From Livingstone to Lusaka

Our return from South Africa brought us back to complete craziness in Zambia. For the last couple of months of 2011 there was talk of Mike and I moving to Lusaka so that Mike could work on the implementation of a national database for the National AIDS Council. Momentum gathered in December and we thought that by the time we returned from South Africa we would have some clarity around this. But Zambia being Zambia, of course this was not the case.

So the remainder of January was spent sorting our move out, only to have everything happen in the space of literally two weeks. A frantic two weeks! The car needed repairs, Selina (our cleaner) needed new work, Rambo needed a home, I had to work out a forward plan with my organisation and that was on top of packing and two trips to Lusaka (500km away) to move our stuff. Glad that’s all over!

Leaving Livingstone has been difficult. Although it is a small town, sometimes a bit too small, we had met lots of great people and made some wonderful friends. Fortunately we had the opportunity to see most of them before we left at a small gathering at the Royal Livingstone Hotel where we had sundowner drinks followed by a lovely meal at Olga’s. Very Livingstone!

Mike and I with beautiful Victoria Falls behind us

Livingstone Farewell Drinks:
The people who have made our time there so much more
enjoyable than it might otherwise have been

We also made one last quick trip to Victoria Falls, definitely a highlight from our time in Livingstone. Super wet and now a tad cold, it was great to see them one last time.

Pretty Victoria Falls- I will miss you!

On the edge of the falls

Trying not to get wet

I did manage to find a home for Rambo; he is staying with his dog friends and our landlord in Livingstone who will make sure he is fed. I felt particularly lucky that our house was receiving two new volunteers, two lovely girls, one who reported she loves dogs. They were also able to take on Selina as their cleaner, which gave us some piece of mind.

Late January and early February were also filled with football fever as the Africa Cup of Nations took place. Think World Cup but on a slightly smaller scale, but nonetheless exciting. Zambia did make it to the final against Ivory Coast and against all the odds won! The atmosphere was amazing with people dancing in the streets, car horns, whistles and vuvuzela’s everywhere.

Taken during the Zambia v Ghana semi-final at VJs in Livingstone.
Obviously Zambia won

Happy, happy Zambians

And now we are in Lusaka. Our new apartment is located in an area called Kabulonga, a nice area with a great coffee/ cake shop, handy supermarket, a few nice restaurants and bars. 

Am I still in Zambia????

The Tuesday Market: A highlight of being in Lusaka with lovely
fresh vegetables, fruit, herbs and even tofu!

One of Mike's favourite road rules, the four way stop sign
intersections; a case of first in, best dressed- SERIOUSLY, that is
the rule!

Our apartment hasn't been quite as nice; it probably could be if we were going to be here longer than April and willing to put money into it, but we’re not, so it’s ok for now. Our biggest beef has been the bath/ shower. We don’t have a shower as the water pressure is so lousy so a bath/ bucket bath it is! And to top it off, the bath tub had been painted just before we moved in, but with the wrong paint, so sometimes we come out worse off than when we got in. Not the ideal set up especially with long hair but I’m managing (just).

Our new apartment in Luaska, top floor

Our new lounge. Not super homely but loving our giraffe "mummies"
in the background

Dining area/ study

Our awesome bathtub.....

.....and the even more awesome paint job they did!

Mike’s project has finally taken off with funding and location issues sorted. When he is finished, Zambia will have a national online database of all organisations working in HIV/AIDS throughout the country, as well as a way of capturing data to monitor progress against the AIDS Council’s national targets in prevention, impact mitigation, etc.

My situation has taken a bit longer to sort out. I still continue to support my Livingstone organisation who seem to have finally gotten things together. Just before moving we’d received $5k of office equipment and had two donor field assessments, having passed the desk assessments, each for $100k (Still awaiting the result of these). In addition to supporting my Livingstone organisation I’m also supposed to be working with another VSO partner in Lusaka, the terms of this still being sorted as I write. I also managed to get the opportunity to work with a large NGO here in Lusaka that I’d had previous contact with in Australia. They work in the area of education, especially for girls, something I’m quite passionate about and looking forward to helping them with when I start next week.

The second of the two field assessments conducted at my
Livingstone organisation before I left. Only 6 representatives at this
one; the first had 8 people assessing us

My Livingstone colleagues; hopefully they've learnt something
during my time there!

And so the days to leaving Zambia are going down slowly. The planning for our East Africa trip is now in full swing along with the realisation that we need to get super fit pretty quick if we want to climb Mount Kilimanjaro in June.

Hurry up April!

Living in Livingstone

After being in Livingstone for five months now I thought it was time that I provided a bit more insight into the town itself and what it is like to live in. I’m also hoping it may generate some interest for any potential visitors J

Mosi-Oa-Tunya Road: The main street of Livingstone



A typical street in Livingstone, branching off the main road



I feel very lucky to have been placed in Livingstone. The town is large enough to have most things required on a day to day basis, with an estimated population of 150,000. However it is still small enough to have that “community” or town feel about it. Livingstone is also not the crazy tourist town that I had imagined prior to arriving here. It definitely has tourist aspects to it with numerous backpacker places, the Mukuni Park Curo Market and advertisements everywhere for Safari tours and the Falls. However most tourists tend to remain hidden away in their lodges, never fully experiencing the town and what it has to offer.

Mukuni Park Curo Market: A great place to buy Zambian and
African handcrafted goods

In terms of amenities Livingstone has a number of major banks such as Barclays and Standard Chartered Bank, cafes and restaurants that provide Wi-Fi (albeit super slow internet), a massive Shoprite Supermarket and bustling shops and markets full of all sorts of knick- knacks.

Mosi-Oa-Tunya Road: Shops and cafes

Mosi-Oa-Tunya Square: The home of Shoprite Supermarket

After being here for four months we have definitely found some favourite places to hang out, which is what I thought I’d focus on the most.

Olgas

Probably my favourite! Olgas is an Italian restaurant serving REAL Italian food. It has woodfire pizzas, homemade pasta, coffee and other great Italian food. It is managed by an Italian man, Guiseppe, who is always welcoming, as are the staff and has a lovely relaxed atmosphere. But perhaps one of the best things about Olgas is that is a social business started up by an Italian NGO CeLIM, with all profits going into their Youth Community Training Centre. So there’s no need to feel guilty about indulging in a yummy pizza.

Olga's Restaurant

Lucana Pizza: Sausage, Mushrooms, Onion, Tomato & Basil
YUM!!

Golf Course

We only recently discovered the golf course, however it is a lovely place to go for a run in the evening or a drink on a Sunday afternoon.

Zig Zag

Zig Zag is actually a Bed & Breakfast with a restaurant attached and beautiful garden surrounds. It is a lovely place to go for a coffee on the weekend and read a book outside under the guava and lemon trees. It also has (I think) the best cheese burger in town!

Zig Zag Coffee

Zig Zag restaurant & grounds: Beautiful & relaxing place
for coffee and reading a book

VJs

We used to go to VJs a lot for a beer in the afternoon when we first arrived, given it was unbelievably hot at the time. VJs is right next door to Shoprite and we still occasionally have an evening drink there as I love the bustling atmosphere around it. It has very reasonably priced drinks and high tables and stools from which you can watch the craziness of the town go by around you.

VJs bar: Always bustling! A great place to people watch and enjoy
a cool drink

N.B. Many of the lodges on the outskirts of the town are also great places to have a drink or weekend lunch. However they really deserve their own separate blog as some are quite amazing.

Finally this blog would not be complete without mentioning one of my favourite “landmarks” in town.

I continue to be amused by the “Zambian Architecture” of the building pictured below. From all accounts it has been under construction now for over a year and shows no sign of being completed anytime soon. Still unable to ascertain what it will eventually become (hotel perhaps?), however I’d strongly advise against ever entering it as it may collapse at any given moment. The walls on this building are not straight and actually bow out in some parts. That all said, I think the lions are possibly the most quality aspect of the building. They will probably survive the building collapsing, even if their legs are not in proportion to their bodies.

"Zambian Architecture": Not too much is straight on this
building; check out the wall at the front left which bows out nicely.
I do like the lions though!



Close up shot. Difficult to capture on camera
but look closely at the "straight" alignment
of the floors, walls and pillar barriers.