A Day in Zambia

What an adventure, crossing the Zambian border! After officially leaving Namibia, we got back on the buses and headed for the Zambian immigration office near the bridge over the Zambezi River. Unfortunately, Scott misread the sign pointing the way and led two buses across the bridge before we were stopped by a very nice border guard carrying an AK-47! We turned around with smiles and apologies, though given the hassles we encountered next, we almost wished we’d kept going.

In spite of our best organizational efforts and the efforts of the staff at the hostel where we’re staying, we were short one page on our manifest for the visa waiver requests at the Namibia/Zambia border crossing. That meant 8 people had their passports confiscated (temporarily! they’re back now!) as we waited for the elusive missing page. Scott sped ahead in the rental car kindly provided by Andrew’s friend Gigi, determined to hold the boat for our Zambezi river cruise, but with a 2-hour drive to Livingstone ahead it was a lost cause. (Our wonderful contact in Livingstone managed to reschedule the cruise for this morning as well as organize dinner to replace the one that was supposed to be part of the evening cruise.) Sadly, the missing page of the visa manifest never appeared and we had to shell out more than $400 US to get everyone over the border!

In any case, we eventually did get into Livingstone (with zero bathroom stops, go us) and our hostel, ate dinner in three different restaurants, and enjoyed the wonderful free wi-fi. This morning we were up bright and early on our way to the rescheduled Zambezi cruise, where we saw both crocs and hippos.

Zambia is very different from the other countries we’ve visited before. The line between the poor and the wealthy is even more sharply drawn than elsewhere. The cost of living is very high in Zambia -- comparable to London England, actually -- but obviously the vast majority cannot come close to being able to afford the basics of housing and food. The local currency, the kwatcha, used to be about on par with the Canadian dollar but is now extremely inflated, with an exchange rate of about K3900 for one Canadian dollar. We’re all trying to do the complicated math when we keep getting huge wads of bills for change.

After the boat cruise, we headed to Victoria Falls. Even though we had another Zambian fiasco at the park gate (no credit cards! cash only!) we got through all right and managed to get completely soaked. These amazing falls are the highest in the world and go on for a whole kilometer. We got to walk all the way along the opposite side of the falls, right in the crazy mist rising up from below. When the breeze changed just slightly, we got soaked like we were in the middle of a full-blown rainstorm. There was a bridge over a gorge where no one avoided the downpour, though some savvy people rented rain ponchos before heading down the path. Still, it’s a beautiful sunny day in Livingstone and we were almost dry by the time we got back to the hostel. We had a chance to do some monkey and baboon spotting as we loaded back onto the bus.

On the drive back to the hostel, we pulled over to watch a herd of elephants grazing by the side of the road. Amazing!

This afternoon, the Kokos dispersed to a number of activities -- everything from helicopter rides over the falls, to gorge swinging, to bungee jumping, to washing our underwear in the sink (that’d be me). Traveling in such a large group, it’s easy to get overwhelmed with the amount of social activity, especially for the introverts among us. It’s good to have some time in smaller groups or alone in the hostel and decompress a little. After all, the next two days are going to be almost entirely spent on the bus, going first to Maun, Botswana, and then all the way back to Windhoek.

We’ve just returned from our Zambian concert, which took place in an open-air venue that’s actually destined to become a clay pigeon shooting range, weirdly enough. We had a lovely view of the lands of Chief Mukuni (the local chief) as we sang through the sunset and watched the stars come out. It was a small but appreciative audience, patient through our technical difficulties with rigged power, including a great local church choir who sang a set at the beginning of the program. There was also a great drumming duo who came and played a brand new instrument that sort of looked like two woks soldered together -- like an inverted steel drum, called a ‘hang’ (pronounced ‘hung’). Afterwards, there was a delicious braai. Tomorrow’s an early morning so after our quick internet sessions, we’re off to bed. Today was a day full of once-in-a-lifetime experiences, no question about it.

Though it’s exciting to be in such a different place, we’re beginning to look forward to the end of the week -- Windhoek, then Cape Town. Civilization! Toilets that flush! Laundry facilities and fewer long bus rides! And, most of all, the chance to see Marijke and Siyacula, our other twin choir.

I have some pics to share but there's a line-up for the internet time so I'll save them for another day!