A long day of travelling lies ahead of us. Like almost two weeks ago, we have roughly 470 kilometers to go, but now we're heading northeast instead of southwest. Small villages are dotted along the road and every now and then we're passing a larger town. Our trip is gradually going towards the end. But the eclipse is still ahead of us!

There are notably more vehicles on the road to Lusaka. Normal cars, rental cars, luxury coaches, lots of people are heading north. No doubt everybody is going for the eclipse tomorrow. Excitement is in the air. When stopping along the road for a short break, passing people wave at us or use their horns. Locals ask for safety glasses whether in cities like Choma or tiny villages where they sell charcoal to passing people.

The closer we get to Lusaka, the busier it gets. We also note a different, somewhat disturbing phenomenon: bush fires. It's the time of the year that locals set fire to the dry grass. Purpose of this is both to fertilize their land and to prevent raging bush fires later in the season when everything is much drier. Good reasons but the smoke might interfere with our desire to see the eclipse. Let's hope that there won't be too much smoke tomorrow (and, of course, the sky is not clouded).

Late in the afternoon we return to the same campsite close to Lusaka we camped on at the beginning of our trip. The gate shows an ominous sign but fortunate for us we have a reservation and we can enter. To our surprise the site is almost empty. Apparently the other guests still have to arrive.

We quickly put up our tent on a small flat piece of grass. Most of the other people in the group get the same idea and instead of a having a party, the place soon turns into a crowd. Walking around your tent remains possible but you have to very careful not to trip over somebody else's tent. And that while the rest of the campsite is still empty.

In the meantime the dinner preparations have started again. Today there's fish on the menu. And again Marlee is able, with the help of a few others, to surprise us with a good meal. While we're sitting around the fire, the expected other groups drop in. And again the Amarula tastes fine.