Today is the day we've all been waiting for. When we get up around 8 in the morning, the sky is blue, the sun is shining and no clouds can be seen anywhere. That looks good! As the eclipse will start at about half past one in the afternoon we've all the time in the world to find a nice spot to watch the eclipse and to set up our photographic equipment. Contrary to the other members of our group, we decide to head for a nearby hill. When we reach the top of it the view is perfect, a 360° unobstructed view. But apparently it is used for military purposes as well as is shown by the presence of an army truck with radar on top of it. As the Zambian army doesn't have the best reputation in the world for handling curious tourist, we seek for permission to stay here but nobody seems to be present.

We sit back and relax. Only minutes later a local appears at the top. He tells us the hill is a military zone and unless we want to see the eclipse in the afternoon we'd better leave the place. According to him soldiers are just around the hilltop and they could bring us in serious trouble. He offers to bring us to our fellow-travelers but we insist in finding a spot without to much people around. So we continue searching. Two hours later we're still searching and as time is running short now we decide to go to the place were the others are. With about fifty people present it isn't the silent spot we've been hoping for. But we have no choice anymore.

I decide to sit down some fifty meters from the rest and set up my equipment. With half an hour to go, there's enough time left to check everything. My camera seems to work well as is my new remote control. I lay a few fresh rolls of film within reach and test my torch. I also have a last look at my time- and exposureschedule for the pictures I want to make. Finally I check that there will be enough Coke to help me through the next three hours. I' ready! In the meantime other tourists keep arriving. Unfortunately a group of noisy Americans decide that the place I'm sitting on is a nice place for them as well. No time to move anymore so I've to go through their uninteresting and noisy comments.

At about 13.40 hours a small bump appears in the lower left corner of the sun. It has started. I center the sun in the middle of my camera and make my first series of three pictures at different exposure times. I intend to continue doing this at ten-minute intervals. In between there's time to watch the surroundings. Apparently the local police decides that locals are not allowed to watch the eclipse at the same spot as we do and they send them all away. Feels like colonial times are still around. Curious as they are themselves, they like to see the eclipse as well giving us an opportunity to take a nice picture.

In the meantime the moon continues its path. Every ten minutes I recenter the sun in my camera and make a series of three pictures. At half past two it's already noticeable darker. The last fifteen minutes things seems to accelerate. The light's getting quickly dimmer and dimmer and the world seems to be covered in a strange metallic light. Five minutes before totality I put in a fresh roll of film in my camera and try to recenter. But I can't! With the solar filter in place, the remaining light of the sun is already blocked, while without the filter the light is still to bright to look at. A frantic minute follows but with some help I manage to get everything in control again. Then, suddenly, a black hole appears in the sky, surrounded by a bright irregular ring of fire around it, the corona.

Plenty are the warnings to photographers who are busy making pictures and missing the chance to see the eclipse with their own eyes. Thanks to my remote control, however, I'm able to calmly adjust the exposure time every few seconds and make a picture while at the same time watching the miracle in the sky. Stars are visible. In the distance, above the horizon the sky is red while above us the sky is a dark blue. I notice crickets chirping around me. A cock crows somewhere in the distance. And, maybe the greatest wonder of all, the Americans behind me stopped talking. Time stands still. Then the left corner of the black hole seems to brighten again. Suddenly a flash of light appears, the first ray of the sun escaping from the other side of the moon between two mountains at its surface, the so-called Diamond Ring.

Time to put up my protective glasses again as well as the filter on my camera. It's over! The sun quickly reappears and the strange eerie light is replaced by the familiar warm yellow light we're used to. The Americans behind me start chatting again and luckily quickly decide that they just as well can leave the spot. I remain seated to capture the reappearing sun till the end. Time for a new roll of film, the third one. Although it remains a beautiful sight, the reappearing sun is less impressive than the disappearing sun. More and more people leave and near the end of the eclipse, only a few are left.

At half past four only a small irregularity at the upper right corner of the sun remains. Then the last clue of what has been disappears. At last we also have to come to the conclusion that it is over. We repack our equipment and start walking back to the campsite. After a short walk only, a police truck overtakes us and offers to bring us to the campsite. We climb in the back of their truck and quickly reach the campsite again.

Everyone is excited by the things he or she has seen and agrees that today couldn't have been better. Several plans are already being made to visit one of the upcoming solar eclipses. The 2006-eclipse in Turkey and the seven minute (!) 2008-eclipse in China turn out to be the favorites. We are thinking of the 2003-(annular) eclipse in Iceland and the upcoming one in Costa Rica. Apart from eclipse-destinations we also decide on returning to Africa again in the (near) future.

Dinner tastes well after such an event and for the last time we sit around the fire telling tales and drinking Amaruhla. Unfortunately this day marks the end of the trip. Tomorrow we'll have to go home again.