On the Road Again

Me and Dale Earnhardt... I mean Luke

Luke and I just returned from an exciting 5 day trip.  Last Wednesday, we took a motorcycle into Zambia’s Southern Province to visit a few villages and rural health clinics where they had zambulances.  I had learned a lot from my last motorcycle trip in Eastern Province (the one that ended with my partner, Joe Stangl, bowing out early in exhaustion and me going home injured from a crash).  This trip was like a 5 star trip compared to the last one.  When Joe and I went to Eastern Province we gave ourselves 10 day to ride almost 1500 km (932 miles) and visit over 20 different sites.  This time, Luke and I gave ourselves over 2 days to travel 600 km (373 miles) and visit 2 or 3 sites.  By Thursday night, we had already accomplished what we had set out to do.  We had heard amazing stories of how the bicycle ambulance was helping people, and Luke had gotten a real taste of village life.  

Since we were only a 2 hour bus ride from Livingstone, Luke and I decided to be tourists for the weekend.  We found a place to store the motorcycle, took the bus to Livingstone, and stayed the night there.  Our goal (or at least mine) was to make the most of the next two days.  Here is what we did:

Day 1:

Friday morning, I persuaded a guy to give us a ride to the border of Botswana (about an hour drive from Livingstone).  From there, Luke and I took a ferry over the river into Botswana and caught a ride to Chobe Safari Lodge.  Chobe is said to be a great place to go on safari.  So Luke and I set up a tent at the lodge and went on a safari that evening.  We saw all kinds of animals, including a pride of lions that were feasting on a water buffalo.   When we came back, we made friends with a local guy who gave us a ride into town to get dinner and then took us back to the lodge.  That night, Luke and I fell asleep to the sound of hippos outside our camp. 

Simba crossed in front of our vehicle

Day 2:

We woke up Saturday morning and caught a ride back to Livingstone.  We went to Victoria Falls for the day.  I went bungee jumping, and Luke bought a wooden hippo (Luke already did the bungee jump last time he was at Vic Falls).  Again, we found a local guy to help us out with dinner.  (He barbecued some meat for us.)  That night, Luke and I went to a local Zambian concert and watched Petersen (the father of Zambian hip-hop) perform live.  I took some time to practice my Zambian dance moves. 

Sunday morning we took the bus back to our motorcycle and the motorcycle back to Lusaka.  We arrived tired, but we arrived happy and uninjured.  It was a successful motorcycle trip.  We had made some memories and met all sorts of great people.  

It was also a great opportunity for me to get to know Luke better.  I learned that he isn’t the best at sitting on the back of a motorcycle.  He almost fell off twice: the first time because he fell asleep and the second time because he was giving an exuberant wave to some children we were passing on the side of the road.  I also discovered that as much as I love the cultural activity of bartering, Luke hates it.  I love Africa because I can negotiate the price of almost anything (and so I do).  But on this trip, when I was negotiating the price of something, I could just feel how uncomfortable it was making Luke.  In fact, one time I was in the middle of talking a guy down on his price, and Luke couldn’t take it anymore so he just pulled out some money and paid him above what he was asking.  Luke felt relieved.  I felt sabotaged.  But despite our differences, I thoroughly enjoyed Luke’s company and the opportunity to put him in several uncomfortable situations over the weekend.  He is a lot of fun, and he is a good man for putting up with me.