Visiting Us Update: 1/3/06

For those of you starting to make plans to visit us in the New Year, we wanted to gather together a little more specific information for you. We recommend that you fly into Livingstone, Zambia (airport code: ???) or Lusaka, Zambia (airport code: LUN). You will need a visa to enter Zambia but you can easily and efficiently purchase this from the embassy in Washington DC via Express Mail (for some reason they only allow you to use Express Mail or Fed Ex or another express service- probably to ensure that you have a tracking number on your passport). It is $40 for a three year multiple entry visa. You can buy a visa at the airport on arrival but that is a BAD idea as it can cost you time and extra money in bribes. US citizens do not need a visa to enter Namibia or Botswana.

Here are some of the things that we were thinking would be interesting:

1. SEE AN AFRICAN CITY- probably Lusaka (Zambia’s capital) or Gaborone (Botswana’s capital). Seeing a major city is probably not what you imagine as part of your tour of ‘real’ Africa but the fact is that most people in Africa have been moving to the city for the past 100 years and this trend is only likely to continue. City-seeing is central to visits to Europe or the UK because they are thought to somehow capture the essence of the culture- the best museums, shopping, etc. and it is interesting how this stereotype reverses for travelers to Africa who feel they need to go to the ‘bush’ to see ‘real’ Africa (often without actual people but rather a focus on ANIMALS, for God’s sake!!!). Anyway, it seems central to understanding Africa today to get a taste of both urban and rural life as most people split both their time and money between the two kinds of spaces and cultures. Depending on the day or city, we can take you to a Habitat for Humanity build or to play street ball with some street children- just a chance to try out some of the NGO work Sean has been doing.

2. SEE A SMALL TOWN- smaller towns are sprinkled throughout the routes we will be driving and are often a nice break from both the city and the village because you can get good food and comfortable housing in a more relaxed atmosphere. Furthermore, many towns were built up around great markets or interesting mission stations which make for interesting exploring. Choma, on the road between Lusaka and Livingstone, is in the heart of the Tonga area and boasts a wonderful small museum as well as the brother-in-law of Sean’s co-worker who is a missionary there and whose wife has an American-style burger joint! Talk about a small world!

3. SEE A VILLAGE- We will take you to one (or more) of the villages where Kate has been working so that you have the chance to learn about rural life and customs. This could also be an opportunity to learn how to do something you have never tried before- basket-weaving, pottery, ‘traditional’ fishing or hunting or beer-making. Hopefully, we can arrange for you to do something in addition to just being shuttled around the village, mostly because this gives you more of a chance to talk to people and really learn something about life in these places.

4. SPEND A FEW DAYS IN LIVINGSTONE- Livingstone is a must for travelers to Southern Africa. We’ll spend a day seeing the market, local museum and perhaps catch a film in the old colonial-era cinema. There are lots of sports to have an ‘active’ day or two- some sports are more relaxing than others: kayaking, white water rafting, bungee jumping, hiking, walking, etc. We’ll see Victoria Falls, one of the biggest waterfalls in the world (although in May and June it is no longer at its peak flow). The Royal Livingstone is one of the up-scale hotels that has been around since the early colonial days; they offer High Tea and the opportunity to try the ‘colonial experience’ complete with African waitstaff in bizarre colonial-era boys’ uniforms. An interesting although perhaps slightly disturbing experience (both in cost and content!) but one which is probably worth understanding. Livingstone is also the site of the Tongabezi Trust school where Sean will be doing a cultural exchange project with my mother’s school. The school is worth a visit to learn about how people connect tourism and community development (donations are always welcome here).

5. GAME PARKS- Ok, it is, after all, a part of the African experience to learn about the environment and for most folks that means animals but I’ve found that just driving around in the different environments is fascinating- even if you don’t see a lion! There are several interesting micro-environments in the region. Chobe National Park (close to Livingstone and easy to get to) offers the Big Five of the savanna and expensive but very, VERY comfortable housing. Kafue National Park in Zambia offers a similar environment and animal selection, although it is a little further from Livingstone. You can easily buy a package to either of these parks if you wanted to spend a little time living in high style with all the food and amenities built into the price. For marsh / swamp environments, we can visit the Panhandle of the Okavango Delta area of Botswana by driving across the Caprivi Strip and down into Botswana. This is a more remote location and will take a lot of travel but if you are interested in bird watching, it would be worth the visit. Other than the bird variety, you are most likely to see crocs and hippos (both kinda dangerous, actually!). Another option is to drive down toward Gaborone from Livingstone and stop over at the great salt pans (such as Nxai or Makgadikgadi, if you have your travel guide or map handy). These areas have an interesting role in the environment- holding water in the rainy season and they drying into perfectly white salt deserts in the dry season. Then, from Gaborone, there is the option of a short trip into the Kalahari Desert.

Although we only included 5 items in this list, there is certainly enough to fill at least a month of travel so let us know what you are interested in and as we collect more information from you about your interests, we will start to put up some websites for lodges and game parks, etc.