26 June, Wednesday: Bridge Camp -> Malangano Camp

Last night, two couples from South Africa arrived at the camp and Chris got chatting to them and invited them to join us for dinner at the bar (as we didnt have any gas). We had a lot to talk about as they are from the EC, coming from PE, now retired in Cape St Francis. We briefly mentioned that we had run out of gas, so this morning before they left, Terry and Paul Sherman, brought us a full brand new gas cylinder that they wanted to donate to us. This was incredible. One small bit of kindess can go such a long way.

Thank you to Terry and Paul for the gas cylinder

We got on our bikes, cycling along the river. By 9 am it was already so hot and our day started off with a big climb. Not long after we started we arrived at the Luangwa Bridge village and it was so colourful and vibrant, we had to stop. The market was packed with the most stunning grass woven hats and mats, bright orange and red berries and local fish that the fishermen bring up to sell, which I found out is called Luangwa Brien. We chatted to the locals who showed such interest in our cycle tour and asked questions about us. The Zambians are so friendly and such lovely people.

These are Luangwa Brien that are caught in the near river and cut open to be sold at the market

We continued to climb for 25 km, up these steep mountains which were covered in tall magnificent trees. We stopped at a to take it all in and for miles all we could see was this canopy of trees unspoiled, in magical colours ranging from dark green, to bright orange and red coloured leaves. It was picturesque, a moment that no photo could quite capture the beauty.

The higher we got up the mountain, the road seemed to get narrower and narrower with no shoulder and potholed and with the trucks streaming past, we very sadly got off our bikes and got out the dangerous escarpment. Only later did we then get back on the saddle for 10 km before arriving to Malangano Campsite. It was still early so we had enough time to spend the afternoon relaxing, hanging up our washing in the warm sun. The camp is situated on a large property owned by a local Zambian woman who warmly welcomed us. We had the whole camp to ourselves and we enjoyed the day having time to rest. As the sun went down, the cold temperature crept in and I was in my onesie, and we tucked into our cosy tents.

Cycled: 35 km

Time: 2:20 hrs

Ave speed: 15 km/hr

Ascend: 454 m