Afrique 31 – ZAMBIA 4 – NYIMBIA TILL CHIPATA

 Then we continue by the same countryside till Chipata and the border. Sinda is just an other slum, and Kateke is 5 km far from the road. We continue to sleep in primary school. We learn that all the land belongs to a few chiefs. Certainly they keep all the incomes for them as we don’t see any benefit for the life and infrastructure around. But families can buy some land for a house and a vegetable garden.

Before Chipata we enter again in the hills covered by forest. We get 2 long climbings in the forest.
Chipata is a big town in the hills. On the west entrance is the rich part, in the north hill, with hotels and lodges. Then comes the old center, a slum crowdy amd dusty and smelling. And then comes the mall and the market. The mall is small but enough for us, internet and supermarket, the market is just an horrible slum smelling, and the few streets around noisy slums in concrete. We finally find a cheap and clear and quiet lodge near the mall, 20$ where we stay 2 nights. First day at the neighbour restaurant the big bus stops and we see a couple of cyclists from Holland going down of the bus. They get road bicycles, a lot of luggage, and bambu frames, zambian made. The man has a spoke which get off the the rib. He thinks he canno’t continue with that, that why they were taking a bus. I convince him he can continue carefully, for a week or two time to command a new wheel by internet. Well we will meet them in Lilongwe, where they cycle without trouble, 140 km. And they plan to continue.
We do the 22 km till the border crossing long slums in concrete smelling, boring and desagreable, and a bit hilly, by farmland. No problem at the border, when the woman asks us what we think about Zambian people, so we shout how are you like children do.