This is a guest post from Claire Le Hur who is cycling to China with her fiancé Stuart Block. The couple will start their journey in East Africa where they will follow new ‘silk roads’ charting the journey of key natural resources as part of an exciting new education project. Claire will be riding a bamboo bike, built by an African social enterprise and Stuart will ride a tandem, keeping the back seat free for those they meet en route. They will also be raising money and awareness for two great educational charities. Find out more about Claire’s big adventure here.
African Houses, jumpstarting planes, sable darting, meeting chiefs, elephants, waterfalls, schools and plenty more cycling… our six weeks in Zambia have certainly been eventful. This is what we have been up to…
Heading down the dirt track to the small town of Kapishya
As we headed south towards the Copperbelt we took a 45km detour down a rough dirt track to Kapishya Hot Springs where we camped for a few nights. The hot springs were just what we needed after several tough days of cycling. Owners Mark and Mell Harvey were great fun, and proved generous hosts serving us lots of lovely food and we were fascinated to hear more about the history of Mark’s family….
About 20km from Kapishya is Shiwa Ngandu (the famous big Africa House from the book by Christina Lamb) which Mark’s elder brother, Charlie, runs. Their grandfather, Sir Stewart Gore-Browne, walked from Ndola in 1914, and loved the area so much found the money to build his dream house: an English country mansion in the middle of the African bush. He was a fascinating man and while not without his flaws (the locals called him “Chipembele” meaning Rhinocerous!) he did an enormous amount for the area, establishing a miniature ‘welfare state’ and helping Zambia become one of the only African countries to achieve peaceful independence. He was also the only white man to have had a state funeral at which President Kenneth Kaunda spoke. His eldest daughter, Lorna, married John Harvey and raised their family in the same house. Tragically in 1992 Lorna and John Harvey were murdered during a robbery. The Harveys do much for the local community. As well as setting up the primary school they organise the hydro power plant and help out whenever anyone is ill/injured. They are very proud of their Zambian roots yet they can’t help but worry about what the future holds. Shiwa Ngandu is an idyllic place, but it’s very remote (it’s 30km to the nearest proper road and 100km to the nearest town), and Mark and Charlie can’t keep the house going forever. We hope something will work out as history like this shouldn’t be forgotten.
We had a great time in The small town of Kapishya
After our 10 days with the Beyond Ourselves we headed to Lusaka where we were hosted by Dan Rea and his parents, Harold and Mary. The Reas are a very interesting family who came to Zambia over 100 years ago as missionaries. We spent the weekend with Dan and any weekend which starts with the question ‘can you jump start a plane?’ is going to be interesting! After a little stop on the runway of Lusaka International Airport we jump started the tiny Cessna and set off to the North West corner of Zambia.
On arrival we joined a trip into the local game park to dart some sable (or antelope) so they could be transported to another park. Getting up close to such beautiful animals was awe-inspiring, especially when one had not been sedated enough so fought back, almost goring a man with his huge horns.
Transporting sable to another park
After this Dan took us to meet Chieftainess Ikelenge. We followed tradition kneeling and clapping at her gate and then waiting to be introduced and asked to sit.
Stuart and I meeting Chieftainess Ikelenge
Later we spent time at Dan’s rock crushing plant, hydro power station and pineapple dryer. The weekend ended with a visit to the source of the Zambezi where our guide told us that the local name of the River Yambezhi means ‘heart of everything’. It’s a very fitting description as there was little water at the source and it seemed bizarre that this would turn into the awesome Victoria falls we would see two weeks later.
The Zambezi source
We had a few days ’off’ in Lusaka where we spoke at the American School. Their grade three pupil’s are working on a project called ‘Ordinary People Making a Difference’ and their teacher, Melanie, was granted a day off to cycle out of Lusaka with us the following week. Our day cycling towards Kafue National Park was great fun. Melanie, Dan, and Harold were asking us to take it in turns to drive/cycle for 110km until we met the truck sent to drive us safely though the park to their camp. We were relieved to get into the truck, especially when we saw two buffalo, a huge bull elephant and a herd of while dogs by the roadside!
Our good friend Dr Max Graham, who runs Space for Giants in Kenya, introduced us to Sport Beattie, CEO of Game Rangers International who invited us to his camp in Kafue and suggested we ride the truck to Livingstone, following the Zambezi – a route that twice as long but far more interesting. We visited their elephant orphanage at Lilayi first and then headed to the park. We found Game Rangers International’s focus on the human element of anti poaching very inspiring and were impressed by the work they do with the local communities and schools. We spoke at one of the schools and all the teachers had a ride on our tandem, Thandie.
Getting up close to the elephants
After sneaking in a game drive we left the park and headed to Mongu, the Western capital. In just one day we had cycled 70km, got a bus which broke down, and then got a ride on a Cassava/Maize truck!
For the next 500km to Livingstone, it was just Stu and me on the road. The flood plains and Zambezi got increasingly bigger and the scenery was beautiful. We had several great nights camping right on the river bank. Luckily we didn’t see any crocs although the hippo noises took some getting used to!
The sunset over Zambezi
We spent two nights by the stunning Ngonye Falls, wonderful waterfalls which would attract more tourists if it weren’t for their bigger sister, Victoria 300km away. This leg of the trip was a great warm up for our weekend in Livingstone where we enjoyed doing the touristy bit before heading into Zimbabwe.
At the top of Victoria Falls
