The Rest of Our Time in Zambia

Sunday, July 25, 2010

After our big adrenaline rushes in the morning and early afternoon, we decided to try some calmer activities for the rest of the day. Bobby took us to the Livingstone Museum, named after David Livingstone, the British explorer who discovered Victoria Falls. The museum has exhibits ranging from ancient history and archeology of Zambian people, animal and plant life in Zambia, and recent history of the country's colonization by the British and its independence. Some parts of the museum were more interesting than others, and we were both a little too exhausted to give the exhibits our full attention. Either way, it was still very educational.

After the museum, we took a drive through Mokoni Village, just outside of Livingstone. Apart from being a very traditional village, this is also the home of the Chief of Livingstone, who is even more powerful than Zambia's president. Bobby drove us through the village, giving us an up-close view of village life, the people, and their homes. At one point, a few children spotted our car and started to run alongside and behind us. More and more children started to appear, and eventually we were surrounded. Some kids started banging on the car, and a few even tried to jump on it while it was moving. Bobby stopped the car and told the children, in Tonga, that they needed to stop or they would get hurt.

We continued to drive around and look at the different parts of the village, and the children continued to follow alongside and behind us. It was interesting to see this lifestyle, but at the same time, a little sad to see the poor conditions that these people live in for their entire lives. What's even sadder is that the chief makes a monthly income 50,000 US dollars, simply for being the chief and owning all the land around Livingstone.

We pulled up to the chief's palace, next to the village market. We considered either going into the market or paying a few dollars for a tour of the palace. However, after a few tourists emerged from the market, they were followed out by around 20 men from the village who just stood in front of our car and stared at us like we were safari animals. This was a little too intimidating for us, and we were too tired to deal with people (even if they were friendly), so we just asked Bobby to take us home.

We got back to Bobby's house and spent some time relaxing and hanging out with his sister, niece and nephews. We showed everyone our DVDs from the elephant ride, zip line and bungee jump, and they were amazed by all of it--especially Dena's crazy bungee jump. Afterwards, Nancy went into the kitchen with the baby to help prepare dinner, and the boys watched the "High School Musical" movies. We had a great time watching them recite all the lines, sing all the words, and dance along with the characters. Dena told them about her friend Chucky, who is one of the main choreographers and dancers in the movie. Even Doug, who usually despises these teen movies, had a good time.

For dinner, Nancy made a traditional Zambian dish just for us. We had carpenta fish (sardines) in a ground nut sauce, chicken, pap, rice, and spinach. Everything tasted very good, and we thanked Nancy for making it especially for us. It was very late when we finished dinner, and we had to wake up very early the next morning for our bus to Gaborone, so we went to bed immediately.