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Lusaka 15th-16th May, Zambia
After the 9 and a half hour flight Scott, Silver and I touched down at the rather modest Lusaka International airport around 6.00am. Although weary from our journey Scott and I were more than a little excited at taking our first few steps upon African soil across the landing strip into the arrivals area in the airport! We had soon checked in, picked up our bags, including the mountains of luggage Silver's mum had sent him with for expectant friends and family members and a rather large statue for a local church! We were greeted at the airport by Silver's Aunt Peggy and sister Chansa the first of which turned out to be many meet and greets we were due to make that day!
We loaded our bags into Peggy's truck and she took us to the outskirts of the city to a rather rural area to the farmhouse where we will be based for the next couple of days. Our first proper taste of Africa came in the form of the journey from the airport to our lodgings. Back home after the recent snow storms many people have been complaining about the state of the roads and the number of potholes...TRUST ME if you could see the state of some of the dusty roads they'd think twice about voicing their displeasure. We joked that people in England pay good money for an off-road driving experience whilst we are having the fun of tackling such assault courses every day!
The farmhouse is an amazing place owned by Silver's Aunt Martha and Uncle Lucky, and we have met Silver's cousins Mwamba, Makasa,and Makasa's son Wesley. They own 4 dogs, a number of chicken, and a roaming pig. They have a whole variety of fruit plants on their plot as well as growing maze during the right season. Upon our arrival everyone was very welcoming. Little Wesley looked rather shocked to see us however after bonding over basketball and football games he has become one of the boys and the unofficial 4th member of the group until Chris arrives in a couple of weeks!
We spent the majority of the first day borrowing Aunt Martha's car, accompanied by Mwamba, travelling all around Lusaka catching up/meeting with Silvers family. One thing that Scott and I have learnt is that Africans have A LOT of family. The weather was around 30 degrees we were severely jet lagged but determined to see everybody. There are too many names of people that we met to name here but just know that they were all extremely welcoming and hospitable! Of note we went to meet Silver's Grandfather - the man that he was named after and he was delighted to see him! Silver handed over a suit which his Grandfather had requested which he will actually wear at his funeral.
After all the hustle and bustle of meeting everybody Chansa directed us to the Kalahari bar a nice place with a beach hut style where they were showing the F.A. Cup final between Portsmouth and Chelsea. It seems in Zambia everywhere we have drunk so far we have had a tab rather than paying for drinks there and then, and with local lagers on average costing 50-80p you can imagine this is a bad combination! We were joined at the bar by Chansa's friends Basil and Lorraine, a pilot and an air hostess, for drinks after the game and they were good companions to have at the bar with Basil forcing the pace of the drinking. We stayed much later than we anticipated partly due to the good company partly due to the fact Chansa very kindly bought us tea in the form of GOATs meat!!! We were dubious before we tried it but we said before we left that we will endeavor to say yes to as much as possible, and after consumption there was a unanimous decision that goats meat is infact very tasy - quite chewy but it was very well seasoned and grilled. After all the excitement we couldnt wait to get to get back and enjoy some well earned sleep!
We had a lazy morning the next day waking up late, eating breakfast then playing in the yard with Wes. We tracked down the pig, played a few ball games, and showed him how to play on the itouch which he seemed to enjoy - doodle jump is obviously universally addictive! In the afternoon after dropping off Mwamba at the hair salon we made our way to the shopping area known as the arcades where there is a weekly Sunday market. There were quite a number of stalls set out mainly catering to tourists' souvenir needs. The three of us duly obliged and bought a number of trinkets including two little instruments, some beads and necklaces, a couple of african masks, and mini wooden figures. There was a lot of bargaining to be done with vendors setting prices high for "Muzungu's" or white men! Silver looked to the sellers to be our local tour guide so they asked him to help them get money out of us - whether he did or not I guess we'll never know! The vendors at the market in particular took a liking to Scott and had he not been so firm he could have gone home with half the market!!
After a successful venture to the market we met up with Peggy for a cuppa tea, a sandwich and a proper chat and the lady is amazing! She insisted on footing the bill, arranging transport for us as well as insisting on after we returned from our trip to Chingola she will cook us a big traditional Zambian meal - I can't wait. After meeting up with Peggy we went for a few drinks at the nearby bars starting at Rapsody where Silver asked the waiter to recommend a cider to him and he came back with a Smirnoff Ice - apparently its considered a cider in Zambia!!! We moved on next to a bar called Time where we watched Barcelona retain the Spanish league. At the bar was a supposed Zambian football legend named Kalusha Bwalya! Silver wanted a picture but decided against asking in the end. We were later to learnt hat this man was ruining the reputation he had earned spear heading the national football team which was recovering from an air crash disaster by ruining the Zambian version of the FA. After the match we met up with some of Silvers friends from Boarding school namely: Chabala, Emanuele, Jude, and Saviour which involved a lot of catching up, chat about British politics, and of course football. We went back to the guys flat where we shared a few more beers and a lot more discussions especially with Emanuele a very clever man with strong opinions on many matters! Chabala is in fact due to get married in the upcoming weeks and he very kindly invited us to attend the reception! We lost track of time completely and it had gone midnight when we left the guys flat so we went straight home and very apologetically crept to bed!
So far we have been made to feel at home, and more than welcome everywhere we have been. Silver's family and friends have been so accommodating and very eager for us to explore their city and learn as much as possible. I'm looking forward to meeting more people and seeing what more "Z" has to offer...and unfortunately that bungee jump is looming ever closer.
Much love,
DC, JuJu, and Scotty Dogg x
- comments
Samuel James cotterell sounds like your having a awesome time ! im quiet jealous and you should of taken me with you and so i didnt have to do these exams :) keep updating and glad your having fun !
Joe Mulreynean to follow on from Sam's comment, this is making exams suck even more. Cheers guys lol. Sounds awesome though. loving the smirnoff ice 'cider'
Loz Wow boys! Sounds awesome and you have only been there a few days! Love the smirnoff story and Wesley, bless I bet he was so shocked to see u! Bet silv is loving being back in his homeland. Keep posting, can't wait to see the pics. Xxx
Cathy As amazing as all this sounds, and as good a time I'm sure you will have, I hate to tell you that you missed Snooki and The Situation hooking up in the hot tub in the final episode of Jersey Shore! See, this travelling lark comes at a price! :] Have fun, don't die on the bungee jump x
Di (mum) Oh Boys, it sounds as if you are having a fantasti time! Wish I was there to. All this "having a beer" sounds reminiscent of Swansea! Can't believe that you have done so much in such a short time. Don't get little Wes into your bad habits. Look forward to hearing more of your exploits. Take care, Love to all and have lots more fun. x
sarah ahhh it sounds like you are having an amazing time!! i am soooo jealous!! keep the updates coming and get some pictures up please! xxxx
Em (F) Wow, sounds amazing guys!! Glad your having an awesome time, you seem to have done so much already! Enjoy every minute! Looking forward to the next part! x
Chris Counting the days... as long as the strike doesn't cancel my flight! Sounds like your having an aswome time cant wait to join you!
Trish Sounds like you are having a fantastic time. Great to be able to read about your adventure. Take care. XXX
Paul (pa) Great read Dan, keep the updates coming, sounds awesome, what is it now ,14 days boing
Andy What an interesting blog I can't wait for the next episode, keep sending home the news please.
Caz This blog is awesome DC....you'll be competing with me for the ol' journo jobs! Glad you guys are safe and are enjoying your adventures. Much love xxxxxx
Martin (Dad) Great start to your blog Dan. Will you be able to maintain the high standards you've set yourself? Sounds like you're all having a great time and have been made very welcome. Looking forward to the next update. Enjoy! D x
Tomos Envy! Somewhere that my smirnoff-drinking 'prowess' wouldn't be laughed upon! If there's any chance of a video of the bungee jump I'll pay for it just to see the look on JuJu's face! stay safe! x
chansa welcome to Zambia Boys!!!!!!