Blogs from South Luangwa, Zambia, Africa - page 6

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 to consist of hovering over the newlyweds and making sure that they performed all their ceremonial duties, and the scheduled performances, rituals, and speeches took so long that there was really only about 15 minutes ... read more

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 various wooden platforms in the trees where you can pitch a tent, our very own treehouse!! We spent a fantastic 4-5 days there, during this time the campsite... read more

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 car leaving the camp for the border, you arrive at the border and your names are on the list, you pay $0 instead of $65 per person. Worth it if it works. Flat Dogs gave ... read more

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. This is regarded as one of the best parks in Southern Africa and one of the better parks in Africa for animals. It is also one of the few that you can do a walking ... read more