VICTORIA FALLS...ZAMBIA AND ZIMBABWE...

It has taken me 3 months and some 8500 km on my bicycle, but I have finally reached Vic Falls! It is a landmark in Africa as well as a crucial point for the TDA riders. This is the point when you realise that out of this extraordinary trip, there is hardly 4 weeks left. Now Cape Town is becoming a reality. When you start on such an expedition, you almost forbid yourself to think about the finish line, you want to focus on each stage and avoid mental fatigue. But Victoria Falls is the point where you can allow yourself to think about the end.

I am tired, but happy. Happy to have made it all the way to Vic Falls EFI (there are still 12 of us), but even more happy because I have finally rejoined my life time partner, Jaana. We have missed each other a lot and it has been a long 3 months and 4 days, but it has also been good to us as we have used this separation to think about our lives and the future projects we would like to engage in together.

When you live a normal life, the routine gets to you and rarely allows you to put things into perspective in your life. In many cases, it is unfortunately a big problem like a grave illness or a divorce that forces people to look back at their lives and take important decisions. Well, I feel very fortunate that I do not have to report on any grave problem, but thanks to this extraordinary adventure I am living, I am in the very fortunate position of having been detached from the material world. This has given me plenty of time to think about the bigger picture such as my personal future, the very meaning of happiness and what makes us happy. I have met so many happy people who owned absolutely nothing, but yet so nice and I also know so many people in the life I come from who have absolutely everything from a nice house to free access to medical treatment and yet they are miserable... So when I say that such a trip allows you to put things into perspective, believe me, it does. One thing I came to realise is that I stroke the lottery of life when I was born in a rich and developed country like France, and this trip has taught me that I should never forget that.

I am physically very tired and the 2 days brake we are given at this world famous site are going to be spent recovering. After riding 500 km in the last 3 days we have now reached the southern end of Zambia. The last 3 trading days have been fast with strong winds (mostly tail winds), so it has meant average speeds well above the 30 km per hour and long distances. We have done what we call pace lines which means that a group of riders get into one straight line and relay each other in front every 3 to 5 km. This is such an efficient way to ride that single riders have no chance and get caught very quickly, even if they are stronger riders.

Victoria Falls is one of the most beautiful natural site I have ever seen. Jaana and I have been here several times before, but each time you get in front of this wonder of nature you get goose pimples. This is a truly magnificent place. When you are at the Vic Falls, there is one hotel you must stay in at least once in your life, the Victoria Falls hotel. Situated in the Zimbabwean side, it offers the best view of the falls in the distance and the bridge that crosses over the gorge between the 2 countries. Victoria falls hotel was built in 1903 and if you want to experience what Victorian living was about, well there is no better place in the world than this hotel. Nothing has changed here, you feel back in time a hundred years when you enter this wonderful hotel. One of the highlight of the day is the high tea served at 15h00 on the terrace facing the falls. Many movies were shot here. I can guarantee you that there is no better place in the world than this terrace to enjoy a Gin and Tonic. The service here is impeccable with neatly dressed white jacket butlers wearing a safari hat. Life in this hotel seems to be slowed down,a sensation of well being floats in the air, you feel emerged into history and pampered in a perfect Victorian style... Just what the doctor ordered for me, I am so looking forward for enjoying the 2 rest days in such a great place.

So, there are exactly 4 weeks left and 2 countries before we get into South Africa. My next blog post will be from Botswana, and from there we will be heading for Namibia. There are still plenty of tough days ahead, with some 3500 km remaining. The stages in Botswana are going to be long. We will do almost 1000 km in the next 5 days, so it is plenty of saddle time remaining. In Namibia we have a very long dirt section as well which is a tough one. So I want to remain focused and to tackle each days as if it was the most important one. In any case, there is no such a thing as an "easy day" at TDA. Jaana will join me again in Windhoek, the capital of Namibia in 2 weeks.

Gerald packing his tent that has been drying in the sun

We walk from the Zambian border post over the bridge to Zimbabwean side

 watching at the Victoria Falls and the river gorge on the oppisite site of the bridge

Victoria Falls hotel and the view to the bridge and the falls...

Every afternoon with the sun and the mist you can see the rainbow

 under the bridge, feels magical

A train crossing the bridge

In Victoria Falls hotel you can really feel the colonial era of the Rhodesia,

They have hundreds of photos on the walls about the history of this

 over hundred years of hotel

Gerald and I in the Victoria Falls walk way to visit one of the 7 natural

 wonders of the world

BIKE DONATION IN LUSAKA

Today we donated a further 28 bikes here in Lusaka bringing the total to 56 bikes donated in Zambia. If anywhere, it feels like Zambia is one of the places where these bikes are most needed. A very charismatic woman named "Loveness" told us that in her community, they use the bikes to visit AIDS orphans and follow up on them. They also visit AIDS patients to keep them up to date with the intake of medicines and make sure they don't stop. Previously, they could only visit an average of 6 households per day on foot, now this is five to ten times more thanks to the bicycles donated...


The bicycles are built locally by a company called Zambikes. These bikes are really nice. Zambike also produces a bamboo frame bicycle, quite amazing actually.
 

                                   We donated a total of 56 bikes in Zambia and here are the
                                    representatives of the associations to whom the bicycles went

                                       This woman named "Loveness" gave us a very emotional
                                       speach explaining us how the bikes donated make a huge
                                       difference in her comunity

                                     Bill and Dr Margareth talking about the great work done
                                     by the Okanagan health care foundation

                              The shopping mall next to my hotel in Lusaka, just like in South Africa

A DAY IN LUSAKA

LUSAKA.... Civilisation! At last.....


I can hardly believe the enormous difference between Lusaka and rural Zambia. It is another planet.... Imagine this, a few hours ago, I was leaving our bush camp passing mud huts where pigs and chicken were running between the half naked children and here I am sitting in a 21 century modern air conditioned shopping mall enjoying a perfectly foamed cappuccino at one of the many South African owned restaurants.... All this in 4 hours of cycling...
I did very well by the way today. I was in such a hurry to get back to civilization that I had my best ride of the tour. I left camp early and made it to lunch in 4th position. I did the 104 km in just over 3,5 hours and that even included a miss of the finish line resulting in an extra 10 km. I was in my hotel room before 10h00 am, just as I had planned. We have a rest day tomorrow, so making it so early is almost like 2 rest days...

When I see the opulence here in Lusaka contrasting so much with what we have witnessed crossing north east Zambia, I can understand why Africa has a huge migration from rural to urban regions. I can imagine what must go through the mind of people arriving in Lusaka after spending their lives in the bush... Unfortunately, the dream is often short lived for these poor farmers who end up in townships, often abused by city gangsters who are far more street wise than they are.

Arriving in Lusaka was like making it to an oasis in the desert.... This is now the very first time we have access to unlimited supply of Western luxuries. Cinemas, Italian ice creams, even Roquefort cheese and salamis available on the shelves here.... 3 months of crossing Africa on a bicycle has taught us to leave aside our dependence on these goods that we normally take for granted, but now it feels like Christmas has arrived... I filled a supermarket trolley and quickly realised it was stupid as I have only very limited space in my locker and in 2 days I will be back in bush camp mode, so I started to offload my trolley back on the supermarket shelves. I still kept the Italian salami and a bottle of wine which I rushed to enjoy in my hotel room... It was only 11h00 am... but who cares...

There are two big modern shopping malls here in Lusaka and if you did not know, you could be in South Africa. Every shop is a South African chain and even all the South African banks are here. So, at the moment on the continent, it is China building roads and South Africa opening shops it seems. Even the menus of the restaurants are exactly the same as the one we get in Johannesburg...

So, I am going to treat myself to a movie, have an Italian ice cream and wrap this up with a meal at the "Ocean basket" a famous South African fish chain restaurant. Oh... and I forgot to mention the Martini at Rhapsody's....

AFRICA IS NOT EASY...

We were told that once you pass the equator, things start to improve, camps and food get better, conditions are nicer and you should look forward for this part of the trip... Well, who ever told this obviously did not ride north east Zambia... The last 5 days have been rather depressing. The only thing that has changed is the length of the stages, we have even done 200 km one day, but as for comfort, we have gone back to Ethiopia levels with one horrible camp after another. It has almost become a standard joke amongst us, how does TDA manage to find such horrible camp sites... I suppose we are all very tired and 3 months of camping across Africa going from shit hole to shit hole makes you depressed, or is it the the Lariam?.. They say Lariam (the anti malaria pills we take) makes you depress... Well, I am usually a very positive person, but right now, I am depressed. I need civilisation... urgently.... please... A burger on a clean plate with chips and no flies on it...


We have just done something between 700 and 800 km of hard core mountainous humid, super hot road across some boring country side (except for yesterday) with thinly populated areas. Thanks God, it is thinly populated because the few inhabitants here are either drunk or looking so poor and dirty that it adds to the depression feeling... I guess, we were all thinking that the worst was over a bit too early. 5 days in north east Zambia is a good reminder that crossing Africa on a bicycle is not a walk in the park...

Zambia is poor, very poor.It makes more than half of its foreign income on only one commodity: copper. So Zambia depends on the price of copper. Right now, copper is expensive and the country's empty coffers can be refilled slowly but it would need a lot more that that to take it out of its current poverty levels. There also seems to be a high level of alcoholism here as we have seen plenty of drunk people (mostly men). So far the places we have stopped at, along the great eastern highway (that is just the name of the road, don't get too exited...) have been dirty and messy. Nothing is being maintained, buildings are left to fall apart and people live in conditions that feel like middle ages to us. Just about every coke stop we have done in the last five days sums it up, dirty and smelly places, kids wearing filthy rags and drunk young men sitting in the shade of a tree drinking local home made beer. Not a very positive picture, I am afraid. We have also met plenty of nice Zambians of course, but it has been a bit of a shock to many of us how dirty and filthy everything is here. They have some of the highest infant mortality rate in the world and I am not surprised.

Camps have also been really depressing since we entered Zambia, hot humid and full of bugs. No commodities of course, no water, no toilets; so we have been looking for village water pumps to at least wash and get a sense of dignity back. This has been the highlight of the day, when we have poured this could bucket of water over our heads, giving us a fresh and clean feeling. But of course it is under the scrutiny of entire swamps of children and if you like privacy, you will be frustrated... The other thing is that you are permanently attacked by flies, mosquitoes, ants and spiders. Your nerves eventually start to give up and you hate being here. You cannot imagine how lucky you are when reading this in a sealed room with no flies on your face and ants climbing up your ankles. By now, many riders have very strange insect bites all over their bodies. Gabriele has been beaten by a spider on his stomach and it looks pretty bad, but there is not much one can do about it. We all have bites that are struggling to heal in this humid environment. Even a simple mosquito bite can turn into a nasty infection, so camp looks like a war hospital with many people walking with bandages on their ankles, arms and other strange body parts...

                                       Tony celebrating his 50 th birthday after the 200 km ride,
                                       the longest of the tour so far

                              Our amused public after we used the village water pump for shower

                                                               Young kid pumping water

                                    When I said that there is not such a word as privacy in Africa,
                                    you can see what I mean... Wherever we go, there are always
                                    children and people to observe what the Muzungus are doing...

                                 A very upset Tony, late on the evening of his 50 th cleaning up his
                                 tent from the 50 smelly dried fishes... It was like a scene out of an
                                Asterix comic book as he started throwing the fishes at other tents...
                                But who the hell put these fishes in his tent?....

                                                             Hardi and Eric at a coke stop

                                         Building maintenance is not really a priority in Zambia....

                                    Young local cyclist intrigued by our colourful bikes and gears

                                                            Jos and Gabriel buying food

                                      In rural Zambia, the shops are very basic and the buildings
                                      run down, we also found Zambia a lot more dirty than Malawi
                           
                                               Anti corruption billboard next to the border post

                                           Eric buying a coke from a typical small road side shop.
                                           (dirty and smelly)

                           The 28 bikes we are donating here in this very remote part of the country

                                      The bike hand over cermony was delayed and started late
                                      as the truck delivering the bikes from Lusaka broke down

                                      Believe or not, but this is a shop in the middle of nowhere
                                     along the great Eastern Hihgway which we are following all
                                     the way to Lusaka. It is stocked with clothes, alcohol and biscuits

                                                              Tony... still smelling .... fish

                                 Tony wanted to show me that he had reconciliated with fish and
                                 posed in front of this horribly smelly drying fishes outside a shop...
                                It might have reminded him of his tent... he he...

                                      Zambians are using straw to produce mùany things as you
                                      can see here. The police check point after the Luawnga
                                      river bridge has become a mini shopping center along both
                                      sides of the road

                                                 Dried smoked fish from the Luanwga river

                                    Most riders took a cold drink brake at the police check point
                                   after crossing the Luanwga river bridge. Plenty of activity
                                   going on here

                                    Police check points are commun all accross Africa, we have
                                    passed hundreds of them since Cairo. They never stop us on the bikes.
                           
                                    The Luanwga river and the beautiful hanging bridge that we
                                    have just used for crossing

                                 As I was taking a shot of the river, this young fellow appeared out
                                of nowhere and made his way to this blog...

                                 Fishing boat on the Luanga river. I took this shot from the bridge

                                                                            Luanwga river

                               We were told that it is absolutely forbidden to take pictures of this
                               bridge, so I had to get one...

                                                      The Luanwga river from the bridge

                                          The Luanwga river makes its way in the middle of this
                                          very mountainous area, just like us...

                                      This morning as we started our ride we had this amazing
                                      view of mountains bathed by sunshine and valleys filled
                                      with morning fog...

                                        Gabriele, pushing an early morning good pace for this
                                        150 km long stage which includes 2100 meters of climbing...

                                Men sitting under shade and drinking the local home brewed beer,
                                a very commun feature here in Zambia...
                                We have seen a lot of drunk Zambians...

                                  Family eating maize and a pumpkin leave mash (the green dish).
                                  I tried it and it was good

                                  In rural Zambia everybody still lives in such small traditional huts

                                  On the road we met this friendly young man from Mozambique.
                                  He had already travelled 50 km from the border to sell his goat
                                  loaded on his bike...

                          He he, another typical African story... We stopped at this restaurant
                          impressed by the large offer advertised on the board.... The T-bone,
                          the chicken and the beef were finished, the eggs were not ready and
                          the only saussage looked so bad we decided to order what was left, the chips...

                                   The bikes we donated are made here in Zambia by a company
                                   called Zambikes. These bikes are very solid and seem to be of a
                                    very good quality.