Zambia

Zambia feels branded.  We mean that in a good way.  Not only is the nation covered in Zambian football shirts, but we have seen many a truck with signature green and oranges stripes on it and most impressive of all, the excessive use of the prefix ZAM: Zamtel; Zamloaf; Zambeef; Zambikes – the list goes on.  Certainly if for a moment we forget which country we are in (I joke, but with all this pace we are picking up that does actually happen) there are signs all around that this is ZAMbia.

 

 

Zambia has not been overly impressive for its views (to be fair, Tanzania spoiled us) or provided that pleasurable riding (although we fully recognise that tarmac of any description is not something to be jeered at) but we have enjoyed meeting Zambian people and found them relaxed to be around.  This may be due to the high level of English which they tend to speak (all the more impressive given that there are eight national languages and countless others spoken across the country).  Or it may be that Ali is just completely taken by the fact that he is greeted by all and sundry with ‘good morning sir’ and finally being shown the respect that he believes he deserves.

Compared with some its neighbours, Zambia has benefited from its natural resources, most notably the copper in the North. Chatting with a sectional rider who works for DFID (Department for International Development) in Lusaka, they are trying hard to ensure that the benefits of these resources are better distributed across the people, rather than just a rich few. However, compared with previous countries we have cycled through, there appears to be a reasonably sized middle class. Our metric for this is the sheer number of family cars we have seen on the road between towns. In all other countries, the sole traffic has been trucks and pick-ups; in Zambia, we have seen everything from Fiats to BMWs to Beatles (some in garish pink…). However, the fact that the country is landlocked does affect the amount Zambia can receive from the minerals – one shopkeeper, perhaps misguidedly, suggested to us that transport costs were as much as 60% of the revenue received for the copper.

Whilst in Lusaka we visited Zambikes, a social enterprise that makes bicycles from Bamboo - which we thought was pretty cool.  Unfortunately we weren’t able to get to the factory to see how it all works, but we did get to test ride one of their bikes.  These frames are exported to the likes of Europe and America, the profit from which is used to subsidise the production of more robust bikes for the local market, in particular bicycles for medical services which, complete with trailer, becomes a ZAMbulance. 

 

After our aborted attempt in Katete to do something with Simon Berry of ColaLife we met with him and the ColaLife team in Kalomo further south (more on this in a post to follow).  One thing of particular interest was talking about the chiefs local to their project.  On the road in Zambia we have seen many signs denoting chiefdoms or pointing out the offices of particular chiefs.  The presence of village chiefs is very common in Zambia and Charlotte (the field manager in Kalomo) explained to me their importance in the local community; always men and with the title passed through family heritage, they are active leaders, consulted on a huge range of issues.  They may well hold other quite normal positions, for example one in Kalomo District is a school teacher and another works for the government, however they are kept busy with community life and activities; crucial in particular in resolving disputes they clearly command a lot of respect.  

With two days rest in Livingstone we steered clear of the bungee jump and took the opportunity to have a microlight flight over the falls (it can’t all be hard work!).  This was absolutely stunning, enabling us to really get a sense of the landscape of the falls.  It was also a lot dryer than the ground level option which we took later in the day, walking along the opposite cliff from the falls enjoying their beauty in effectively a torrential downpour due to the spray that they give off.  The combination of spray and sunshine means that there is a constant rainbow over the falls which is pretty spectacular.