Day 23: Forrest Inn to Moorings Camp south of Lusaka

We knew it was going to be a long day and so it proved to be. An early start at 07h00 saw us on the road.

Speculation was, that as it was Saturday, Lusaka may be easy to get through. Well speculation it remained, as Lusaka never has a quite day. Okay the roads were a bit better in that the potholes had given way to deep ruts into which you put your wheels. The sides of the ruts were about our pavement height. Overtaking was very tricky as one had to negotiate these before crossing lanes. The volume of trucks is amazing, mainly Tanzanian, Zambian and Zimbabwe registered with the odd SA truck thrown in. In our view most of them are at max load and beyond despite the weighbridges that abound.

Frequently they break down and park at the side of the road doing amazing repairs or the load-beds just break in half. The shoulders of the road are very steep and in poor condition and frequently we saw container trucks turned over. I guess they try and go off the road, get the angle wrong and over they go. How these chaps right them with no mechanical assistance is incredible.

About 20km outside Lusaka they traffic built and we were nose to tail at about 20 km/h until we were through the city. It took about an hour and a half of our time which we could not afford to loose.

We knew the afternoon stretch was going to be long and tedious and so it proved to be. Lots of trucks, frequent Police Stops and many villages to slow our progress. It was difficult.

Both our GPS systems in our respective vehicles were locked on to Moorings Camp, our target for the night. However, it was not to be. Late in the afternoon found us at a large gate with a guard who did not know the camp we were looking for. I asked him to phone the farmer who was very friendly. He said our intended camp was no longer operational, but we were welcome to camp on his farm.

A few kilometers later he directed us to what seemed like a farm manager's house. A separate building housed the ablutions and we were to park on a concrete slab. It seemed okay and we had no other choice. I pulled out a small portable braai that I had and used some charcoal that I had stashed at the last minute. Our fillet steak, bought at the local Shoprite, some salad and some baked potatoes contributed to a very good night.

The next day, on exit, about 4km down the road we saw our intended target. Whether it was open or not we do not know.

The "slab" campsite.