Anna in Zambia

Well here we are, a whole other country and the changes are at once subtle and astounding. We drove to Lusaka from Lilongwe in two days, with a stopover in Chipata, the first town on the Zambian side of the border. The Canadians we had met on Likoma were still with us and, with very typical north American Paranoia, were willing to spend US$400 on a hire car where me and Joe were happy with the US$30 spent on public transport. So they ended up giving us a lift. Go Canada! Well, after the second 'luxury' coach hurtled past with a cracked windscreen, careening around the car-sized potholes fit to topple over we were maybe a little more north-american-minded ourselves. Then the cab of an articulated lorry came beeping around a corner (on a hair-pin mountain road I might add) and free-wheeled past us. Let me say that again- FREE-WHEELED PAST US GOING DOWNHILL ON A HAIR-PIN MOUNTAIN ROAD. Phew. GO CANADA!! But the drive was outstanding, near-misses not withstanding. Malawi is pretty much totally deforested apart from the odd pine plantation and the national parks. Zambia is incredible densely forested. In a country of 10 million, three times the size of the UK, where 50% of the population live in the big cities, this is real wilderness. The people are as friendly, and, in the bush, as poor, but there is definitely money here. Where Malawi relies on tourism, Zambia has the copperbelt, allowing a huge wealth gap to develop. When we arrived in Lusaka, the bloated capital of this industrio-rural country, we saw this gap manifested in teh price of one orange. Brace yourselves. Remember I'm in what is termed 'the third world', where 50km away you can buy a bucket of mangoes for about 15p. One English pound for a single orange. One English pound per minute to make a local call. Taxis are about London prices and there is money money money everywhere.

We spent a dazed three days in the fair capital four Mazungues fresh from four months in the bush dazzled by the bright city lights. I'm afraid to admit I giggled with delight when I saw cornflakes in the supermarket. Then on to (you guessed it) Victoria Falls.

Livingstone, the town near to the falls, is surprisingly untouristy, and like all other town in Africa I've been to, feels a little like the wild west. Well, you see, they all have only one or two streets, normally in a cross, and all the shops are built up from the road with a verandah over the pavement. And the streets are red dust, and every now and then an ox'n'cart comes through. Well whaddya know.

The falls are stunning. Amazing. Powerful. As soon as I get a quick enough connection to uplaod some photos I'll show you.