After a wonderful weekend, we’re back in Mazabuka and all prepared to go on the next camp this afternoon. I’ve been waiting for the hotel internet to work all morning so we can upload the photos, as the credit on our dongle is running low, but that appears to be a lost cause.
On Saturday we were picked up from Mazabuka by Guy and Ryan, two of our South African friends from Lusaka, whom we’d also persuaded to give Bernadette a lift with us so she could visit her daughter up in the city. There is only one tarred road to Lusaka, which runs down the middle of the province and along which most towns are situated, and for some reason this was closed; we had to make a very long detour along a dust road, delayed further by the fact that there were several ‘abnormal load’ lorries which wouldn’t let anything else pass.
Eventually we got into Lusaka and the guys put on a pretty good lunch spread – bread rolls with just about any filling you could ask for. Eva and I then spent the afternoon lazing and in the evening we were all invited over for dinner to another of the South Africans’ house: Jaco was renowned for being a brilliant cook, and his wife Julie-Ann was an equally incredible baker. We were treated to sausages which were actually created before our very eyes, with homemade mustard and beer bread.
We carried on later to another party hosted by a friend of the guys: on arrival, we were stunned by how many non-Zambian people of our own age live in Lusaka! There were Europeans, two Russian girls, a Canadian girl and of course many South Africans, all dancing and chatting in a back garden which the host had turned into a fairly decent dance floor. We partied away and made a fair few new friends.
The next day, the adventure continued: Eva and I were taken out by Guy, Ryan, Jaco, Julie-Ann, Caitlin (the Canadian girl we met the night before) and Anouk (who originated from France but sounded like she had lived almost everywhere) on a cruise down the river. Jaco knew the owner of a large two-storey boat used for tourist cruises, which we were able to hire out for the day – whilst enjoying the view and chatting to the others, the staff on the boat made us a wonderful dinner of baked potato and steak on the barbecue (or braai, as I keep being told).
The relaxing journey down the river seemed to be over all too soon, and the guys kindly gave us a lift back to Mazabuka, picking up Bernadette along the way (who unfortunately did not seem to have had as enjoyable a weekend as we did).
We’re currently waiting for Wilson to take us into the bush for the next camp for orphans and vulnerable children. The exceedingly lovely staff at our current lodge have allowed me to take a blanket – hopefully the nights will be a little more comfortable this time!
We’ll update again when we’re back on Thursday – no communication from the bush I’m afraid. And then it really won’t be long til we’re setting off back home.
Lots of love to everyone, hope you enjoy your week.
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