Days 57 thru 59

(Rhia’s comments are italicized)

Initially, Lusaka looked different from the other African cities that I have seen. For one thing, the long road from the airport to the main street to town was lined with well manicured, grassy lawns. That main street into town was divided by a large median with trimmed plants and trees. Each round-about had some beautiful monument or statue in good condition. The malls looked like western malls! And our T-Mobile International plan actually works in Zambia!!! (Locals ask us why we don’t just get a local SIM card for our phones? And I always answer, “I don’t know.” It would solve so many of our problems, but I still just don’t know why I won’t wait in a really long line at a mobile phone store to buy a SIM card that may or may not work. I’m funny that way.)

When our taxi turned off the road and into the neighborhoods, Lusaka turned into pretty much every other African city I have visited, with lots of tuck shops, pedestrians, and tight roads. But one thing that was different, was that everywhere you looked, there was a minaret. The Muslim presence here was a surprise to me. The Africa I am familiar with has gospel singing ringing out on every road, not the sounds of Muslim minarets calling people to prayers. And the place that we booked was not more than 200 meters from one of these minarets, so I was constantly reminded of their presence.

The place we stayed at, we booked through Booking.com, believing the description they had typed was accurate. What I read about was that the place had a kitchen, two bedrooms with a king-size bed, private bathroom, living room, dishwasher, A/C, free wi-fi, soundproofing, and restaurants less than 100 meters from the place. Well, they were a little right, but a LOT wrong.

And it is important to say, none of the electrical outlets worked. We had to plug into an extension cord fed in through the living room window. But the wi-fi was GREAT!!!

We had arrived on the last Friday of the month, which meant PAYDAY! The roads were packed, not just with automobiles, but with pedestrians. Our day had already been long, and we were very short of water (The Airlines did not give us anything during the flight, and the airport lacked amenities). Unfortunately, the grocery shops and restaurants turned out to be over a kilometer away. So we braved all of that traffic to buy water and some quick bites and stopped off at an Indian food place.

We ordered take-away because it was getting dark, but they took a long time to get the order ready, so we ended up ordering a taxi home. We were told about a local ride sharing app called Yango. Thank goodness our phones work here. Yango gave us the independence to navigate the city without the need to rent a car for a couple days. And the rides never cost us more than $2.50. So that is how we got ourselves to Downtown Lusaka and the Lusaka National Museum.

All the museums we’ve visited over the last couple of months have one thing in common; there’s very little in them!.The most notable thing about this museum is that there were more white people here than I have ever seen at a museum. By that, I mean, more than just us. Rhia spoke with one gentleman who had just been to Kafue National Park for a Safari, so we have put that on our agenda, now. But the Museum was pretty much stock. It covered evolution, tribal village culture, local art. It also described Zambia, which is why we go to these things.

Kenneth Kaunda also featured prominently. He became Zambia’s first president after they won their freedom in 1964. He maintained that position until 1991 when foreign pressures forced a multi-party election. Unfortunately, during his presidency, his ineptness at economic management blighted his country’s development. The exhibit at the museum glossed over this, and focused on his humanitarian side, and his extensive role in helping end apartheid in South Africa. I guess it is all about who writes the history as to whether a leader is good or bad, but it never seems to be both. When I lived in Zambia in 1986-1988, KK was despised because he was very corrupt. His story as represented in the museum has been whitewashed; a bit like JFK by all accounts. One of the things he did was, for the elections, he chose symbols to represent the candidates as many people couldn’t read. His symbol was an eagle, and his opponent‘s symbol was a snake! He also would throw opponents into prison until the election was over. At the time, KK was the richest person in Zambia; now, it’s Hakainde Hichilema, the current president.

There was also an exhibit about the slave trade in Zambia. That is always a tough read, especially when you are visiting a place where it all started.

Something that blew me away was a newspaper article from December 10, 1986. I was in the Copperbelt at the time (in Kitwe) but had no idea about the demonstrations and curfew. The mines were around a place called Ndola so I can only guess that they didn’t extend to Kitwe??

Rhia also wanted to visit a local Sunday Craft Fair. This is one of the attractions you will find if you Google “Things to do in Lusaka”. Even though I really dislike wandering around stalls and being targeted by every salesperson, I try to use that opportunity to toughen up. I think I’m getting a pretty good scowl now. But all jokes aside, I did not mind this fair so much. We did two rounds, one preliminary where we let pretty much everyone know that we were just looking and would be back around (which they all seemed to hold us to); one man chased us around the whole place! And the second was no b.s., what is your lowest offer, and move on if they persist. I think I just like watching Rhia haggle, especially if the shop keeper is playing along. It’s when there is desperation in the haggling that I get uncomfortable.

Our next stop was Mumbwa, 30 kms outside of Kafue National Park. Booking.com gigged us again, though, because it turns out the room we booked is being renovate so we couldn’t stay there. Of course they did not let us know until the morning we were to leave for the place. Fortunately, the lister looked after us and got us an acceptable accommodation, minus the kitchen, and we chose to stay.

Plan wise for Zambia, we have decided 3 weeks here, and have chosen to rent a 4×4 for 2 of those weeks. This is a big deal for us as we normally don’t splurge on a 4×4! But oh, it’s so much more comfortable. This is good because something is going on with me; I can be okay one moment then a headache starts and there’s an awful noise in my ears. I then start to shake with cold. It takes me about two hours to stop the shaking and, by then, I have a high fever. I wonder if it has something to do with the mold in the last place. Fingers crossed that I feel better tomorrow.

This is now the 6th African country I have driven in, and they all drive on the left side of the road. Getting out of Lusaka was harrowing. Probably the worst traffic I have ever had to navigate through of any country. It’s not the traffic that’s the worst, it’s all the people crossing the road in all directions. One of the obstacles that needed dodging was the “last mile” solution for delivering goods around to the shops. It consisted of a modified wheelbarrow with a car tire for the wheel! Most of these had only one wheel, but the couriers were able to balance over 250 lbs. of drinks, food, grain sacks, bricks, etc.. and weave in and out of traffic, barely. I kind of got the idea that they had the right of way.

We also saw something that I’ve only seen in the movies, a building complex consisting of stacked shipping containers, cool.

There is certainly a different vibe here in Zambia, and with 73 different ethnicities here, I’m expecting different experiences around every corner.

For me, it’s weird to be back here. When we were in Zimbabwe (a country that used to be the bread basket of Africa), we were told that Zambia is now the bread basket. We’re not seeing evidence of that, but people don’t seem to be living in abject poverty (though, as with all the African countries we’ve been to, unemployment is horribly high!)

Tomorrow, we’re going into Kafue (the oldest, and second biggest park in Africa). For a while, poaching was horrible here but, apparently, now they have it under control. We’ll see…