Today I am ready to leave Lusaka for Livingstone.. At dinner with Jessica last night we talked about the possibility of a stand by flight to Livingstone. She and her friend seemed to think that it should be quite easy to get one as they are not usually full on a week day. So I hopped in to a taxi for the airport – I was kind of shocked at the cost - $30 and tried to bargain! Made me wonder how far away was the airport – but I didn’t do too well! When I arrived I tried to book in only to find the flight was full after all – my fault, I should have thought to phone ahead! Would have saved me some money. So now I had to get another taxi back to Lusaka – this time I managed to get the price down to $20 – but $50 later and I am still in Lusaka!! Now I have to get a taxi to the bus station – a nightmare journey that took an hour because of road closures which meant we had to sit in traffic jams!! So – it was about 11.30 am by the time I was at the station. The next buses were either 2.30 or 4pm. Although I was told the later one was ‘nicer’ I really didn’t want to hang around any longer than I had to. For some strange and very annoying reason the terminal was full of ticket touts who insisted on hanging around even if you had a ticket already! So as it was I sat on the bus about 2 hours before it was due to leave! Unfortunately they also let various sellers on as well – so there was a continuous flow of people up and down the aisle – just like Ryan Air!! And just as Ryan Air has an annoying jingle – so our bus had a preacher to come and shout at us! He was preaching and reading from the bible – it was like being at a very enthusiastic church service – he would say something and expect you to repeat the message after him – well I looked around the bus and sure enough everyone was joining in enthusiastically – it made me think – I might think it all very strange but there was definitely another viewpoint as everyone else on the bus seemed to appreciate his efforts – I have never seen anything like it before!! As well as his 20 minute sermon hopefully he also blessed the bus and our journey for us at least!! Then he got off and at last we headed on our way!!
The windows had been open on the bus but as soon as we set off they were closed – it was so hot!! After about 2 ½ hours we had a flat tyre – so had to wait at the side of the road for it to be repaired. This gave me a chance to buy some snacks and water from a shop close by. Of course as soon as we set off again I decided I needed the bathroom. Help – was I going to have to stop the bus? Luckily we stopped again at a rest stop only about an hour later – there was also a fish and chip shop – in fact I actually stocked up with sausage and chips, kit kats and drinks! It was dark now and although my ipod had died I was able to watch “Bones” on my computer! We finally arrived in Livingstone at 10 pm – the 4-6 hour drive actually had taken 7 ½ hours!! Never mind – I was there! I then headed off to the Jolly Boys Backpackers Hostel – where I grabbed the remaining two muffins and some water before heading off to my bed. I had the top bunk in a dorm of 4 beds – as I had arrived too late for sheets I just slept on the mattress – it was hot anyway! The guy below me snored for a while as did the other two when they eventually arrived – but it wasn’t too bad and I did get off to sleep! It had been a long travel day – but overall I felt good. I had eaten easily with no pain – maybe not enough, but I could soon remedy that tomorrow!!
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