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Geography

History

Zambia first gained European attention in the 1890s when British business magnate Cecil Rhodes sent expeditions into the area to look for more minerals and cheap labor for his South African mines. Rhodes found what he was looking for and claimed the area, which eventually became known as Northern Rhodesia. A British protectorate from 1924 until 1953, Northern Rhodesia joined what are now Zimbabwe and Malawi in the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland. The federation was peacefully dissolved in 1964 and newly named Zambia became an independent, multiracial republic.

Kenneth Kaunda, one of the heroes of the independence movement, was named president of the new country, a position he held for the next 27 years. Kaunda imprinted the nation with his vision of "humanism," a mixture of socialism and Christianity. For a while, it worked. Some of the world's largest deposits of copper lie beneath Zambian soil, and when copper prices were high, the nation used exports to establish a relatively high standard of living. Unfortunately, when the price of the metal tumbled in the 1970s so did living standards.

By 1990, conditions were bad enough to generate civil unrest, leading to a decision to schedule multiparty elections. In 1991, President Kaunda was replaced by Frederick Chiluba, in what is regarded as one of the smoothest and fairest national elections Africa has ever witnessed.

Chiluba instituted a number of free-market reforms, which sent food prices soaring and the national currency plummeting. Subsequent leaders have had no success in improving the economy: Zambia is one of the poorest countries in the world, with most of the population living on less than US$1 a day.

Snapshot

Victoria Falls, spectacular game reserves, white-water rafting and African culture are the foremost attractions of Zambia.

Zambia will appeal to travelers who have visited Zimbabwe, Kenya or Tanzania and are ready to see wilder game parks that get fewer tourists. Accommodations and facilities are adequate, occasionally above average.

Potpourri

As with ski runs or dive sites, the rapids on the Zambezi River have been named by the local guides. Some of our favorites include: Overland Truck Eater, The Terminator, Silent Assassin and the Gnashing Jaws of Death.

Far from any town, an obelisk with a cross marks the site where the explorer David Livingstone died in 1873. His heart was buried at the site by his servants; the rest of his body lies in Westminster Abbey in London. Livingstone Monument is about 250 mi/400 km northeast of Lusaka.

Kafue National Park is the largest game reserve in Africa.

Just off the road between Lusaka and Tanzania, near the town of Serenje, the Nsalu Hill Cave National Monument contains prehistoric wall paintings. Inquire in Lusaka as to which days the cave is open. Nearby is Kundalila Falls, another national monument.

Zambia's national bird is the African fish eagle—it resembles the North American bald eagle, except that the white feathers extend farther down the neck.

Ngonye Falls (Sioma Falls) is actually a spectacular string of nine falls crossing the Zambezi River (about 185 mi/300 km upstream from Victoria Falls).

The black lechwe and Kafue lechwe are two antelope found only in Zambia.

An engineering marvel and a conservation miracle, Lake Kariba is a man-made lake 174 mi/280 km long.

Although there are only four major tribal-language groups (Bemba, Tonga, Lozi and Nyanja), Zambia has seven major ethnic groups comprising 25 distinct subgroups that use more than 70 languages (besides the official language, English).

It probably never happens, but we kept worrying we were going to get bonked on the head by a fruit falling from one of the many "sausage trees" in Zambia. The fruit is about the size of a salami, and its density is akin to petrified wood.