Saturday I mostly spent catching up on e-mails, blogs, and so on. I ran a solid 12 miles in the morning and felt great afterwards, got my work done, and then in the evening I crashed a Zambian wedding reception (I was working through the morning before the internet cafe closed, and missed the ceremony, but evidently it was just a traditional Catholic wedding). There were some differences from American wedding receptions, to be sure-- the bridesmaids and groomsmen had a number of rehearsed dances that they performed over the course of the party, there was a "matron" whose job seemed [View Full Entry]

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After a few days of relaxation in Liliongwe, we set off for a 7 hour journey to Zambia. After about 2 hours we reached the borders where we spent roughly an hour filling in forms and getting our passports stamped. Soon after that we stopped for lunch, the safari company provided us with huge cheese sandwiches...we couldn't even fit them in our mouths! After we left from lunch, we soon hit dirk track roads and in the landrovers it was an extremely bumpy journey. The poor road conditions ensured that none of us got any sleep and were all knackered by [View Full Entry]

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We entered Zambia via Lilongwe in Malawi, having stocked up on souvenirs from the many craft stalls which in true african style should be delivered in about 6 months (we were too tight to pay for airmail!) The serengetti seems so long ago so we needed a wildlife fix and South Luangwa national park was ideally situated by the border wo we made our merry way there... we found the coolest campsite here, next to the river that borders the park. The river was full of hippos which come on land to feed during the night... dotted around the campsite are [View Full Entry]

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Our first major stop in Zambia was the South Luangwa National Park. Our campsite was right on the bank of the Luangwa River and the Hippos came up into the campsite regularly at night to graze. It's only when one is about 20 meters away from the dinner table completely out of the water that you really begin to appreciate how huge these creatures are. We couldn't stop smiling every time we heard their noises; it's like living in a zoo (only way better). We went on a couple of game drives including a walking safari and a night drive which [View Full Entry]

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Leaving Lilongwe we dropped Nadav off as he needed to begin to make his way back North to get his flight home to Israel. We were sad to see him go. We headed for the Zambian border. We had made arrangements (we thought) with Wild Dogs Camp (just outside South Luangwa Park in Zambia) for a VISA waiver for the border. It should work something like this: With enough advance notice of around 12 hours you give them the names and passport numbers of the people crossing into Zambia, they send the info to the border with the next truck or [View Full Entry]

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After our relaxing time spent on the lake it was time to hit the road again and next we were going to pick up a 5 day one way private trip which would take us all the way to Victoria Falls on the Zambia, Botswana and Zimbabwe borders via the South Luangwa National Park, and Lusaka in Zambia. It was going to be some very long driving but hiring our own vehicle was not an option and no other form of transport would take us to where wanted to go without resorting to local buses at each stage to take us [View Full Entry]

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We didn’t think it was possible but New Zealand has fallen from number 1 to number 2. Zambia is our new favorite. Before we arrived in Zambia were in Zimbabwe where we ended our tour. We were there just long enough to see how Mugabe’s rule has affected the economy and people. For example, when we arrived we were told not to exchange any money at the Zimbabwe banks. The exchange rate at the bank was 250 Zim dollars to 1 US dollar. But on the black market the exchange rate was 70,000 Zim dollars to 1 US dollar which changed [View Full Entry]

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Today I’m in Lusaka, Zambia. I seem to have traveled in a circle. Funny how stuff works out. Here in Lusaka I’m kind of taking a break from “Africa” and am spending some time in the westernized, expat area of Lusaka. Strange since I just took a vacation in Malawi. It was surreal almost for me to walk into Arcades the other day. Arcades is one of the large shopping malls in Lusaka. Last time I was there was New Years Eve and we went bowling late at night. I arrived here via a slight detour through South Luangwa National Park. [View Full Entry]

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