Crossing into Zambia

Posted by Pedal2peak on 25 August 2009

It was a long climb to the border. Sweaty and hungry we entered into the chaos of Tunduma border post. We weaved between the queues of articulated trucks that had passed us through the day.

Shouts came out from the money touts. “Mzungu! You want Kwacha! Mzungu! My price is best! Mzungu, come I show you through! Mzungu!” It was a sight seeing these men, in suits and tie, scampering behind the two of us, clutching wads of cash and waving it in the air. For an outsider, it must of looked like these men were bidding for our bikes!

We reached customs with our string of cash-waving followers. They all suddenly went under the radar until we had been stamped to exit. It all started again: “Mzungu, mzungu, I make you a deal.” “Mzungu, whats your price?” Now that’s what we wanted to hear. He confirmed that our rate, (the one we checked online that morning), was good for him.

We proceeded into Zambia. A simple walk in and get stamped procedure, then we were on our way. Thirty days in Zambia and not one question asked. A relief for me, the borderphobiac.

We cycled into Nakonde and bought our new sim cards and airtime. A quick cold coke and we hit the road again.

Ten kilometers from the border we reached Mterwa Hotel. The rooms were very large and above our budget but Francis, the manager, allowed us to camp on the grass for a good price. We ate well that night and watched about three movies in a row on DStv. Strange how attached we felt to that tv!

The roads in Zambia have been good and the terrain is fair, but once again we have had the wind to contend with. We pushed three days against the wind and covered over three hundred kilometers to reach our first contact, Marc Harvey, a contact we luckily made through Carolynne Pretorius from GAP Adventures in Moshi. Mark told us to wait at the gate for our pick up.

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