Lusaka was a pleasant change from the hot 41+ degree temperatures of Livingstone but it was still hot. The bus we caught from Livingstone had 'business class' seats and we were able to pick our seats and reserve them. Once we started they gave us a biscuit and a soft drink as well. The bus was completely full and the affluent passengers spent a lot of time chatting loudly on their cell phones the whole journey.
We passed through rural Zambia passing wheat and sugar cane growing areas where some wheat was being harvested and bagged up.
Once we arrived at the Lusaka bus station we were besieged by touts pushing and shoving to get us into taxis. Once we said we didn't want one they left us alone and we walked to our backpackers not too far away.
The hostel had 'happy hour' at the bar on Wednesdays and Fridays and on Wednesday night dozens of ex-pats working in the city arrived to drink and party at the bar until 3.30am and we had to use our earplugs to get some sleep.
We caught up with Linda and Patrick again and we tried to find a safari tour to South Luangwa National Park together. We both separately chased up leads but could not find any company who could help us over the days we wanted to go. We decided to go to the park by public transport and left a day behind them.
There is not much to do or see in Lusaka so walked about the town several times and managed to buy some air time for our dongle (mobile internet connection). It turned out there are no data bundle packages available here and the air time turned out to be pretty expensive and used up in no time. We were thus unable to keep updating our blog.
We caught up with Linda and Patrick again and we tried to find a safari tour to South Luangwa National Park together. We both separately chased up leads but could not find any company who could help us over the days we wanted to go. We decided to go to the park by public transport and left a day behind them.
There is not much to do or see in Lusaka so walked about the town several times and managed to buy some air time for our dongle (mobile internet connection). It turned out there are no data bundle packages available here and the air time turned out to be pretty expensive and used up in no time. We were thus unable to keep updating our blog.
The electricity went off several times in Lusaka and one night we couldn't eat at the backpackers so we had to find a restaurant in the leafy posh suburbs. We managed to find an Indian restaurant that had electricity although it went off once we had ordered. When we walked back to our backpackers we noticed small groups of prostitutes on each street corner in the posh residential area and they even raced after cars that came by looking for clients. It was quite a strange sight.
With no electricity there was no water in the toilets or showers and the staff did not even bother to fill buckets or tubs to flush the toilets so it was quite unpleasant. I managed to find a tap in the yard with water and have a bucket shower and wash my hair.
There were several young people staying at the backpackers who were doing various volunteer projects or research in Lusaka. An American guy was teaching kids soccer skills, a British lady was nursing in a rural area for VSA (Voluntary Service Abroad) and lived in NZ, a group of Australians had been helping at an animal rehabilitation place and there was a 40+ year old Turkish guy trying to sell his 4 or 5, 4x4 vehicles that he had imported from the UK. He wasn't having much luck as he didn't research his market properly and discovered that the locals only wanted petrol powered vehicles even though petrol was more expensive than diesel and the same price we would pay in NZ.
On the day we planned to leave we had to get up at 5am to catch an early bus to Chipata, but we were woken at about 4am with loud speakers blaring, shouting, clapping, and vuvuzuelas hooting. No one could tell us what was happening but it was pretty noisy at that time of the morning so we headed out earlier than planned. The touts were waiting for us at the bus station and several started fighting over the passengers that were arriving with big bags. One guy had a bloody nose and it was bedlam. We had got our tickets the day before and even then we were followed by several touts who wanted to show us where to get our tickets even though we already knew where to go. Once we had bought our ticket and left the office we turned back to see the ticket seller paying the tout a commission.
On the street outside the station there are 30 or 40 men camping on the street corner waiting to show customers to taxis or ticket offices as it their only employment. The area is littered with rubbish and they have fires burning to cook food and it stinks from so many men defecating and urinating in the street. The footpaths are not cemented so it is pretty dusty and dirty.
With no electricity there was no water in the toilets or showers and the staff did not even bother to fill buckets or tubs to flush the toilets so it was quite unpleasant. I managed to find a tap in the yard with water and have a bucket shower and wash my hair.
There were several young people staying at the backpackers who were doing various volunteer projects or research in Lusaka. An American guy was teaching kids soccer skills, a British lady was nursing in a rural area for VSA (Voluntary Service Abroad) and lived in NZ, a group of Australians had been helping at an animal rehabilitation place and there was a 40+ year old Turkish guy trying to sell his 4 or 5, 4x4 vehicles that he had imported from the UK. He wasn't having much luck as he didn't research his market properly and discovered that the locals only wanted petrol powered vehicles even though petrol was more expensive than diesel and the same price we would pay in NZ.
On the day we planned to leave we had to get up at 5am to catch an early bus to Chipata, but we were woken at about 4am with loud speakers blaring, shouting, clapping, and vuvuzuelas hooting. No one could tell us what was happening but it was pretty noisy at that time of the morning so we headed out earlier than planned. The touts were waiting for us at the bus station and several started fighting over the passengers that were arriving with big bags. One guy had a bloody nose and it was bedlam. We had got our tickets the day before and even then we were followed by several touts who wanted to show us where to get our tickets even though we already knew where to go. Once we had bought our ticket and left the office we turned back to see the ticket seller paying the tout a commission.
On the street outside the station there are 30 or 40 men camping on the street corner waiting to show customers to taxis or ticket offices as it their only employment. The area is littered with rubbish and they have fires burning to cook food and it stinks from so many men defecating and urinating in the street. The footpaths are not cemented so it is pretty dusty and dirty.
