The Road to Western Province
Dedicated to one of my lovely patients RIP
Firstly, Happy New Year!
I’ve just returned from two weeks travelling around the west
of Zambia during the Christmas break. I
didn’t know really what to expect as I hadn’t seen much of the country before
now. I had a great time full of adventure
and met some interesting characters along the way. After a lovely and relaxing five-night
stay in Livingstone, the tourist capital of Zambia due to the magnificent
Victoria Falls (Mosi-oa-Tunya), I decided to travel to Western Province as it seemed like a
good idea at the time! More on Livingstone in my next blog!
I left at 5 am on 27th December to travel by bus
from Livingstone to Mongu, the capital of Western Province. This was a 10-hour journey covering 315
miles. Part of the road was incredibly bumpy
– let’s just say, I’m glad I’ve got my own teeth! On the tightly packed mini-bus, I was
befriended by an elderly Zambian gentleman on the bus who was returning to his
home village after having been an electrician at the Kariba Dam for most of his
working life. He spoke impeccable
English and was very curious as to why I was visiting Western Province which,
in his opinion, is the poorest region of Zambia, grossly under-funded and not
known for its tourism. He was very proud
of his Province and delighted that I’d chosen to visit and said I
had to tell all my friends about it so here I am!
I was amazed that we could travel for almost 300 miles and
only see the occasional
small village from the road and very little wildlife, sadly.
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| The Road to Mongu |
There was no sign of any industry and nothing at all to buy
on the way so I was glad I’d brought my snacks!
My friendly co-traveller said that the manufacture of fruit juices would
be a great idea here due to the abundance of wild fruit growing everywhere but to
date, there is no manufacturing in the area to my knowledge.
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| A green mango and Masuku fruit |
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| Ifisongole fruit aka 'Monkey's Brain' |
My next experience was staying in Mongu and travelling
around the area in which I stayed for five days. Western Province is famous for its rice
growing and I must say the rice really is delicious there. I
learnt a lot about the area – that this region of Zambia, together with parts
of Namibia, Angola and Zimbabwe used to be part of a kingdom known as
Barotseland. However Western Province
remains part of Zambia now.
I visited the outside of the palace of King Lewanika and also visited the
lovely canal.
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| Canal at Limulunga |
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| Canal at Limulunga |
Apart from learning a lot of history of the area, I also
enjoyed spending 5 days in a hostel with 3 lovely people as well as a sick
mother dog and her 8 puppies who demanded a lot of attention! Thank you to my
friends who donated some money to help with the welfare of these beautiful
dogs.
My journey out of Mongu was very original. I spent six hours in a Toyota Land Cruiser
travelling off road across the bush due to impassable and very poorly surfaced
roads. This proved to be an excellent and safe way of travelling in the hands on our experienced driver –
thanks Danny!
However, travelling in
such a vehicle on the 1st January after Hogmanay (New Year’s Eve)
was not the most sensible thing I’ve ever done! After two hours sleep, I would
have loved to have slept in the vehicle but definitely not possible as too bumpy
and hot.
One other interesting journey I had in Western Province was from Lukulu to Kabompo – on a very rough road by mini bus. This journey consisted of 98 miles and took 6
hours. It was a rough ride in a small
minibus with 12 people and 3 goats! The
driver was careful, although it was tough listening to the same track of music
for 3 hours!! Eventually I had to make a deal with the driver that if I charged his phone
on my portable power pack, he’d let me play my Ipod on his sound system - it was a deal! Although it was slightly weird listening to
Florence and the Machine here:
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| The Road to Kabompo |
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| At the Kabompo River |
Travelling in Western Province was a really good
experience. After only living in Lusaka for 4 months, I saw a very different side of Zambia. I only met two tourists the
whole time I was there but enjoyed the very kind hospitality and safe driving of all the
people I met there. I found the people from Western Province to be very
respectful and treated me very kindly.
I hope to return someday soon!
Tizaonna!
Jenny
Amazing, Jenny!! Did none of the people you met en route want to have their picture taken?! Susan xx
ReplyDeleteHi, yes I have a few photos of people I met but don't like to post their pictures on the internet without their consent. x
ReplyDelete