Zambia Journal - Aug 8, 2005
I’m sitting at the dining table of appt 32 in Mulungushi Village in Kalundu area of Lusaka. I’ve just come back from walk to clear the traveler’s cobwebs after the first good nights sleep I’ve had since Thursday. Everyone else is still sleeping here and at the other villa – it is only 8:20am.
Getting here with 17 other people was quite an adventure in itself. Mostly because of the maximum baggage allowance we were all bringing with us. 140lbs of clothes and books, plus generous carry on allowances is tough to haul around.
Group 1 got off to a bad start in Logan airport when our flight to Dulles was cancelled due to the thunderstorms moving through the area. Thankfully we did get out about 2 hours late on another flight. However getting the seven of us from the airport proved difficult, we simply didn’t all fit in the van provided by the Hilton, nor the next one. Getting back to the airport after only a couple of hours sleep with the now, ten of us was slightly better since we essentially arranged an extra round trip with the van drivers.
The 10 hour leg to Accra, Ghana where we had a 1 hour refueling stop, followed by a 7 hour leg to Johannesburg, South Africa can only be described as long and uneventful. If you’ve never had the opportunity of sitting in the same cramped seat of a 747 for 17 hours, all I can do is recommend that you avoid it at all costs.
We spent a few hours on the terminal floor at Johannesburg where we crossed paths, literally, with the, to me, refreshed, group 2 who had flown directly from Logan via London, and who also had an earlier flight leaving for Lusaka.
At this point precious few of my brain cells were working synchronously so I can only report some imprecise recollections of the remainder of the day.
We finally arrived in Lusaka sometime after 4pm, slightly late only because our flight had to circle Lusaka airport while some visiting dignitaries landed. This is my supposition simply because the captain of the plane was vague about the reasons for circling but was obviously irritated. And when we deplaned onto the tarmac there was a welcoming crowd waiting and a whole bunch of limos just waiting.
Anyway, we had our own very friendly welcoming committee led by the Communities Without Borders Lusaka envoy Jane Ndulo and three ladies who work in the compounds. We all (10 travelers, plus 4 hosts, and all our bags, that had successfully got there the same time as us) packed into a small bus to take us to our accommodations. As I’m writing I realize how brain dead I was a this point. One of party #2 (who arrived ahead of us) was also at the airport to see if any of their 6 lost bags turned up on our flight. They didn’t and with any luck are keeping company with the three lost bags for our group. This is where the brain dead comes in – I didn’t get irritated about any of this at all.
Now about this bus - we packed in. Three people did not have seats even after we folded a few out of the walls. I was up front on one of these origami pieces with my leg wrapped around the gear stick and my feet up on the dashboard. Driving on the left is OK, after all that is my original driving mode. And now I look back on some of the overtaking the driver was doing with his load and cars with flashing lights coming in the opposite direction – this further clues me into my brain dead state.
We arrived at Mulungushi Village where we have rented two villas with 4 double rooms each for the time we are here. It was built for an International conference center several years ago and is now long term and short term rentals typically by westerners and well of Zambians. Each of the villas is different but ours has the four bedrooms with shared bathrooms, living room, dining room and kitchen off a central courtyard which is were we are hanging washing to dry.
After a meal up at the central hotel we came back here and met with Alan Armstong for a visited for a few minutes who. He has been here in Zambia at a remote village with a group of MIT students who are doing some medical and engineering projects. I got to admit although I don’t think I slept through it I may as well have.
Getting here with 17 other people was quite an adventure in itself. Mostly because of the maximum baggage allowance we were all bringing with us. 140lbs of clothes and books, plus generous carry on allowances is tough to haul around.
Group 1 got off to a bad start in Logan airport when our flight to Dulles was cancelled due to the thunderstorms moving through the area. Thankfully we did get out about 2 hours late on another flight. However getting the seven of us from the airport proved difficult, we simply didn’t all fit in the van provided by the Hilton, nor the next one. Getting back to the airport after only a couple of hours sleep with the now, ten of us was slightly better since we essentially arranged an extra round trip with the van drivers.
The 10 hour leg to Accra, Ghana where we had a 1 hour refueling stop, followed by a 7 hour leg to Johannesburg, South Africa can only be described as long and uneventful. If you’ve never had the opportunity of sitting in the same cramped seat of a 747 for 17 hours, all I can do is recommend that you avoid it at all costs.
We spent a few hours on the terminal floor at Johannesburg where we crossed paths, literally, with the, to me, refreshed, group 2 who had flown directly from Logan via London, and who also had an earlier flight leaving for Lusaka.
At this point precious few of my brain cells were working synchronously so I can only report some imprecise recollections of the remainder of the day.
We finally arrived in Lusaka sometime after 4pm, slightly late only because our flight had to circle Lusaka airport while some visiting dignitaries landed. This is my supposition simply because the captain of the plane was vague about the reasons for circling but was obviously irritated. And when we deplaned onto the tarmac there was a welcoming crowd waiting and a whole bunch of limos just waiting.
Anyway, we had our own very friendly welcoming committee led by the Communities Without Borders Lusaka envoy Jane Ndulo and three ladies who work in the compounds. We all (10 travelers, plus 4 hosts, and all our bags, that had successfully got there the same time as us) packed into a small bus to take us to our accommodations. As I’m writing I realize how brain dead I was a this point. One of party #2 (who arrived ahead of us) was also at the airport to see if any of their 6 lost bags turned up on our flight. They didn’t and with any luck are keeping company with the three lost bags for our group. This is where the brain dead comes in – I didn’t get irritated about any of this at all.
Now about this bus - we packed in. Three people did not have seats even after we folded a few out of the walls. I was up front on one of these origami pieces with my leg wrapped around the gear stick and my feet up on the dashboard. Driving on the left is OK, after all that is my original driving mode. And now I look back on some of the overtaking the driver was doing with his load and cars with flashing lights coming in the opposite direction – this further clues me into my brain dead state.
We arrived at Mulungushi Village where we have rented two villas with 4 double rooms each for the time we are here. It was built for an International conference center several years ago and is now long term and short term rentals typically by westerners and well of Zambians. Each of the villas is different but ours has the four bedrooms with shared bathrooms, living room, dining room and kitchen off a central courtyard which is were we are hanging washing to dry.
After a meal up at the central hotel we came back here and met with Alan Armstong for a visited for a few minutes who. He has been here in Zambia at a remote village with a group of MIT students who are doing some medical and engineering projects. I got to admit although I don’t think I slept through it I may as well have.
posted by Rodney | 4:54 PM
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