When we bought our tickets to Chipata we were able to pick where we wanted to sit, so we chose the side of the bus that would be out of the sun for the whole trip. Unfortunately, when we got on the bus a rather large lady had taken one of our seats so the manager had to sort her out and it was not a pleasant way to start the journey.
While the bus was being loaded we had a man in a suit with his bible preach loudly to everyone on the bus then ask for money. A guitarist then appeared at the doorway strumming a tune and was moved on by passengers entering the bus. A man loaded up with counterfeit boxes of perfumes tried his luck but was shooed away by the driver. The bus filled up and people sat in the entry stairwell and bags lined the aisles. A large box was put on the engine cover by the driver and as it heated up it began to stink of rotting fish or rotting meat. Several of the locals complained about the smells. After a few kilometres maggots began to climb out of the box and over packages and bags nearby and it was moved to the lower step in the stairwell but the smell still wafted through the bus.
The east coast road was pretty narrow with just enough room for two vehicles. the driver would toot loudly so the locals on their bicycles loaded with sacks of mealie maize or charcoal could move off the seal to let us pass. There was very little traffic other than taxis and a few long haul trucks carrying sacks of maize to the storage silos.
There were lots of mud bricks drying in front of the rondavel houses and lots of wood fired kilns to fire the bricks and make charcoal which was bagged and set up on the side of the road for sale. The usual assortment of domesticated animals roamed the sides of the streets and occasionally darted in front of the bus causing the driver to stand on the brakes and the horn.
It would have been interesting to stop in one of the farming communities to check out the interesting farm structures that we could see. Some looked like giant baskets for drying maize while others looked like long buildings with racks for drying tobacco. Some other structures were plastered with red mud and on stilts or partly woven like baskets and partly plastered but we couldn't work out what they were for.
The trip lasted 7 and 1/2 hours and the worst part was the DVD they played. The early DVDs were in English and barely audible but towards the end of the trip they played a DVD with Sylvester Stallone and Mickey Rourke. It was subtitled in Chinese and English but the English was really Chinglish as it didn't translate to anything that sounded like what they were actually saying. The last DVD they played was so badly copied that it sounded like water roaring down a hollow pipe and no one on the bus complained that they couldn't understand it or that it was annoyingly loud. Towards the end the sound got really loud so I told the conductor and he replaced it with something else and still no one complained that they didn't see the end of the movie.
Once in Chipata we got off at the bus station and then found the government rest camp across the road. The rest camp is used for government workers when they have to work in Chipata so they are heavily subsidised but any one can stay in the rest camp and they pay a bit more than the locals. The room was basic and not very clean. The mosquito net was pretty grotty so we were finally able to use the one we have been carrying since Swaziland. There was no water and we had to have a bucket shower in the bathroom and carry water from a barrel outside. The common lounge had a fan and a TV with English news so we could cool down.
Once in Chipata we got off at the bus station and then found the government rest camp across the road. The rest camp is used for government workers when they have to work in Chipata so they are heavily subsidised but any one can stay in the rest camp and they pay a bit more than the locals. The room was basic and not very clean. The mosquito net was pretty grotty so we were finally able to use the one we have been carrying since Swaziland. There was no water and we had to have a bucket shower in the bathroom and carry water from a barrel outside. The common lounge had a fan and a TV with English news so we could cool down.
We returned to the bus station to find a bus to take us onto Luangwe National Park the next day and after finding someone who was going we arranged to meet at 7 sharp. We then walked around the station looking for somewhere to eat and other than deep fried sausages, and fried battered chicken and that looked like it had been sitting in the display box all day we couldn't find any food so we bought some eggs and cooked them on our cooker with buns.
As soon as it was dark the room started crawling with termites, cockroach-like insects and flying bugs so afte rsquashing those we could find, tying our food bag to a nail, and tucking in the mosquito net we fell asleep. The only other accommodation places that were recommended were quite a way out of town and accessible by your own car or an expensive taxi so we were stuck with the rest camp.
We saw dozens of churches nearby each other with the Catholics, Jehovahs, Adventists, Anglicans and Reformed Zambian churches the most prolific. There was also a large mosque in the business part of the town as well. As we tried to sleep there was a huge evangelical gathering nearby the bus station with loud speakers blaring music and Christian messages. It felt like Lusaka all over again.
