After yet another trip to the internet cafe to try and update our pics and blogs, only to be foiled once again as the there was a power cut across the whole of the city, we left Lilongwe and Malawi and set off for Zambia. Once more the border crossing was very friendly and easy although getting into Zambia was the most expensive country to date apart from in and out of Egypt. The visa fee is usally around $50 each for most countries but here it was $150!!! There was carbon tax of $50 for the vehicle plus motor insurance of $20. We swapped pens with the immigration giy in Zambia and gave him a manchester United pencil although he was an Arsernal fan.. we are trying to convert as many as possible!!!

Immediately upon entering Zambia there was a feeling of ' will the last person to leave please turn off the light' as the place was virtually deserted of both people and vehicles but yet again the roads are absolutely diabolical and the potholes here are craters. Zambia is a gigantic country but one of the least inhabited and also once again HIV/Aids is a big killer here and has actually reduced life expectancy to 33!!!!!

We reached Chipata just after lunch and this time made sure we visited the ATM machine as the next one was 2 days drive away. After staying in Chipata overnnight at Mama Rulas campsite we drove 307k next day and hardly saw any vehicles. Eventually later in the afternoon we rounded a bend and got our first glimpse of the great Zambizi which although it is rainy season was not exactly a raging torrent. We knew there was a suspension bridge over the river but had imagine something out of bridge over the River Kwai but it turned out to be a spectacular iron affair that wouldn't have looked out of place in Bristol!!! We camped overnight at a place just by the river where we actually had a successful camp fire!!!!!!