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May 27, 2005
Transportation
Well, I was waiting to get questions or requests about what y'all want to hear about... no one seems to want to know anything specific. Today's topic, boys and girls, will be transport Zam-style. Well, there is a saying in Tonga: "Mwende Kabotu." It literally means, "Walk well." To most Zambians, walking is the main mode of transportation. A step up from that would be owning a bicycle (something that would cost the average worker or farmer about half to a full year's salary= $60). Then you have the village-popular but town inefficient ox cart. Then there's the problems with hoof and mouth and maintaining expensive animals. Only the richest people (maybe 1%) own actual cars or trucks to drive. For me getting around within Choma, walking is my chosen method. I have a really nice Peace Corps bike, and I use that to go any distance that would be more than 20 minutes to walk. If I go out at night I take a taxi home or hitch a ride with a friend. Getting to other towns or when I go visit Rue in her village requires a mixture of transport. There's a lot of riding on the back of flatbed trucks with sacks of mealie meal.
There's a lot of waving the hand around to try and flag a ride. If I'm going to Lusaka or Livingstone, then I have to take a bus. Now, there are the chicken bus options (very cheap) all the way up to a luxury coach. It really is easy for me to get around because I live a block off The Great North Road... my friends in other provinces don't have it so easy. Southern Province is the most developed in terms of roads and transport. Okay, well, like I said, post a comment if you want to hear about something specific.
Mwende Kabotu,
RINGO
Posted by ringo at May 27, 2005 10:23 AM
Comments
Posted by: Derek at May 27, 2005 1:53 PM
Posted by: Jen at May 27, 2005 8:13 PM
Posted by: Stacey at May 29, 2005 3:00 PM