Into Lusaka

It was a short day on the road – much to the relief of some of the riders who were starting to feel the long week of riding. A breakfast of pancakes (with real maple syrup all the way from Canada), followed by a cool start to the morning allowed the riders to enjoy the reasonably flat terrain and make a speedy arrival at lunch although Eva, Jan and the tandem (with blind cyclist Douglas and his pilot Joash) decided they had eaten enough pancakes to get them all the way to the finish line. Honours were taken by the tandem in a sprint finish with Jan (our 64 year old riding legend from Holland) by about half a wheel so Douglas and Joash have another stage win under their belt. Everyone was in camp by midday so the afternoon was spent cleaning, eating, showering, washing, hanging out by the pool, playing some pool and enjoying the an afternoon of rest on the grounds of the China Ma Hotel. The kitchen was invaded by a large green snake that stopped short just near Miles feet (What a tragedy if our resident chef was bitten before he had finished cooking dinner). It was quickly removed from its home by Wimpie and Thor much to the relief of some of the riders who witnessed it and also Miles. Apparently it was a green Mamba but that is yet to be confirmed! For the rest day ahead…well, there is a shopping mall up the road that has an enormous and quick internet cafe, plus a very western supermarket, bowling alley and cinema…oh, and ice cream too! Siggy, who is raising money for malaria, is off for a visit with the Minister of Health and Markus is off to visit some of the schools he has raised money for and visiting his sponsor child.