3 July, Wednesday: Homestead in rural Zambia -> Mulungushi Boat Club

None of slept well at all. The many chickens and the roosters had us up all night crowing at the neighbour roosters. It was so hectic, they went on all night and they would flap their wings which was so loud sounding like something terrible is going on outside. Despite the lack of sleep, we all so enjoyed the experience and the opportunity to stay in a homestead that it didnt bother us.

The gravel road we currently on is terrible. Its so rocky and eroded and it really feels like we in the middle of nowhere. We were taking this road detouring around the tar as we could'nt cycle on the main road and from chatting to Zambians and having used the map, we were heading for Mulungushi Dam which apparently has a boat club that we could camp at. We were up at sparrows ready to cycle. The road only got worse from here. Luckily on our bikes we were able to speed up a bit, but Mom doing the most incredible manouvering skills, was going no more than 15 km/hr keeping the trailer safe. At one point the cyclists were the ones ahead.

Madam making her way through the donga's

Our wrists started aching with pain from the constant bouncing over the rocks and our necks so tense from trying to keep balanced on the rough terrain, we continued up this dusty gravel road, no idea where we are or for long this road will go on like this. Eventually 2 hours later, we arrived at a rustic gate at the Mulungushi Boat Club. The club is a very old, colonial building that has'nt been updated for years. The club overlooks the Mulungushi Dam which is so low at the moment, as there hasnt been rain here for the last year. We were able to just pitch our tents on the lawn because of the water being so low. Theres a lovely bar where we had a cold drink, and I can imagine in the olden days or possibly still today, the holidays could get quite festive here with families and students spending time on the dam.

Chris made a cosy bon fire which we spent the evening around in the very peaceful and quiet spot, looking at a clear sky completely full of stars. We saw two or three lights flashing far into the distance on the dam, and we could hear this loud sound coming from it, realizing it was fishermen smacking their oars against the water, chasing the fish into the nets.

Cycled: 27.92 km

Time: 1:58 hr

Ave speed: 14.2 km/hr

Ascent: 225 m