Getting to Livingstone

This was our first trip with the whole McCord clan. Eight hours to Livingstone, where we would stay for a couple of nights at Maramba Lodge and visit Victoria Falls before driving into Namibia. There wasn't room in the Land Cruiser for all of us, so Mike used the excuse to ride his BMW motorcycle, with some of us taking turn as his passenger.

We got an early start, hoping to miss the worst Lusaka traffic. Ethan was the first to ride on the motorcycle with Mike. They lasted about two hours, then we pulled into a rather fancy looking rest stop and restaurant (the African version of Stuckey's). We all got some drinks, but Judith advised against any food purchases.

At this point, I decided that riding on the back of a Beamer through the Zambian countryside would be a perfect addition to my African adventure. I only had shorts, but Ethan let me borrow his jeans, jacket, and helmet. Mike and I led the convoy, and things were going great for awhile. It was a beautiful day. Incredibly hot, of course, but as soon as we got up to speed, the wind cooled us down.

I haven't ridden on the back of a motorcycle in years, so I was a little nervous. There wasn't a good place to hang on. I could wrap my arms around the handsome "Mr. Brad," but if I leaned too closely, our helmets bumped. If I leaned back and just gripped his jacket, a wind gust would catch me up. I tried for something in between, having to lean to one side to peer around him in a way that did no favors to my back.

I tried to just not pay attention to possible dangers and revel in the fact that I was speeding through Africa on a motorcycle. But there are an awful lot of hazards on an African highway. Enormous potholes, overturned semis with piles of torn branches in place of flares, small children with push toys, and an ongoing flow of freerange goats, cows, and chickens. Mike's an excellent driver, and I trusted him, but after an hour, I was glad he pulled over and pronounced the wind too strong for a passenger.

Turns out I got off at a good place, because right after that the road construction began, and we started on a long string of dirt road detours that extended our last two hours to four. At one point, the Cruiser was nearly out of gas, and we had to fill up from the tanks on the roof.

By the time we got to Livingstone, we were all hungry, hot, and tired (especially Mike). We went straight to the Zig Zag restaurant, a McCord favorite, before checking in at the lodge.