Today (Thursday) we woke at 3:30 in the morning and departed for Kalungu at 4:00. The road to Kalungu is paved for the entire 900 km journey, however the potholes are unbelievable! During the trip we were given a real introduction to driving in Africa! At times during the drive it was impossible to tell what side of the road we were suppose to be driving on as people simply pushed their way around potholes, and children who would be in the middle of the road trying to sell Maize, Chickens, Fruit, or Charcoal. At one point during our journey a young child actually turned from a vehicle he was pressuring for a sale and ended up running into the side of our truck!
The road we travelled was filled with semi-trucks who were hauling fuel from Tanzania to the Copper belt in Zambia. Conservatively I would say we either passed or met one thousand big trucks during the day. The heavy traffic and thin pavement lead to major potholes! The potholes lead to many accidents and roll overs as the road is littered with trucks, sea cans, and fuel trailers left to remind people to slow down. This is a road you never want to travel at night as a vehicle simply could not sustain the impact of hitting many of these potholes.
We arrived safely in Kalungu at 5:00...this was one drive I will never forget!
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