Back in Lusaka Again.

We are back from Livingstone and sitting around in Lusaka getting organized and I am preparing to depart. Jeremy has decided to leave early as well. We spent about three hours Wednesday just getting boarding passes and making sure we could leave tomorrow. Everything in Zambia takes a lot of time (you have the watch, Zambia has the time). Other than that things are a bit slow here, as I am packed. Lusaka itself is worth a comment or two. It is a small city by US standards probably about the size of Canton, Ohio. However it make up for it in energy, and it is very, very busy downtown. I think the atmosphere in town is contributing to everyone's nausea as it is chock full of diesel smoke from all the taxis and trucks. Also, as mentioned before, Zambia has considerable air pollution from charcoal smoke for cooking. Also Zambians seem to set the countryside on fire regularly, which we have jokingly referred to as "Zambian landscaping".

Driving here is crazy and it takes getting used to with all the traffic circles in town and since this is a former British colony we are all learning to drive on the left side. It can be a white-knuckle experience.Few people here have cars so the roads are dominated by trucks and taxis (little blue minibuses). The sides of the roads are crowded with people walking and biking, hundreds of people. Everyone here has a cell phone and the cellular advertising dominates the city (Zain being the most popular phone advertisement). Previously no one here had any form of personal communication so they love their cell phones as much as an American adolescent.

One of the more tragic, and noticeable, things about Lusaka is the lack of an elderly generation. Lusaka has a very high HIV/AIDS infection rate and it has devastated the population. The average life expectancy is around 38 years old, making me one of the older people. Outside of Lusaka we can easily notice that the majority of the population is below 5 years old. There are lots of children and not many old folks.

The climate here is dry, very dry, and almost desert like. We are here in the middle of the dry season so there is no need to worry about the weather. It is clear and sunny every day. We are only at 10 degrees south so we are very close to the equator so it is plenty hot. However, it can get cold in the tent at night (around 50 degrees). We see dust devils almost every day stirring up the dust. Trees are deciduous and some species have lost their leaves for the dry season, so it looks like winter (which technically it is). However many trees here flower during the dry season so there are a few bright reds and purples that stand out.