Today we drive to the capital city of Zambia, called Lusaka. We're in the truck by 7am after a reasonably uneventful breakfast. We were joined by 8 ducks that provided some amusement while looking around our cooking area for breakfast scraps.
The drive was only about 7.5 hours & went by reasonably quickly. Tom continued to practise taking photographs out the window while the truck was driving down the bumpy road at high speed. Something I don't think I will ever be good at no matter how much I practise. While Tom was doing this I sat at the front of the bus with Sarah, Ben, Nicole, Simon & Leah playing uno. We've now got to the point where we keep count of points, do eviction rounds & have added extra rules into play to make the game harder to win. It's a great way to pass the time & there is a few fiercely competitive players on the truck, including me!
At 3pm we arrive in Lusaka & drive through the CBD. It's a very established capital & looks like most capital cities belonging to small countries you would see around the world. We have a brief hour to explore a shopping centre while the cook, Joseph, gets supplies. Tom & I hunt down a pharmacy to buy more antihistamines. Tom ran out about a week ago & has had 3 really bad days of allergies. Tom buys a pack of 30 Telfast tablets & meets me in the coffee shop across the road. It was here that he does the conversion maths & realizes he has paid $75 AUD for them! Before buying them he has forgotten to request the price or ask about generic brands. We notice on the receipt it says 3.00 x Telfast which we assume is the problem. I take the receipt & box over to query the price. The lady behind the counter is very rude to me while explaining that they charge you per 10 tablets & there's 30 in the box which is why it says 3.00 x on the receipt. It doesn't take me long to get tired of her condescending & blatantly rude attitude. I demand a quote for 10 tablets to be printed off to make sure that is correct. She's very reluctant to do this & becomes even more reluctant when I say I am a nurse & think it's rubbish that they are charging like this & breaking open a packaged box of meds & awkwardly cutting apart the foil sheets to dispense 10 tablets. Based on the packaging & the writing on the box 'not for individual sale or redistribution' & the fact theres only 1 directions/adverse reactions insert per box, I don't know how legal this is. It definitely wouldn't be allowed in Australia, but if the price is correct than dispensing smaller amounts might be a more affordable option for people in Africa. There is a lot of fuss, a lot of dirty looks cast my way & a lot of typing to produce the piece of paper with the quote. The maths adds up. I'm sceptical that it hasn't been altered, but I can't prove anything. Once I leave the pharmacy & go back to the coffee shop, there is 2 ice coffees & a red velvet cupcake waiting for us! A good way to compensate ourselves after being ripped off buying drugs.
We leave the shops & drive 10 kilometers out of the CBD to the Eureka camping ground, our home for the night! It's nice to arrive in the daylight. We drive through 2 large gates & down a long driveway & back into bushland. We can see on Tom's Google maps account that it is a large block of land. All of a sudden on the right side of the truck we see a large group of impala & we are told by Jurumba our guide that this campsite has wild Impala, Zebra & giraffes! As we drive into the area for camping we see a small herd of 6 zebra grazing, 1 of the females has a baby that was still feeding off her. A few moments after this we spot the giraffes, there's a group of 3 & we are assuming they are also a family. The biggest, oldest & darkest in colour we assume to be the Male, the one that is more petite & lighter in colour is the female & there is a smaller very light & very shy baby! When they are young the colours on a giraffe are light & only darken as they get older. Their breed & local terrain can also affect colour.
Tom & I race off the truck, barely hear a word of the briefing, abandon our tent set up & go stare at these amazing animals. The giraffes are truly majestic with their long necks & legs, graceful stride, huge heads with big inquisitive eyes & eyelashes. The female & baby don't come close but the big one we assume is the male, comes over so he is standing only a couple of meters away and curiously look's at us. He is unbelievably beautiful & standing so close. Tom & I spend nearly an hour photographing, but mostly just admiring these amazing creatures! We then go to say hello to the zebra who seem aloof & skittish. Were very cautious of them getting spooked & kicking us. We are able to stand a few meters away from them & take some nice photos while admiring their individuality & beautiful patterns. They have a light tan colouring that is between the black & white stripes & have very dark muzzles & legs. They also look smaller than the ones we saw in Tanzania, unfortunately our guide can't tell us what species or subspecies they are. I really wished I could pat them!
Eventually we realise we have to put up our tent & get ourselves ready. It is a really nice camp site with beautiful thatch roof structures, a big bar, pool table & even a pool. But we just don't care about those things. After the tent is put up in record time we spend the last of the sunlight continuing to photograph the zebra & giraffe. On our explorations we also see a grey cat, a ginger cat & a white scruffy dog that looks like a westie terrier. The westie terrier is incredibly friendly & playful, she is successful at ensuring the cat's don't get a pat from us & then follows us back to the tents. Tom has a few beers with some of the other men from our tour while I do a 40 minute HIIT workout with Sari, Leah & Jurumba. We are joined after 10 minutes by Noria who finishes the workout with us & very briefly by one of the Lithuanians.
The little scruffy dog joins me & provides an extra obstacle while exercising. She takes great pleasure in biting my ankles, climbing on my back while I'm doing push ups & attempting to lick my face while I'm doing a plank. I'm definitely not opposed to her distractions, she's so bloody cute! After exercise, it's the usual mildly warm shower, dinner & bed. The animals have all disappeared & we won't see or hear them overnight. This campsite has been one of our favourites.
- Alli
The drive was only about 7.5 hours & went by reasonably quickly. Tom continued to practise taking photographs out the window while the truck was driving down the bumpy road at high speed. Something I don't think I will ever be good at no matter how much I practise. While Tom was doing this I sat at the front of the bus with Sarah, Ben, Nicole, Simon & Leah playing uno. We've now got to the point where we keep count of points, do eviction rounds & have added extra rules into play to make the game harder to win. It's a great way to pass the time & there is a few fiercely competitive players on the truck, including me!
At 3pm we arrive in Lusaka & drive through the CBD. It's a very established capital & looks like most capital cities belonging to small countries you would see around the world. We have a brief hour to explore a shopping centre while the cook, Joseph, gets supplies. Tom & I hunt down a pharmacy to buy more antihistamines. Tom ran out about a week ago & has had 3 really bad days of allergies. Tom buys a pack of 30 Telfast tablets & meets me in the coffee shop across the road. It was here that he does the conversion maths & realizes he has paid $75 AUD for them! Before buying them he has forgotten to request the price or ask about generic brands. We notice on the receipt it says 3.00 x Telfast which we assume is the problem. I take the receipt & box over to query the price. The lady behind the counter is very rude to me while explaining that they charge you per 10 tablets & there's 30 in the box which is why it says 3.00 x on the receipt. It doesn't take me long to get tired of her condescending & blatantly rude attitude. I demand a quote for 10 tablets to be printed off to make sure that is correct. She's very reluctant to do this & becomes even more reluctant when I say I am a nurse & think it's rubbish that they are charging like this & breaking open a packaged box of meds & awkwardly cutting apart the foil sheets to dispense 10 tablets. Based on the packaging & the writing on the box 'not for individual sale or redistribution' & the fact theres only 1 directions/adverse reactions insert per box, I don't know how legal this is. It definitely wouldn't be allowed in Australia, but if the price is correct than dispensing smaller amounts might be a more affordable option for people in Africa. There is a lot of fuss, a lot of dirty looks cast my way & a lot of typing to produce the piece of paper with the quote. The maths adds up. I'm sceptical that it hasn't been altered, but I can't prove anything. Once I leave the pharmacy & go back to the coffee shop, there is 2 ice coffees & a red velvet cupcake waiting for us! A good way to compensate ourselves after being ripped off buying drugs.
We leave the shops & drive 10 kilometers out of the CBD to the Eureka camping ground, our home for the night! It's nice to arrive in the daylight. We drive through 2 large gates & down a long driveway & back into bushland. We can see on Tom's Google maps account that it is a large block of land. All of a sudden on the right side of the truck we see a large group of impala & we are told by Jurumba our guide that this campsite has wild Impala, Zebra & giraffes! As we drive into the area for camping we see a small herd of 6 zebra grazing, 1 of the females has a baby that was still feeding off her. A few moments after this we spot the giraffes, there's a group of 3 & we are assuming they are also a family. The biggest, oldest & darkest in colour we assume to be the Male, the one that is more petite & lighter in colour is the female & there is a smaller very light & very shy baby! When they are young the colours on a giraffe are light & only darken as they get older. Their breed & local terrain can also affect colour.
Tom & I race off the truck, barely hear a word of the briefing, abandon our tent set up & go stare at these amazing animals. The giraffes are truly majestic with their long necks & legs, graceful stride, huge heads with big inquisitive eyes & eyelashes. The female & baby don't come close but the big one we assume is the male, comes over so he is standing only a couple of meters away and curiously look's at us. He is unbelievably beautiful & standing so close. Tom & I spend nearly an hour photographing, but mostly just admiring these amazing creatures! We then go to say hello to the zebra who seem aloof & skittish. Were very cautious of them getting spooked & kicking us. We are able to stand a few meters away from them & take some nice photos while admiring their individuality & beautiful patterns. They have a light tan colouring that is between the black & white stripes & have very dark muzzles & legs. They also look smaller than the ones we saw in Tanzania, unfortunately our guide can't tell us what species or subspecies they are. I really wished I could pat them!
Eventually we realise we have to put up our tent & get ourselves ready. It is a really nice camp site with beautiful thatch roof structures, a big bar, pool table & even a pool. But we just don't care about those things. After the tent is put up in record time we spend the last of the sunlight continuing to photograph the zebra & giraffe. On our explorations we also see a grey cat, a ginger cat & a white scruffy dog that looks like a westie terrier. The westie terrier is incredibly friendly & playful, she is successful at ensuring the cat's don't get a pat from us & then follows us back to the tents. Tom has a few beers with some of the other men from our tour while I do a 40 minute HIIT workout with Sari, Leah & Jurumba. We are joined after 10 minutes by Noria who finishes the workout with us & very briefly by one of the Lithuanians.
The little scruffy dog joins me & provides an extra obstacle while exercising. She takes great pleasure in biting my ankles, climbing on my back while I'm doing push ups & attempting to lick my face while I'm doing a plank. I'm definitely not opposed to her distractions, she's so bloody cute! After exercise, it's the usual mildly warm shower, dinner & bed. The animals have all disappeared & we won't see or hear them overnight. This campsite has been one of our favourites.
- Alli
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