• INTRO ZAMBIA

• THE TRAVEL IN ZAMBIA (Impressions)

• PHOTOS OF ZAMBIA

• TIPS FOR ZAMBIA

• PRINTABLE FORMAT

INTRO ZAMBIA

Kind of travel: me and my girlfriend Elisa in an independent travel

When: 08th Aug- 02nd Sept09

Do I need a visa?: yes, and you get at the Livingstone airport for 50$ (single entry 15days, 80$ for double entry) or at the land borders (not in all)

How I moved: bus and minibuses connects all the main centres, but once off of the beaten track, means of transport get scarce and trucks become the option; in Mufwe we waited more than 8 hours for a lift

Freezing or baking?: perfect temperature ranging from 18C to 26C, but in the very early morning or in the night consider to wear a medium thick sweater. Forget rains and the clouds

Where I slept: plenty of guesthouses charging 15- 25€ for a double room with few dorms (Livingstone, Lusaka) for 4- 8€/ bed. On the other hand lodge prices fly high: at the Luangwa N. Park in the Flatdogs Lodge (www.flatdogscamp.com) a double tent cost 80$/night, but the hippo rolling outside is included

What I liked: the jaw-dropping view of Victoria Falls from the chopper, and the unforgettable staying at the Flatdogs Lodge in the Luangwa National Park in a tent among the freely-wandering elephants and hippos; and as for the towns, Chipata is a great African-style place to pass by

What I disliked: the anonimous and suspicious Lusaka, the crazy bus driver who smashed the front glass of our bus against a truck without then even stopping, and being unbearably crammed like animals in the back of the truck with other 20people on the way to Senga bay.

How much daily: Zambia can be medium costy or outrageously expensive: for a low budget by minibuses in couple it's around 33€/each per day (food+ accommod. + transp.). On top of in Victoria Falls or in any park everything is overcharged (ie safari walk 70$! 15min in helicopter: 130$!....). To explore the Victoria Falls, Zambia and Zimbawbe visa can be a cost (80$+50$)!

Dangers/ hassles: malaria is a risk, Lusaka dodgey but car crashes are still the main danger

What you do need: if you travel cheap carry your mosquito net and the stuff to put up with travelling in the back of the trucks as a wind-jacket, a cap or a bandana to cover the hair from the dust. Flash lamp is a must

THE TRAVEL IN ZAMBIA


It has been a 40 hours Odyssey the travel from Milan (Italy) to Livingstone (Zambia), stopping-over in London, Paris and Johannesburg. At the Livingstone airport we were given our one entry visa for 50$ and we settled down in downtown at the Livingstone backpacker. We got charged 5$ each for a bed in the 8-bed dorms and we booked our 15 minutes chopper flight for the next day, being relieved of 130$ each.
In the evening we enjoyed (and we really did!) our first Zambian dinner eating by hands the national dish called Inshasha, a kind of cornmeal porridge with fish and vegetables.
The following day we were taken at the heliport near the falls where together with other 4 whites we took off for what have been one of the highlight of the whole trip (more info ab helicopter flight).
After giving up with the idea reaching Lusaka by train (here more info), early the next morning we jumped on the bus for a 7h trip to the capital, whose we didn't particularly fell in love since looking quite tasteless. That's way the following morning at 4.30am we were already pulling out the bus station on the way to Chipata. It took 9h or so, interrupted by a crash the bus had against a truck, luckily without injuries
Unlike Lusaka, we enjoyed Chipata with its real African atmosphere and rightly sized between a city (usually dangerous and chaotic) and a village (usually just a street with nothing to do).
We spend the night in the Government hotel (20$ for a double), a basic place a snap from the bus station, so we could easily collect the info for our next leg to Mufwe, founding out there were two minibuses per day leaving around 10.30am and 14.00, taking 5h or so. So we did the next day on the first one all the way well packed like canned tuna, shot at such speed on the red-dirty road, as the driver had to break some record.
Our final destination was the Flatdog camp (www.flatdogscamp.com), where we had reserved a tent in advance. The camp is place on the Luangwa river bank 2km from Mufwe, and since walking from the village is out of discussion due to the animals, we agreed with the driver an extra to get there.
The location and the camp itself is jaw-dropping and the elephants wandering around the tents make it a special place, on top of it our tent was in front of a puddle where, at no more than 20mt distance without any kind of fence, a hippos was spending most of the day having naps and rolling in the mud: so definitely the 40$ each for the tent were worth. Then the same day in the South Luangwa National Park we had an interesting 3 hours night safari (45$ each) where we spotted zebras, hippos, crocs, giraffes, cheetah, lionesses…
The tough part of the whole travel came on our way back to Chipata; since we didn't know about the right schedule of the minibuses we decided to take our chance from Mufwe waiting for a minibus or at worst hitch hiking. When at 10.00 in the morning a guy of the camp took us at the village we immediately found out the first minibus was at 1.00am in the night. So we hitch-hiked the whole day managing a take a lift from a truck (a beer-delivery truck) only after more than 8h. While it has been a looong waiting, on the other hand this forced stop let us see the real pace of the life in the village.
Hence at midnight we pulled into Chipata settling down again in the Government hotel but this time when we woke up in the morning there was no water to wash us up, obviously I don't mean running water, but not even the one in the buckets!
We had our last walk in the town before having a 30min run by shared taxi up to the border, where, after an energy-consuming money change on the street without calculator, we enter Malawi.

Alby

IMPRESSIONS ABOUT ZAMBIA

Zambia is definitely the country I appreciated most of the five we visited in this travel, since it's the one where I felt a real African atmosphere. Surely its highlights as Victoria Fall, and South Luangwa National Park contribute a lot to its charming, but Zambia it's not only that.
I had the perception in Zambia traditions are still eradicated as eating the traditional Inshasha and fish at the restaurant without fork and knife after having rigorously rinsed the hand in the dedicated cup.
The other side of the coin is that Zambia is not cheap, in particular if considered the quality of the services as accommodation and transports. For instance, 8h stuffed from Lusaka to Chipata on the bus like an hamburger in the sandwich cost 23€, with a crash against a truck included!
However travelling in Zambia it's still far worth the cost

Alby