Last Day in Zambia

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Before Locke left, he introduced me to Eric. Eric is a local taxi driver who claims to have been a tour guide in his past career. Anyhow, as many of the activities I wanted to do weren’t available due to the minimum # of people required – I hired Eric to take me around.

We started at a lunch spot that is recommended. It was so-so. The food in Zambia just isn’t all that good. We stopped at the market so I could pick up some bags of candy to bring to the Mukuni Village. It was Sunday, so I figured many of the kids would be around.

We arrive at the village where there is a mandatory donation of $5. There was a lady who escorted us around the village. I asked if it was OK to give out the candy. She said sure but be aware that if I give one child, many more will show up. OMG. I see 3 kids and give them candy. All of a sudden there was some yelling and 10 more children come running. They start yelling and another 10 come. They start grabbing the candy bag and pushing and shoving. The kids were out of control. The lady who escorted me in the village took the bag out of my hand as I clearly didn’t know what to do and threw some of the candy in one direction. About 20 children tackled one another! Oh boy – this wasn’t the brightest idea! I then felt bad as there were cries. We continued our walk around the village where I learned about the chief, I met some local families and saw their huts and met their children. I saw the garbage holes in the ground as well as some of the chicken coops. The children continued following us. Some were waiting patiently, while others wouldn’t stop giving the begging eyes. We eventually gave out most of the candy.

The last stop on the village tour was the markets. Gee – now I know where the kids get it from! The parents started asking for candy. I would give these grown men some and they would still ask for more. It was just as bad as market shopping as the Victoria Falls – I can give you a good deal, come look at my stuff. A gentleman asked kindly that I look at his carvings and I walk over. A man yells at me – you give us no candy now you buy from us. I just walked away. This was annoying and rude. I liked some things and would love to support the local community, but not when some of the people are super nasty and pushy.

I realize I am one of 5 people staying at my river lodge. It was dead silent. I spent the late afternoon on my computer. I was the only one at the restaurant. I ordered plain pasta. The pasta comes out with bacon, olives, cucumbers, peppers, raw onions – all in olive oil. I went back to my room and watched some House on my computer. This will be the first night in a long while that I am doing this. There are no TV’s – I am still surrounded by the animals, the noises…

Off to sleep. There is no alarm clock this morning. I woke up at 6am. No way! I went back to sleep until 8:30am. There is a bunch of ruckus outside! Wait, there are baboons everywhere! What are they looking for??? Still so intriguing and cool! Breakfast and my pickup to the airport…. I am heading back to South Africa.

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