This is the second part of my memories of our 1999 trip from South Africa to Tanzania.
We stayed over at a private lodge just outside Lusaka in Zambia, with the idea to get up very early the next morning in order to drive all the way to Lake Malawi. We knew this is going to be a long drive for one day as it is about 850km, but by starting early we thought it may be doable.
We left the lodge at 4 am the morning, and by 4:30 am we were through Lusaka and on the Great East road. We were making really good time as this part of the Great East road is a wide tarred road with large shoulders and in a very good condition. As we speed ahead at about 100km/h our hopes were up that we will still see the sunset on the lake later the day.
And then, 96 km into our trip of the day, just as we past Shingela, the beautiful road all of a sudden disintegrated into a gravel road which will be any 4x4 enthusiast dream challenge!
Luangwa Bridge Market
Our plan for the morning was to stop at Luangwa Bridge Market to see the sunrise and have breakfast, but we only arrived at Luangwa Bridge Market and 10:30 am that morning.
The first 227km took us 6 hours and 30 minutes to complete!
We were hoping to find a restaurant for breakfast, but we only find one place where we could buy something to eat for breakfast, freshly baked buns and Coka Cola!
Our "Restaurant" with buns and Coka Cola for breakfast
The restaurant owner did not allow us to leave with the bottles of Coka Cola, as he needs the bottles back for his next purchase. We had to stand there in his restaurant and drink our cokes!