22 June, Saturday: Mama Rula's, Chipata -> Croc Valley Camp

We all woke up cheerfully in a new country and ready to take on Zambia. We had a lovely night sleeping in the crunchy leaves under the canopy of trees. The morning was chilly but we got on our bikes, very keen to get cycling again. Chris and I were both feeling strong and we continued to cycle without stopping until 18 km down, my back tyre went completely flat. This was so annoying and knowing we had a long day ahead of us, but all you have to do is make the most of these situations and laugh it off. Chris cycled towards the car to get help and I loaded my bike onto the trailer and luckily we have Dad's bike which I then got onto and we continued the adventurous journey.

The road to South Luangwa NP is absolutely beautiful. It was a long flat good tar road and you could see far into the distance, the landscape covered in all sorts of massive indigenous trees like baobabs and maroelas. Some of the trees still have their stunning autumn leaves and as you look around, you just see these beautiful yellow and orange colours covering the hills.

Packing up our camp at Mama Rula's this morning

Our scheduled destination was Maggies Cultural Village and Campsite, which we arrived at after only having done 40 km, thinking it was much further from last nights camp. We met Maggie, a local Zambian who started her own camp and we were so humbled by her kindness and how she built her success from scratch. As it wasnt even lunch time we decided to carry on cycling, pushing to get to Croc Valley Camp. The journey continued to be amazing, the weather was great, not a breath of wind and we were thoroughly enjoying the cycle.

The photo just doesn't do The scenery any justice but wow was the ride stunning

There are no formal villages on the road but we passed lots of scattered homesteads surrounded in thorn kraals. The poverty is prominent here, with few bricked houses but rather mud and interesting reed rondavals whihc we haven't come across before. I hadn't noticed before until now coming in Zambia where there is a lot of livestock roaming the streets, we hardly saw any livestock in Malawi. Pigs have been the most uncommon animal until this stretch of Zambia.

We finished the day late afternoon at 110 km, arriving at Croc Valley Camp, another paradise. We set up our camp right on the banks of the river with a pod of hippo's grunting in the water and a herd of ellies crossing the river. After a long day of cycling, it was just so amazing arriving to this incredible breath-taking scene. We spent the warm evening listening to the ellies trumpeting and the po's snorting while sitting around our cosy camp, shared a delicious meal and drank far too much wine. Chris and I stayed up watching the big red moon rising up and seeing its orange reflection in the river was again breath taking. The night was calm and we could see a clear sky full of stars. I'm beginning to run out of words to describe this incredible journey we are just having the most amazing time experiencing all these new adventures.

Arriving at Croc Valley Camp with ellies crossing the river

IPhone trying to capture the moon

The moon's reflection in the river

Cycled: 110 km

Time: 4:43 hrs

Ave speed: 22 km/hr

Ascent: 354 BUT descent 809 m