cook it for you. As a group of mates or family, you just sit and have a few drinks and wait for it to be ready.

Due to last night's escapades however, standing in the sun was the last thing I wanted to do and so I had to be anti-social and sit inside by the fan for half the time. The sweats got the better of me unfortunately but I managed to get a brief glimpse of another area of Lusaka and myself and Andrew had a few laughs at what is excepted at Zambian bars. At one point, the Barman didn't have any change so he wrote an IOU on a piece of paper and signed it. We joked if we could see if it would work as legal tender back home in Sainsbury's!

I felt slowly better as we were picked up to leave and the drive back was ironically sobering as the driver was far from it! Drink driving is a scary reality in Africa and I am obviously completely against it. It seems that they are only just beginning to crack down on it with the appearance of warning posters and some police stops but at the moment it is still a huge issue and I was very happy to be back safe and sound at the hostel let me tell you.

We finished the night with some classic football trivia whilst watching the El Classico. I could easily stay in Lusaka for another day but I think that is just because I've met such cool people and its the first time I've felt "at home" since probably my birthday. The skill to travelling though is knowing when to move on and I still have lots to look forward to despite such little time remaining!

Livingstone bound tomorrow, should be a fun four days!

Wings, wheels and cutting shapes!

Saturday 22nd March

This morning was a little fuzzier than yesterday but I was still up early to go and collect Nigel's new rim. In true African fashion I was kept waiting but at least it was only 20 minutes this time and not 2 hours!

I was happy, but I still didn't feel too good so I returned back to the hostel where I was stuck in two minds of what to do with the rest of the day. I ended up booking my flight home which maybe affected my feeling. My flight date gave me a chance to spend a bit more time getting to Lesotho. Everything seemed to have happened so fast. A couple of weeks ago I still had 5 countries and a while until I finished. Now, I was under a month away and I didn't want it to end!

With a little help from a few people I decided to stay an extra day in Lusaka to celebrate getting a new wheel, as I didn't really want to leave tomorrow. My mood improved more during a chat with a few people from the Hostel. Jill (my sun worshipping partner) Wesley (a South African/Australian hitchhiker) and Jo (female version of myself) all sat around and had a great time for the rest of the day. Conversation is never dull in hostels and that's what I love. 

Not before long I was buzzing and in a great mood (mainly thanks to Jo and her infectious energy) As the night continued we met a few more people. One of them being Andrew, an Englishman who has been living for three months in one of the most isolated villages in Zambia and so interesting stories and experiences were coming from all angles.

The night escalated into a trip to a nightclub with myself and Jo teaming up with a South African guy called Max and my main man from Lusaka, Jamal. We were the only white people there but this did not stop us embracing the African dance culture and teaching them a few moves of our own. What we lacked in technical ability (which isn't that much) we made up for in endurance as we were the last ones to leave and the sun was already making an appearance when I got back to the hostel.

A new rim, a flight home and a lesson taught in how to rip up a dance floor. Quite a productive day I think.