The one where everyone got sick

01/09/09

So the river water kicked in...half the group got ill with some severe stomach upset on our last proper day in Zambia. I'm paranoid that I'll get it, but I only swigged some of that water. Maybe I won't.

Rain. 50 days of endless sunshine. It has been fantastic, but I can't deny that I am longing for rain the moment that I step off the plane at Heathrow. And if England obliges I know exactly what my facebook status will be...hehe.

02/09/09

What a horrendous day. The stomach bug everyone else had developed the day before, I developed (surprise surprise)...not as bad but I still felt pretty shit. I had no sleep and depressingly this was the day we had our epic 15 journey home...though it could take up to 19 hours.
I barely had enough energy to feel a fond fairwell to Lake Tanganyka and Nkupi Lodge...the scenery was stunning but I was focussing on other matters.

When we boarded the bus it was 11am, but in typical African fashion we were delayed by 45minutes. It had also warmed up quite considerably and the street vendors had all caught on that there were Muzungus on the bus. They tried to overcram the bus with 5 people sitting on one seat...honestly Lusaka really isn't that exciting. I figured that the said families were not going as far as Lusaka...only the next villages. It should be said that the early part of the journey was very stop start. No wonder it took Kakoli 19 hours. I was beginning to think ours would be even longer.

The bus smelt of vomit and was reminiscent of a school minibus. As we made headway it had started to cool down as the windows were wide open. This was pretty pleasant, as I was feeling ill.
We reached Kasama at 4pm and waited for a ridiculous 45minutes.

It was starting to get chilly and I desperately hoped that the people around me would close their windows...they didn't and I watched the sunset and felt sad...my final sunset.

The night took forever, it was freezing and I could not sleep. I longed for Lusaka.
We suddenly reached Kabwe (the stop before) and I could not believe how much time we'd made up...only 140km till Lusaka, although this seemed to take forever.
Finally at 5am we arrived in Lusaka. It took a little time to get our bags and with the general harrassment from the Zambian men, we finally got into our taxis. At least the taxi drivers knew where Salvation Army was!

Salvation Army was NOT prepared for our early arrival. The rooms were locked and thank God for security guards, else we'd have not been able to get into the place. It felt safe camping out on Salvi's grass, although absolutely freezing.
I actually fell asleep on the grass and before I had realised, it became light quickly. I also noticed how quickly that hour had passed. I slept comfortably in the bed until 10am and spent the rest of the daytime in Lusaka.

...

We are sleeping and doing nothing. I felt energetic for a moment when I woke up and was going to join the others in a rendez-vous with Pastor Pete and Bernard at Manderhill. I since thought better of it (stupid stomach) and played the African waiting game, for Catherine's van at 3pm.