David and I arrived in Chapata tonight, after leaving Tony, Fe, Rana and Martin, and we’re over the Zambian border after our first day of riding some 145km. The country is stiking and beautiful – the landscape got much hillier as we left Malawi, with small, thickly green mountains and heavy clouds with would occassionally open up and drench the ride.
Its probably been noted by other riders but the thing that has really caught me off guard is the children who will line the road to cheer for (and sometimes yell at) the riders, who likely look fairly clownish in all the lyrca. The standards are “Hello!” “What is your name?” “Where do you come from?” and “Mzungu!” the local word for whitey, but the more colorful variations lined the route. We passed a trio of six-year-olds in Malawi chanting “Look at my penis!”
We’ll be headed out of Chipata tonight, into the bush along the Zambezi river, and are looking forward to a couple of long days on the bikes, though updates are unlikely until Lusaka.
~ Nate Cavalieri
1 response so far ↓
Michele Babin // April 7, 2009 at 2:21 am |
Hi Nat, how’s it going? I had your grandmother (Aunt Aileen) over yesterday for dinner. I told her I would look you up. Let me know how you are doing.