I’m still a little surprised about my powers of persuasion but I managed, against all odds, to get Rob to agree to another bus journey. This was, in theory, much more straightforward – no border crossings, better roads and we’d been to the bus station to have a quick check on the standard of coaches. What could go wrong?
Firstly we had, on advice that they had slightly more room, booked the two seats behind the driver. When we arrived at just before 6am we realised that actually, there were three very narrow seats behind the driver. Since I’ve been in Africa I have noticed an awful lot of bottoms and from my careful research was able to deduce that these seats were not designed for any I’d observed apart from possibly those of ten year old children. Neither mine, Rob’s or the lovely young lady seated in the aisle seat had the bottoms of ten year olds, consequently we didn’t really fit!
Strangely enough, when there was a slim (no pun intended) chance that the aisle seat might not be occupied, Rob had chosen the middle seat placing me by the window. Interestingly, as soon as it became occupied, Rob (who as you probably know struggles with physical contact at the best of times) had a sudden urge to observe the passing countryside and so I found myself leaning forward for the estimated 6/7 hour journey as my fairly narrow shoulders didn’t physically fit in the remaining space.
As we prepared to depart Lusaka we were both delighted to have a Christian preacher extolling the virtues and power of prayer in ensuring our safe journey. We had chosen a company called Shalom (The alternative had only just had their licence renewed after a poor accident record) as this had appeared the best option. Twenty minutes in, with the preacher in full flow and Rob ready to jump through the window, we questioned our decision. Luckily, as we pulled into a garage, the preacher alighted and we temporarily welcomed the Gospel music that replaced him.
Due to a minor collision of an overturned truck and a jack knifed lorry that totally blocked our road about an hour into the journey we were a little delayed. It looked like we might be there for hours but within half an hour the truck was back upright, the lorry had moved on?? And we were all back on the road. There were several unscheduled short stops along the route as we discovered that Shalom also operated an unofficial postal/delivery service but otherwise all else went to plan. The journey even got a little better when after six solid hours of Gospel music I requested a change and they allowed me to play Rob’s iPhone selection. Kylie and Ed among others were definitely an auditory relief.
At about 4pm, approximately two and a half hours after our latest scheduled arrival time, we arrived in Livingstone, found a lovely taxi driver called Simon and were taken to Ngoma Zanga Lodge for the next short, exciting leg of our journey. Without any further persuasion I think our coach journeys may be a thing of the past. 😊
Rob & Emma's Trip 