Sunday, October 01, 2006
Sept. 24
This morning I went for a run in town. It was a great morning and I ran past all of the people walking from the countryside to attend church. In the afternoon, Conor and I went to the Victoria Falls bridge. He wanted to do the bungi jump...I volunteered to be the photographer (firmly planted on the bridge). The bridge spans a narrow canyon and is 111 meters above the water. Quite an impressive sight. Conor enjoyed the jump and said it was more intense than skydiving. After taht we went and viewed the falls from the Zambian side of the Zambezi River. It was not as spectacular a view, but still worth a look since we were there. That afternoon we relaxed by the pool and watched Ryder Cup action and some soccer. For dinner we went to the Rite Pub. It was remarkably nice (compared to its location and exterior). We had a skew of beef and vegetables.
Sept. 25
We took the early bus out of Livingston for Lusaka, Zambia. It was a 3 hour bus ride through the "bush." Lusaka is the capital of Zambia and a little more build up and modern than Bulawayo. It did have the wide tree lined streets and the lack of trash pickup common is the rest of eastern Africa. Once we arrived we were intensely hounded for taxi's. They drivers were actually tapping the bus windows to try to get our attention. We quickly grabbed our bags and bought a ticket for the next day to Kapriri (where we were to get a train the next day). After that we walked to the Tazara train office to get out train tickets. The office staff was at lunch, so we took lunch as well. Luckily there were 2 Uganda businessmen at the office and they gave us a ride to a group of resturants. Like any good Africans, they only recommend chain resturants when asked...and in eastern Africa there is only one chain that houses accouple different resturants (baker's inn, chicken inn, pizza inn...etc.). After lunch we got our train tickets and went to Chachacha backpackers. It was nice. Dinner was at a resturant (with an extensive menu) near the embassies. It was much fancier than the listing made it seem...but still cheap. My kabobs were actually served on a mini-charcoal spit.
Sept. 26
We traveled by bus to Kapriri. It was a 3 hour ride. It was a second bus ride in Zambia and the same result. No one would sit next to us. People would choose a much more uncomfortable seat just so they would not sit by us...not sure why. We got to the station at 8 AM, but the bus did not leave until it was full...so we didn't leave until 9:45. And they packed the bus. It seemed that half of the people were moving or had come to the city to get supplies for the next 3 months. After driving the Zambian countryside (where the per capital yearly income in $250 USD), the later is probably what the people were doing. When we got to Kapriri, we were hounded even more than in Lusaka. People actually had our bags because they were going to carry them 10 ft. to a cab. All for money. When we got to the train station we were early. About 3 hours early...and with all African transportation, "there is not hurry in Africa." We got moving at a decent hour. The car was much cleaner than the one in Zimbabwe. It had four bunks and we had a roommate, Nick. He was a little weird and smelly, but overall not to bad. We ended up living with him and eating meals with him for the next 2 days as we went through Zambia to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. For dinner, we ate with our hands and used nshima, a grit-like substance we rolled into balls and used to soak up sauce or grab the vegetable (collared greens).
Sept. 27
Full day on the train. Not to exciting. The countryside was pretty, just like the Africa you see in magazines. The houses were mud with thatched roofs. People sold bananas through the window of the train. We even saw children playing soccer with a ball made of rages and plastic bags. The meals were the same. We alternated between chicken and beef. We both read alot and just watched the scenary as the trained rolled on.
This morning I went for a run in town. It was a great morning and I ran past all of the people walking from the countryside to attend church. In the afternoon, Conor and I went to the Victoria Falls bridge. He wanted to do the bungi jump...I volunteered to be the photographer (firmly planted on the bridge). The bridge spans a narrow canyon and is 111 meters above the water. Quite an impressive sight. Conor enjoyed the jump and said it was more intense than skydiving. After taht we went and viewed the falls from the Zambian side of the Zambezi River. It was not as spectacular a view, but still worth a look since we were there. That afternoon we relaxed by the pool and watched Ryder Cup action and some soccer. For dinner we went to the Rite Pub. It was remarkably nice (compared to its location and exterior). We had a skew of beef and vegetables.
Sept. 25
We took the early bus out of Livingston for Lusaka, Zambia. It was a 3 hour bus ride through the "bush." Lusaka is the capital of Zambia and a little more build up and modern than Bulawayo. It did have the wide tree lined streets and the lack of trash pickup common is the rest of eastern Africa. Once we arrived we were intensely hounded for taxi's. They drivers were actually tapping the bus windows to try to get our attention. We quickly grabbed our bags and bought a ticket for the next day to Kapriri (where we were to get a train the next day). After that we walked to the Tazara train office to get out train tickets. The office staff was at lunch, so we took lunch as well. Luckily there were 2 Uganda businessmen at the office and they gave us a ride to a group of resturants. Like any good Africans, they only recommend chain resturants when asked...and in eastern Africa there is only one chain that houses accouple different resturants (baker's inn, chicken inn, pizza inn...etc.). After lunch we got our train tickets and went to Chachacha backpackers. It was nice. Dinner was at a resturant (with an extensive menu) near the embassies. It was much fancier than the listing made it seem...but still cheap. My kabobs were actually served on a mini-charcoal spit.
Sept. 26
We traveled by bus to Kapriri. It was a 3 hour ride. It was a second bus ride in Zambia and the same result. No one would sit next to us. People would choose a much more uncomfortable seat just so they would not sit by us...not sure why. We got to the station at 8 AM, but the bus did not leave until it was full...so we didn't leave until 9:45. And they packed the bus. It seemed that half of the people were moving or had come to the city to get supplies for the next 3 months. After driving the Zambian countryside (where the per capital yearly income in $250 USD), the later is probably what the people were doing. When we got to Kapriri, we were hounded even more than in Lusaka. People actually had our bags because they were going to carry them 10 ft. to a cab. All for money. When we got to the train station we were early. About 3 hours early...and with all African transportation, "there is not hurry in Africa." We got moving at a decent hour. The car was much cleaner than the one in Zimbabwe. It had four bunks and we had a roommate, Nick. He was a little weird and smelly, but overall not to bad. We ended up living with him and eating meals with him for the next 2 days as we went through Zambia to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. For dinner, we ate with our hands and used nshima, a grit-like substance we rolled into balls and used to soak up sauce or grab the vegetable (collared greens).
Sept. 27
Full day on the train. Not to exciting. The countryside was pretty, just like the Africa you see in magazines. The houses were mud with thatched roofs. People sold bananas through the window of the train. We even saw children playing soccer with a ball made of rages and plastic bags. The meals were the same. We alternated between chicken and beef. We both read alot and just watched the scenary as the trained rolled on.
# posted by Adam @ 9:13 AM 
