This morning was another early start – up at 3am to be ready to be picked up at 4, to be on the bus to Mongu which was supposed to be leaving at 4.30 but actually got away around 5.
Mongu is in the Western Province of Zambia, roughly 500kms from Livingstone (in the south), a journey which took 10 hours in the bus. The area circled on the south of this map is Livingstone, and the area in the west is Mongu.
Our driver had obviously not mastered the concept of driving gently over speed bumps, nor of dodging potholes, and as a result the ride was a bone-jarring experience. (Though in his defence, many of the roads here are more like collections of potholes, with little bits of road here and there in between.) On a positive note, this bus at least had room for my legs and I was able to sit in reasonable comfort.
This Western Province is apparently the least developed in Zambia, and on the way we passed quite a few traditional style villages with little mud brick huts. Muzamai shared that it is also one of the least reached with the Gospel. One praise note is that a while back Muzamai asked in one of our video prayer meetings that we pray for the opening of a new outreach in one of the outlying areas. That outreach has now been established, and the people from it will be coming to this conference.
It is stinking hot here – that kind of oppressive heat that feels like there is a massive storm brewing, but it’s not coming. I have a fan in my room, but really it’s just moving the hot air around.
Food here so far has been African – nsima, which is the Zambian version of ugali, a thick gluggy “porridge” made from maize, is eaten with everything. It’s tasteless, and I’m not particularly fond of it, but I’ll eat it if I have to. It’s usually served with chicken and veg, particularly something that looks and tastes a bit like silver beet. Then there’s Coke. After my first two weeks in Africa, I was actually craving Coke, but in the last three weeks I have drunk more of the stuff than I would in a year at home.
Tomorrow I get a rest day, then on Saturday and Sunday I will be taking two conference sessions each day. Meanwhile, after a 3am start this morning and a 4am start yesterday, I am looking forward to getting to sleep until my normal 5am start in the morning.