Today we set off for Lusaka - we'd been warned about the roadworks after Kafue - we were about to find out!
The first part of the drive to Mazabuka was unremarkable, on the way into the town we spotted the "Bethlehem Bakery" which had been recommended to us, so we did a U-turn and went in - it was a surprise - it was originally setup by the local church as a community project, the priest being Italian, they had Italian breads and pizzas available - the staff were very friendly, the place clean and well run. There is even an internet café in the bakery. We bought some lovely samosas, pizza and two types of bread - all very affordable. On leaving we spotted an Arts Centre in the same building, so we went in - Ireen who runs it has been trying to resurrect it recently and is very keen to get it promoted - in fact it's well worth promoting. Sue bought some necklaces and we had a chat with Ireen about the possibilities of getting her some help- we'll have a go at this as she impressed us so much with her motivation and eagerness.
If anyone is passing through Mazabuka - we'd highly recommend both the bakery and the Arts Centre - heading North it's on the right hand side of the road (a long white building clearly marked "Bethlehem Bakery" next to a church - co-ordinates :
S15°51.282' E27°44.477'.
After this it was onto Spar for a restock, then fuel. One filling station was out of diesel, so when we found that the Engen next to Spar had some, we decided to fill up. Mazabuka is a centre of the sugar industry ("The sweetest town in Zambia"!) and seems busy and relatively prosperous. Apparently they seal a lot of the dirt roads around here with molasses - this is fine until you drive on them in the wet and then go to an area with elephants - they will literally turn your car over to get to those sweet smelling deposits on the underside!!!!
Shortly after Mazabuka the road deteriorated with potholes and lumps everywhere. Sue has learnt to wear 2 bras at the same time (a sports bra over her normal one) when the roads get this bad!!! After Kafue the road then got even worse - large sections are closed for resurfacing and instead of doing short sections at a time with contraflows or traffic lights, "diversions" have been created. These diversions are simple tracks formed by bulldozing the mud - this would be fine, but this is possibly one of the busiest freight routes in Zambia with hundreds of (often heavily overweight) trucks using it every day. the result is a road surface that can only be described as murderous. We followed a tanker that had blown one of its rear tyres - as it had double rear wheels the other one was holding it, but bulging worryingly. There was no way the driver was going to be able to stop anywhere to change it - it's a narrow road with trucks passing in both directions, anyone removing a wheel would be hit within minutes. One "diversion" was probably 20km long - it took about an hour to drive, it passed straight through the middle of areas where people were living - literally feet from peoples homes, many of which are open. The dust and stench of exhaust was bad enough for us - but the poor people who are living in this day-in-day-out must be really suffering. This whole job has clearly devastated a huge swathe of the country and left an awful impression on us. Although we have so far found the Zambian people to be lovely, the country has turned out to be pretty depressing with lots of it having been burnt, hundreds of people cutting wood to produce charcoal (you see lines of charcoal sellers in almost every junction, layby, bus stop or anywhere else that a vehicle could stop and dozens of people transporting charcoal in sacks on bicycles). There is often no tree left higher than 20 feet for miles, the exceptions being where there are large farms which seem to have offered some protection against this pillage. We have the distinct impression that much of Zambia is at risk being transformed into desert (or at least just scrub). We had been planning to stay at Eureka (just south of Lusaka) for a few days to get some jobs sorted, but the facilities here are really not as good as we had expected and a tourist bus pulled in late tonight and we've got screaming and shouting idiots all over the campsite (we just HATE these buses and all the problems they bring with them) - so we're probably going to move on as soon as we've sorted the bare essentials.