Malawi & Zambia Cycle

Lilongwe to Lusaka 

It was soon time to hit the road on again, this time I teamed up with some friends from the U.K. and our plan was to cycle 1300km from Liliongwe to Livingstone in Zambia in 10 days at the hottest time of year, it was reportedly 40c in Lwangwa valley the challenge was on.

Leaving Lilongwe at 5am we made our way southwest to the Zambia border a total of 150km on good roads with very little traffic, we arrived in bustling  town of Chipatta on the Zambian border at 4pm just in time to shop for supplies as the following days cycling would be fairly remote with little opportunity for resupply.

Cycling between the hours of 5-9am was my favourite time on the road with the sun rising, villages coming to life with locals heading to market or collecting water from the nearest well.

Every morning I'd always end up racing someone on there way to market with a pig or bags of charcoal strapped to the bike or a young boy on his way school riding on a bike way to big for him.

It was a 575km from Chipatta town along the Great East Road to the Zambian capital Lusaka, our first full day cycling in Zambia we managed a distance of around 120km which was our minimum daily target. The cycling conditions were tough going with temperatures reaching the mid 30's by mid morning with some long hill climbs.

We passed through a number small towns on the first 200km which allowed us to stock up on supplies and enjoy much needed cold drinks.

Our first nights accommodation since leaving Chipatta was in the small village of Sinda, we opted to camp at the Sinda Hotel, which  was basically a truckers brothel with no electricity or running water, somehow I think a bush camp would have been a better option.

As we continued eastward we were nearing the Lwangwa Valley with temperatures reportedly reaching 40c and some huge hills in and out of the valley, this was the section of the ride I knew would be my big test, Our plan of attack was to cycle 110km in the morning reach the Lwangwa valley and then chill in the shade until late afternoon as the climb out of the valley would be killer.

The Great East road is a major transit route for trucks and buses into Malawi and at times they would come flying past us doing at least 100km, you had two options at this point stick to your guns and stay on the road risking everything or drop off the road into the ditch this all made for some heart thumping moments.

Arriving at Lwangwa valley we found shade under the usual mango tree ate and slept waiting for the temperatures to drop before continuing out of the valley and finding a roadside bush camp. The remaining section of the route into Lusaka passing through the Lower Zambezi National Park did ease as we neared the capital.

Unfortunately for me my left knee began to give up, so much so I ended up cycling only with my right leg, I'd pushed too hard on he early stages of the ride, the rest of the group were pulling ahead of me and I was only getting slower and the pain was increasing. Feeling really fed up and annoyed at myself I decided to end the ride and hitch to Lusaka.

From the moment we decided to do the ride I never thought id not make it due to injury my only concern was if we had enough time, so leaving the ride left me very disappointed. 

The rest of team continued to Livingstone, Bob, Geoff and Russell managed to complete the ride 1250km in 9 days which is some going, Danny and Claire arrived into livingstone the following day. 

It was great to all join up again and share stories.

Cycling through Africa is a wonderful experience, never at any point did we feel intimidated in fact it was quite the opposite and overwhelmingly friendly.

Getting out the open road stopping in small villages, meeting wonderful friendly people, bush camping, huge hill climbs and the non stop cheering from the children made the trip an adventure of a life time.