Day 1 in Zambia
Spent the day at the CARE offices in central Lusaka, although there was some driving around so I did get to see some of the city.
It's end of winter/very early spring here, but the weather is like a perfect Canadian spring day. Cool in the mornings and evenings, just nicely warm during the day with a cool breeze.
The city reminds me a bit of some of the caribbean cities I've been in - that cinder-blocky hot-climate construction. It's not dirty, but very dusty. The grass is mostly brown, the trees are green, but not vibrantly so.
Most of the housing complexes and other buildings are surrounded by high fences or concrete walls, usually topped by coils of razor wire. Most buildings have a security guard stationed out front. You'd think from appearances that crime was rampant and everyone lived in paranoid fear of break-ins, but apparently all of that is just a left over of a past age, in colonial times. My hosts say it's actually quite safe (as long as you don't go walking down alleys flashing wads of cash of course). The security guards aren't really needed, but it's essentially become a major employment industry so they don't stop posting guards or else unemployment and poverty would shoot right up. Street vending seems to be a major occupation. You can't walk - or drive - down the street without being repeatedly being accosted by people with handfuls of CDs, DVDs, belts, small electronic items, fruits, you name it, offering to sell. But they don't harass. They ask once then move on.
Internet is accessible but sporadic. I have wireless in my hotel room, but it cuts out all the time.
The locals were a bit shocked/subdued today. The President of Zambia died this morning. The President had been one of the loudest African critics of Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe. A month or so ago, as he went to a summit of African leaders to rally the other countries against Mugabe, he suffered a massive crippling stroke from which he never recovered. He hung on, semi-comatose, til this morning.
On to some piccies:
View accross Lusaka from my hotel room.
A makeshift mini-market - street vendors perched alongside a pedestrian path through an empty field next to the CARE building.
Close-up of the vendors (I love my telephoto lens)
Another close up of the vendors. Note the woman carrying a basket of bananas on her head. You see this all over Lusaka - women walking down the sidewalk carrying their parcels, groceries, even luggage on their heads.
Tomorrow I head out into the rural eastern provinces of Zambia til Saturday morn. This is where some of the big African game preserves are, and the project I'm visiting has an element of game conservation, so there's a high likelihood I'll get to see lions, elephants, etc.
It's end of winter/very early spring here, but the weather is like a perfect Canadian spring day. Cool in the mornings and evenings, just nicely warm during the day with a cool breeze.
The city reminds me a bit of some of the caribbean cities I've been in - that cinder-blocky hot-climate construction. It's not dirty, but very dusty. The grass is mostly brown, the trees are green, but not vibrantly so.
Most of the housing complexes and other buildings are surrounded by high fences or concrete walls, usually topped by coils of razor wire. Most buildings have a security guard stationed out front. You'd think from appearances that crime was rampant and everyone lived in paranoid fear of break-ins, but apparently all of that is just a left over of a past age, in colonial times. My hosts say it's actually quite safe (as long as you don't go walking down alleys flashing wads of cash of course). The security guards aren't really needed, but it's essentially become a major employment industry so they don't stop posting guards or else unemployment and poverty would shoot right up. Street vending seems to be a major occupation. You can't walk - or drive - down the street without being repeatedly being accosted by people with handfuls of CDs, DVDs, belts, small electronic items, fruits, you name it, offering to sell. But they don't harass. They ask once then move on.
Internet is accessible but sporadic. I have wireless in my hotel room, but it cuts out all the time.
The locals were a bit shocked/subdued today. The President of Zambia died this morning. The President had been one of the loudest African critics of Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe. A month or so ago, as he went to a summit of African leaders to rally the other countries against Mugabe, he suffered a massive crippling stroke from which he never recovered. He hung on, semi-comatose, til this morning.
On to some piccies:
View accross Lusaka from my hotel room.
A makeshift mini-market - street vendors perched alongside a pedestrian path through an empty field next to the CARE building.
Close-up of the vendors (I love my telephoto lens)
Another close up of the vendors. Note the woman carrying a basket of bananas on her head. You see this all over Lusaka - women walking down the sidewalk carrying their parcels, groceries, even luggage on their heads.
Tomorrow I head out into the rural eastern provinces of Zambia til Saturday morn. This is where some of the big African game preserves are, and the project I'm visiting has an element of game conservation, so there's a high likelihood I'll get to see lions, elephants, etc.