In God we trust

I wonder at the wisdom of getting on a bus with "In God we trust" painted in eight inch letters across the top of its windscreen. But having looked at the state of the vehicle and the baldness of its tyres I could understand the need to trust in something other than the bus itself for your safe arrival at your destination.

Lusaka's intercity bus station is a buzzing hive of activity, but I was distracted from my purpose there by the names or mottoes on the buses. I rather liked "Terminal Justice" and "Heaven Awaits". Once I'd got down to the business of sorting out a ticket, I asked one company what their buses were like and one was pointed out. Half of its windscreen was cracked and sagging. I asked whether something had hit it and was told,
"No, no, it's ok. It's just the wind pushing against it when you drive that does that." How reassuring. I decided to buy my ticket from the other company serving my destination, deciding that a few bald tyres won't matter too much in the dry season.

I don't normally blog stuff before it happens, but if all goes to plan I could be off the air for a while. So get out your maps if you will, and trace my proposed route: bus to Mpulungu, followed by a ferry up Lake Tanganyika to Kigoma in Tanzania. The ferry seems to be unbookable, only runs once a week, and is a 100-year old German battleship which takes two days to do the journey. Coupled with a 15 hour (if all goes to timetable - unlikely!) bus ride and no way of finding somewhere to stay in Mpulungu until I get there, this sounds like a long and probably uncomfortable but interesting journey.