Lusaka

Today was the last full day of driving on the Gap tour. Tomorrow we'll wind up at Victoria Falls, our final destination, and the day after will effectively be the end of the tour. We packed up in the darkness this morning then rode the truck forty miles over the dilapidated dirt road leading away from South Luangwa. As the sun came over the horizon we passed over the top of a small hill and had a perfect view of the Zambian bush spread out beneath us. Red light streamed through the pale green trees and thick grey mist filled the gaps beneath them.

Before reaching the main road to Lusaka, Henk stopped the truck at a small market and a handful of us got out to stretch our legs. Elbie bought a bag of “Fat Cakes” from a local vendor and the 22 of us munched on the fried, doughy rolls and a cluster of bananas as the truck rumbled on towards Zambia's capital city.

Tonight we pulled up to “Eureka Camp”, just outside of Lusaka. I took a long, hot shower (a serious luxury while traveling overland in Africa), then ate dinner with the others on the tour. As I walked through the camp tonight five wild zebras trimmed the lawn then galloped straight past me on their way out.

Victoria Falls should be pretty good fun. Elbie briefed everyone tonight on the adreniline-sports activities available there and some of the stuff sounds pretty legitimate. Besides that, I'll also have an extra day there that I can be creative with and hopefully use for something worthwhile.