Across Africa Part 5: Rain and remoteness in North East Zambia
It was the late February when I arrived in Zambia, but considering I had no intention of making my flight from Angola in mid-April, the date didn’t really concern me. As this is typically peak time for rain in the country, I expected delays, so felt glad there was no need to rush.
The initial plan was to cut through the pedicle, a panhandle section of the Democratic Republic of Congo that protrudes into northern Zambia, then continue directly west towards Angola, but I’d arranged for new tyres and a new air mattress to be sent to Lusaka, the capital of Zambia. The fact that I would have to pay in excess of $50 for a short transit visa on a potentially busy road through the DRC wasn’t appealing either. And so my route, or rather direction for the first 1000km or so, was decided. Now I just had to find some interesting tracks, and watch out for dark clouds.
Zambia gained independence from British control in 1964, before which it was known as Northern Rhodesia. It is Africa’s 17th largest country and has a population just under 22 million.
This route was predominantly on dirt tracks, with several hundred kilometres on an empty paved road close to the DRC. While the north east is relatively remote and little-visited, its proximity to both Tanzania, the DRC and a number of water sources mean that it is fertile and thus more populated than some other regions.
The photos here cover the first several weeks as I rode to Lusaka, appearing in mostly chronological order.
First things first. On arrival in the lakeside town of Mpulungu I needed to find an immigration office and explain I had arrived in Zambia by boat from Tanzania. Few questions were asked (surprisingly) and I received my entry stamp, providing a 90-day free stay. As African countries go, Zambia is an easy one to visit, providing a free 90-day stay to over 160 nationalities.
New country new beer. Mosi is Zambia’s most popular beer. Widely available and costing £0.50-0.80 per bottle.
I quickly realised that beans, my go-to daily food choice in Tanzania, is hard to find in Zambia. As is rice, which I prefer over ugali (better known as nshima in Zambia) - the white, mashed potato looking stodge here, which consists of pounded maize and/or cassava. A meal in Zambia that doesn’t consist of nshima, is for most Zambians, not a real meal.
Check in. I decided to stay several nights in Mpulungu, finding this simple room (£6) right in front of the beach I arrived on. A fan and mini-fridge were very welcome for what is essentially a budget room, but I quickly realised that Zambia has major issues with electricity supply. Most of the country deals with power cuts for long periods of time. In Mpulungu the power started around 7pm, then cut again at 7am.
So tasty! Well not really, but I’m always curious to see what’s available to buy in a new country that will be useful on the road. Dried soya chunks are cheap, easy to carry and make a good protein-base for any pasta sauce when camping.
Old buildings are rare in this part of Africa. Niamkolo church, located in Mpulungu, was built in 1895 and is Zambia’s oldest church. Christian missionaries first came to Zambia in the mid 19th Century, the most famous of whom being David Livingstone.
Sunset over Lake Tanganyika from Mpulungu.
Before leaving Mpulungu I switched the rear and front tyres around after 4000km of use. I always carry some spare sealant when riding, but managed to find motorbike tyre sealant in the market here. It cost a fraction what branded bicycle tyre sealant does, but I used something similar in Kenya last year, and while not as effective as bicycle tyre sealant, it worked OK. I filled some in the tyres, as well as my 150ml pouch, then gave the rest of the 1 litre bottle to the mechanic whose compressor I used to re-inflate the tyres.
My first day on the road in Zambia and dark clouds brought the cycling to an early end when I saw this primary school beside the road. The rain fell heavily overnight, so it was a great relief to have somewhere dry and relatively comfortable to rest.
Sunday morning ride to church. Zambia’s population is predominantly christian, with a number of different churches.
Fill up. I almost always trust the purity of water from functioning boreholes. In rural locations like this, when I have no certainty of when I will find another one that day, I tend to fill up my bottles.
Remote and empty north east Zambia. No public transport on tracks up here.
Some of the red laterite tracks here are well graded and smooth to ride.
Local huts look no different to how they would half a century ago, minus the odd satellite dish or solar panel.
Other tracks are in the process of being retaken by the bush, and really only stopped from doing so by local motorbikes. Almost no-one living in this part of rural Zambia will own a 4-wheeled vehicle.
Any wild animals that do exist up here are often deep in the forest and rarely seen.
I had seen this river on google satellite and guessed/hoped that there would be a way across it. A group of kids followed me to riverbank as I arrived, then yelled for the boatman to come as I stood by a solitary small wooden boat a short distance away. A young boatsman was quick to appear carrying an oar, and a few minutes later I was lifting my bike onto the opposite bank, happy to hand over a 50 kwacha note ($2).
Zambia has several mobile networks, and no single one is better than another. While one network will work in one location, it won’t in another, so after a few days I decided to register with another mobile company.
Zambia’s other well-known beer is one found throughout southern Africa, and a name familiar to anyone in the UK, although I discovered it was actually first brewed in Canada.
Saved by a gazebo. More heavy rain fell throughout the night, although it wasn’t the rain that mostly kept me awake.
I was camped a few metres away from Lumangwe Falls. Little known, but mighty impressive, these are the largest falls entirely within Zambia.
Bicycles are definitely the predominant form of transport in rural Zambia. They are also used to carry cargo. I was now approaching the border with DRC, so could tell there was a lot of cross-border traffic, predominantly using bicycles to carry charcoal.
I made a short detour to view Lake Mweru, which shares its shoreline with the DRC. The lake is fed by the River Luapula, which flows north and demarcates the border between the two countries. It is a major tributary in the upper course of the River Congo. Subsistence fishing rather than any form of tourism is the main activity here.
My route south then followed the River Luapula for a few hundred kilometres. The riverbank on the other side is the DRC.
Sometimes finding a suitable place to camp isn’t easy. This £3 room kept me dry for a night.
I would much rather be sleeping under the stars, which I did the next night.
On most nights I used my rainsheet to cover the tent, even when the skies were clear. On the odd nights when I wanted to stargaze, like this one, I would usually wake up with a damp sleeping quilt from overnight condensation.
After a few days in Zambia I realised that finding cooked food for sale on the roadside was much more of a challenge than East Africa. Whereas small eateries are found in many villages in Tanzania or Kenya, in Zambia I was told people go home to eat food. A number of days I just snacked on fruit or skipped lunch.
Mumbuluma Falls, on the river of the same name. A worthwhile detour and swimspot.
Not a reason to come and cycle in Africa, but when you’ve spent months on the road and not been to a large supermarket, the sight of southern Africa’s largest branch is cause for mini-excitement.
Selling items that I wouldn’t find so easily in markets and small shops where I do most of my food shopping. Zambia produces a small quantity of coffee, but nothing in comparison to countries in East Africa.
Heavy load. I’m often reminded when cycling in Africa that my fully-loaded bicycle really isn’t a fully-loaded bicycle at all.
A Zambian success story. One of the most popular bicycles on the road in Zambia is this one. Buffalo Bikes are built to carry heavy loads. Since 2007, over 300,000 of them have been distributed in Zambia thanks to World Bicycle Relief.
They may have only 1 gear, but Zambia is predominantly flat. Their racks are built to hold up to 100kg of cargo, but I saw plenty carrying well in excess of that.
Lake Bangweulu and its sandy shoreline is as close as landlocked Zambia gets to having a beach. The lake is fed by a number of rivers, the largest of which being the Chambeshi River, which is cited as the most remote headwater of the River Congo
Africa’s largest river by volume, the Congo River’s watershed takes up 13% of the land surface area of the continent!
For any river lovers. Africa’s major rivers and their watersheds.
The River Chambeshi becomes the River Luapula once it flows out of Lake Bangweulu. What are tiny tributaries of the River Congo would be major rivers in most of the world.
Fish for sale. While I’m always quick to buy roadside fruit in Africa, carrying fresh fish isn’t so easy on a bike!
In need of a new tyre. I swapped front and rear tyres around when I arrived in Zambia, but after 5000km of use, what was the rear tyre and is now on the front, develops a leak of sealant between the tyre and the wheel rim (my tyres are tubeless). Duct tape is great for many things, and this fix manages to hold out for the remaining kilometres I have to reach Lusaka.
Some of the rooms in Zambia have no mosquito nets, so I used my tent in this particular guest house to ensure a more peaceful night.
Self-catering. In small towns the options for places to eat are limited in the evening. I find this true throughout much of Africa. You can either wait a very long time for something to be prepared, or make do with street food, if available (chips/fried chicken etc) which will rarely include any vegetables. I often find it much easier, healthier, and more relaxing to just cook in my room, be it pasta, rice, couscous, or stir fry with instant noodles.
Back on dirt. After several hundred kilometres of paved roads, my last few hundred kilometres towards Lusaka were all to be on peaceful dirt tracks. As Zambia is a landlocked country there are some major artery roads that transport fuel and other goods from countries like Tanzania, which are definitely best avoided.
Another school camp on the way to Lusaka successfully keeps me from getting soaked during some very heavy overnight rain.
English is widely spoken in Zambia, so staying at schools allowed me an opportunity to chat with any of the teachers around. It was the school holiday, but the headmaster was present, having given me permission to sleep in one of the classrooms the previous evening.
I could write an entire blog post about the challenges connected with education in Africa. In short, government schools in rural areas are often those most neglected, most crowded, most in need of support, and usually the ones least popular for teachers to be posted to work in. Parents who can afford it will send their children to fee-paying schools. This, of course, is not just an African issue.
Education for the masses is never a priority for a ruling government, whose children will go to the best schools and ensure their opportunities in life are far greater than most who have no other option than a poor education.
Chicken man and his Trek, at least that’s how I remember him. He was riding hundreds of kilometres and headed to the DRC where he planned to sell the chickens. He took as much interest in my bike as I did his - a classic model from the early 1990s, when bike companies like Trek made bikes to last!
My kind of road.
Which was headed to the best camp spot in Zambia so far. I had seen a reservoir on the map with some tracks leading close to it.
And a convenient tree to hang the shower bag up from.
Mita Hills reservoir is a few hundred kilometres north of Lusaka.
And another great campsite the next night at Mulungushi Reservoir. This was actually in the grounds of a Boating Club, which had a faded colonial feel to the place. It was midweek and no-one was there but the caretaker. I paid £4 to pitch my tent, which is the only time I paid to camp on this journey in Africa. Well worth it for the setting and hot shower.
Last stretch to Lusaka. Usually the approach to a capital city means sharing the road with traffic, but I was able to ride right to the edge of the city limits on a quiet dirt track.
And relax. A well-earned beer when I arrived in Lusaka. After several weeks on the road I was looking forward to a rest here.
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