Round Round Get Around, I Get Around. Transportation in Zambia

Transportation in Zambia is difficult. In rural Zambia not everyone has cars. People rely on their bikes or walking. To get further distances people hitchhike or take a minibus. And as a Peace Corps Volunteer, I rely on the same modes of transportation that the local villager relies on.
In my village there is only one car. It belongs to Mr.Zhiomi, one of the teachers. Besides that vehicle, occasionally another vehicle will drive by. Usually a truck bringing fertilizer, transporting maize, or a government vehicle coming for a program. When these vehicles pass, If I'm not already outside, I run outside to see which vehicle is making its way through Kawama. I stare it down like I've never seen a vehicle before.
Locally, people walk everywhere. They walk to their farm, walk to the chigayo, walk to church or to a funeral,etc. I see women walking with babies on their back, with no shoes, carrying a bundle on top of their head. When asking where they are going they say a funeral in Shukwe. Shukwe is an hr in a half walk away. Many people even have to walk 3+ hours to town, to get to the hospital, because they have no other way to get there.
Having a bike in Zambia is like having a car. They not only carry one person but also that person's family and their goods. It is normal to see a man biking with a child sitting on the bar in front and a women on the back of the bike, with a baby on her back. Or its normal to see a goat, many bags of charcoal or maize being carried on the back as well.
Peace Corps gives every Volunteer a bike. It's a Trek bike from America. I regularly have Zambians surrounding my bike 'oohing' and 'awwwing' it. I bike to town (around an hour bike ride) every so often or bike long distances to visit other volunteers. Around my community I use my bike as well or just end up walking.
Getting further distances is more tricky. A lot of the village Zambians don't travel far distances due to money but the teachers and other government workers often have wives in major towns (i.e. Solwezi) so they tend to go there once a month to visit them. There is a mini bus that most take and it is usually overloaded with people and goods. Although they drive super quick, they always end up leaving two hours late and it ends up taking much longer to get to the destination. The other way is hitchhiking, which for the most part is cheaper and quicker.
I usually travel to Solwezi once a month. It is about three hours away. I get to the side of the road early. If I see a car, I stand on the side of the road and stick my arm out to the side and move my arm up and down. There is very little transport on the tarmac, which is the main road that goes to Solwezi(I have to bike 6km to get to the tarmac). On average I wait around 5 hours to get a ride. And once I get a ride it's another 3 hours.
One difficulty with transport in Zambia is that the vehicles and bikes are not well maintained. They are old and rundown. There have been several times that I have been in vehicles that have broke down in the middle of nowhere. Today I had a ride with a vehicle that one of the car doors had to be held closed with a wire. But besides the vehicles being in poor condition, it is safe to hitchhike in Zambia. Zambians are generally very friendly people.

Round Round get around, I get around. Slowly but surely.