Zambia (English)

Finally after almost a month I am sitting down and writing an email.
In Zambia internet connections were almost non existent and if we had
one it was painfully slow.  Now we are in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania and
we have more connections.

Back to Zambia....

We had a great time in Zambia and traveled over 3 weeks together with
my mom.  She came to pick us up in Lusaka airport after a 28hr trip
which included 4 airplane changes.  When we arrived at the airport we
saw the Zambezi airlines plane which has it's wings and motors painted
with the Giraffe's spots.  I thought that could only be seen here in
Africa (hopefully we will get a picture up).  We spent 3 days in
Lusaka which we used to rest up, catch up with my mom and make our
future plans.  Lusaka was somewhat disappointing as it really was not
what I thought a big African city would be.  We basically went to
strip malls and big grocery stores, which we could have probably done
in Spain.  After Lusaka we took a 7hr bus trip to Livingstone.  Before
getting on the bus one of the Zambian customers, who was a little over
weight and very tall, complained to the bus driver that " there is a
problem, I do not fit in my seat".  The women next to her said "oh,
you are blessed", and they both laughed.  Being thin here is not a
sign of beauty, in fact it is just the opposite, having extra weight
is healthy and a sign of being wealthy.  On the bus we watched a movie
called "Prey"  about a safari gone wrong.  These Zambians really have
a good sense of humor.  In Livingstone the main attraction are the
Victoria Falls.  There original name is Mosi-o-Tunya, which means the
smoke that thunders, which it definitely lives up to.  On our way to
the falls we could already see the mist coming off them and hear them
long before we even saw them.  We were stopped on the road by police
who were trying to shoo 2 big elephants who had entered into one of
the hotels compound and from what I could tell were not too happy.
The falls are beautiful and although the are not the highest ones the
are very wide and fall down into a gorge.  It is impossible to get
near because, now after the rainy season the water level is very high,
there is so much mist coming off of them.  In certain areas it is
almost as if it is pouring rain, but it is just the mist.  The whole
area surrounding the falls are beautiful with many walking paths and
lots of baboons to entertain you.  From there we walked on to the
bridge that connects Zambia to Zimbabwe but did not enter into
Zimbabwe.  The next day we took transport to the border of Zambia and
Botswana, crossed the river which separates  Zambia, Namibia, Botswana
and Zimbabwe.  We were picked up in a Safari jeep, like the ones you
see in the movies, with a rag top, bench seating and no doors, and
driven to a Lodge next to Chobe National park.  We took a river safari
in the morning on a small motorboat.  Right away we started seeing
crocodiles, hippos, elephants, impala's, baboons, eagles, storks,
wildebeests, mongoose's etc.  It was amazing the wildlife and how
close we could get to the animals, sometimes a bit to close for my
comfort.  At one point we got stuck up on the bank next to a very
large crocodile and all I could think was " I'm not getting out to
push".  In the afternoon we did a jeep safari into the park and saw
herds of buffalo's, giraffe's, kudu's and more of the same animal's we
saw in the morning.  Again we got pretty close to some of them and the
experience was pretty awesome.  I was hoping to see Zebra's and maybe
even a Lion but I knew that would be pretty difficult and hopefully we
will be seeing them here in Tanzania or Malawi.  From Livingstone we
passed thru Lusaka again and next day took a bus at 3pm to Mpika in
the northern district.  In Mpika we spent a few days buying food and
resting up a bit from our travels.  From Mpika to Mpepo, my mom's
village, there is no public transport so you have to hitch.  After
1.30hr we got picked up and rode in the back of a flat bed truck.
Mpepo is a small village with dirt roads and mud huts with thatch
roofs, or the more modern one's have tin roofs.  My mom lives at the
end of the village, and only has one neighbor in front of her yard.
Her house is 3 rooms, a living room, bed room and kitchen or storage
area.  Out side there is a round open hut with a thatch roof, cement
floor and that is where she cooks her food and her dining area.  She
cooks all of her food in a charcoal pit which is on the floor while
sitting on a small stool.  She has an outhouse with a pit toilet and a
shower area which is enclosed by the long grass.  Every day we would
have to walk to the well to draw enough water for our cooking, showers
and cleaning.  Any time we wanted to cook we would have to start a new
fire.  All of these things took up almost half of our day, so you can
just imagine the ordeal of cooking or bathing.  While we were in her
village we were asked to teach a class at school, which really was
made up of the students asking us questions about ourselves and our
lifestyles and customs.  We also went to the chief's "palace" which is
a large compound with a larger than normal brick home with a tin roof
and of course TV.  When we met him we had to get down on our knees and
clap our hands together and greet him by saying " Moi polaney moo
kwai".  We then presented him with our gifts for both him and Mrs.
Chief Mpepo.  We also borrowed " Zam bikes" and rode out to a nearby
village to see the river there.  On Sunday we went to church and at
the end of 2hrs of signing and dancing were presented to the whole
village.  We were called up to the front and each of the parishioners
walked up and shook our hands.  On our last afternoon there we were
given a party by the local choir, which my mom supports.  The killed a
goat, made us local food and local beer.  Then the sang and danced for
us.  After a week of being in Mpepo we hit the road again to hitch to
Kasama.  In Kasama we spent a few days waiting to take the Tazara
train to Dar Es Salaam.  One day we went and saw the painted rocks,
which was interesting, but our guide was not too good.  There are over
1000 paintings but she only showed us 4!  We also borrowed bikes and
rode out to Chishimba falls and camped there.  It is a beautiful are
and the falls are quite nice.

Over all we had a great time in Zambia.  The people are very friendly
and the transport was pretty reliable.  Unfortunatley Zambia is not
geared for tourism and it is very expensive compared to many places we
have traveled to in Asia.  AID's is a huge problem here and everyone
knows someone who is sick or who has died of it.  It is not a poor
country and they don't seem to have problems with water shortages or
not having food.

On Wed we took the train at 4am to the border of Tanzania crossed over
and then stopped in the first major town on the Tanzanian side, Mbeya.
 There we were told that there was an accident further on on the
tracks and that most likely we would be bussed to Dar es Salaam.  This
was quite disappointing news since we were looking forward to the 2
day train trip and we had a whole sleeper compartment to ourselves.
Finally yesterday morning they boarded us on a bus for a 12hr bus
ride.  We went thru a National park and saw Zebras, giraffes and
elephants, again quite exciting.  Today we are here in Dar checking
out our options and hopefully tomorrow heading to a nearby beach or to
Zanzibar.