‘Rain rain go away come another day’ sings Chimba. Foofighters sing ‘Shame shame go away come back another day’. I shout ‘Wind wind go away and never come back again!’. I wait for a flat stage with favourable wind, like a prisoner waits to see his woman. This morning the wind went violently wild then from the 50th kilometre it calmed down, and as I was already tasting the great achievement to reach Lundazi, i found a big yellow indication saying attention road in maintenance and full of potholes! The road went from tar to gravel, with traffic limited to those vehicles involved in the works, in a spot where they were flattening the gravel, I was authorised to continue on that road instead of getting the deviation. I should not have done it! In 300 meters the bicycle paralysed because the wet and gluey ground filled the space between the wheels and the mudguard stopping the wheels from turning, and also the chain fell down. While I was busy fixing everything, I met a Bengalese supervising the works on behalf of the Indian company which contracted the works, the geography of economics has changed, and is still modifying itself. Solved the problem I started again on a sprint taking advantage of the downhill, but after about ten kilometres, speeding on a very fast downhill I found myself in bitumen and I nearly flew away.
The ‘troupe’ of the videos came around the 40th km, in the two previous days they were coming around the 100th km, like in the Giro d’Italia …
I met Mr. Tapson Njere a village headman from Magodi Jere from the tribe Ngoni. The Ngonis are descendants of Shaka Zulu, Southafrican, whose army fought proudly the English first and the Boers later. Nowadays, every year in February, the traditional celebration Nc’wala Ceremony remains in the area which I came across before Chipata.
On the road today other than the usual taverns also many hammer mills, and at the beginning the stone crushers, among them many women, who like condemned to force labor they make small pieces out of very big stones, with chisel and hammer.
Also Chisi, Deputy Teacher of the Kamkwesi Basic School, who has hosted me better than in a hotel in his house together with the ‘troupe’ is Ngoni. He listed me a series of schools present in the area and his has 416 students so I said ‘there must be a lot o families around here, from the road you would not say so’ and he answered laughing ‘ the families are not so many, the fact is here they are Tumbuka, a tribe which accepts polygamy, there are men with more than three wives and fifteen children’. I think he was a bit jealous as he was talking. We ate Nsima, white maize porridge without salt, eaten with different names almost all over Sub-Saharan Africa, eggs, soya and chicken. The perfect hosting.
The house is essential with the typical TV stand in a metal arch, where there are also a stereo, DVD player and pretty powerful speakers. There is no electricity and everything works with a car battery. The sitting room is covered by celebrative and educative calendars the one of Zambia Africa Cup Winners 2012, the one of PF the party who has won for the first time the election in September, the one of the World’s Greatest Leaders, and finally, my favorite the one with all the African Presidents.
On the opposite side of the calendars there is a sort of poster with a Bible sticking out of it in a paper frame and the quote from the book of Joshua (1:6-7) which says ‘Be strong and of good courage!’, maybe ending up here was not by chance, perfect for my journey. Up to now even though I reach the evening destroyed in the morning I always have the will to break the world.
Chipata S13°37.853’ E 32°37.553 – Kawinga Kamkwesi Basic School S12° 42.571’ E 32° 55.083
124 km