Blogs from Zambia, Africa - page 15

So I travelled with John, a friend from Ireland who I met in Lilongwe from Lusaka to Livingstone, which took approximately 8 hours on a comfortable "luxury" bus. Now I've been on a number of buses which class their service as luxurious and of a high quality, but it more often than not, is anything but. However, the Mazhandu bus we caught was just like a Western bus and made for an enjoyable journey, especially as John and I booked the front two seats meaning we had more leg room and a decent view. Vic Falls - Wow!! Victoria Falls is an unbelievable sight, the power and size of the river is extremely impressive. With the rainy season having just ended, the river is at it's highest which meant that the view of the falls was ... read more

Southern Sun Garden Court Tambo Hotel, Zambia--Monday, March 31th I am not sure why it was necessary, but this morning there is a tour scheduled to see Victoria Falls at 9:00. Valerie and I decided that where they planned to walk along the wet stone path was too slippery for the two of us, so we wandered down to look at the Falls on our own. The web page that we had looked at about the hotel we were staying in gave you the sense that you were so close to the Falls, that you could see them from our rooms or at least the reception area. Wrong! The Falls are about 2 blocks from the room–one block still on the hotel property and one more block after you leave the hotel/Reserve gate. We walked out ... read more

Inmiddels ben ik mijn eerste dagen aan t vertoeven bij de Department of Provincial Planners and Housing dus lijkt me een update op zijn plaats om jullie mee te nemen in de eerste (werk)ervaringen die ik hier opbouw. VSO Allereerst een korte omschrijving van VSO. Zij zijn immers degene die mij de opdracht in Zambia hebben gegeven. VSO staat voor Volunteering Services Overseas. Het is een ontwikkelingsorganisatie die vrijwilligers uitzendt naar de ontwikkelingslanden waarin zij actief is. In deze landen heeft zij een aantal beleidsprogramma’s (meestal op het gebied van Education, Health (HIV/Aids), Gender-issues, Governance en Monitoring & Evaluation). Op deze gebieden worden vrijwilligers geselecteerd voor uitzending en aan een opdracht gekoppeld. Met behulp van onze inzet proberen we de landen waarin zij actief zijn uit de arm... read more

Let's see...there was the night in Croc River camp, an un fenced campsite in lush Zambia, where all day monkeys had terrorized us stealing sandwiches, water bottles, lens caps...anything that wasn't nailed down. Where hippos (and hopefully not crocs) had wallowed in the river not far from where we were camped and lions roared mightily in the not so distant distance That evening we were briefed on proper night time safety protocol: 1. Walking to the toilets at night always hold your headlamp in your hand and sweep the area far in front of you 180% from side to side with the light....you don't want to surprise or be surprised by anything large and aggressive on its way to some important rendezvous. 2. If possible let someone know where you are going or go with a ... read more

At the border BAM! Zambia is on and poppin! Efficient and correct, not overly nice...we were all done in half an hour. Money collected, passports stamped...Next! This is definitely another country. Auto parts shops, bicycles for sale....they want to keep moving forward And are hustling for it. Driving deep into the countryside: high school boys and girls make their way home from school, crisp white shirts, pleated skirts, ties flying in the wind. Packs of little children run long distances barefoot to and from school ...they race against all odds to make it... This is the bright side... Many of these are the children with sponsors.... Zambia has the worlds 3rd highest death rate with life expectancy of only 38 years. 86% of Zambians live below the accepted poverty line of $1 per day Only 57% ... read more