My convalescence against malaria was done at the Luwawa Forest Lodge
at about 100 km South of Mzuzu in Malawi
Filming someone fighting against malaria
is about as boring as a 20-minute edit of me brushing my teeth
I starting having malaria symptoms about at the same time as the rainy season started in Southern Africa
This wasn't a great thing
because I knew I would eventually have to manage my comeback on the bike in difficult weather conditions
When having malaria, the only thing one can do is relax and stay in bed most of the time
Relaxing was the only thing that I could do
because everyday I had at least one fever crisis
Inside your body you feel cold, outside it's hot and you sweat
and you shiver like crazy and there's really nothing you can do
other than suffer silently and wait for it to pass
All that you wish for in these moment is to be crushed by something heavy
You hope for something like a steamroller to come and roll on you
And in addition to the shivers, I felt nauseous everyday, I had diarrhea and I was vomiting all my meals
All in all, I spent 7 days recovering from malaria
On a positive note, Julie, a distant cousin who lives in Lilongwe and that I had never met before
and Oliver her husband
helped me a lot by bringing me food and inviting me to stay at their house in Lilongwe
I gratefully thank them for their support
I don't think I would have come back on the bike so quickly without their help
Hey! Welcome to Zambia
Or in ex Rhodesia
Or in the country from which Leo comes from
in the movie Blood Diamond
and tries to have the Rhodesian accent but fails miserably
From Julie and Oliver's place in Lilongwe, the Zambian border is only at 130 km
My first post-malaria bike day gave me the opportunity to see that I hadn't lost anything of my physical state
During that day, I cycled from Lilongwe to Chipata, the first city in Zambia. The distance I covered was 155 km.
Zambia is the seventh country I visit in since the start of this trip.
This is my 5691th kilometer
It is a little less than the actual distance because I took some transportation here and there on my way to Zambia
It's the rainy season and it's raining cats and dogs out there
It doesn't rain all day, it's mainly just 1 or 2 hour long thunderstroms
that poor loads of water on their way
You know when you want to stop somewhere but you're unsure about the place
you have doubts about the quality etc.
You're happy to find places like these because there is no doubt anymore with a similar name
Just like Sudan and Tanzania, Zambia is a huge country
From Lilongwe to Vic Falls, it's a 1200 km long route
Since I already had lost a week because of malaria
It wasn't too difficult to convince myself to take a bus to Lusaka since the road was quite boring, flat and wet
In Lusaka I spent most of my time in grocery stores buying food that is unavailable in the countryside
I have to say that in the Tanzanian, Malawian and Zambian countryside, I have been mostly eating a thing named Nshima
Nshima is a tasteless paste made from corn that is meant to give you the impression that your belly is full
The problem is that it had almost no nutrients and therefore doesn't help a hungry cyclist on the road
Since restaurants outside Lusaka only offer Nshima to their clients, I was looking forward to my visit to Lusaka
On my short bucket list of things to see in Africa
There were two items
1. Mount Kilimanjaro
2. Victoria Falls
The falls are pretty impressive, even in the low water season
What I was really interested to do there was to get as close as possible to them
A small natural pool exists in the Zambezi river right on the edge of the falls
named the Devil's Pool
If we rewind a little bit
What makes it famous, is that you can swim in it
Since the Devil's Pool is almost on the opposite bank of the Zambezi river from where we enter
It is necessary to walk accross the river up to Livingstone Island
It is really worst than it looks like
The current is stronger than it appears
and we have to walk on the small concrete ledge
The falls are about 20 meters behind me
20 meters behind me there is a 100 meter cliff
For those who are affraid of heights, this might not be the place for you
because there us a sheer drop right there
After a 30 minute walk
and under the gaze of the the tourist from the Zimbabwe side who seems to have much less fun than us
We finally reach the Devil's Pool!
A happy ending, the end of the song, tourist pictures...
This could have been an edit of my trip to an all-inclusive resort in Cuba
After having had a great time at Vic Falls, I know had to be serious for a moment
I had to take a decision about the route I would take to reach Cape Town
Just like my leftover malaria pills illustrate it, I had 3 routes possible
The Eastern route goes through Zimbabwe and Jo'burg
I will unfortunately not take this route since Mugabe, Zim's bastard dictator, decided to charge Canadians
25 $ more than all nationalities for the tourist visa. Sorry pal, I won't pay you a visit.
The fact that he's 92 years old, that Zimbabwean dollars are cheaper than toilet paper and that he's been in the office since 1980 also support my decision not to go there.
Since I only have 18 days left to reach Cape Town
it seemed difficult to take the Western route through Namibia
because of the long distances and the scarcity of public transit in case anything happens
I will therefore take the shortest route that goes through Botswana
I just left Livingstone this morning
I'm headed towards Botswana
I'm about 30 km away from the border
This part of the trip marks the beginning of a 18 day sprint
that will ultimately lead me to my final destination: Cape Town!
Zambia and Botswana share a 150 meter long border
On my left, Zimbawe is one kilometer away and on my right, Namibia is also one kilometer away
There are four countries meeting in one place
and I am cycling right in the middle of Zim and Namibia through Botswana
As you can see, I am on a train and not on my bike
The rainy season in Botswana ended up being much more intense than the one I had experienced in Zambia
It was raining 16 hours per day and I was completely soaked after 15 minutes of riding my bicycle
When a truck driver offered me a lift, I said yes right away
and when I got off the truck and it was still raining
I decided to board a train to the South of the country
When I boarded off the train in Lobatse, it was, for the first time in 3 weeks, a nice sunny day
I'm not sure I believe it
I am listening to Sixto Rodriguez
Today is December 15, 2016
I have just entered into the last country of my itinerary from Cairo to Cape Town
I am in South Africa!
This is the last country!
I only have about 1300 km left until I reach Cape Town!
It's the end! Yeah!
This my friend is what I call a hell of a camera setup
This is a map of Africa
and this is the camera
It could fall at any moment
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