Greetings from Zambia

Greetings from Zambia! Im here to conduct a field study for my undergraduate thesis, and am staying in the Mosi-oa-Tunya National Park for 5 weeks. I will be studying what impact the national park has on the local economy, and hopefully I will find the information I need. The best thing about this trip is that I can hang out with lions when Im not busy. Yeah, thats right, lions! Some of my friends and co-workers from Antelope Park, Zimbabwe are now setting up a new lion rehabilitation project in Zambia. If you want to find out more about the project, check out the ALERT website, and the African Impact Website if you want to volunteer!

The trip to Zambia was quite long. In order to save some money, me and Øyvind (who is also here to do a field study) didnt really take the fastest route.. Tuesday 04:26 AM: Take the “flybuss” out to Garermoen Airport. Since I had to get up so early I didnt bother to go to sleep that night, had to pack my stuff, etc. anyway. 06:50 AM: Fly to London Stansted. We then had to travel to London Heathrow, which took a while. Since we had such a long time in London we went into the city for a bit. But with all the luggage it was quite the hassle, so we didnt stay long and headed out to the airport instead. We then waited and waited at the airport, and the chairs were fortunately quite uncomfortable.

19:50: Fly to Nairobi with Kenyan Airways (pretty good airline actually).

Wednesday 08:25 AM: Fly from Nairobi to Lilongwe, Malawi and then continue to Lusaka, Zambia.

11:45 AM: Arrived in Lusaka, went through imigration (no problems) and then took a taxi to the bus station.

12:45: Arrive at the bus station, very crowded and busy place. We went into one of the buses and paid 20 $ for the bus ride to Livingstone. There was supposed to be a bus schedule, so we hoped the bus would leave at 13:00. But of course it didnt..

16:00: After waiting over 3 hours on the bus, it finally drove off. Apparently there is no schedule, the bus just leaves when its full..

23:50: Finally arrive in Livingstone after almost 11 hours on the bus! Nedless to say we were quite tired.

On Thursday we got a short tour of the area, met the guides, lion handlers, etc. and got settled in. In the afternoon we went walking with the lions, and it was great to see some lions again after leaving Zimbabwe in 2006! In the evening there was a power cut (which has happened pretty much every day), so we played cards and relaxed. Falling asleep is a bit difficult because of the heat, but Im getting used to it.

On Friday we went into Livingstone to do some errands. I also met with the head warden of ZAWA (Zambia Wildlife Association) and fortunately he approved my research. This means that I hopefully will be able to get access to data and statistics, and interview some of the employees. Livingstone was busy, but if you just dress down a bit (didnt bring any nice clothes anyway) and look like you know where youre going its no problem at all.In the afternoon we went on another lion walk, which was great as usual.

Saturday morning (we get up at 6 AM every day) we went out for a long walk with the lions, and stayed in the bush until 12. There are wild animals all around you, and especially the buffalo can be quite dangerous. Fortunately we have scouts that walk ahead with AK-47s, so Im feeling safe. I havent seen any buffalo yet, but Ive seen giraffe, impala, hippos, elephants, crocs (both the animal and the shoes actually) and some different birds.

On Sunday afternoon we went on a very nice boat cruise on the Zambezi river. Since this is the end of the rainy season there is a lot of water, and the current is very strong. Its hot here, so I was tempted to go swimming, but after seeing huge hippos and crocodiles I wasnt so tempted any more. We enjoyed the sunset with some beers and had a great time (click on the photos for larger versions).

This morning I went out with the lions, and the rest of the day Ive spent reading some articles, editing photos and writing this. Just had a nice lunch, and Im now ready to continue my research! More will hopefully follow over the next few days. A few lion photos below (click on the photos for larger versions). You can see more photos in this album, which I will be updating continually in June.