Zambia

Rough Start

We left Hwange National Park and headed to Zambia. Despite getting a flat tire, we made good time.

Livingstone

Named after the Scottish missionary David Livingstone, the historic British colonial city of Livingstone remains home to nearly 200k Zambians.

Livingstone Museum

The country’s oldest and largest museum also resides within Livingstone. The Livingstone Museum exhibits include local history and items from prehistoric Africa. It also holds personal Livingstone artifacts: letters, journals and tools.

In front of the museum sits a de Havilland DHC-1 Chipmunk, purchased from the Royal Air Force to train Zambian pilots in the 60s.

Also in front of the museum, Lisa found a group to jam with.

Lion Attack Leads to Marriage

Livingstone shot at a lion, but missed. While reloading, the lion crushed David’s left arm. Distracted by others, the lion released Livingstone. After setting the broken bone, Livingstone traveled to Kuruman for recouperation. Tended to by Mary Moffit, daughter of Livingstone’s fellow Scottish missionary. David and Mary married the following year, and had six children.

Abolitionist

Part of his missionary work, Livingstone advocated for an end to the slave trade. His motto, “Christianity, Commerce and Civilization,” now remains inscribed on his statue at Victoria Falls. He addressed chiefs in the hope that they would discontinue selling slaves, instead building European trade through other means. This put him at odds with fellow missionaries and chiefs, and negatively affected his exploring efforts. Livingstone’s writings led to public support of the abolition of slavery, though he kept slaves until his own death, depending on them for his exporations.

Famous Quote

“Doctor Livingstone, I presume?”

Henry Morton Stanley may not have uttered the words, but they remain part of popular culture, referenced in a number of places. A few:

• The Young Allies, a Marvel Comics publication, features Bucky Barnes greeting Livingstone with the famous question.
• The Moody Blues released the single “Dr. Livingstone, I Presume”, in 1968. ABBA’s song “What About Livingstone” mentions the explorer, but not the specific phrase. Alcatrazz also has a song mentioning Livingstone. Comedic performer, Ray Stevens, references Livingstone in his song “This Ain’t Exactly What I Had In Mind”.
• Simulation game Civilization V: Brave New Word, has an achievement called “Dr. Livingstone, I presume?”

Animals

Too Close For Comfort

A boat ride got us up close to a number of birds, reptiles and LARGE mammals. This crocodile matched the length of the boat. He ended up kind enough to pose for this photo.

The Water’s Fine

These elephants cooled off, bathing anc playing at the riverbank. Safety first, only one would enter the water at a time, so the other could keep watch.

Hiphopopotamus Vs. Rhymenoceros

If you have not listened to the Flight of the Conchords song “Hiphopopotamus Vs. Rhymenoceros” drop everything and click here.

Hippos stand on the river bottom and remain the water during the day, to stay cool. In the evenings, they venture out to munch on vegetation. Hippos defend territory with unpredictable aggression, making them some of the world’s most dangerous animals. A hippo can easily capsize small boats and will attempt to kill passengers. A hippo reportedly carried off and killed Pharoah Menes.

While hippos have a reputation for killing humans, humans have a well-documented reputation for killing rhinos. In Zambia, armed guards protect white rhinos around the clock. We got to see some of these large herbivores grazing and caring for their young.

Other Animals

Just as rhino populations remain too low, the impala populations remain quite high. Jokingly referred to as the “McDonald’s of the Bush”, because of an “M” marking on their rears and the ease to find them.

An animal without an “M” on its posterior, the water monitor has pretty decent camouflage.

And, our group of animals in one of the two Land Cruisers used for game rides. The ten of us, nine in the pic plus me taking the pic, know each other, or by one degree of separation. Randy and Keith lived across the street from us in Hawaii. Now, they live only a few streets over from us in Reno. Our friends from the San Francisco Bay Area, Gail and Bob, moved only a few doors up our street in Reno. Randy has known Lisa for decades. Both Anjali and Randy have worked with Donna, a Hawaii realtor. And, Randy’s cousin, Ed, plus his wife, Elizabeth, filled the Land Cruiser.

Random

Cabins

In Zambia, we had cabins in place of tents. I liked the key, with its indentions rather than edges. Many years ago, I worked in an old federal courthouse which used keys much like this.

Beer

Another lager tried: Mosi. One of the camp workers caught me behind the bar, unattended. She later announced to the campers that I would not join them for the rest of the safari. Instead, they intended to employ me as their new bartender.

Our guide wanted us to learn how to say “cheers” in each country. We learned that people say “Zim Zim” in Zimbabwe. When our guide said that he wanted us to learn how to say it in Zambia, I said, “Lemme guess, Zam Zam?” Turns out, no. In Bemba, meaning “rejoice”, they exclaim “Sangalala”, then drink.

Language(s)

I tried to pick up a few words, though Zambia has many languages and dialects, with English as the official language of the government and schools. Some of these I did my best transcribing what I heard to phonetics in the Latin alphabet. Send me corrections, please!

Phrase	Translation
Mwauka bwanji	Good morning (literally: How did you wake up?)
Mwachoma bwanji	Good evening (literally: How are you since morning?)
Bwino	Well
Muli bwanji	How are you?
Zikomo	Thank you
Moni	Hello (Chichewa language)
Shani	Hello (Bemba language)
Chonde	Please
Sangalala	Cheers