The REAL Lusaka

"I open my eyes, each morning I rise, to find the truth I, know that its there..." - SOJA



The truth. Only obtainable by first hand experience. We are told one thing only to find another. Yet that is the jest of life. Experiencing things for yourself and drawing your own conclusions is how we become who we are. We use recommendations as a guide and opinions as direction. Yet ultimately, the only pure truth to be found is with our own two eyes. Upon coming to country I had believed a lot of myths to be truth and found that I had a very uneven, inaccurate view; I thought wild animals roamed freely, I thought everyone was going to be miserable because they were poor, I thought everyone who had aids would be miserable, and I thought people were going to despise us because we were Americans. But the truth eventually cleansed my ignorance. The same goes for a little trip to the capital of Zambia, which is what this blog's topic is about...


To prevent us Trainees from going completely insane due to a cumbersome language and tech schedule, the staff believed it to be in their, and our best interest to treat us to an occasional day in the capital where we could eat pizza, ice cream, shop and use the precious internet. Once every few weeks we'd board a bus, travel one hour to the safe part of Lusaka called Manda Hill and Arcade. Here we found stores, shops and bars that had a rich upper class feel similar to what could be found in America. Manda Hill was a huge outdoor/indoor mall with a striking resemblance to most other malls we'd find in America. Clean floors, vaulted ceilings, restaurants, sporting good stores, fashion outlets. Everything we could possibly need was realistically there. We were so desperate for life outside of Chongwe that we never questioned how big Lusaka was, what the other areas of Lusaka were like, and if there was any place that sold cheaper booze... until we met Hunter.


Standing about 6 feet tall, with scruffy black hair, a rather lanky build was our street smart, city savvy leader. Hunter was near his last few days in country as a P.C. volunteer, so he had experience. He had been a mediocre fish farming instructor(though very knowledgeable just lacking teaching skills and motivation) yet amounted to being a wonderful guide in showing us the real side of Lusaka, which was constantly being eclipsed by PC staff. We had become close with hunter through humorous interactions and also an addictive board game we played constantly called settlers or captain. After being in his company for a few weeks he made it clear that me and a few others were among his favorites and he decided to give us a few tips the next time we had the opportunity to venture to Lusaka.


So the day finally came and we all arrived at the rich, fancy Manda Hill shopping mall like always with hours to kill. But this time we were making a break for it. We exited the parking lot and began to venture down the road toward the heart of Lusaka to a market called Kamwala, but better known to other volunteers as "the dirty market". Here one could buy alcohol in virtually any shape or form from various countries around the world; 8% red horse beer from the Philippians, Turbo King beer from the Congo, Jack Daniels, Captain Morgan, Johnny Walker are only to name a few. Cheaper Chitenges (basically thin cloth materials worn by all Zambian women that have a million uses), fireworks, soccer cleats, soccer jerseys, belts, wallets and sunglasses as well as male enhancement and clothing all for a fraction of the price you'd pay for the same stuff at Manda Hill.


We hitchhiked via an over crowded mini bus with stickers of Jesus, the virgin Mary, John Cena and the Undertaker all over the dash and windows to the heart of the capital where things were quite different from where we originally were quarantined which soon became apparent that it was the tourist side of the city. Where we were now was a vast deviation from our usual norm. It was chaos the minute we stepped off the bus. The streets were over crowded, there were small shops tucked away in every nook and crevice, and people were selling goods on blankets in the streets from vegetables to dress shoes. Thousands of people were out and about with limited walking space all trying to go their separate ways in a frenzy of sales, price haggles, arguments and taunts. It was overwhelming and hectic, yet the experience made me feel alive and satisfied. We walked through a hoard of soccer fans blowing horns, people constantly selling and bombarding us with cheap goods (as we were white and to them, obviously rich), and occasionally from time to time, we would hear spy accusations. It was dangerous and thrilling, mesmerizing and inspiring to take in all the stimuli that was before us. Much more of what I had envisioned markets to look like as opposed to where we had come from. It was the real Lusaka.


We marched in a single file line keeping close to one another to be on alert for pick pockets and thieves a few Kilometers to our destination. When we arrived we found stands made out off sticks. Uneven, soggy, rocky terrain, and dozens of shops with all sorts of liquor and beer crates outside of them. After getting a break down of how to go about buying and finding the best deal for what we were looking for the bargaining began. We bounced from shop to shop deploying a variety of tactics that entailed sweet talk, coaxing, and begging with the little Nyanja we knew. It was both a mission for cheap liquor and a Language lesson in shopping. A very entertaining and competitive game of trying to get a better deal then your buddy would and the more we ventured to the market, the better we got at it.


When it was all said and done, I had walked away with two bottles of rum that were less then half the price at manda hill, a pair of soccer cleats for 15.00 USD(adidas) and sunglasses that worked out to 1.50 USD. It felt good to be able to score goods at prices that were much more affordable. Upon arriving back at Manda Hill we told others and from there on out every time we made our way to Lusaka, Kamwala market was in the game plan. It was a very educational experience that taught me the lesson of going out and being adventurous on your own accord (well with a few others for saftey). We had a decent tour of much of the city, experienced our first taste of public transportation and now had a much better, and affordable means of obtaining alcohol and other goods. Though the end result was technically to obtain cheap booze, getting there and experiencing the true side of Lusaka was the ultimate prize to be had. It was a big Varsity step in the grand scheme of Volunteering in Zambia and gave me an adventure seeking mentality that I will deploy as I venture out on other expeditions throughout my journey while here.