The Wielers go to Africa: Two Zambian Experiences

It’s time for an update, so we thought we should tell you about a couple of different experiences we’ve had in Zambia on a short trip we recently completed to Choma, Macha and Livingstone.

Choma and Macha are both small towns in southern Zambia, Choma is on the main highway(the comment was made, "It's like Steinbach, only dirtier!"), and is much bigger than Macha. Macha is way out in the bush, about 70km down a bad dirt road from Choma. People get back and forth by foot, bicycle, on the backs of trucks or on small buses. It takes about 2 hours to drive between Choma and Macha. It’s interesting that while population density is relatively low, there are people living everywhere, so that it’s difficult to go more than a kilometer without seeing some kind of dwelling, farm or person walking down the road. Despite its relative remoteness, Macha is well known for its hospital. Macha is the place where the Brethren in Christ mission was founded in 1906 and is also the home to a couple of BIC schools and a nurses training institute. We toured the hospital, it was very interesting in a way that hospitals in North America aren’t. Families of the patients camp just outside the hospital, and cook meals for the patients, because the hospital food isn’t so great. They are doing a lot of good work with some relatively simple equipment and a few dedicated staff. Outside of the hospital and the schools, there is a world class Malaria research station in Macha, sponsored in part by Johns Hopkins, a big medical center in the States. It’s sort of jarring to see the relatively simple hospital, with wood fired cooking facilities and then see a whole bunch of satellite dishes next door at the Malaria place.

Just miles of bad road between you and Macha

There are MCCers working in both Choma and Macha, and we had a good time visiting with them. Here's a picture of Mark and Amanda, doing their best "Zambian" poses.

"From here, you can see the future"

Grade One in Macha - this really is the future

Livingstone is the “Tourist Capital of Zambia”, and one of the main border points for goods coming up from South Africa. Of course the big attraction is Victoria Falls, which are truly spectacular. This time of year the falls are at the high water mark, which means there is a LOT of water going over, so much so that when you take the trail to see the falls, you get absolutely soaked.

Never before seen sights:

A truly full rainbow making a complete circle, visible from the bridge between Zambia and Zimbabwe.
A man going down the highway on his bicycle with an adult-sized coffin attached sideways on his bike rack
Men holding out live chickens and dead fish at arm's length as we go down the highway at 120 km/hour. I guess the thought is that it will be so tempting that we'll slam on the brakes (on the 2 lane highway with no shoulder) and buy some supper.

Unlike Macha, there is a lot to see and do in Livingstone, including a lot of “adventure sports”, like bungee jumping, microlight flights over the falls, rafting and so on. These are great if you are a rich tourist, but cost about three months wages if you are an average Zambian. It’s easy to get cynical about rich white folks here, there is a lot to get cynical about. However, the falls are still an unbelievable experience, and if you ever get a chance, get to see them.