This is it

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So, this is it. The 'real adventure has started. Where Joachim and I have been travelling together and enjoyed the company and safety of having someone familiar around, we thought it was time to split up now.

After leaving Zanzibar, we spent almost a week with Rams (the guy we met on the ferry to Zanzibar) and his family in Dar Es Salaam, trying to decide where to go from there. For my part, it was pretty clear that I would go south, to Zambia or Mozambique. When I heard there was a train going from Dar to Zambia, I immediately fell for the thought of an old fashion train ride through the whole of Tanzania and Zambia. The train had bunk beds in compartments of four in first class, a food compartment, and a bar. And I had filled up my backpack with a good amount of books, so there would be no problems getting through the 40 hours it was scheduled to take. You probably drew a deep breath now, "40 hours"!? But actually time went by flying. Driving through beautiful sceneries, good old "Doors" on my MP3-player, a cold beer in my left and a Hemingway classic in my right. Not bad. To be honest, I was almost happy that the train was delayed by about 5 hours.

Check out the Tazara train here: http://www.seat61.com/Zambia.htm

Once I arrived in Zambia, the first thing I noticed was how much more developed it seems than Kenya and Tanzania. The roads are perfect, cars actually drive to a certain set of rules, and even things such as irrigation systems on the farms are far more advanced. Not to mention how much more relaxed it is around here, sellers actually stop following you once you've said no to buying their gimmicks. That was definitely not the case anywhere I had been in Africa until now.

I checked in at the ChaChaCha Backpackers Hostel in Lusaka, the capitol city of Zambia. It is the best place I've stayed in since I left Norway. Being a true backpacker hostel, it is relatively cheap, has facilities for cooking your own food and of course shared bathrooms and showers. But in addition to that, it also has its own restaurant, a bar, live music a couple of times a week, internet and, most importantly, a pool! I can certainly spend a week or two here!

I walked through the city last friday, trying to find the Edusport Headquarters. Edusport is a foundation based on the idea of "Education through Sport" (hence the name) and in 2003, they sent a soccer team to Oslo during Norway Cup, where my team, Frigg, hosted them during that period. That's how the connection was made and now that I'm in the neighbourhood I thought I should stop by. I eventually found their office and was welcomed enthusiastically. We scheduled for a meeting tomorrow (monday) to see how I can help with their projects.
Funny thing was they even have a picture at the entrance, of all players from Kalingalinga and Frigg during Norway Cup 2003. I'm #5 from the right.

Here's Edusport's homepage: http://www.edusport.org.zm/

And I went to the cinema yesterday. This is it! Awesome movie, although waaay too short I thought. That would've been quite a show... But it is incredible what an influence Michael Jackson has had on people all around the world. I thought about it and basically everywhere I have been until now, I have encountered some sort of MJ-admiration. In Kenya our guide started doing MJ-dancemoves up Mt Kenya, in Tanzania I spoke to Maasai's who absolutely adored MJ and in front of the cinema yesterday there was a MJ dance contest. I'm actually on my way to see the movie a second (and possibly third) time soon.

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Photos

fun on the train!
yay!