Zambia Zombia

Many more border crossings…The latest was Zambia, and the most expensive. Once again quite a contrast to the modern Zimbabwe.  We enterd the country at the Siabonga border which is on the enormous lake Kariba, the world’s 4^th largest manmade lake. We wanted to get a few shots for the project we are working on, as it is the Zambezi River that feeds it, and it and the Cahora Bossa dam in Mozambiue are responsible for many of the environmental changes down river. It has been really neat to  start at the delta of the river, and work our way up river many hundred of kilometers. The Zambians are excellent weavers, and the baskets, mats, and such are quite beautiful. They even weave some of there homes, and the effect is beautiful. Some of the mudhuts are elevated on stilts, which we have not seen before. This is apparently for space below to work on grinding and storing the maize. The maize is turned into maize meal or “Pup”, which most of Africa lives on….corn meal. It is pretty good if you add some veggies and sauce or milk and sugar. We spent a few nights in Livingstone which is next to the mighty Victoria Falls. The falls were amazing, and so enormous, that they stretched further than the eye can see. This is partly due to all of the mist. Just as fast and hard as the water falls, the mist pushes back up and gives it the feeling that it is raining upwards! You get drenched just walking around the paths near the falls. This makes for a little rainforest micro-climate surrounding the falls complete with vines and palm trees. It wasn’t but 15minutes after wondering if any of the locals walk around the falls ( a slip would be disastrous ), when we spotted a man fishing with a little hand net just  ten meters from the precipice. I hope those little grape-sized fish were worth it! The town of Livingstone is well trodden with tourists: bungy jumping, river rafting, helicopter rides, horseback riding. I opted for the cheaper activities of reading and playing guitar…at least free for the time being! The currency in Zambia is the kwacha (about $5,000 k to $1.00 USD), and they no longer use coins. Inflation was running rampant, but they seem to keep it is check better that Zimbabwe once did. Onward to the Caprivi Strip in Namibia. Note to whomever is reading this…interent is hard to find, and the upload speeds are horrific, therefore many of these blogs get posted when they can! Some new photos and videos will be added to past blogs....