I got up reasonably early this morning and had a pretty decent breakfast at Shoestrings, I then went for a walk into town to hand over the obscene amount of cash I had carried across the worst border in Africa to Joy at Backpackers Bazaar. She wasn't in yet so I had to wait around for a fair while.

When she got in, I handed over the cash, got some last minute instructions from the boss (typical of this company) and then Joy offered to drive me to the border. We went back to Shoestrings in her car so I could collect my stuff and then she drove me to the border where I stamped out and then said goodbye and then headed off across the bridge over the Zambezi river and Victoria Falls. The walk is about 3km and the heat was blistering, and the entire time I had someone walking next to me trying to hassle me. I remembered my tactic from Egypt, relax, they are like the buzzing of an annoying fly.

I finally got to the Zambian side and stamped in and paid the ridiculous fifty US dollar fee for my three day stay. I then got a taxi to the Grotto to meet Dixon. Dixon was sitting next to the truck waiting, the truck unfortunately for Dixon was next to the swimming pool. I said I wanted a quick swim before we left as I was really sweaty from the long trudge across the border. I got changed and had a quick dip, which was over all too briefly as I found an aqua scorpion type critter crawling around in the pool. Dixon assured me it wasn't a scorpion, but that was the end of that.

I put my clothes on over my wet swimmers and got into the truck and Dixon and I started the 660km drive to Eureka camp in Lusaka. Shaggy, the truck has an awesome sound system, so I spent the whole day cruising along with heavy metal blaring out the window flying down the highway, feet up on the dash and singing loudly….this is overlanding I thought to myself. I felt the wind in my hair and close my eyes and was grateful for my freedom. Now if I wanted to stop and get out and stretch my legs, it was my call, if I wanted to stop for the night it was my call, if I wanted to stop for food I could, I hate public transport.

We got into camp at about 7pm, Acacia were already there….minus their truck which was bogged somewhere just north of Lusaka. I recognized the tour leader as the guy I had met in the shopping centre in Kasane, his name was Darlington. The showers at this place are amazing so that was my first order of business….a hot, full pressured shower. When I came out it was raining with thunder and lightning so I went back to my room and did a bit of work, before joining Dixon and Darlington at the bar.

Both of the would not stop buying me beers and I had to leave really early in the morning. Dixon left before I did, but only because I never seemed to have an empty bottle! When he left Darlington started chatting me up (surprise, surprise), so I politely told him I had a boyfriend in Russia (Valera, whose pictures have become my number one line of defense over here) and went off to bed.