... and as per the Ten fuel requirements, another 20km or so and the fuel was done. We caught glimpses of the Kariba lake before i rad out of fuel so we knew we weren't to far from our destination. But the sun was down, night crept out of the long shadows cast by the trees.
The Ten was empty and the AT was running low. So for the second time on the trip we took out the tow cable (remember Gobabis), connected it to the twin and we made slow progress towards Siavonga. This time around, however, the towing was done in deep sand and we really struggled to make progress. We came to an uphill and suddenly there was not enough power or traction to get the Ten any further.
We knew Siavonga was about 10km away... so for the first time in the trip we decided to split up. Rudi would ride towards Siavonga to get me some fuel.
I was now alone in the bush, it was dark, i was tired, hungry, thirsty and my cigarettes was finished. The ten was parked halfway up a sand inclide. I just took off my gear and lied down on the side of the road... catching some rest.
In true Zambian fassion, within 10 minutes i had a crowd of about 20 people sitting on the other side of the road, just looking at me, whispering and laughing. As the minutes passed and with some return smiles and frienly gestures, the kids got more comfortable and moved closed until i tried to communicate with one of them. Everyone laughed at me, i laughed back. There was no way of understanding eachother. No one speaks english and this area is one of the lowers educated areas in Zambia.
Pretty soon the leader of the settlement approached me with about 3 adults. Through more gestures they offered to help me push the bike towards their settlement about 300m further. When we got there i was again supprised by their generosity and friendlyness. That brought out a canvas for me to sit on, got me a pachet of cigarettes, sorted me out with some Gin tot packs and water.
We sat there, me, the leader, his sons some neighbours sitting in a circle and 20 kids all around us, wanting to check out whats going on. The stars was out in full, Rudi was nowhere to be seen, but i was enjoying this moment, alone with the people of Zambia.
At some stage i got one of the kids to put on my boots, another to check out the armour suit, put some of the kids on the bike... it was very entertaining and they were loving it.
It must have been an hour and a half before rudi returned. We put some fuel in the Ten and rode of to Siavonga. Hopefulle this would be our last stretch. I had cold beer, steak, shower and a comfortable bed in mind...