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Friday 13 September 2013

THE REAL AFRICA

Sub Saharan Africa is for me the real Africa which has been but a dream, until now. Of course my school days lessons long, long ago, when Zambia was called Northern Rhodesia, have left an impression. No longer a colony of Britain, since 1964, Zambia will for sure be another world. 

So, heading down to Lusaka on December 3rd and returning home at Christmas. I don't know of any flights from Europe to Africa that could be called 'cheap', but am sure that this expense will be justified. Clicking on that 'buy' icon is always a highly stressful moment, there is no going back, only forward.


This randomly picked image of an Emirates plane might liven things up a bit. Also have made a tentative plan to stay at this highly recommended hostel in Lusaka for 4 nights at least. I always think its better to get used to the country before the wandering begins. 

http://www.hostelworld.com/hosteldetails.php/Paseli-

Not too sure what to do after that exactly but a trip down to Livingstone is definitely on the cards. According to a recent BBC business report, Zambian railways are seriously under funded. A bumpy ride from all accounts but the only way I'd like to do it. 

http://www.seat61.com/Zambia.htm#Livingstone - Lusaka

Update. Had it from a good source that the trains are not operating now. Great pity. Maybe too many trains have been falling off the tracks.

Looking at the map of this sizable land locked country, it does have a lot of interesting neighbours. Border crossing accorded by officialdom, can be tedious and time consuming, but it might not be that way on the spot, at a border.  

Who could possibly go to this part of the world without seeing that gigantic curtain of water called Victoria Falls (map C) , and less than 20 min from Livingstone. 

Also there is a wild life park quite close to Livingstone, but maybe a bus ride somewhere might also be a way of seeing those well known zoo animals wandering in their natural environment. 

As well as that, of course, some of those simple, and very poor, African villages. The massive Kariba dam and lake is no more than 3 hr from Lusaka on the border with Zimbabwe. There is a lot of contradictory information about travelling within the country so I'll have to wait and see.





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