I spent 3 nights at Kings Highway campsite so I could fix the broken things. I fibreglassed the wheel arch back together. Then I reconnected the broken cables and routed them lower from the body so they would not get cut again by the severe motion of the camper body. I found in the end one broken rubber mount that I decided to leave for now because it will be tricky to replace (I have spares). I had problems with the cables trying to figure out which was which. Especially a cable that I had put in that I had never used.
So with all the packing up, I had spread out again, I got going about 9:30am. First stop was Isoka, about 60km down the road to go to an ATM. I was down to about $A15 left. The road to Isoka was new, and very easy to drive. I however have got so used to driving slowly, that I rarely go over 70kmh. I went through a Police stop outside Isoka where the policewoman interrogated me for quite some time, and also asked for a cold drink. I then turned into Isoka, drove the 3km to the township and found the ATM. The ATM refused the card. Darn I thought, ATMs in Zambia where not going well. It was 80km to the next bank. I was ready to drive off when I thought, what if I try my credit card? I did, and it worked, and I withdrew the maximum of 6,000Kw (probably too much).
Flushed with money I went on a spending spree in town. One thing I like about Zambia is that many more people speak English, its easy to do business. I wandered the main street and found a little market. I bought some peanuts, and some potatoes. I was offered tomatoes. I have to rant a little about tomatoes. I don’t dislike tomatoes, but they really don’t travel very well, but I probably should eat them more. However it is amazing in East Africa that Tomatoes are everywhere. You can guarantee as some roadside stall there will be tomatoes on offer , if not anything else. Anyway I also bought some bananas and crossed the road to a bakery I had seen and bought two bags of bread rolls.
So I hit the road down to towards Chinsali the last town with fuel. The good road ended some time out of Isoka and I was back to road works. I got to Chinsali ,I filled up the tank with another 33l. It was then 40km down the T2 to the turnoff to Chama. I was really surprised the road to Chama was bitumen. It went on for maybe 80km before deteriorating to dirt. I went through another military checkpoint, and then drove another 2km and found a disused quarry at the side of the road. Quarry’s are my favorite place to camp. No scrub, usually hidden from the road. This was really quiet. I must be a fair way from villages I heard no noise during the night, and only two vehicles came past earlier in the evening.
