Day 8, 12 July 2012 - Arriving Chipata (from Lusaka) - 756 km. Roughly. And I mean roughly. At the risk of stating the obvious, Africa is big. Distances by road are long and yesterday was 9-10 hours on the road. A little like driving from Sydney to Queensland without so much as a Big Banana to amuse you. We stopped at a the colourful market at Luangwa Bridge - the colourful fruits are used to distill a local spirit. Apparently people who drink it, don't weave, don't fall sideways off their barstool or anything simple. They just fall straight down, face forward - so you can spot a drinker by the dent on their foreheads. One of the group bought some... time will tell if he becomes dented. Made it to Chipata by 5 pm (yippee!) the group had dinner around the central camp fire - Accommodations at Mama Rulas, Chipata. Standards have dropped significantly since last night. But repeat after me.... it's still better than a tent. I have seen the sleeping mats that the brave camping folk are using. We're afraid we would have to commandeer them all and stack them up to achieve even a modicum of sleep. Sweet dreams.