The "Real" Zambia

As part of the Baha’i activities we engage in, we hold junior youth empowerment classes on the weekends that we don't travel. On average, about 20– 25 junior youth (ages about 10 to about 17) attend. Although generally junior youth classes are more focused on individual and spiritual development, these particular classes feel more like us helping kids to learn/improve their reading skills. I am more than happy to do that, as I believe that education is an essential step in the continued development of this country. The class is held at a compound, right outside of the kids’ homes, and life in compounds is what I’d like to describe in this post.

Before coming to Zambia, I always thought highly of compounds. In my mind, I pictured exclusive areas of town, where expats occupied big mansions. I imagined a tall wall around the complex secured with barbwires and cameras and military personnel guarding all gates.

Well, compounds here are just about the exact opposite. The majority of Lusaka’s population lives in compounds, and we have yet to see a single non-local, other than ourselves, when we visit. There are several compounds around town, and from what I have seen they are very similar.

Most homes are made of small one or two room brick buildings. Each one is comparable to the size of the office I had back in the States (although I did stay in the office until morning hours (during budget season) I never considered fully moving in). Sometimes a few homes are attached, and many don’t have any windows. Several people live in one room. That one room functions as the master bedroom, children bedrooms, family room and dining room. The “kitchen”, “restroom” and “showers” are located outside. The kitchen is made up of one or two small, portable fire pits that are powered by charcoal. The restroom is located somewhere outside of the homes, and is shared by several families. Finally, I have yet to see a shower. I have seen people use buckets of water to wash themselves, so I assume that’s how most of the locals shower.

Further, electricity is not available in most homes. Overall, we heard that less than one third of the population has access to electricity (and the population that does have access, loses power on a regular basis). The last home we visited had an old, small, black and white TV, powered by a car battery.

Outside, trash is often compiled in mini-landfills and dogs, chickens and sometimes goats roam around.

About 80% of kids run around bare feet. During our last visit, we saw a small group of them make a fire and play with its ashes – painting their faces with it. Some children use “metal strings” as toys. One kid attached such a string to an empty plastic gas-container and pretended it was a car. A few boys played football (soccer) by using what appeared to be a bunch of rolled up plastic bags as a ball.

Grown-ups are also around of course. In between the densely constructed “homes” are small markets, where one can buy fruits, vegetables, clothes, live chickens, and pretty much anything else you can imagine – with respect to life’s basic necessities, of course. You also see iron workers - usually they are making burglar bars, or simple frames for doors and windows - and “stone-workers” – people use hammers and other tools to “shred” big stones to different sizes. In addition, there are also bars and clubs in the middle of everything, which means that there are a few drunks running around (let’s not talk about financial management). Overall, however, I feel that people are very friendly, especially towards us muzungus (“non-locals”). A lot of them gather round to look at us. Most are curious to see why we are there.

During classes, which are held outdoors, of course, we get several interruptions, mainly by men wanting to “talk to me in private” (not sure if they want to kidnap me or offer me something to buy) and a few curious people who interrupt the class just to talk to us.

Although I am very impressed by the students, as they make an effort to make a difference in their own lives, I am also very concerned about the future of most of them, given their poor reading skills. Even the 12 or 13 year olds can barely read simple sentences. All of them seem happy to have this opportunity to get together and practice reading, and most participate actively.

Based on what I see, I assume that many of these kids cannot afford schools, or that the schools they attend aren’t effective. The experience of interacting with these kids, along with the experience gathered through volunteering for PCI and visiting its partners, has inspired Azadeh to start taking steps toward starting an NGO that would build schools and provide financial aid to students who need it most.

One of the classes


Behind the class is a "store", and to the left, well, mostly trash

The building behind the class = four homes



The inside of one of the homes

Creative!!

This is a school!!!

No electricity and no "real" windows

Students sang a welcome song

Lunch Time + Camera! Look at each individual happy face!

Restrooms for a school with OVER 250 students

What a weekend!! - South Luangwa, Zambia

Last weekend, we experienced what will likely be the “touristy highlight” of our stay in Zambia. We visited South Luangwa National Park, the most famous “safari destination” in Zambia (and maybe even in this region of Africa). Initially, we wanted to go to Zanzibar over the long weekend, and had planned on visiting South Luangwa in August, when it is warmer, in order to improve our chances of seeing animals (cats in particular). However, the travel agent talked us into changing our plans.

Travel

Although the flights by themselves were “normal”, the procedures were anything but “normal” from an American standpoint. We didn’t have any tickets or “confirmation numbers”, just itineraries. Once we arrived at the airport we walked through metal detectors, as is normal in the States and pretty much anywhere else I have been. However, on the way back, the detector went off when I walked through. No one cared, and then, the “guard” even left his post, and people just walked through the metal detector. It went off several times, and still…no one cared. Once on the flight, the first thing I noticed, is that the cockpit door was missing, which means that everyone had “easy access” to the cockpit. Although initially I was very uncomfortable about that, once we were in the air, I took advantage of this opportunity by moving to the seat right behind the pilots, and watched them operate for most of the flight.

To top things off, here is the most surprising fact: The entire trip (= at Lusaka Airport, at the Hotel and at Mfuwe Airport) no one asked any of us for any kind of ID (not even once). Anyone could have taken this trip instead of us, and it would have been just fine. Although these facts show “serious” lack of security, they also show that there is no need for “proper” security.

Lodge

Our lodge was located a couple of miles outside of the National Park, but had several wild animals on and around the property – Monkeys and baboons were all over, and just waited for opportunities to feed off of people’s leftovers, if the waiters didn’t clean up in time. We also saw two big elephants on property – as in between rooms that people were staying in. Further, from the “eating area”, we saw two hippos, and several antelopes.

Game Drives

We went on four game drives (= safaris) which lasted several hours each. This meant waking up around 5:00 am each day, but I (not so sure about “we”) was happy to do that. We left the property when it was still dark, and when it was very cold.

Each of us had our own “animal of choice” we wanted to see: Ketsia – Hyena (which later changed to “Pumba” (aka warthog)), Kathleen – Giraffes, Azadeh – Leopards, and me – Lions. Everybody was a winner. Kathleen more so than the others, not only because we saw a lot of giraffes, but mainly because we saw two giraffes fight, which was quite interesting. From another point of view Azadeh was the “main winner”, as it is much rarer to see leopards, than it is to see any of the other animals. Some people have been staying at the lodge for over a week, and have not seen any leopards.

Overall, we saw plenty of animals. Here is a list of a “few” of them: Hippos, elephants, buffalos, giraffes, hyenas, impalas, crocs, monkeys, baboons, warthogs, eagles, zebras, lions, and a leopard.
Big thanks to Willy, the main guide/driver, and to John the “spotter”. They were excellent. Willy has been doing this for almost 15 years, and drove through all sorts of terrains to get us to see animals.

I took well over a thousand pictures (remember the “film” days, when we only had 24 or 36 pictures to snap per roll?!). Here are a few of them:

Kids welcoming us - on the way to the lodge

Our rooms

A little too close for comfort, at least when we're not in a vehicle

Look below the elephant on the left!

Here's the entrance to the park

Beautiful Sunset

Beautiful SunRISE

Looks so peaceful, doesn't it?!

Here is "Pumba":

This is what a "giraffe fight" looks like

That must hurt! Right on the "knee"

Almost got the K.O., but not quite

How many crocs are in the picture below?

Can you see all three elephants?

Go Rice!!!!

Wildlife "Everywhere" - Literally ;)

Kalimba Reptile Park, Lusaka, Zambia

With the world focusing on the activities following the presidential “elections” in Iran, I wonder how many people will take time to read this post. I certainly spend pretty close to 100% of my “free” and “not so free” time following events as they unfold. However, given that people from over 25 countries around the world have stopped by to read this blog, I decided to take a few minutes to write a post.

Last Saturday we visited the Kalimba Reptile Park aka Crocodile Farm, which is about half an hour outside of Lusaka. We had a chance to get very close to some of the world’s most feared predators. We were lucky that one of the employees volunteered to give us a tour. John (rightly) figured out that this group of “muzungus” - Translated this means “white people”; Here we fall under this group - would be willing to tip well for a good experience. Either that, or we arrived at a very good time, as I noticed that several groups behind us did not have a guide.

John started by letting us – Ketsia and me (Azadeh suddenly disappeared ;) - handle a Brown House Snake. Following that, we enjoyed playing with a Chameleon, before getting to the highlight of the day: Handling a Python, the largest African snake. The snake was very heavy, and its skin was surprisingly soft. When we were done playing with the Python, we moved on to see the following snakes as well: Black Mamba, Green Mamba, Boomslang, Puff Adder, Gaboon Adder, Black Necked Spitting Cobra, Mozambique Spitting Cobra, and Forest Cobra. John tried to feed a small chick to the Gaboon Adders, but all three of them passed on the meal, and had mercy on the little creature – at least at the time. In a separate part of the park, we also saw two other, less known but still poisonous snakes (sorry, I didn’t note down the names). Given that the Adders did not seem to be hungry, and John was determined to show us a snake “in action” he aggravated one of the snakes with a stick, until it struck.

After seeing, and learning about snakes, we saw giant lizards (the same kind we saw in Livingstone, but we got a better look this time around), and tortoises, before getting to the crocodiles. The crocs were divided into three age groups. The “Minis” – cute,… well… kind of…, I got to hold one of them, the “Mediums” – These are the unfortunate animals that turn into burgers and handbags, and the “Giants” – these are kept for reproduction.

Before visiting this farm, I was a very big opponent of “luxuries” such as hand bags, wallets and shoes made of animal skin. I am still not comfortable with the idea, but am I being a hypocrite? How is this crocodile farm different from a cow farm or a chicken farm? I certainly enjoy a good beef burger, and I also enjoy chicken tikka masala. Should I become a vegetarian now or should I think it’s OK to buy crocodile hand bags? John quoted the skin of a croc to be sold at about 800 pin, local lingo for 800,000 Kwacha, which with today’s exchange rate equals about $160.

Although it was truly amazing just to see the “Giants” inches away, John once again, took the extra step. He bravely grabbed a stick, and poked one of the giants, which in turn vocally expressed its displeasure, and then even snapped at us. SCARY! Even from behind a fence. I was surprised that the croc did not have many teeth, but we were told that it doesn’t really need teeth, as it has enough force in its jaws to tear any victim apart.

We finished the day, by enjoying crocodile burgers, which to me tasted like chicken burgers, with way too much garlic. I’m not sure if I would choose crocodile again, if beef was available, but now I can check another item off my list of things to do.

If, after enjoying the pictures below, you’d like to read about a (much) more serious topic, please visit Azadeh’s blog at: www.Azadehstravels.blogspot.com.

Playing with the Brown House Snake




Python

Sam, John and a Python

Looking into the eyes of a Black Mamba

Green Mamba

Spitting Cobra

Puff Adder - Responsible for most snake bite deaths in Africa

John showing us a Gaboon Adder

Predator & Lunch

Proof that Azadeh WAS there and that she DID touch a reptile!!

Crocodile Military Formation

Snapping at us - SCARY!

Croc Burger