Southern Africa: Zambia to South Africa - The Lions on the Road: Cycling London to Cape Town - page 262

call home and for such a wonderful evening. Before I left, we made plans to visit a chil-
dren's home in the town the following day.
IwokeupearlyandwasreallyexcitedtostartthedaybutFatherFrancissleptin.As
Iwaited,Isatatthetableandwroteinmyjournal.Whenhefinallyawoke,wewenttovisit
theItalianfathersandthentotheHolyFamilyHouse,wheretheyhadchildrenwithspecial
needsandAIDS.ImetChibiloMunshyawhoworkedwiththesechildrenandwantedSave
the Children Fund to get involved in the project. I told him that all I could do was pass on
his wishes and contact information (which I did.) I really wanted to stay for the whole day
but Father Francis needed to return by lunchtime.
That evening, I went to the home of the general manager of Zambia's railway. He
had a chapel set up in his home and Father Francis celebrated mass with all of us. The gen-
eral manager's wife made a huge cake for Father Francis which I helped him eat back in
the rectory.
The next morning, I waited for Father Francis to wake up (again) to say good-bye.
However, I got tired of waiting, so at 7:30 a.m. I asked the secretary to give him my thanks
for being so kind to me and left them both a pin.
I quickly found the road to Lusaka. The bike performed very well, but not me.
Sitting on the saddle was becoming incredibly uncomfortable around my groin to the
point that I would walk for 5 minutes on every hour. Aside from my physical discomfort,
everything else was great. The weather was extremely pleasant for cycling, cool temper-
atures and partly cloudy. The scenery contained many hues of green and small hills. The
trafficwaslightwhichmadethecyclenotonlypeacefulbutstress-free.Eventheroadqual-
ity improved when I joined the M6.
At 11:30 a.m., I originally stopped at the Catholic mission at Mishikishi, about 50
kilometres south of Ndola just to make a visit. However, I changed my mind feeling that I
should stop cycling for the day because of my physical discomfort. I met Father Sinesio, a
Spanish priest and sought permission to camp. He gave me a room instead and offered me
lunch as well.
This Catholic mission was a farm, complete with grain silos, cattle, vegetables and
fruit trees. It also served as a farming school for area farmers. Father Sinesio told me that
because of the previous year's drought, Zambia had to import food for the first time. Even
when the donations from around the world arrived it didn't help. The distribution system
wassoflawed,thatmostofwhatwasdonatedrottedandwasunfitforhumanconsumption.
The food shortage resulted in many Zambians eating only once per day or even once every
2-3 days.
I woke up after 8:00 a.m. the next morning and found the house empty. My break-
fast was laid on the table and I ate on my own. I went to the chapel to say good-bye to
Father Sinesio and then met Father Gregory outside. He had packed me a lunch of 5 boiled
eggs and bread. So kind!