We got lost in Zambia. For nearly nine hours. We left Nyimba in the early morning, after a poor night’s sleep and a handful of dry cereal for breakfast. We were headed to South Luangwa National Park, the launch point for our safari. But the drive from Lusaka to South Luangwa was too long for a single day, so we sacrificed an extra night in the capital for a night in Nyimba in exchange for the luxury of two easy driving days. Unfortunately, we never cashed in on that second day of easy driving.
There are two routes to get from Nyimba to South Luangwa. The first option is to drive northeast on a tarred road from Nyimba to Chipata, and then turn onto another tar road and drive northwest from Chipata to South Luangwa. Two long but paved sides of an isosceles triangle. Four hours. The second option is to take the tarred road east from Nyimba to Petauke, and then loop around heading northwest on a gravel road creating a longer but more scenic drive following the meandering path of the river. Five hours.
Due to an accidental directional glitch (debatably due to navigator’s error), we didn’t take either path. Instead, we invented a third option: one that didn’t appear on our satellite map, or our google map, or our paper mapbook, one that took us through the backroads’ backroads. Nine hours.
Nine hours, and only 170 kilometers to show for it.
We set off from Nyimba excited to deviate from the main road. It didn’t take long before we drove away from the pavement (intentionally, at first) and passed villages and farms. The dry season was evident everywhere - dry river beds, dust in the roads, and barren tree branches. We passed a small town in the late morning with vendor-lined streets. It was the first town with a sign of trade so we stopped and walked around from stall to stall - they were selling tamarind, dried cherries and river fish being slow smoked over big charcoal barbecues. We bought some of the cherries and sucked on their dry skin. I eyed the fish and a woman beckoned me over to try one. She pulled the fish off of the metal grate, rubbed it with lime and sprinkled it with salt. It was small and had lots of unavoidable bones but it was delicious.
There are two routes to get from Nyimba to South Luangwa. The first option is to drive northeast on a tarred road from Nyimba to Chipata, and then turn onto another tar road and drive northwest from Chipata to South Luangwa. Two long but paved sides of an isosceles triangle. Four hours. The second option is to take the tarred road east from Nyimba to Petauke, and then loop around heading northwest on a gravel road creating a longer but more scenic drive following the meandering path of the river. Five hours.
Due to an accidental directional glitch (debatably due to navigator’s error), we didn’t take either path. Instead, we invented a third option: one that didn’t appear on our satellite map, or our google map, or our paper mapbook, one that took us through the backroads’ backroads. Nine hours.
Nine hours, and only 170 kilometers to show for it.
We set off from Nyimba excited to deviate from the main road. It didn’t take long before we drove away from the pavement (intentionally, at first) and passed villages and farms. The dry season was evident everywhere - dry river beds, dust in the roads, and barren tree branches. We passed a small town in the late morning with vendor-lined streets. It was the first town with a sign of trade so we stopped and walked around from stall to stall - they were selling tamarind, dried cherries and river fish being slow smoked over big charcoal barbecues. We bought some of the cherries and sucked on their dry skin. I eyed the fish and a woman beckoned me over to try one. She pulled the fish off of the metal grate, rubbed it with lime and sprinkled it with salt. It was small and had lots of unavoidable bones but it was delicious.
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We were still on a trackable back road at this point headed for the longer but more scenic of the two routes. We weren’t lost. But then we kept driving, and at some point lost the turnoff, and at some point shortly thereafter lost the gravel road. Then we lost the dirt road. Then we drove until there was no road left and we navigated through open fields and footpaths. Our GPS’s sole function was to operate as a compass pointing us in the general northern direction.
We’d gotten used to navigating around goats and cows and potholes. But now we were in new territory. Now we were navigating around bridges that had collapsed, the dead center of villages, and rocky, hilly, crevasse-ridden pathways. We drove through village after village filled with people mystified as to how and why we were there. Women collected water from the well and carried heavy buckets on their heads. Children ran out of their houses as we drove past. The ones who ran fast enough waved hysterically as we drove by...except the ones who just starred doe-eyed. We saw buffalo skulls on the side of the road. A dust devil swept past us. At one point, about 4 hours into the drive, I realized we were as far from where we had started as we were from the other side. There was no quick way out and I started to feel claustrophobic.
We’d gotten used to navigating around goats and cows and potholes. But now we were in new territory. Now we were navigating around bridges that had collapsed, the dead center of villages, and rocky, hilly, crevasse-ridden pathways. We drove through village after village filled with people mystified as to how and why we were there. Women collected water from the well and carried heavy buckets on their heads. Children ran out of their houses as we drove past. The ones who ran fast enough waved hysterically as we drove by...except the ones who just starred doe-eyed. We saw buffalo skulls on the side of the road. A dust devil swept past us. At one point, about 4 hours into the drive, I realized we were as far from where we had started as we were from the other side. There was no quick way out and I started to feel claustrophobic.
Somewhere in the middle of somewhere, we saw a school. It was about 2:00pm and classes were in session. We needed a break. We parked and were greeted by the vice principal - a jovial and chubby man who laughed as he said repeatedly “you’re welcome here” and shook our hands. He showed us into the principal's office where we sat down and asked lots of questions about the school. The principle said his two chief challenges were: (1) connectivity and (2) competing demands for the boarding children who have to both find time to study and care for themselves (e.g. collect firewood, find food, cook and clean etc.) We chatted a bit more until the children began to notice we were there and one by one dropped out of their English class until they were surrounding us outside the classroom. We took pictures with our polaroid and gave them to the kids. They all thought they were models. Tom and the vice principal had a catch with the rugby ball after which Tom failed to explain the sport, but left the unused ball for the kids anyway.
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We got back on the road and kept driving.
At about 4:30pm, after eight and a half hours through the bush, we finally emerged onto a tarred road. I was ecstatic. We found the road. After that, it was a simple 30 minute drive on the well-traveled D104 to the South Luangwa park entrance. I think it was my happiest moment of the trip - just eeking past my previous happiest moment of the trip: the sheer and seemingly endless adventure of that day’s drive.
At about 4:30pm, after eight and a half hours through the bush, we finally emerged onto a tarred road. I was ecstatic. We found the road. After that, it was a simple 30 minute drive on the well-traveled D104 to the South Luangwa park entrance. I think it was my happiest moment of the trip - just eeking past my previous happiest moment of the trip: the sheer and seemingly endless adventure of that day’s drive.