Zambia

After three months in Canada and the US, I returned to Africa one month ago. Three months is a long time for me to be away from Africa so I am very happy to be back. 2009 and 2010 will find me in Lusaka, Zambia, where, at this very moment, it is fall, soon to be winter, and where sunny clear days of 80 degrees F will give way to nippy 50 degree evenings. I may have to put on the one sweater I brought with me.

Lusaka is an easy city around which to navigate. Zambia lacks the chaos and vocal culture of the Republic of Congo - where I spent 2008 - but this makes it an easier (and quieter) life here too. My dogs are with me, after sitting out my Congo sojourn in Vancouver. Born and raised in Tanzania, I like to believe they are happy too about coming home to Africa. Their new residence is a small house on acreage just outside the city limits where horses wander a pasture out front; Lilac-breasted rollers dive for insects; and the stars are exquisite at night.

This year's travel schedule is busy…visits to Victoria Falls; Kafue, South and North Luangwa, Lower Zambezi, and Kasanka National Parks and the Lake Bangweulu Wetlands; a canoe safari on the Zambezi River, several cultural ceremonies around the country, and a Congolese gorilla safari are on the calendar. I also hope to fit in Zambia's very own wildebeest migration in its remote Liuwa National Park, which reaches its peak just after the start of the first rains in November; the herds are second in size to the Serengeti's better known migration. It may be Zambia's best kept secret.

Since I live on the city's fringes, I can walk every morning on any number of meandering red earthen tracks which connect farms and small local compounds. Zambian children help make my walks that more enjoyable by giving me the thumbs up when I pass and going into fits of apparent delight at my sight. Zambia offers superb walking safari opportunities for which my daily walks are good training. Zambia is definitely a country for horse lovers too. I will show photos, videos, and talk about Zambian travel destinations this November when I am back in Vancouver and Seattle, my next scheduled visit to North America. This presentation schedule will appear on my website's homepage later this year.

Another great plus about living in Zambia is its proximity to Tanzania. Although Zambian Airways has recently folded – eliminating the quickest and easiest way from Lusaka to Dar es Salaam – I can fly via Nairobi to either Arusha or Dar to take care of my Tanzanian safaris. Taking the TAZARA (Tanzania Zambia Railway Authority) train is another option. When I lived in Tanzania, I had always planned to take this train to its western terminus on the Tanzania – Zambia border, but didn't get around to it. Now I have another chance, but from the opposite direction. And because Zambia is so close to Tanzania, I am working on a safari idea to combine destinations in Western Tanzania (such as Ruaha and Katavi National Parks) with some of Zambia's long list of wildlife areas. For what programs are possible now, see More MTT Safari Destinations 2009/2010 later in this newsletter.

28-05-2009