Chipata and onwards to Mazabuka

I soon discovered that the bus to Lusaka departed the following day, so came to the realization that I would have to spend overnight in Chipata. Though definitely not my shining moment of courtesy, I called Frances and Alan, who are a VSO couple in Chipata to see if I might be able to spend the night with them. While surprised by the impromptu request, they were nevertheless quite hospitable.

A view of Chipata's market area.

Unfortunately, their day couldn't have been busier. As part of Frances' project, she had been out to a rural village in the morning and was on duty to entertain the Finnish ambassador and her entourage in the afternoon. Alan was busy chasing around the city buying supplies for a school-building project. I somehow got slotted into Alan's plans; late in the day, we travelled up to see the school site. The site is a bit remote, up in the picture-perfect hills west of Chipata along a very bad road. It was a day of bad roads!

At any rate, the project is the vision of a very kind-hearted and determined Zambian couple: Chris and Trina. I don't have the full story, but I did find out that they recently started teaching pre-schoolers at their home under the shade of a mango tree. As the school project gained momentum, they asked for and were granted some neighbouring land from the chief. Alan has somehow made connections with a Welsh education charity that will help to fund the project, so things are now moving along quickly.

The original classroom.

Trina and her three daughters.

 

The setting up in the Chipata hills.

The next day, I headed to the bus station for the 7 a.m. bus to Lusaka, which actually left at ten past nine. After a long, hot bus ride I arrived in Lusaka around 5:30 and bought a ticket for the next bus to Mazabuka – got home just before 10 p.m. Despite the heat and the length of the journey, I still enjoyed the ride – it was great to see the countryside and to get some serious reading done. At the halfway stop in Nyimba, I bought a hand of their famous bananas for K2,000 ($0.45) – they were probably the best bananas I've ever tasted. I also had a lovely chat with an older gentleman named Wisdom on the leg from Lusaka to Mazabuka. He lived up to his name. :-)