The alarm goes off at 4:30, time for another epic African road trip!  The plan is to get to the seaside for Christmas, ideally in Mozambique. So Mozambique is 2 countries away and a least 5 days drive! Even Without the 3 boys in the back it would be a challenge.

Before we worry about the rest of the drive we first had to survive the Chingola Road. Those that have followed our adventures will no doubt remember the stories of this road. As we loaded our sleepy boys into the back we realized this time the weather was not in our favor.

It was chucking it down, big fat rain drops  coming down so hard they were bouncing a  good foot back into the air. We have had a lot more rain this year,  which is good for Zambian crops and the hydro Dam but not so good for the muddy road conditions. Luckily we were driving the first section in convoy with some friends who were (sensibly?) flying to their holiday destinations.

We reached the end of the tarmac section just as it was getting light. It was muddy, very very muddy. We hadn’t been driving long on the mud when we caught up with a truck, husband turned the wheel to see if it was safe to take over. As a result the car slide sideways along side the lorry, after a long couple  of seconds staring into the hubcap of a lorry husband manage to get the car facing the right way and back in the middle of the road. To avoid further hubcap viewing and getting stuck we stayed as close to the middle as we could for the rest of the road.

About half way down the road we joined the back of a queue. 10 mins or so later it was clear it was not moving, our friends did a U turn in front of us, so we followed. The Chingola Road has been in the process of being fixed for years, the result is many detours, luckily we found one not far back. We had to change into four-wheel drive to get on to it but we were soon driving past the cause of the que. Two trucks stuck in the mud completely blocking the road in both directions. Relived that we were not stuck in the queue anymore we pushed on to Chingola. A long drive and a quick car park breakfast picnic it was time to good bye to our friends.

We had not been back in the car long when there was a funny smell… it stunk. We pulled up to the road side so hubby could have a look. The parking attendant saw us pull up and started walking towards us, as she got closer she put her hand over her mouth and started to back away!  A few Kwacha was not enough intensive to put up with that smell.

Worried something was seriously wrong with the car we headed to a garage recommended to us. The smell turned out to be battery fluid leaking from the spare battery. This was removed and after a small amount of work on the starter motor we could hit the road again.

Husband looks at me, “I know they haven’t done much but the whole car seems to be driving better”… a little voice in the back pipes up, “I know even my seat feels more comfy”. The car full of laughter we left Ndola with 5 hours to go till the campsite at Fringilla Lodge.

Sorting out the car had taken a long time, we drove past sunset arriving at our destination well past the boys bed time. The idea of putting up the tent in the rain at this time was not pleasant. On the off chance I asked if they had a spare room at a reasonable price. They did! And it was perfect! A quick salad tea and the boys went straight to sleep. Hopefully the next leg of this epic African road trip would be more fun for them.