Strange day

More from the road - half way to Chipata.
February 28th 2020

Luangwa - filthy little place, but nice host at the “Smart Guest House” and then we crossed the river

with the same name. Usually our day starts with blue skies and by the time the heat could be unbearable mid day, the sky clouds over and the temperatures are reasonable.  Not today!

We picked a shorter distance (61km) to a possible hotel or guest house because we expected climbing more than we’ve been used to in the last few month. But we didn’t count on the sun blasting all day. In combination with the climbing we were kind of done mid day..right around lunch we acknowledged to each other that we were cooked and ready to quit. Not so easy on these stretches through the jungle - the beauty, but also the remoteness ..populated with mud house villages ...very poor natives, super skinny kids just barely scraping by. No obvious or official place to stop for us.
After lunch the ups and downs...but especially the uphills became more noticeable. When one starts realizing that we are caught in a vicious cycle: cloud cover on the downhill, blasting mid day sun on the uphill.
The downhill in cooler air was like drinking cold water out of a fountain ...delish, but way too short and the uphills never wanted to end in the hellish heat of 45c. We stopped under a tree half way up on one of the hills and while I waited for my body to snap back to normal, it betrayed me and a few more minutes of waiting made me realize, if I don’t lie down right now, I will faint..the noises had became distant and dreamlike...time to act: I pushed my bike quickly into a bush (a thorny one at that, which “woke me up” a little) away from the road and put my body on the ground next to Gurly.  In that position I could think again: did I have enough to eat? Did I drink efficiently ...electro lights? Well, of course, I could have done better. It’s hard to stay hydrated in heat like this...cycling!
Keeping my head low to the ground was good and I gave it a few more minutes before getting up again and reaching for the electro lights and the water.  James stood by - hugely concerned - but he wasn’t feeling too chipper either..
Only 15km to go..we can do this!
The “hotel” in Kacholola was officially closed - but- of course - there is always a way around it and we payed $7 for a room and a reasonable clean mattress, without electricity and water, but good company!
Our hostess offered to run to the market for some food to prepare dinner - we gave her money and she came back with a bag full of goodies. Except for the four giant sausages I didn’t have a clue how to prepare the rest, so she took it in her capable hands and magically prepared a scrumptious meal. While the preparations where still going on

James and I carried bikes and bags into our room (clouds had gathered and made some noise for a long awaited thunderstorm with lots of rain) which was a bit of an obstacle course, including a flight of stairs. We barely got most of our things situated, when James requested a hug on the top of the stairs, but when he put his armes around me he whispered in my ear: “I am about to pass out”. Now, in all fairness, this statement from him comes about 4-5 times a day and I felt pretty confident, that he’ll be fine ...until the hug lasted longer than usual and his head was starting to bob around in a strange manner. When I looked up at him his eye were wide open and strangely vacant, his mouth slaked, strange sounds came from his throat and his breathing was dangerously labored. He was out, gone!....but still standing...holding on to me. I yelled his name.....no response ...I held his head up with one hand, holding his body with the other arm, searching to focus his still wide open far away eyes. It seemed like minutes, but it was only seconds when I slapped his cheek a few times yelling his name, starting to panic...................slowly he came back...His legs never gave in...only his head was rolling around on his shoulders, when finally the focus came back into his gaze and I told him we need to walk to the room to find the mattress for him to lie down. “Can you walk?” “Sure” he responded with a slur.
He did walk about five meters and fell flat on his back on the bed.

What a scare!
Have we forgotten how old we are? Maybe drinking and eating should be more our focus than trying to get somewhere?
James had a short nap right then and there and then we ate what our host had prepared, which was “a meal we’ve been dreaming of”
The promised rain and thunder came as expected and then the night was restful and peaceful. Even the bugs left us alone.
A days rest is in order and here we are...sleeping and eating...while the day and the outside world rambles on.
Our hosts have been most gracious, sending good drinking water and preparing another dinner for tonight.

If it wasn’t so scary to have looked in those vacant eyes....the picture of which keeps hunting me.....yesterday was just a strange day.