The Expedition Diary - March 2006

01 March 2006 12:00:00

Colin swimming - added 9th March

Date: 1st March 2006
Location: Coffee Plantations, Kasama, Zambia
GPS: S10°01.192’E031°13.575’
Distance travelled: 15846km
Weather: Overcast and humid with thunder, lightning and downpour in the afternoon.

Author: Colin Javens

Daily Travel: We left Shiwa House at 10.00 heading for the Harhoff’s just outside Kasama, about160km away. The first 46km we travelled along a dirt track that was surrounded by indigenous forest. Since we’ve crossed the border into Zambia I’d noticed a massive change in vegetation. Being the rainy season, the whole area was a massive contrast of greens with tall green grass at least 4 foot high bordering the road. The track we were driving along looked like it hadn’t been travelled on for a very long time and the only other tracks were those of a black mamba push bike. We were also very lucky because there’d been a considerable amount of rain the night before we’d left and in some parts the track had been washed away which meant driving was that more challenging. As we drove along the stretch I kept expecting to see Buffalo or Waterbuck, however we didn’t see anything which is apparently due to poaching by the locals. Again I drove with Ben riding shotgun and Chrissy in the back. Ben as normal was trying to beat the amount of water he had drunk the day before and as a result we must have stopped at least 15 times in those 46km for him to take a piss. Just after the 15th stop we reached the tarmac we’d been heading for and turned right. We did the remainder of the 120km on a good tarmac road heading for Kasama. Apparently most of Zambia’s population live in Urban areas but to me it seems like they all live along the roadside. What is more surprising is the amount of children aged from about 5 to 11 that seem to be walking down the roadside. It reminds me of Ethiopia in this respect. The other really noticeable fact as I drove was the amount of charcoal bags that lay on the side of the road waiting to be bought, which to me is the first scary sign that there is a lot of deforestation going on. We stopped briefly in Kasama to refuel and top up the food supplies and headed on to the Harhoff’s who live and work on Zambia’s largest coffee farm. We arrived just after 2.00pm. To me it had been another great day driving in what seemed like a totally different country.

General Interest: The previous night we had camped near hot springs at Shiwa Ngandu (aka Africa House). After the Doc’s description of the Hot Springs I knew I couldn’t leave without getting in them myself. The team said they’d help chuck me in so there were definitely no excuses. We took my shower chair down and took the legs off and the guys lifted me from my chair into the hot springs and into the seat of the shower chair. For me the experience was incredibly weird to begin with. Although I knew the springs were hot I couldn’t actually tell until my shoulders sunk into the water and it also felt like somebody was pushing on my stomach which made breathing a little bit difficult to begin with. However, after five minutes that feeling soon went away. What also surprised me was how clear the water was but it was hardly surprising after it had travelled 7km from underground. As the guys swum around me my feet began to float all of a sudden and as a result I lifted off the seat and began sinking into the water. Luckily Ben and Chrissy weren’t far away. Ben grabbed under my legs and Chrissy under the arms and as they had me in that position I asked if they wouldn’t mind dragging me around for a while on the surface. It wasn’t long after that I asked them if they wouldn’t mind dunking me and I could see the delight in both of their eyes and before I knew it I was under water. Shortly after that we realised that if the guys let go of me I could float by myself and keep my balance in the water preventing me from rolling over. This was a great feeling to achieve this so quickly and it wasn’t long after that with a bit of flapping I managed to do some granddad style backstroke. So it meant the following morning, or the morning we left for Kasama that we all got up at 6am and headed down to the hot springs again and this time as soon as the guys put me in I was floating and free to swim around by myself on my back and I didn’t use the shower chair this time. This was an incredibly liberating feeling. It’d been six years since I had last swum or even tried and to be able to achieve as much as I did in such a short time was incredibly rewarding.

02 March 2006 12:00:00

Coffee - added 9th March

Date: 2nd March 2006
Location: The Haarhoff family, APC Coffee Plantations, Kasama, Zambia
GPS: S10°01.192’E031°13.575’
Distance travelled: 15846km
Weather: Overcast, sunny spells, humid with thunder, lightning and downpour in the afternoon.
Author: Kiko
Daily Travel: None other than the trip around the coffee plantation.

Team dynamics and health: The team remain to be as crazy as always. I’m slightly worried that when we return home, we will be so used to living with each other, and being a bit off the wall, that we won’t fit into society ever again!!! Thank god I haven’t got a professional job to go back to otherwise I think the public would be in danger!

Camping and Living: We’d had a lovely relaxed meal last night getting to know the Haarhoff family and visa versa. It is blatantly obvious, when we meet people, what a good team we are and how we all come across so well. We have met quite a few families and other travellers, and even though we may all be a bit ‘different/crazy/weird/ecentric’, and whatever else, everyone seems to warm to us all, almost immediately. It’s a good feeling!
Anyway, breakfast was in the guest house before we headed over to the house to start our tour of the coffee estate (see below). Lunch kindly prepared by Amanda (mum) and then the afternoon spent doing various bits. I went to town with Amanda; Ben helped Chrissy with Col’s routine, while Chris talked to the family, mainly about medical things that the family wanted to know with regards to Vanessa and her spinal injury. The support network here is nothing like that in the UK so it was very nice for the parents and Vanessa to have any questions answered that they had.
In the evening, Phil Neilson (aka - legend boozer, female slayer, (as he signed his name on our new wooden box on the disco)), one of Colin’s farmer friends from Harper Adams came round for supper. Again, a very pleasant evening with delicious food and….umm…some beers!

General Interest: At 10.30am we went on a tour of the estate. Having been around the tea plantation in Sotik, it was only right that we had a look at how we get coffee. Quentin, myself, Chris, Chrissy and Woody went in one car while Col drove Ben and Vanessa. They have approx 6100 hectares of coffee shrubs which produces 80% of the total coffee in Zambia. The plants are planted in a circular formation due to the watering facility which is a huge overhead sprinkler anchored in the middle of the field which rotates 360°. The coffee is distributed on a train to Dar es Salaam, as a green bean, and then on to the purchasers across the world. It is also traded as a fair trade coffee. The crop is harvested mid-March to October, by hand, and then transported to the factory. Here it undergoes a fermentation, drying, skin stripping, and grading process. The bean isn’t roasted on site hence is known as a green bean when sold. Ideally, the coffee would be sold 2 months after picking but if targets need to be hit in a certain month then it could be as little as 1 month. Even though they don’t roast on site, to check the quality, they have a small roaster (tiny) so that they can brew cups of coffee to carry out the checks necessary.
When Quentin was given 24hrs to move off his farm in Zim, they moved here and took over APC coffee as General Manager. The company was $13mn in debt when he arrived 4 years ago and now it is £3mn in credit – good going hey!?

03 March 2006 12:00:00

Old friends and new - added 9th March

Date: 3rd March 2006
Location: Isolanga Lodge (?), Lake Tanganika, Zambia
GPS: S08 44.740’ E031 08.448’
Distance travelled: 16006km
Weather: Overcast with occasional sunny spells followed by thunder and rain (always conveniently at the time when we arrive to set up our tents at camp)

Author: Chrissy Prydun

Daily Travel: Like I’ve said before I love the occasional spontaneity that comes with travelling on this trip albeit the fact we are headed in an obvious southward direction. Last night, through the African muzungu six degrees of separation community, the Harhoffs had organised for a friend of Col and Woody’s who they had studied with from Harper Adams (Phil) who ran a diving school on Lake Tanganika to come and visit them at the coffee estate. After some negotiating with our navigator Ben last night, it seemed feasible that we could make a side trip to Lake Tanganika for the weekend and still make it to Lusaka on time for our meeting with the organisation Disicare on Tuesday. We were also very excited that Vanessa had agreed to come along with us. Kiko and I offered to do any of her care in the time away. This was fantastic news. Phil was going to show us the lodge where he worked and take those who were interested scuba diving. This morning Col, Ben and I who had gone to bed for an early night, awoke to discover the rest of the team had stayed up till 4am with Phil and the Harhoffs sampling various spirits from the Harhoffs Liquor Cabinet. As a result I happily assumed the drivers seat position in the defender to transport my car full of fellow hungover passengers (Doc, Woody and Kiko) to the Lake. In the other car Col had Vanessa as his co pilot in the front with Ben reliably navigating from the back. On the first three hour stretch along tarmacked roads dotted with humungous pot holes, I thought that singing a rendition of ‘Always look on the bright side of life’ would be appropriate in lieu of all the hungover ‘I feel like I’m going to die’ groans and moans emanating from the backseat. Today was by far the most treacherous stretch of road we had encountered for a while although the amazing scenery of Lake Tanganika in the distance made up for it. After the tarmac roads we took a turn at Mbala picked up a Phil (acting as a rather chirpy tour guide inspite of his hangover). From here I thoroughly enjoyed off road driving having become more confident with gear changing of late. I just had to keep my eye out for little monkeys (i.e. the local kids) who had a cheeky habit of jumping out of the long grass and running in front of the cars. Unfortunately my snap happy tendencies saw me stopping in the middle of a steep rocky ravine to take what I thought would make for an awesome photo of the Discovery up ahead and after several attempts to dislodge myself I had to get Woody into the front seat to drive us out of the mess. From here he took over the driving slowly making his way over the downhill stretch of the most rocky, bumpy roads we had seen to date. Another 3.5 hours or so of driving at an average of 10kph through remote villages where the locals seemed overwhelmed and enthusiastic to see us.

Current health and team dynamics: Besides the mild alcohol poisoning that had afflicted half the team everyone was in good form today. It was great fun having Phil and Vanessa with us. Vanessa Harhoff had her accident the same year as Col on March 1st 2000 (it was a complete coincidence the day we had arrived at the coffee estate coincided with the anniversary of her injury). It was caused by whiplash as she was a passenger in a car accident. Her injury is complete C4/C5 so her movement is a little more limited than Col’s. We were all impressed by Vanessas remarkably optimistic, warm and down to earth attitude. She reminds me a lot of Col in that inspite of her injury she has an amazingly strong and resilient character, is very selfless, hates to be a burden, always thinking of everyone else and always has a smile on her face. She was quite open about her injury letting us all take turns to help her on our weekend away which must be quite difficult to do seeing as we were all but strangers a few days before.

Camping and Living: After unloading most of the cars to make room for Vanessa, her wheelchair and Funky Phil, we drove most of the day and arrived at about 6pm to be greeted by a thunderstorm at the time we started putting up the tents and ravenously devoured a late lunch. Vanessa had reserved a cabin which Kiko and Phil kindly offered to sleep in the cabin to help Vanessa with her routine. After setting up camp, the Doc worked on a diary entry, while Ben, Col and I strolled down to the beachside to check out the amazing coloured sunset over Lake Tanganita we then joined the others in the bar for some drinks and a delicious dinner of fish, potatoes, veg and pancakes with apricot for desert. What a feast! We returned to our tents in the rain shortly after and bedded down to the sound of pouring rain. We haven’t had proper rain since Libya and I must admit as manky as our tents become nothing beats falling asleep all snug as bugs in our canvas homes with the sound of rain and thunder in the distance.

General Interest: Lake Tanganika is 780km long at it’s widest, bordering Burundi, The Congo, Tanzania and Zambia (12% borders Zambia). It’s the deepest and longest lake in Africa with it’s own unique marine life. It holds a sixth of the worlds fresh water and yet it’s not big on the tourist circuit. It’s home to a crocodile which has killed over 300 people!

04 March 2006 12:00:00

Scuba diving - added 9th March

Date: 4th March 2006
Location: Isolanga Lodge (?), Lake Tanganika, Zambia
GPS: S08 44.740’ E031 08.448’
Distance travelled: 16006km
:
Weather: A sunny/overcast day followed by a brilliant electrical storm!

Author: Chrissy Prydun

Daily Travel: No travel today. We stayed put at Lake Tanganika

Current health and team dynamics
: The night before we had gone to bed I noticed that a pressure sore on Col’s bum had deepened. This morning I noticed a new one had appeared. As a result a team meeting was called to discuss an alternative plan of attack for the next two weeks and plans to go to Phil’s place tonight were cancelled. It was better for Col to rest up for the day at a minimum and so he spent the day laid up in his tent with frequent visits from other members of the team in our attempts to entertain him. Otherwise the team was quite well except for Woody who still had a bit of a stomach upset and spent most of the day also resting in the tent.

Camping and Living/General Interest:
Phil stepped into his scuba diving instructor role taking an eager and experienced diver Ben out for an 18metre dive in the morning. When he returned the Doc and Ben took Vanessa out to the beach to help her get into the water for a swim while Phil took novice divers Kiko and myself out for a 10metre dive. Diving was something I’d always wanted to do and never dreamed I would get to try out on this trip. We looked like ghostbusters in our oversized wet suits clambering along rocks with our lead belts and oxygen tanks in tow and giggled hysterically like kids on an excursion while Phil tried to be serious and teach us how the equipment worked, how to blow water out of our goggles underwater, important underwater sign language (no Kiko it’s not possible to talk under water) and more most importantly how to float and sink. It was an incredible experience even though I nearly knocked myself out on the boat falling back into the water. Although the water wasn’t teeming with marine life being quite close to the shore and even though Phil had to chase Kiko and I who became distracted exploring in between rocks and the like, it did give us a great introduction and taste for diving. Unfortunately the Doc and Woody who were due to go the following morning had to miss out due to turbid water caused by a night of torrential downpour. After the dive it was time to whisk Col out of his tent for his routine and Mummy Matthews decided our kitty funds were sufficient for us to enjoy a second dinner out: this time delicious pork chops and pudding for desert. It was a lovely weekend spent with Phil and Vanessa. Thanks for the great company guys!


Earlier text:
Just a quick update from the Project Managers...

Colin's progress has once again been slightly slowed...he has developed a pressure sore on his body (described to me like a graze) which needs resting to prevent further aggravation and complications.

Colin will therefore be resting for between 1 to 2 weeks, before he can travel further southwards. In the interim, several of the team will be travelling to Lusaka to visit another project we have supported, called Disacare.

Colin, Chrissy and Kiko will remain where they are currently near Kasama, Zambia. Fortunately they have reached the home of some friends from Harper Adams Agricultural College (where Colin and Woody both studied). The home is on the biggest coffee estate in the country. Vanessa, a similar age to Colin is also tetraplegic and her mum, Amanda is a nurse - so they could not be in better hands.

I am sure that the team will soon be updating you themselves but I wanted to keep you all up to date...especially if you started to wonder why they hadn't moved anywhere on the map! They still aim to be on track to reach South Africa on time, heading towards Jo'burg for the 27th March. Many thanks for your ongoing support.

05 March 2006 12:00:00

Challenging driving and pressure sores - added 9th March

Date: 5th March 2006
Location: The Haarhoff family, APC Coffee Plantations, Kasama, Zambia
GPS: S10°01.192’E031°13.575’
Distance travelled: 16166 km (a few more for the defender)
Weather: Overcast and Humid with a feeling that a thunderstorm would break in the afternoon
Author: Colin Javens

Daily Travel: We left Lake Tanganika at 10.30am and in my mind I was slightly concerned because the night before we’d had an incredible amount of rain and the locals said that the road might be very difficult to drive on and in some parts it may have even washed away. However, I was slightly more reassured when they said that people often found it harder descending down to the Lake after a lot of wet weather rather than climbing out of it as we would have to do that morning. Woody, Vanessa and Chrissy rode with me. Beryl is a slightly more comfortable ride than Brenda. That morning’s drive was probably one of the most challenging I had to do on the expedition with the loose boulders on the road meaning that often I had to drop into low box to slowly climb up the road without the wheels spinning and sliding off the road. It took us three hours of off road driving to get to Mbala which was a one horse town which Celnet (the mobile phone network) were commissioned to paint. We had an opportunity to stop for a bite to eat in Phil’s local shop and although Woody can talk up a good story and suggested a pie eating competition he only managed to eat two pies and complained horribly about how full he was. With Woody complaining of terrible indigestion we left Mbala heading for Vanessa’s house on the coffee estate. As we drove 120km I dodged the pot holes while listening to Chrissy and Vanessa having girly chats in the back while Woody sang in a monotone voice in the front next to me. I’d like to say I knew what he was actually singing about in actual fact I didn’t have the faintest idea. With the window opened full blast I at least managed to drown out his monotone in one ear and felt reasonably happy. As we drove I could see the thunderstorm clouds building over Vanessa’s coffee estate and due to sod’s law as we arrived at Vanessa’s house it began to chuck down which meant that everyone got soaked. Another great day’s drive.

Current health and team dynamics: The drive had been that good that I had forgotten all about my pressure sores and it wasn’t until I was actually reminded of them that I knew that I had to get straight out of Beryl and straight into bed. As Chrissy had described, I had unfortunately picked up two small pressure sores as a result of all the driving we had been doing. Once again Chrissy optimistically reminded me on how lucky we’d been not to have had any pressure related problems since our last rest up in Aswan. We’d decided as a team that it was more important that I rested up and potentially stayed a week in bed to ensure that I was healed, not jeopardising the month of upcoming PR and fundraising activities that have been organised for us in South Africa. Unfortunately these pressure problems have been as a result of the challenge we have set ourselves and although a week in bed may be very frustrating I still feel very lucky that we have got this far without any major problems. The disadvantage of the decision for me to rest up is that I miss out on visiting our third charity DISACARE in Lusaka. It was a difficult decision to make because they had organised two day’s worth of activities for our arrival and so it seemed essential that we attend. However, considering the distance involved to drive to DISACARE I had to weigh up the pro’s and con’s, the short term gains versus the long term benefits and ascertain that if I didn’t take this opportunity to rest now, things could rapidly deteriorate. Luckily though, Ben, Woody and Chris will drive 1500km to Lusaka to visit the project and attend the events that have been organised for our visit. Chris will also be filming everything so that in one respect I won’t miss out on too much. Hopefully we will be able to relay all the information that the boys have learnt about DISACARE in an upcoming diary entry.

Camping and Living: We are incredibly lucky that Quentin, Amanda and Vanessa have been very hospitable and have said that we can rest up in their guest house for a week.

General Interest: I have decided to grow a beard during my rest up in an attempt to rival the Doc’s.

06 March 2006 12:00:00

Resting and pondering - added 9th March

Date: 6th March 2006
Location: The Haarhoff family, APC Coffee Plantations, Kasama, Zambia
GPS: S10°01.192’E031°13.575’
Distance travelled: 16166km for discovery
Weather: Overcast, sunny spells, downpour in the afternoon.
Author: Kiko
Daily Travel: Split vehicles – Defender (inc Chris, Woody and Ben) travelled to Lusaka while the Disco (Col, myself and Chrissy) remained at the Haarhoff’s

Team dynamics and health: Col remains resting and as far as I am aware, the 3 boys are all ok as is Chrissy and myself.

Camping and Living: I can only really speak for what has been going on here since we have split up. The boys left about 6am to make it to Lusaka for the evening (I received a text message at about 9pm to say all was ok so I’m assuming that it was a long drive but that they arrived safely).
Us three awoke about 8am and then spent the day doing the usual ‘rest day’ things. Diary, washing, snoozing, shopping, routine, eating and reading. I have a feeling it’s going to a while that we are here and that by the time we come to move on we will all be ready for it! Chrissy is great and she says she can’t remember the last time she was bored. I however, can! It makes you realise just how different everyone is. We both get on really well, yet our way of coping is totally different – she rarely needs to cope actually. She never gets bored whereas I do. I find myself wandering around aimlessly looking for things to do! I guess though, that she does have quite a lot to with regards to Colin, so that keeps her quite busy. This trip has definitely made me realise that every person has there own needs and their own ways of coping with certain situations and so with this in mind, you must accept it and not make fault of it. In this close proximity with each other, arguments and disagreements could be rife but we have all managed to let these potential situations pass unnoticed. Biting your tongue I think is the saying!

07 March 2006 12:00:00

Discare visit

Date: 7th March 2006
Location: Lusaka
GPS:
Total Distance:

Author: Chris Parsons
Weather: overcast with intermittent, often very heavy, rain showers
Daily travel (route, road conditions): to Disacare and back to our host’s house
Team (Dynamics, health): Colin, Kiko and Chrissy remained in the Haarhoff’s guest house in the coffee plantation with Colin on bed rest. Ben, Woody and I are in Lusaka, flying the flag for Driving Home at Disacare

Camping and Living: We are camping in the garden of our host’s John and Kirsten in Lusaka

General Interest:

We got up in the middle of a torrential rain shower, had a quick coffee and then headed down the road to our third charity in Africa, Disacare. We were met at the door by David Mukwasa, one of the co-founders. He took us on a guided tour of the workshops where they make the wheelchairs from scratch and showed us the 7 wheelchairs that our donated money had funded. Whilst we were touring the other guests began to arrive. We were exceptionally privileged to meet the British High Commissioner, His Excellency Alistair Harrison. There has been a long association between the High Commission and Disacare. Owing to the recent strengthening of the Kwacha against the dollar our donated money was no longer able to fund the 12 wheelchairs we had hoped. Amazingly Price Waterhouse had agreed to make up the short fall and had 2 representatives there to hand over the cheque for the requisite amount. We were also lucky enough for 5 of the 7 children who where to receive our funded chairs to be in attendance. All but one of these children were sufferers of cerebral palsy, a spastic paralysis that is the direct result of brain asphyxia at birth. The other suffered from spina bifida, where the spinal cord fails to develop properly and is open to the outside world over a variable proportion of its length. We were also joined by a number of other disabled guests who have associations with Disacare, only one of whom I spoke with was spinally injured.

During our tour of the facilities we were struck by how eager and surprisingly efficient the whole process takes – only one day for each chair – but were struck by the seemingly huge costs involved ($400 per chair) and by how simply alterations to the manufacturing process would result in a better, ore cost efficient product. The other major fact of note is that this is the first project we’ve supported that is being run as a business. These chairs are being sold to the Zambia disabled community at an, admittedly very small, profit. David was at considerable pains to explain this was necessary given the financial climate and that the thrust of Disacare is empowerment of physically disabled Zambians – amazingly 3% of the population fall into this category, of whom 17.2% are the result of accident or injury. Having said that it seemed the business side of things wasn’t going too well. David told us they needed to sell many chairs a week. Last year they sold 117 chairs!!!

There followed the customary round of speeches and interviews with local press. I had been a little surprised on the drive to the project to be nominated as replacement speech maker but was assured by the boys, that despite no preparation time I was an acceptable stand in for Col. Having performed this duty I reverted to a considerably more back seat role, filming Ben actually giving the chairs to the 5 children. We were then lucky enough to receive a demonstration of wheelchair basketball on the nearby court. It seems a not inconsiderable proportion of Disacare’s business is supplying such specially designed chairs. Having said fond farewells and been invited to several other worthy locations tomorrow Ben and Woody settled down to some local food while I took the time to chat more extensively with David and the only obviously spinally injured person there, a young man named Boyd who sustained a T10 injury when shot in the back on border duty for the Zambian Army.

Our plan for tomorrow finalised we made our way back to our hosts by way of the bank and internet café eagerly discussing our various perspectives on this latest African project.

08 March 2006 12:00:00

Disacare

Date: 8th March 2006
Location: DISACARE, Lusaka
GPS:
Total Distance:

Author: Chris Parsons
Weather overcast for most of the day with intermittent showers and sunshine
Daily travel (route, road conditions): from our hosts house to DISACARE then on to Radio Phoenix. From here back to DISACARE then to Kabalonga Cheshire Home then on the APTERS at the University Teaching Hospital
Team (Dynamics, health): Colin, Chrissy and Kiko remain in the guest house of APC coffee plantation outside Kasama, hosted by the Haarfhof’s whilst the rest of the team continue their tour of DISACARE in Lusaka.

General Interest:

After our tour of the workshops at DISACARE yesterday Woody decided he wanted to spend the day back their observing their working practices. During the day yesterday he had been struck by the fact many simple alterations would improve not only the manufacturing process but also the end product. He hoped he might be able to implement some of these simple changes by spending a day with them. As a result it was left to Ben and me to fly the Driving Home flag around Lusaka today.

Yesterday had spawned a number of invitations to visit various locations around this surprisingly modern city. We had hoped to squeeze one of these visits in before our live radio interview at 11am but owing to a puncture to David’s ( DISACARE’s director) car we simply weren’t left sufficient time. In truth by the time we’d fought our way through the exceptionally heavy traffic, all rerouted down a single street owing to a march celebrating International Woman’s day, we barely made it. After quick briefing with our interviewer, Namwaka, we were soon seated behind our respective microphones and live on Radio Phoenix 89.5 across Zambia. Despite Col’s absence and slight early stuttering on my part the 15 minute interview seemed to go very well. From here we grabbed some lunch before heading on the Kabalonga Cheshire Home. Fortunately the rear left tyre waited until we were in sight of our destination before it blew out allowing us to limp in, admittedly a good few hours late.

We had been fortunate enough to meet the Home’s truly remarkable head of house, Sister Margaret M Mweshi, the previous day. It was from here that the majority of our wheelchair recipients were staying. Originally set up as an educational establishment for disabled children the focus shifted somewhat in the 70’s owing to collaboration with the then newly formed Italian Orthopaedic Hospital. This had been established to address the short fall in appropriately trained surgeons to perform Orthopaedic procedures on severely physically disabled children. Whilst the home maintains it’s commitment to their education now it’s focus is the pre- and post operative care of these most challenging of patients. 4 full time sisters and 6 seconded physiotherapists look after anything up to 50 children at a time here on a fraction of the money they really need. The tour of their facilities revealed a wonderfully equipped and run set up ideal to meet its children’s needs. I was extremely impressed with both the place and the wonderful people running it.

We had one more treat in store for the day and that was a flying visit to APTERS, Appropriate Paper Technologies, run by the delightful Kenneth Habaalu, another new found friend from yesterday. Set up along similar lines as DISACARE with the aim of socially and economically empowering the physically disabled, its workforce were manufacturing everything from standing frames to stools to file box using recycled cardboard and paper in a process not dissimilar to papier mache making. Such a wonderfully simply, low cost alternative of metal or wood and with the added bonus of being significantly less unforgiving on the delicate skin of the children they’re being designed for. Yet again, however, owing to the crippling financial position many mothers of these children find themselves in after the father leaves, this wonderfully innovative project was also dependant on charitable donations. Here the end product was already of good quality and I left wishing I could think of an appropriate outlet for these simple, self helping products.

After this we rendezvoused with Woody and heard about his day resetting gigs, advising on welding techniques, showing them which bits of wheelchairs really needed special attention during construction and demonstrating computer design programmes. As we clambered exhausted into Brenda to head off and do some essential shopping we all felt we’d had a very constructive day.

09 March 2006 12:00:00

Rains in Zambia

Date: 9th March 2006
Location: Lusaka, Zambia
GPS: S15º24.324’ E028º18.307’
Total Distance: 16961 KM

Author: Ben Matthews

Weather:
Wet, very wet, soaking actually. Probably the wettest day so far in the whole entire trip!!!!!! It did however stop raining by the time we arrived back at the Haarhoffs – APC, Kasama. Obviously this had an effect on driving conditions, since on the odd occasion viewing out of the windscreen was impossible and you always have to be careful on African roads especially when wet – slippery buggers!!

Daily travel (route, road conditions):
Well today was intended to be a mammoth day driving, driving back from Lusaka, to just north of Kasama – some 900 KM. The route went as follows: out North East to Kapri Mposhi – Copperbelt/Lusaka road, a road that’s littered with corrupt cops and speed traps!!!!! Then up to Mpkia, still NE passing Forest Inn (great camping venue) and coming very close to the border of Congo. This road is also known as the Continental divide – Zambia’s major transit road from Tanzania south. The road acts as a water shed separating two massive drainage basins, on the west all rains drain into the Congo and on the east all rains drain into the Zambezi. Then finally heading North up to Kasama.

Team (Dynamics, health):
All good I feel, us boys have just finished serving the disabled community and are heading back up to save Col from his mandatory quality time with kiko and Chrissy.

Apart from Col needing a little time to sort himself out, the team is all in good health and cheery.

Camping and Living:
Once again we have been subject to some more wonderful African hospitality. Amanda and Quentin have kindly put the team up at APC coffee plantation and for us boys on tour we have been very kindly looked after by John and Kirsten Finn, camping on there drive – some how the Doc managed to get a bed, apparently he gets scared in the tent!!!!

General Interest:
I don’t have any sorry!!!!!!!!

Lusaka is pretty small and reasonably tidy; however it was dark when we arrived.

10 March 2006 12:00:00

Staying put near Kasama

Date: 10th March 2006 (also for the remaining days that we rest here)
Location: Back at the Haarhoffs, Kasama, Zambia
GPS: As for 6th March
Total Distance: As for 6th March

Author: Kiko
Weather: General weather is wet in afternoons and dry and sunny in the mornings. Occasionally rain through the night and early morning.
Daily travel (route, road conditions): None. Into Kasama for shopping every other day
Team (Dynamics, health): All resting here doing various things. Reading, camera back-up, reports, resting, swimming at club pool and talking with the family.

Camping and Living: We were moved from the furnished guest house into an un-furnished identical house a bit closer to the family. This was because the Haarhoffs had some visitors and so needed to use the guest house. Most of us are sleeping inside while Ben and Woody stay in their tent. This is a mixture between a home stay and camping because there are no facilities in the house but there is a roof, hot water and toilet. Perfectly comfortable living conditions with the bonus of having some very friendly neighbours!

General Interest:

Not much is happening here so the diary entries will cease until we start moving again. We wouldn’t want to bore you with what isn’t happening here! We had a team meeting and the longest we can stay here is until the 19th if required. This will give us 8 days to get to Jo’burg in order to start our PR run on the 28th March. Hopefully though, we’ll get to visit The Victoria Falls and perhaps get to do a bungee jump or rafting. We’ll see. The most important thing is that Colin heals properly so that he is healthy for South Africa. Unfortunately, I think that Botswana will be a bit of a fly by visit. Until then, adios. x

13 March 2006 12:00:00

Location: Back at the Haarhoffs, Kasama, Zambia

GPS: S15.186;24.324’ E028.86;18.307’
Total Distance: 16961 KM

Author: Chrissy Prydun
Weather: It’s usually sunny during the day or overcast and most days end with an afternoon storm.
Daily travel (route, road conditions): None

General Interest:
Since resting up here in the guesthouse at the Harhoff’s, waiting for Col’s pressure sores to heal up, we have slowly run out of things to do and Col has amazingly kept it together having rested up for his 8th day staring at the cracks on the ceiling. In any normal circumstance you would expect people to complain of boredom and go to sleep. Ok, so there have been moments when the guys have found the tedium a little aggravating but have quickly diverted their attention to something new to do to pass the time. Be it, clean the vehicles, take a drive to hang off a rock in the coffee plantation’s nearby rapid’s with a bungee rope, take a spin in Col’s off road chair or spend a day in a cupboard. A what? You ask. Yep, this is no ordinary expedition team and Ben forever with a motor on his arse, thought it would be an ingenious plan to see if he could spend an entire restless day in the cupboard in the room where Col and I have been squatting on the floor like refugees.

At 10am on the dot he walked into the confines of his prison (a 100x60x200cm cell) armed with a book on expedition medicine, his water bottle, a floor mat and an empty bottle of gin which he would urinate into for the day and which I would dispose of on frequent trips to the loo to empty Col’s leg bag. He also had the pleasure of Col’s company, grinning inanely at him from his mattress on the floor, to keep him from going insane.

Obviously Ben would have to hold any pending number two’s for the day as I assured him I would not be helping him dispose of those!! What’s more, since it wasn’t Col’s routine day I thought it would be an ideal time to re-enact Woody’s wheelchair challenge from the day before.

Yesterday Woody had spent an entire day in Col’s wheelchair and after I too had assured him I would not be helping toilet him, the only time he got up for the entire day from the wheelchair was when he had to use the toilet. The day came to an end when a typically ravenous woody realised from his position on the chair it was too difficult to serve himself the delicious dinner that Kikes had prepared and left out for him when everyone went to bed. Miracles do happen!

Kiko had similarly spent an evening in the wheelchair a few days before. What’s more she had acted as Vanessa’s carer for the evening, helping push her around the place which was all the more amusing considering that it was pouring with rain and the two of them in their wheelchairs had indulged in more than a couple of alcoholic beverages!

While Ben spent the day in the cupboard, I thought I would take up the wheelchair challenge myself. I set myself the rules immediately upon crawling out of bed. I was allowed to use my arms to drag myself around on the floor (easy since Col was lying on a mattress on the floor) and get myself into and out of the wheelchair. I also was allowed to use my knees to weight-bear whenever I had to turn Col for pressure relief. Otherwise I would have to spend the entire day in the chair and went to the point of using my arms to transfer myself from the chair to the toilet and tying my legs together with straps and Kikoys so I could really make things more challenging.

Ironically, the day seemed atypically longer for Col probably because a fidgety, restless Ben sitting opposite him was finding that time was passing so slowly and counting down the hours methodically. I on the other hand was finding that time was flying by because simple tasks were taking forever to complete. A simple cup of tea would take ages to prepare. First I had to wheel around collecting empty cups scattered around the house. Secondly I had to wheel to the kitchen and find someone to fill up the kettle and put it on the hob on the back of the Defender. It was either this or fill it up myself but then I would have to get someone to help push me back up the big step to get into the house after the water was boiled. Wheeling with cups of hot tea was a bad idea and could only be achieved with someone’s help or otherwise I would have to make round trips to the kitchen to pick them up one at a time, using my spare hand to wheel. I would pass Ben his eagerly anticipated mug as any event that would distract him from his position in the cupboard would be greatly appreciated. I would then park up the chair, put Col’s tea on the floor and drag myself across the mattress to give it to him. Moreover, once the diuretic effects of the tea set in, the inevitable would happen. Col’s leg bag would need emptying shortly afterwards as would Ben’s gin bottle. I would then wheel to the toilet with the two bottles of urine, empty them and then transfer myself to the loo to take advantage of the trip.

Besides acquiring a set of tighter biceps, the day brought with it mixed feelings. Of course at times it felt like a toy and the novelty of whizzing around the house never fully wore off. I also sensed accomplishment from little things like devising a system of sweeping the floor by wedging a broom in between my knees and then wheeling the chair forwards. The time I managed to push myself up the kitchen step (I had previously needed help on) was a great feeling and I cheered as though I had won some big race, hereafter stubbornly refusing anyone’s help, even if they would be standing behind me itching to pass by me busting to go to the loo.

The most frustrating part of the day was feeling a bit useless. Although, I felt I completed anything I, Col or Ben needed successfully in due time without frustration, I felt pretty useless to the rest of the team and sensed the frustration Col has felt before on the expedition due to the fact he can’t help us do things like cook, set up camp etc. I believe this is why his role as chief driver is so important. I remember one time I wanted to clean the dishes after another delicious dinner our Mummy Matthews had stormed up from us, but after polishing off desert, making a trip to the loo on Col and Ben’s behalf and wheeling over to the kitchen, the others had all but nearly completed the job, telling me not to bother at that point. Overall it certainly made me appreciate the patience and perseverance of people like Col, Vanessa, friends Luke, Davey and Milun and other people I have worked for or met who have spinal injuries.

At 10pm, a whole 12hours after jumping into the chair, our combined cupboard/wheelchair challenge would end. To celebrate I ran about the place, making multiple trips around the house doing a bunch of useless errands until I got the ants out of my pants. At this point I expected partner in crime Ben to practically barrel out of the cupboard in eager expectation. He almost did, but then as that trademark grin spread across his face you could see another idea formulating. He would resist the urge to end the challenge. Rather he would climb the shelves to the top of the cupboard and spend the night sleeping in there. He was now confined to a slightly wider, equally uncomfortable rectangular space in which we heard him tossing and turning all night in his attempts to get some shut eye. Since 10am the following morning we haven’t heard him stop. He has been a ball of hyperactivity from here on in. I can hear him now, currently whizzing around in Col’s offroad wheelchair at top speeds.

Ben said that his challenge was probably a daft thing to do and something he wouldn’t do again but what he gained was a much greater appreciation of Col’s tolerance. The fact that Ben found it so difficult spending 24hours in a ‘tight’ space has made him appreciate days on end where Col has simply had to lie on the floor staring at the ceiling. As an aside he also learnt one more important lesson that day: that care should be taken when peeing into a bottle in confined spaces!! On the same note I learnt that care should be taken to ensure the bottle-top has been securely tightened, before offering to transport other people’s bottles of urine, whilst attempting to transport oneself in a wheelchair!

15 March 2006 12:00:00

Colin's Pressure sore explained

Date: 15th March 2006
Location: Haarhoff’s guest house

Author: Chris Parsons
Weather: intermittent heavy showers, otherwise suny
Daily travel (route, road conditions): non
Team (Dynamics, health):

Camping and Living: as above

General Interest:

Today is Col tenth day staring at alternatively the ceiling or either wall of the room that has been his cell. He is, as he has been for the entire duration, lying on the floor of this unfurnished room on the mattress from the girls roof tent waiting oh so patiently on the areas of skin breakdown on his buttocks healing. The healing process is yet another that people with SCI have to accept has been dramatically altered by their condition. For reasons that, as far as I’m aware, nobody has yet fully understood the healing process is decidedly protracted for them. There is a train of thought that this might suggest some neurological element to healing, that is diminished post injury, but this is by no means certain.

In addition these individuals are also at considerably grater risk of sustaining minor trauma and skin issues with so called pressure areas. The inability to feel such risks as sharp objects or hot and cold make damaging exposure to them all the more likely so increasing the incidence of such injuries. If a non spinally injured person sits or lies for any significant period of time in one position then the load bearing area will, eventually, become numb. This is the body’s way of telling them to move the pressure elsewhere. The numbness is a result of decreased blood supply to the nerves in that area and the first warning sign that the entire area is receiving critically low levels of vital oxygen carrying blood. If the pressure is not relieved eventually the cells in that area with begin to die from lack of oxygen. All too soon this quickly irreversible process results in the entire area breaking down. For those individuals who suffer with SCI they are unable to receive the warning signals of feeling numb, even if they do get a sense of something being wrong they lack the necessary ability to move themselves so redistributing the weight. It’s is also worth pointing out that with inactivity so muscles waste and SCI people often have massively reduced protective muscle bulk over areas of boney protruberence. These are sites that we all have where lumps of bone are especially close to the skins surface and so the over lying skin is at especial risk to entrapment between them and any outer surfaces. A thick covering of muscle and or fat will at as a cushion to pressure damage if present but, as already eluded, these are often reduced in SCI patients.

In Col’s particular case our feeling is that his current areas of breakdown actually started as areas of minor trauma over a bony protruberence in each buttock. There is no doubt his notable weight loss since starting the expedition will have increased the risk by decreasing the aforemention padding effect but as is always the way with these things I’m sure the cause is multifactorial. Don’t forget he has been sitting for massively extended periods of time driving over arguably some of the worst roads on earth. We have been exceptionally fortunate with the excellent cushion he is using but given the terrain and time period involved it was practically inevitable we would face some concerns of the nature.

Currently, despite dangerously high levels of boredom, Col is doing well. His areas of concern are beautifully covered in thick scabs. We have had long discussions regarding the best course of action and agreed we will stay put for as long as is physically possible to give these areas the maximum opportunity to heal. Unless something dramatic happens we are aiming to leave this Saturday giving us the requisite 8 days to make our way to Jo’burg

19 March 2006 12:00:00

Location: Forest Inn Campsite, 280km outside Lusaka

GPS: S 13’43.841, E 029’ 09.412
Total Distance: 18,649 km’s (630km’s for the day)

Author: Chris Parsons
Weather: Overcast with intermittent showers all day
Daily travel (route, road conditions): good roads thoughtout. Haarhof’s to Kasama, turn left. Straight road to Mpika then turn right and continue for 200km.
Team (Dynamics, health): Col’s areas of breakdown remain a concern but we are hopeful that they will remain manageable and not hinder our progress Otherwise all well

Camping and Living: camping at above campsite tonight.


General Interest:

After 2 weeks of being stationary we were really looking forward to getting going again, none more so than Col. As usual for a trucking day we were up at 6 and after saying our fond farewells to the Haarhof’s were on the road for 8. We were all very sad to say goodbye to this wonderful family that have made us feel so very welcome over the last fortnight. Seeing how Vanessa, who also has C5/6 spinal cord injury after a car crash 6 years, cope with life in Africa under such circumstances has been both an education and inspiration to us all.

First port of call was the small town of Kasama just 20 km down the road. We have become a regular sight in the Shoprite car park there but this was closed today owing to it being a Sunday. Unfortunately the ATM machine we were relying on getting money from was also having a day of rest so we had to proceed with the coffers unreplenished. The roads in this part of the world are actually of good quality and relatively traffic free. With only the occasional pothole and swaying local on their Black Mamba bicycles to watch out for we made good time only occasionally having to stop at the semi regular police checkpoints. We were recognised from the boy’s early journey to Lusaka at the first so waved through and passed uneventfully through all the others until the last of the day. Unusually this was manned by an immigration officer as well as the usual assortment of police so necessitating a passport check. As luck would have it we discovered the hard way that half the team had been provided with only 7 day transit visas rather than the month longer visitor stamps we’d actually paid for. Obviously these had expired some time ago. Fortunately we had kept all our receipts and so had them at least to fall back on as evidence of appropriate payment. The police presents at the checkpoint were keen to detain us for the night until tomorrow and a phone call to his bwana (boss). It seemed our pleas of this being inappropriate owing to Cols condition were falling on deaf ears but after some delicate negotiating we reached a compromise and the exceptionally helpful Immigration Officer, Victor, accompanied us to his office in the next town to provide us with the necessary paperwork to continue our journey today. As we parted company he even apologised for the mistake and wished us a safe onward journey. Quite why somebody simply doing his job efficiently and well should have come as a surprise to us who knows but the feared request for additional payment never materialised and it’s fair to say this did surprise us all.

After all this we were just short drive from our intended camp for the night so headed there. We quite literally scrapped together the money needed to stay the night before getting Col into bed as quickly as possible and food in our bellies soon after. After a long but satisfying day back in the saddle it wasn’t long later we headed for bed.

20 March 2006 12:00:00

Location: Livingstone 4x4wd Hire, Lusaka

GPS: S15º24.326’E028º18.306’
Total Distance: 18,735km

Author: Colin Javens

Weather: Sunny day with sporadic clouds

Daily travel (route, road conditions)/Camping and Living:

This morning was probably one of the most challenging mornings for myself and the team. The two weeks of bed rest that I had just completed to heal my wounds had unfortunately been undone by the previous day’s drive. We had arrived at our destination the night before and I had immediately gotten into bed and was a little bit shocked to discover that the pressure sores had deteriorated to the same state that they were in, two weeks ago. As a result this morning, a decision was quickly made by the whole team that I would risk damaging my body even more if I was to drive the remaining 280km to Lusaka and that it would be better for me to be placed on my mattress in the back of the discovery. We had to move because we were in such an isolated camp site that meant that if we needed anything during a rest period we would be unable to access any amenities.

For me it was an incredibly difficult morning but I was incredibly encouraged by the way the whole team handled the situation. It was all done so calmly and coolly that as I was loaded into the back of the Discovery I couldn’t help but me reminded that I definitely wouldn’t have been able to make it this far without the support of my team. As we set off I tried to lift the mood in the vehicle by requesting the song ‘Don’t Worry Be Happy’ which had the desired effect until Chrissy piped up with the comment ‘Hey Doc, didn’t the guy who sings this song commit suicide’? and perversely we all burst out into laughter!

There was a lot going through my mind during that trip like: would this signal the end of the expedition, but as we’d come this far I felt even more determined that I would like to drive all the way to Cape Town. We soon arrived at John and Kirsten Flinn’s place where they run a company called Livingstone 4X4WD Hire. They had kindly said that I could use their spare bed to rest up in for the week. Unfortunately, the driving home team are getting a bit of a reputation in East Africa with the people we stay with. We warn people not to invite us back (as they always do) because since The Barlow’s with every guest we have stayed with we’ve ended up revisiting them at some point. I think we will be remembered as the guests who would never leave! This was incredibly good of them because it provided us with a safe location and time to make a decision on what the best course of action will be for the Driving Home Expedition to reach Cape Town.

We wouldn’t call a team meeting until the following morning, but in our minds we had come up with three possible options of what to do next:
1. Rest up for the necessary 4-6 weeks in Lusaka to wait for the wounds to heal.
2. Spend the next 10-12 days resting up and in the meantime working out a possible solution for adapting my seating position to prevent any pressure areas from having any contact whilst sitting and driving.
3. To end the expedition and fly out from Lusaka.

I have to admit, that this third option is furthest from my mind and the last thing that I would like to do. In myself I still feel as strong as an ox and I’m sure with the help from my team that we will find a solution to our problems and we’ll arrive in Cape Town.


.

22 March 2006 12:00:00

Effects of FX movement

Date: Wednesday 22nd March 2006
Location: John and Kirsten Flinn, Livingstone 4x4wd Hire, Lusaka
GPS: S15º24.326’E028º18.306’
Total Distance: 18,735km

Author: Kiko Matthews

Weather: Sunny day with sporadic clouds

Daily travel (route, road conditions): None apart from short trip to Manda Hill and somewhere to get some foam to make the cushion.

Health and team dynamics: Col lying up as expected, the rest of the team spent the day doing the usual, time passing, bits and pieces. Trips to the mall, internet, TV, reading, annoying Col while he patiently lies in bed (Woody’s favourite past time), cooking and eating!

Camping and Living: Beef stew in the evening, having had a few drinks down at the Irish pub at the mall. Later on in the evening, Chrissy and myself went up the road with John and Kirsten, who were playing in some cards night. Whilst we were there we met a nice couple and their daughter. The lady was a nurse from the UK who had moved over to live with her husband. She kindly offered to give us a cushion she’d made (very very homemade!) the following day and, when Chris arrived later, the two of them had a good chat about local medicine and nursing (the normal way the conversation goes when doc finds someone else with a bit of a medical background!)

General Interest: I hadn’t realised until the other day, after a conversation with Quentin Haarhoff, that Zambia’s debt had been cancelled after the G8 summit last year. This, amongst other reasons, including the money that has been coming in from NGO’s, has meant that the value of the Kwacha (about 5530 to the £ and 3300 to the $) has risen dramatically. The money we had raised for 12 wheelchairs to give to Discare actually became 7 because everything has now become so expensive. This doesn’t really affect the local village and town people because they don’t tend to purchase the western goods and food so much. Their houses are made from mud etc, they don’t have electricity, and their food is mostly grown, traded or farmed. It does, however have a big affect on import and exporting and any other business that works with $. The value of exports such as coffee, tobacco and copper has dropped because it is all bought in $ which is now 40% weaker than last year!

23 March 2006 12:00:00

Making Col's new seat

Date: Thursday 23rd March 2006
Location: John and Kirsten Flinn, Livingstone 4x4wd Hire, Lusaka
GPS: S15º24.326’E028º18.306’
Total Distance: 18,735km

Author: Ben Matthews

Weather:
Mainly sunny, short shower – midday. Temp about 28ºCish!!!

Daily travel (route, road conditions):
Daily shop at the local ‘Shoprite’, nothing too crazy. Kiks, Kirsten and I ventured out to Zambia’s only Olympic sized swimming pool, looking to bust up a sweat. For K8000 (1.50ish) we had the whole pool to ourselves, couldn’t asked for much more! So the girls set off clocking up the lengths while I had my own private bombing competition on the one remaining diving board.

Team (Dynamics, health):
All is well in the camp, not a massive amount to report here. Col is obviously still laid up and his condition is improving. Morale is high and the team seem to appear focused with the new objective of turn Col obese.

Progress was made on Cols new seat today, nothing fancy to start with! I have simply cut down a couple of blocks of foam to match similar dimensions to Col’s old cushion and mapped out area off current high pressure. A result of lots of talking as it’s not as easy as just putting Col on the foam and making a few marks. ‘Foam world’ only has one type and density of foam, which is not quite ideal. It’s important that whatever we make, we make right. We still have 3000km left to drive and as proved in the last week, if Col’s driving position and transfer in/out of the car isn’t idea then his condition may quickly worsen despite 2 weeks of bed rest.

Camping and Living:
Still on the drive at the Finns. Thankyou very much for their ongoing hospitality.

24 March 2006 12:00:00

Visas

Date: Friday 24th March 2006
Location: John and Kirsten Flinn, Livingstone 4x4wd Hire, Lusaka
GPS: S15º24.326’E028º18.306’
Total Distance: 18,735km

Author: Ben Matthews

Weather:
Sunny again. It seems that we might be approaching the end of the wet season! Compared to when Woody, the Doc and I visited Lusaka a few weeks ago the trend is definitely swaying towards sunshine - 28ºCish.

Daily travel (route, road conditions):
Woody, The Doc and Chrissy all headed back down to immigration to resolve their visa issue, no joy however. Unfortunately the contact they made and brought onside to favour our cause wasn’t present as organised, so the process to extend the guys Visas started again. The immigration officer involved this time seemed not so sympathetic but proposed a very quick solution of acquiring temporary resident permits of K500 000 (GBP100) per person. To cut a long story short the Guys brought out a list of organisations and contacts that would be informed of this massive con. As a result their transit visa’s were extended to Monday and another meeting, hopefully with the right officer!

Team (Dynamics, health):
Everyone is alright. Col is well and continues to improve physically; I think he has put on weight (helped by the protein shakes he’s taking).

General Interest:
More developments on the chair/seat adaptations. For the time being our new foam cushion is looking promising and will be subject to more tests over the following few days. Stoke Mandeville are also sending out a special pressure relieving cushion, so progress to our current model will also depend on how suitable this new cushion is on arrival. Wanting to make use of what we already have and keeping transfers as simple as possible, we decided that it would be best if we could do one direct transfer for Col; from bed straight into the driving seat. So Woody removed the chair from the cab and I rustled up a sling system that when we utilised the hoist we could lift the entire seat and Col when attached, right into the driving position. All looking good just need to repair the hoist then all we have to do is find a guinea pig.

26 March 2006 12:00:00

Zambia

Date: Sunday 26th March 2006
Location: John and Kirsten Flinn, Livingstone 4x4wd Hire, Lusaka
GPS: S15º24.326’E028º18.306’
Total Distance: 18,735km

Author: Kiko Matthews

Weather: Sunny with slight clouding throughout the day

Daily travel (route, road): None. We are now sitting and awaiting this new pressure cushion to arrive from the UK and a bit time for healing then hopefully we can get on our way to CT.

Team (Dynamics, health):
Col continues to recover slowly, now off the chocolate protein shakes and onto the slightly less favoured, banana! Chrissy, Ben and Woody spent the whole day around the house, while the Doc and myself decided to go around the craft market and arcade. There’s only so much TV and book reading I can do before I get bored so this Sunday market was a great opportunity to get out the house and see a bit more of Zambian culture. It was a great market and no hassle from the vendors which always make for a more pleasant shop. The gifts and crafts were all very beautiful and ingeniously made. Baskets made from bottle tops, metal lizards made from scrap, batiques, jewellery, amazing wooden carvings of animals and people….you name it, they can, and have made it out off whatever is available to them. I think, being a girl, I have been missing out on my shopping fixes over the past five months and I went a little crazy on the spending front!! Oh well, my theory is, is that we’re only going to be here once and so make the most of it!

General Interest: I’d just like to say how unspoilt the Zambian people are and how friendly they are towards the ‘mzungu’s’ (white person). It’s a shame because you can see that in 10 years time when the tourists have discovered Zambia as a holiday place, it will all change. Kenya and Tanzania are already spoilt from our influence and Zambia I think will be next. They see the increase in tourism as a good thing because it obviously brings money into the country and creates jobs but it can ruin their culture and expectations of the quality of living. Instead of the people and children waving at us and smiling on the side of the roads, they’ll be putting out their hands and asking for money and begging.
There’s no history of fighting here since it became independent from Britain in 1964 (Zambia was Northern Rhodesia and Zimbabwe was Southern Rhodesia. (Rhodesia was named after Cecil Rhodes)), it has a couple of great National Parks that are totally unspoilt compared to say, the Serengeti, there are a couple of amazing lakes (including the one where we did some diving – Lake Tanganyika) plus the more beautiful side of the Victoria Falls where you can do all the adrenaline type sports as well. The ideal place to come for the traveller (except quite expensive) who doesn’t want to be caught up in the rat race in Kenya and Tanzania.