We were now in the North-West of Zambia, an area famous for its splendid waterfalls. From Mansa, where we did some shopping and went to an ATM to retrieve more Kwacha, we soon reached the Mumbuluma Falls. It was Independence Day (24th of October) and many locals were enjoying the day at the falls. For the night we stopped in Mwense. The next day we came past the Ntumbachushi Falls before we ended in Kawambwa, a very nice town with many shops.
The area we came through was dotted with giant mango trees, some with a diameter of 20 or more metres and full of fruits. The locals were harvesting the small green mangos, packing them into big bags to sell them in bulk.
Many houses got their thatched roofs repaired, to be ready for the rain season, which will start next month we were told.
We saw many schools along the road, but also many kids which were not in school and just hanging around or working to help their mothers.
All the houses are built with bricks, which are produced where needed. The bricks are formed from the soil next to the house and then burned. After the house is built, it is mostly painted with natural colours and thatched with grass.
In Zambia, clans and chiefs are the political structure. The palace of the chief, his royal highness, always had a nice sign on the road.
We had stayed overnight first at Mwense, where we used the parking of the Mwense Council Gusthouse for 100,- Kwacha. We had asked to eat at the restaurant there, where the cook had promised us some Mshima, a cornmeal porridge. When we arrived at the time she had told us, she was just closing up because of a power outage.
The next night we spent at La Villa Guesthouse in Kawambwa, a very nice place with clean ablutions, again for 100,- Kwacha. This time we arranged for some grilled fish with Mshima, which was brought to our camper. The fish was delicious, the Mshima had no taste at all and there was not much sauce to pep it up, so maybe not our type of food.
We will continue to some more waterfalls before we will finally reach Lake Tanganyika. More on the following post 😉