canoeing on the lower zambezi

this past weekend (after my rather impromptu day off due to the riots at unza) myself and 7 other people went on an adventure to the lower zambezi. the zambezi is a river that starts in angola, travels through zambia, zimbabwe and mozambique until it reaches the ocean (or at least, that is what i remember from the bradt guide). it is a huge river that shapes a lot of zambia’s landscape. we decided to check it out for ourselves, including trying to see some of the game famous for living in and around it.

we set off saturday morning on a bus to a town called chirundu. despite our car getting in a minor accident on the way to the bus station we arrived and waited for about an hour for the bus to fill up. we arrived in chirundu, which is on the border between zambia and zimbabwe to be greeted by about ten black market money changers (this is my new technical term for them). the zimbabwean currency is experiencing insane inflation (as it has for the last number of years) and exchange rates change multiple times per day. we were given some old notes that expired (again because the value changes so quickly notes have to be increased frequently). i was given two 500 000 bills for free. i now carry around a million dollars in my wallet.

we found two taxis that could take us the rest of the way to our campsite. unfortunately the pontoon we were supposed to take across the kafue river (which later joins the zambezi) had broken down, so we sat on the side of the riverbank while it was being fixed. we finally arrived at our lodge, kiambi, in the afternoon and promptly sat on the ground outside of our tents and passed around two beers between 8 people. feeling happy to be out of the city, we further relaxed and stared out at the beautiful river. the night turned a bit chaotic when some men came to the campground bar and began buying us all drinks for the evening. i retired at 1030, feeling like i had certainly consumed my fair share of red wine and meat from the braai (bbq).

the next morning we all awoke to the sun and got ready for our day of canoeing on the river. after getting a very scary safety talk, including what to do if a hippo attacks your canoe (fyi you swim away from your canoe and leave all of your belongings, apparently they are threatened by the size of the canoe, and not who is in it. however, in swimming away, be sure to avoid the crocs when getting to shore….). thankfully, the scare tactics worked and no one had any accidents. while canoeing we saw hippos, crocodiles, elephants and lots of birds. the scenery was also incredibly beautiful, very lush and you could see mountains in the background. every once in awhile i had to remind myself how possible the same scenery could be found in canada (obviously minus the elephants). by the end of the day my arms were killing me from canoeing and i was quite tired/slightly sunstroked. but the day was wonderful and i quickly recovered by drinking a coke and having a semi-warm shower.

that evening we set out on the difficult task of trying to create a meal from the random assortment of canned food we had brought and the lack of cooking gear. thankfully our neighbours in the campground were quite lovely and lent us pots, plates and spoons. we created quite a meal, finished up the wine we had brought and played camp games (not even initiated by me). eventually we just all lay down and stared at the stars, half asleep.

all in all, the weekend was amazing and i thoroughly enjoyed myself. it is always great to do something new and exciting, particularly when it scares you but ends up being completely safe. i can now  say that i have canoed with wild crocs and hippos… pretty amazing.

unza riots

last friday, may 23rd, unza students rioted  in protest of their low monthly stipend from the government. i was on my way to work, getting off the bus at the unza stop, when i noticed a lot of commotion and noise coming from the other side of the street. usually i have to cross a foot bridge to get to campus from the bus stop, but the man i usually buy my cell phone minutes from informed me there was a riot and maybe i shouldn’t go into work today. i called my coworkers only to find out they were not on campus yet and couldn’t give me an update as to what was going on. i decided to stand around with the rest of the crowd and try and figure out what was going on.

within about ten minutes police in riot gear were running down the street towards unza. they were carrying bigger automatic weapons than usual, had shields, batons and helmets (i realize i am not using the appropriate terms here, but honestly, who knows what riot gear is called?). i decided that i had done enough observing and started walking toward a mall nearby to  do my work for the day. suddenly, i heard a few small sounding explosions and my eyes and nose started to burn. i realized that tear gas was being carried on the wind from campus and picked up my pace.

i later read in the paper that two students were shot, one in the leg and one in the chest, by the police trying to contain the riot. unza students are notorious for rioting, however this was one of the biggest in some time. students and others are calling into question the necessity of using live bullets in containing the crowd. the police have not issued a public response as of yet.

even this week there are rumors that students will continue rioting. the students demands of increased allowance were not met by the education minister and currently the president is out of the country. however, once he has returned it may be possible that riots resume.

this is the closest to a riot i have ever been and it was all very fast and confusing. i was never in any danger and always quite removed from the action, although it does make you realize how quickly things can escalate.

lusaka update

i always have a hard time writing when i haven’t left lusaka, as everything seems too normal to comment on. but considering my normal is not everyone else’s i will try and let you in on what’s been going on.

things have been moving along. work hit a bit of a low where i couldn’t seem to find motivation or enough to fill my days, but that is over now. the students that i am supervising are slowly arriving (in total there will be 7 from Canada and 2 from Tanzania). they are all conducting research or implementing projects related to HIV/AIDS. i am responsible for coordinating the logistics of their placements as well as providing support during the research process. this is the short term contract that i managed to secure while i was here and therefore extended my stay.

i also finished the patient interviews for my own research. i am now transcribing the interviews and will compile the data. two of the upcoming student researchers will be using my findings, so deadlines are once again fast approaching. i am looking forward to having a semi-complete product to be able to begin to share and disseminate here in lusaka. i will likely try to get it published once i return to canada and am potentially jobless and needing to fill my time.

last week was the european film festival here in lusaka and i managed to see four films. the first was a german film called ‘nowhere in africa.’ it was really excellent, about a jewish family that fled germany just prior to WWII and ended up farming in kenya. the second was an italian called ‘the second wedding night.’ this one was a bit weird… about a woman who ends up being supported by her dead husband’s brother. the third, and possibly my favorite, was a french film called ‘i’m fine don’t worry.’ it was kind of a family drama with obviously a lot of french-type depressing themes. the last was ‘atonement’ with keira knightley and the very beautiful james mcavoy. basically, i actually enjoyed films for the first time since i’ve arrived. don’t get me wrong, ’step up 2′ is a classic in it’s own way…. but still.

as far as my travel-outside-of-lusaka plans i am going to the lower zambezi this weekend for a canoe safari. there is a bunch of us and it will be a lot of fun. i am a bit freaked out about the proximity of crocs and hippos to me while getting in and out of the canoe… but i’m sure my leg is less tasty than someone else’s. also, very exciting, i bought my plane ticket to uganda for my holiday in july. i will be visiting suz, going white water rafting at the source of the nile and generally exploring eastern africa. i think i will try and also go to rwanda and tanzania, finishing by taking the train from dar es salaam (the capital of tanzania) to zambia. the train ride is anywhere between 40-70 hours-ish, depending on basically everything from fuel to animals on the train tracks. personally this sounds great, although i’m sure i will smell awful after such a long ride!

weekend in solwezi

this past weekend in’utu and i decided to explore a bit more of zambia. we hoped on a 9 hour bus to northwestern zambia, to a town called solwezi, to visit our friend joe who works up there. the town is in zambia’s copper belt (a prosperous area with a lot of big mines) and is near the democratic republic of congo border. in consulting the trusty bradt guide, we were in fact told to basically avoid solwezi. the only redeeming quality apparently being the shoprite (a grocery store chain) that has in fact burnt down (a surprisingly common occurrence in zambia… usually greedy insurance scams are assumed to be the cause). despite this poor review, we set off on friday for what we were claiming to be our ‘rural african’ experience (despite in’utu growing up in lusaka, she is constantly trying to make claims of her rural experiences).

 

after waking up before five to make it to the bus station on time we arrived in solwezi just after three, making good time actually. we were forced to endure terrible nigerian movies for most of the way, only getting a brief break for a few episodes of prison break. needless to say, we were ready to get away from all the screaming and drama that usually are the main themes in nigerian films (they also generally tend to be over three hours long…). once in solwezi, we went by the market to pick up something for dinner. we decided to be brave and buy dried kapenta (a small fish, kind of like sardines i guess) and make it for dinner with some veggies and rice. it turned out quite well, although the mosi (zambian beer) probably made everything more palatable.

 

on saturday we woke up and went for a hike to the national monument in solwezi. the monument-stone carvings dating the oldest in southern africa- is near a beautiful and freezing cold stream which we spent some time lounging around on rocks. solwezi was very hot, although i did manage to mostly avoid a sunburn. we hung around for awhile, getting quite sleepy and generally feeling rested. so rested in fact, that the hike back out seemed a bit long… until a random taxi pulled out from nowhere and offered us a free ride back into town. we took it and went straight for ice cream… possibly my suggestion. the evening was topped off with drinks at the fancy hotel and a ridiculously overpriced carrot cake. being annoyed, we went back to joe’s house and made amazing pumpkin bread and played the guitar (well not me obviously) until we were tired and very full.

 

my plan to leave lusaka every couple of weeks continues. in a couple of weeks we are planning a canoe safari on the lower zambezi river… hopefully by the time i leave zambia i will be able to claim that i have experienced many of the towns/festivals/pubs/restaurants/natural wonders that it has to offer.