Zambia

The adventure continues! Mike and I spent a day in Zimbabwe, a long train ride, a great few days in rural Zambia and then headed to Lusaka, the capital.

On Thursday, we saw the mighty “Mosi-oa-Tunya” or “Smoke that thunders” from the Zimbabwean side of the falls. We were able to see more of Victoria Falls along the walking path from this side of the border although we got quite soaked in the process. It really is an impressive sight. The water crashes over a series of falls nearly a mile long and is crushed into the bottom of the gorge with such force that the spray coming back up feels like actual rain. We also walked around Vic Falls, the town just over the border (Zimbabwe’s equivalent of Livingstone.) We found a beer-hall with the help of a friendly local and tried the widely popular “Chimbuku”. This is also called “opaque beer” and it is made out of maize. It was certainly a new taste (an acquired one at that.) Maize is the staple food in this area and their main starch is ground, cooked maize called nshima, which comes out looking something like mashed potatoes. It is eaten twice a day, with your hands, accompanied by a small salad, sauce and meat (chicken, fish, beef or bushmeat.) It is super tasty and we eat it pretty much wherever we go.

Friday we packed up and prepared to head out of Livingstone. We took the train because it is several dollars cheaper than the bus but it took us 19 hours to get to Kafue, just south of Lusaka (a journey we were told would take 11 hours). The bus would have taken a third of the time or less but we wanted the experience. It was a slow, drafty ride overnight that allowed us to see a bunch of the countryside (as soon as it got light.)

Saturday afternoon, we finally arrived in Kafue. From Kafue we took a shared taxi east to a town called Chirundu, on the Zambezi River which forms the border with Zimbabwe. The mighty Zambezi is the river flowing over Victoria Falls and the Lower section is supposed to be teeming with wildlife.

Sunday we hiked and then hitched further east to a safari lodge to try and book a canoe safari. We got some helpful information and then took a boat transfer downriver to another lodge so that we could bargain directly with the people who offered river safaris. Unfortunately even their best offer was out of our price range so we decided to do something else in the area. Waiting for a ride east, we met a nice man named Mateo who told us about a local guest house with good food and good prices just 3 km up the road. So, we decided to walk it and soon found ourselves with Faith, the matron of Zindoga Guest House. We showed up right at lunchtime so she brought us into her hut and we had a lunch of nshima and fish with the ladies of the house. Their spontaneous hospitality reminded me a lot of Senegal and it felt good to see traditional African customs again. Faith (Mrs. Zindoga) set us up in the very affordable guesthouse and then we walked down to the river. A local man showed us the village’s extensive gardens (sugar cane, maize, tomatoes, bananas, squash, cabbage, sweet potatoes and lots of other crops.) We also met a fisherman and learned about the area. More nshima and local fish (Bream) made for a delicious dinner.

Monday morning we did a short canoe safari of sorts with a local man. He took us up river and we walked around on a mid-river island. We finally saw hippos! We came close to one chilling in the water and we saw a group of 6 off near the far shore. They really are cool looking creatures even though they are way more dangerous than most people realize. They are fast and aggressive both on land and in the water and hippos account for more animal-related deaths than any other African creature (except for maybe the mosquito.) We hung out all afternoon in the village with local children and young adults. We discussed life in our different countries and what people do for fun. The village doesn’t see a lot of tourists because most outsiders stay at the (way over-priced) safari lodges and this village wasn’t even on the map. We got lucky that we ran into Mateo and were able to find a cheap guesthouse that came with a genuine rural experience. Two white people, or “mazungus” were something of a novelty at first but after 3 days in Chiawa, we were part of the village.

Tuesday we went on a walk with local big man, Jackson Zindoga. He was sort of paternal during our stay, ensuring that we had a wonderful time and were well provided for. He owns the local grocery, bar and guest house and is well-known in the community. He even treated us to more “opaque” maize-beer our first night in the village (the local brands in Zambia are Lusaka and Nkhosi). We were able to relax and see how the locals kick back at the end of the day. Anyway, we walked around the surrounding area before packing our bags and saying good-bye to the very friendly people of Chiawa.

Earlier, we had learned that there was a large banana farm run by Jerry the Irishman. We visited him because we were interested in working on the farm for a few days to earn a ride to Lusaka on his bi-weekly banana trucks. Jerry informed us that, though we could not work, we could still get a free ride on the truck. So, we spent the afternoon watching the men harvest, separate, clean, crate and weigh over 400 crates of bananas. They loaded the truck and we set off. It took just over 4 hours to get to Lusaka and it was an enjoyable ride because Jerry had given us 2 dozen ripe bananas before we left.

Wednesday we saw the better part of Lusaka on foot. We ran some errands at the bank and then checked out Kabwata Cultural Village. I picked up some cool souvenirs directly from the artisans that make them and then we tried some nshima with bushmeat. We walked around to Lusaka’s golf course and polo grounds before doing the rounds in “Embassy Triangle.” We checked in with both the Tanzanian and Kenyan embassies to make sure we knew what the visa requirements would be for the last leg of our trip. We also went to Tazara House to get our train tickets to Dar es Salaam for Friday. Then we got passport pictures taken for our Tanzanian visas. It was an exhausting day!

Today (Thursday) we are tying up some loose ends in Lusaka. We will get our visas sorted out and then prepare for the 48-hour international train ride. Zambia has been a really fun country. The food is great, the people are friendly and it is full of natural wonders and wildlife. With just 4 more weeks to travel, however, it is time to move on to new adventures (which Tanzania is full of). Hope everyone had a great week!

Cheers.