Blogs from Lusaka, Zambia, Africa - page 18

Africa » Zambia » Lusaka February 22nd 2006

I was at the bus station at 8.30 all ready and waiting for the bus to depart at 9, like the timetable said it would. 9 came and went. As did 10. We finally set off at 10.45 headed for Lusaka the capital of Zambia, which in itself is classified as being 'Somewhere in Central Africa'. The first part of the journey I started to talk to a white Zambian who started to explain the problems black Zambians have. The jist of the conversation was that they are lazy and dont plan for the future. At first I put this down to racism however his seat on the bus was taken by a a black Zambian student. On our way up we started talking about what Zambia, and Africa, was actually like too live in. We ... read more

Off to Zambia!

Africa » Zambia » Lusaka February 12th 2006

The Gang at Niagara Falls

Rachel Maser

Tonight I’m leaving for Zambia to volunteer as a development worker with Engineers Without Borders Canada (EWB)! After two red-eye flights through London and Johannesburg, I’ll land in Lusaka, the capital of Zambia. I will be partnered with an international non-governmental organization (NGO) called International Development Enterprises (IDE). IDE focuses on simple irrigation technology for smallholder farmers like the human-powered treadle pump (which looks like a stairmaster and pumps about 1 liter of water per second) and drip irrigation. Unlike other organizations that give away technology and create donor dependency, IDE tries to set up a supply chain for the pumps which involves finding local manufacturers who sell directly to the farmers. They also ensure there is transportation to market for the farmer’s increased crop yields. I will be working on two projects; the firs... read more

Pics

Africa » Zambia » Lusaka July 27th 2005

Just a lil off the top....

KoolguyTy

Yes yes y’all, Good newz, I’m in the capital city of Lusaka this afternoon and they actually have intenet access here without a phone wire going into the bback of the comp which means some pics are up, booyaa http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/KoolguyTy/ The past two weeks have been reminiscent of university as I’ve taken a couple of road trips. I hit a friends farm that is 15 km outside of town. We rode bikes like it was grade five and my bike fell apart faster than a… well… a Chinese bicycle. It was a one speeder with a broken seat, pedal, and crooked tire but at least it had heart and breaks… well, the breaks actually broke too half way there. It was a brutal but hilarious ride because it was really hilly dirt roads with lots of ... read more

Lusaka

Africa » Zambia » Lusaka July 27th 2005

Weixiao82

Geo: -15.4189, 28.2632... read more

Zambia

Africa » Zambia » Lusaka July 22nd 2005

Crossing into Zambia

Weixiao82

Geo: -15.4189, 28.2632Immigration at Zambia was another informal and entertaining crossing. Nobody seemed to care that we were there and I'm sure we could've just walked through the gates unnoticed, straight past the friendly busily chatting guards. When we were eventually noticed waiting at the desk, we handed over our passports and were then given the most carefully written receipt and most accurately placed visa stamp I've ever had! A very slow process! The road became much more interesting in Zambia, with scary mountain passes and cute little straw hut villages. The roads were rather like a truck graveyard especially as they're not lit at night. Apparently every truck driver knows the name for each turn and corner and the names of those who've died there! We stayed with good friends of the family. We got ... read more

Journal Entry 5: Deported!

Africa » Zambia » Lusaka May 11th 2005

A warm welcome

DavidDamberger

Although I’ve refrained from mentioning anything since I’ve arrived here over 3 months ago, I’ve been having a few problems getting the necessary full-time work permit that allows me to legally live and volunteer here in Zambia. See, in Zambia you are allowed to stay in the country as a volunteer for a total of 3 months for free. After that, you either need to get a work permit or leave the country. I applied for my work permit the first week I arrived here, however, due to various “administrative and technical problems” it “hasn’t been processed to date”. Over the past 3 months, I’ve had quite a crazy experience trying to get this work permit approved. Whether it was them not receiving the application form (which was sent to them the first week I was ... read more

Journal Entry 1: My first week in Zambia

Africa » Zambia » Lusaka February 20th 2005

Zambia 3

DavidDamberger

My journey begun not in Zambia, but in Canada for three intense weeks of preparation. One week in Vancouver for the Engineers Without Borders conference and two weeks in Toronto. During this time, I went through a mind expanding overseas development training course. Now, although I had already had taken courses in development studies in University, personally studied and taught development at the EWB Calgary chapter for 3 years, and went through a one week EWB course before my placement in India, this training took my level of understanding of development to a whole new level. I trained with 8 other phenomenally talented and passionate volunteers; 2 going to Haiti, 2 to Ghana, 1 to Cameroon, 1 to Lesotho, 1 undetermined, and myself to Zambia. We were equipped with an arsenal of tools and knowledge that ... read more

Pickpockets, nightclubbing and poverty

Africa » Zambia » Lusaka May 26th 2003

DMac

After Livingstone we took a coach to Lusaka the capital. We checked into Chachacha backpackers in Lusaka after a day on the bus and they cooked us a great dinner. The next morning we walked into the town center to change some travellers checks and had many many problems since we didn't have the sales receipt on us - something that you never need in Asia, and we hadn't needed before. So we walked around very hungry for too long and then changed the small amount of US $ we had in our pockets so we could get breakfast, photos for our Tanzanian visa and tried to get a bus ticket for Chipata - which is near the Malawi border but they were sold out. The visa was relatively easy to get from the embassy in ... read more

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