Our Trip from Lusaka to Mbala, Zambia

On July 18th at 5:30 in the morning we started our drive from Lusaka to Mbala. Our temporary vehicle is a Ford Everest. All four kids sat on one bench seat. The back doors just went shut. They get too much bigger and we will not be able to do that again. The back was packed to the ceiling. Plus we were hauling a small trailer which had in it six suitcases and the kids 4 backpacks. Josh and Amy Bowman and their children made the trip with us. Their trailer held two of our suitcases inside of it and two where strapped to the top.

We saw many new and interesting things along the way:

A “Lay By” is like an American Rest Stop on a highway, except there are no bathrooms or vending machines. Sometimes they are marked with a sign and sometimes not. They do have tall elephant grass in which to squat. We have decided that the elephant grass in way cleaner than a restroom and smells much better.

There are many police checks along the way. For the most part we were waved on. Some police checks have gates across the road. The guard just came out and opened the gate for us.

Speed Bumps – they are most anywhere in Lusaka and I know of one here in Mbala. They are not marked well. The paint has long since faded.

Rumble Strips? I am not sure what to call these things. There were signs for them, although I’m not sure there were signs for them all of the time. Some towns do have what I would call rumble strips as you come into town to slow you down. These other rumble strips are like huge speed bumps only there was 10 of them in a row!

Driving at night is dangerous. We use to fuss about the paint or lack of it on the highways around Louisville. Louisville’s painted lines look good now! Driving at night is nerve racking. Even Steve said his heart was pounding. We were following someone so that made it a little easier. At one point Josh got his vehicle totally off of the road. He had followed a car off of the road. We couldn’t see what was happening, but decided we better follow him off of the road too. Here a semi-truck was passing another semi. So the semi was in our lane, and he was flying. More heart pounding was happening after that.

Some roadside etiquette: At first we just thought this guy wanted to turn. Then we decided he didn’t know where he wanted to turn. Now we know it was his road etiquette. When driving down the road and someone is trying to pass you, put on your left turn signal to tell them that it is safe to pass. Put on your right turn signal to indicate it is NOT safe to pass. Also, and we noticed this at night, put on your right turn signal when someone is coming toward you to give them a point of reference. Also, you should use your horn a lot. This is not rude. It tells the person walking or the bike on the side of the road that you are coming.

We passed 24 Jehovah Witness Kingdom Hall signs and 4 Seventh Day Adventist signs on the way up.

Pot holes: I will do another post on just pot holes when we go back to Lusaka in August. The farther north one goes on the Great North Road the less great it becomes. If you see black skid marks on the road – slowdown now – potholes. If you see brown dirt marks up ahead – slow down – pot holes. If you see dirt on both sides of the road instead of grass – slow down – major pot holes – pot holes so bad that the side of the road is better!?!?!

At one potty break on the side of the road eight little children sat watching us the whole time. They hardly moved. Us white people must be interesting to watch.

At one point of the drive we were listening to Point Of Grace. There is one song that Heather Payne sings that we love. She has a wonderful voice. Lane made the comment, “She lets her voice go!” Yes, we had to agree. I wish I could sign like that.

Dad, at one point we thought you might like to have your front porch at one of the major pothole places just to watch the traffic. We changed our minds though, as the dust would be awful.

God bless,
Rita for the Schwarz’s
In Mbala, Zambia