For those of you who should ever pass through Chipata by bicycle, or with little fuel, it is good to know that from the huge poster ‘Welcome to Chipata’, in theory the entry gate to Eastern Province administrative centre, to the real city there are about 7 kilometers, thank God I did the last 10 with Ndeke, a farmer who was cycling with gum boots and was very interested in my journey. He told me that the only job available for him is to cultivate the land. Chatting and sharing the small bananas, which I had bought at the market in Katete, we reached destination before 17.
As we say in Italy curiosity is female! Today at the market of Katete I was assailed by the questions of the fruit sellers, ‘Bamboo?’, ‘How are the pipes joined?’, ‘Is it strong?’. They were really interested, not like a couple of husbands who were looking at the bicycle dazed. Like many others I met they did not believe it was made in Zambia! There is a bit this idea that a beautiful thing has to come from Europe and the United States. A woman told me ‘ok it is made in Zambia but the bamboo was brought by you from Italy!!’.
In Katete I saw again the bicycle taxis, the boda boda in Kenya, which here, If I understood correctly, are called delivery. In Zambia they are not common at all, it must be the vicinity to Malawi, I remember to have seen many of them in Lilongwe. On the carrier they have a comfortable big saddle where to seat astride or sideways like on the Lambrette of the 60s. I do not think that they are much cheaper that motorized taxis.
Of the wind I do not talk anymore! Today it came back again on a long plateau, which reminded me of St. Moritz. After the first kilometers characterized by very long straight stretches between an uphill and following downhill, the road came back to be like the one of the first stages, up and down with adverse wind.
In the ‘bush’ you orient yourself a bit with the schools, I have seen many with beautiful and demanding mottos: ‘Education is an investment’, ‘Where you start learning successfully’, … but in government schools children start reading and writing in average from the third grade. The United Nations have recognized achieved in advance the Millennium Development Goal on primary education for all …
Having reached Chipata in these first five days is already a micro goal, I did about 560 km keeping up with the schedule. Tomorrow I do not know yet whether I will enter directly in Malawi or I will proceed to Lundazi, because I have conflicting information regarding the state of the road going to Lundazi.
Sinda S 14° 12.985’ E 31°45.689’ – Chipata S 13° 38.006’
121 km