Lake Tanganyika is the longest lake in the world and the second deepest after Lake Baikal in Russia. One sixth of the earth’s fresh water supply is contained here. One sixth of all the fresh water on the planet – put that in your hookah why don’t you. It is huge, ancient in the geological sense; like much of the African continent it has been in place for eons.  Fishing villages dot the shoreline and the lights of the boats are stars on the water at night. Zambia has not applied any of its meager tourist infrastructure budget to Lake Tang. Over on the western border at Lake Mweru, we found heritage sites and pretty good camping at various waterfalls, but here at the most spectacular lake we have ever seen, there is barely a road.

Going into Ndole Bay on the western shore of the Tang takes a full day, with four long hours for the final 50 clicks. A most beautiful beach welcomes us and we stay five days, two of which are needed just to recover from the pounding drive. Coffee on the shore, swimming, idling around, and then it is sundowner time – perfect days. Ndole Bay visitors mostly come by boat, when there are visitors. The big draw is fishing. With a lake this big, you can imagine how big the fish must be.

The manager suggests we go out in the staff fishing boat. Good idea – it is a smaller craft with no shade cover; we don’t have to (or want to) stay out all day. Khosam the guide knows where to fish. We slayed them that morning, bottom-fishing for Ekupi, the “emperor” fish, said to be the best eating fish in the Tang. Bottom-fishing takes on a whole new concept when you are dropping bait in the second deepest lake on the planet. It takes a long time for the heavy weight to get down there and once you’ve got fish on, even longer to reel it up. We catch the emperor fish and florosa – a bubble-headed blue fish that tastes like lobster. Check out this strange eel-looking fish I caught on my first drop. Jim catches the biggest fish. Back at the dock Khosam filleted our catch for us. We left him with a nice stash. It was a lekker morning on Lake Tanganyika.

Isanga Bay is on the east edge of the lake, across from Ndole. To get there, we backtrack to the Thorn Tree Lodge in Kasama (for the second time) and resupply in town. The ladies selling produce see me coming and before you can say jack rabbit, we have enough produce for a week. I like those ladies and that town. Isanga Bay is not far, as the crow flies – right? Four hours of brutal rock road and the last 10 kilometers took an a quarter of that, just like the Garmin said. We broke a u-bolt on the Beagle – but that can be fixed. It is worth it to hang on the beach there. Isanga Bay could be a tourist mecca, but for the road. At Mpulunga we have the u-bolt replaced – the bush mechanic shows up at the “spare shop” and gets to work right there in the parking area. Did a good job too, for all of $20 including parts (. . . and labor).

Zambia is behind us now, after the quickest border exit ever at the tiny Zombe Border Post. That’s “Zomm-bay” not zombie, no matter what Jim says. Tanzania is welcoming but a new country means new customs and new currency – 10,000 TZS (shillings) equals $5USD – and Swahili is spoken more than English. Time to learn some new words.