We welcome any visitors we get. Lusaka is not really a tourist destination. If fact I could go on about the lack of city parks in a city of over a million people. Did I say lack? There are none. Zero. Oh wait, the city has over thirty parks on the books but these "areas" have been leased out to industry for a quick kwacha to the cash-strapped government. It is a total disgrace but far down the list of needs of the citizens of Lusaka. Where does a family go to experience the beauties of nature when they live in Lusaka, Zambia?
The truth is, if you have a little money you can go to a game park, the Zambezi River or Victoria Falls.
Our oldest child, or "firstborn" as they say in Zambia, came for a visit. What a pleasure to have our daughter Rebecca and her husband Brent stay with us for a while.
However, because of the lack of tourist attractions and greenery in Lusaka we headed south to the Zambezi river. Our first stop was the dam that stops the Zambezi and creates the world's largest man-made lake by volume of water, Lake Kariba. It is 40 miles wide and 140 miles long. Below is Kariba Dam that started the backup of water in 1958.
Here we are with Brent and Rebecca proving their presence in Zambia.
This is looking downstream. Zambia is on the left and Zimbabwe on the right. The river will continue to split the two countries until it enters Mozambique and then empties into the Indian Ocean.
We got to leave the mission for a minute by walking across the dam to the Zimbabwe side.
By the way - this reminds me of what the fish said when he hit the cement wall!
Our rooms were on the lake and Rebecca was finally able to relax away from home, family, and demands of a very active life.
Lake Kariba had kapenta fish introduced into it many years ago and now it is a major industry supplying the needs of Zambians with little minnow/sardine fish about two inches long that are dried and sold throughout Zambia. The fish are attracted to the lights hanging over the net at night. When the time is right the lights are switched off and the fish dive into the net and then the net is emptied into the boat. This action takes place all night long, then the crew sleeps in the daytime. Often the crew will stay out many days until the hold is full. If you don't think about the difficult job of the fishermen, the sight of all the lights blinking on the water at night is quite beautiful.
Here we are enjoying a nice breakfast before heading west to Victoria Falls.
We had many miles to go and there isn't much new to see along the way. The fellow below was anxious to sell us his tortoise and a python skin. You can see the tortoise at his feet. The turtle was about nine or ten inches by twelve inches. I felt sorry for him but a life with us the next few days wouldn't have improved his circumstances. The python skin was almost twelve feet long and sort of dried and stinky. I really didn't want either but this guy was a regular car salesman and I took the snake skin to help him out. How will it look on the garage wall? Do you think the grandkids will notice it there? Before they are old enough to read this blog I laugh at the tales that snake will illicit.
This is one of the streams the road passed. Folks washing and bathing as usual.
So -- we are on our way to one of the "seven natural wonders of the world" or at least a big waterfall!
