The first stop on my 3-country safari tour with my parents, before zimbabwe and botswana
An early morning flight had me in Lusaka (via Blantyre) in the early afternoon. My travels went very smoothly, as I was able to get my visa, exchange money, buy a SIM card and get to the hostel easily. I set off on foot to explore the city a bit, starting with a tour of Evelyn Hone College before heading to the Lusaka City Bus Station. As a solo white female, it was a bit of an adventure trying to buy my bus ticket for the next day, but I managed to make my way through the dozens of people wanting to sell me bus tickets. I stopped at the shopping mall on my way back to the hostel. I was definitely not expecting Lusaka to be so modernized, especially coming from the capital city of the country right next door to Zambia.
The first day in Zambia must have been too easy, because the next day was quite difficult. It began at 5:30am when the taxi I had ordered didn't arrive to take me to the bus station. I ended up speed walking a mile to the bus station and arrived at 6:00. Unfortunately, Mazhandu Family Bus Services is one of the only companies in Africa that is actually on time, at least with their first bus of the day. Since I hadn't arrived 10 minutes early, my seat was given to someone else. I had to wait until the next bus at 7:30am and was seated next to a woman with a rather larger cooler on her lap, which stuck out onto my legs for the 7 and a half hour bus ride. Needless to say I was quite excited to be greeted by my parents at the bus station in Livingstone.
We drove to Kayube Estates, about 20 km from downtown Livingstone and right on the Zambezi River. Our first excursion was a beautiful sunset cruise on the river, with a group of elephants on the shore surprising us along the way.
The next morning we explored Victoria Falls from all the angles on the Zambian side. It was a pretty spectacular sight and I was happy to have rented a raincoat so that I could walk all around without soaking my clothes. The afternoon was spent visiting two of Zambia's nine remaining white rhinos, which have been heavily poached.
The next day we did a full-day kayaking trip on the Zambezi River. The current is so strong on the river that we only paddled about half the time, spending the rest of the time relaxing and looking at the beautiful scenery.
The first day in Zambia must have been too easy, because the next day was quite difficult. It began at 5:30am when the taxi I had ordered didn't arrive to take me to the bus station. I ended up speed walking a mile to the bus station and arrived at 6:00. Unfortunately, Mazhandu Family Bus Services is one of the only companies in Africa that is actually on time, at least with their first bus of the day. Since I hadn't arrived 10 minutes early, my seat was given to someone else. I had to wait until the next bus at 7:30am and was seated next to a woman with a rather larger cooler on her lap, which stuck out onto my legs for the 7 and a half hour bus ride. Needless to say I was quite excited to be greeted by my parents at the bus station in Livingstone.
We drove to Kayube Estates, about 20 km from downtown Livingstone and right on the Zambezi River. Our first excursion was a beautiful sunset cruise on the river, with a group of elephants on the shore surprising us along the way.
The next morning we explored Victoria Falls from all the angles on the Zambian side. It was a pretty spectacular sight and I was happy to have rented a raincoat so that I could walk all around without soaking my clothes. The afternoon was spent visiting two of Zambia's nine remaining white rhinos, which have been heavily poached.
The next day we did a full-day kayaking trip on the Zambezi River. The current is so strong on the river that we only paddled about half the time, spending the rest of the time relaxing and looking at the beautiful scenery.