Zambia Travel Guide

The Bare Bones

Population: nearly 10 million
Area: 750000 km2
Currency: Zambian Kwacha
Language: English and tribal languages
Religion: Christianity or tribal religions

Passports & Visas

You will need a full current passport and, in almost all cases, a visa. Visas cost between £35 to £45 and are obtainable from the Zambian Embassy or at airports and major border crossings into the country. The latter method can be a longwinded process. Passports need to have at least two blank pages to allow space for entry and exit visa stamps. Officials can be suspicious of brand shiny new passports so if you need a new one make sure you obtain it well in advance of your trip. You may wish to go for short trips into neighbouring Zimbabwe, check to ensure your visa will allows this.

Getting Around

Zambia is a vast country (3 times bigger than the UK) and there is a lot of open space between the towns, the various parks and other attractions. Luckily, the country is well served by domestic air carriers (both scheduled and charter) though ticket prices can be high. There is a road network linking all the major points of interest but the roads are not always in the best condition. Buses use these routes, fares are cheap but the ride can be uncomfortable and the timetable unreliable. The train is a slightly more pleasant experience, tickets are reasonably priced but the timetable is equally hit and miss. On the trains, beware hustlers posing as railway staff. Travelling by car can be a more convenient way of travelling the country, roads can be dodgy and other drivers may not have read the Zambian Highway Code so be careful. Make sure you have the correct equipment and paperwork for travelling on the roads; the police are prone to lightning roadblocks. You are required by law to carry breakdown triangles with reflective tape front and rear. Your hire car should have these on but check to make sure, it could save you a lot of hassle. Car hire is available in all the main centres of population.

Staying Healthy

Plan well in advance, be properly prepared and you should experience few problems in Zambia. For the unprepared, the implications are potentially fatal. Check with your GP at least three months in advance of departure regarding vaccination. Make sure that all the jabs you should have anyway (tetanus, polio etc) are all up to date. For entry into Zambia, you must have Yellow Fever inoculation and a certificate to prove it. No ticket - no entry. Malarial medication is also recommended; again seek advice from your GP as to what is best for you. Malaria is a very real danger so every precaution should be taken (no one wants to go missing important family occasions, like for instance their own wedding, because of a malaria attack). The state run hospitals are not brilliant but Lusaka and the other big towns are well served with good private hospitals. You should carry a comprehensive medical kit with you especially if travelling 'off the beaten track'. Follow the usual rules regarding food and water hygiene. Bottled water is available in towns and cities but if you are in the bush it is a good idea to have your own purification or filtering equipment with you. Use common sense with regard to the sun and the heat. Sunburn or heat stroke could both ruin your holiday. HIV AIDS is a big problem all over Africa and Zambia is no exception so take the usual precautions.

Law and Order

Zambia is, on the whole, a very safe country to travel in. Rural areas are the safest and the towns not too bad but you should be sensible. Tell people where you are going, keep money well secured and only carry the cash that you need, keep valuables out of sight. Always lock your car. The use or trafficking of any kinds of drug will be dealt with very severely by the Zambian authorities. Zambian jails are not famed for their warm welcome and cosy facilities!!

And If It All Goes Wrong�

Make sure that you have plenty of insurance. This should cover you for every conceivable medical emergency including evacuation by air. Also, make sure your money and luggage are covered for loss and theft. Take two photocopies of all your paperwork, passports, visas, credit cards and travellers' cheques. Leave one copy at home with a friend or close relative and take one with you. These make it easier to either claim or recover the paperwork whilst you are away. If you have to use medical facilities you may be required to pay on the spot; make sure you carry details of your insurance (or a photocopy) and keep all receipts. One of the major attractions of Zambia is adventure activities; make sure your insurance covers this.

Cash & Plastic

Take cash or better yet travellers cheques. If you do take cash your best bet are Dollars although Sterling is accepted. There are banks in all the major towns that will change travellers' cheques. Don't be tempted by black market monetary exchange. Credit cards are OK for big purchases in the urban areas but don't expect to pay for small items, in rural areas you will struggle to find businesses geared to accept credit cards; the same is true of debit cards. Getting cash from 'hole in the wall' dispensers is fine in the capital and the big towns but don't rely on this solely, the network doesn't always work reliably.

So, what kind of place is it?

Zambia is an ancient place. Let's not forget that the country lies not far from where our earliest ancestors' first rose up on two legs and thought to himself 'that's better, I can see my house from here'. However it is only much more recently that Zambia, as it is today, began to be formed. Many of the tribes -73 officially recognised - that make up the spine of Zambian society arrived in the region during the middle part of the last millennium, mostly refugees from tribal wars elsewhere. Certainly all the major tribes, the Lozi, Bemba, Lunda-Luba, the Chewa, the Lamba and the Tonga all migrated, mainly from the Congo, into the area at this time. The Swahilis also had an influence; it was they who first set up slave trading stations along the major river routes. The Swahili plied their inhuman trade up to the early part of the 19th century.

The first Europeans into Zambia were the Portuguese. They had travelled extensively up the east coast of Africa in the late 1400's as they searched for the passage to India. They set up numerous forts and trading posts using the rivers as a transport network in the way the Swahili did. This eventually led them, by the end of the 18th century, to Zambia. Dr Livingstone, I presume, also came into the area and explored it thoroughly in the mid part of the 19th century. The scrupulous records he published of his journeys encouraged a wave of missionary activity followed closely by all manner of hunters, adventurers and explorers. The 'Scramble for Africa' had begun.

This unseemly land grab was formalised in the 1884 Berlin Conference at which the major European powers divided the continent as one would a large cake. Enter Mr Rhodes. Cecil realised that the British Government (who had been 'granted' that part of the continent) were keen not to incur costs on their newly acquired territory. As an early example of putting private enterprise into Government projects, he kindly offered to have his company run the area. The BSAC (British South Africa Company) brought stability by doing 'deals' with the tribes. They offered protection and in return got mineral rights over the land. Setting themselves up in this way the BSAC ran the country until 1924 when the British Government once more assumed control. The BSAC couldn't be too aggrieved, they hadn't exactly endeared themselves to the locals and they did manage to keep hold of the mineral rights, up 'til this time thought to be pretty worthless. Then they found copper. Suddenly people coming from the countryside to find work flooded the Copper Belt, conditions were harsh but the money was good.

Miners began to get organised and the first stirrings of a nationalist independence movement can be seen from the mid 1930's on. The road to independence was long and was finally achieved almost 30 years later in 1964. Since then Zambia has seen some drastic low points as it struggles to assert itself as a credible entity. Political confusion and repression has mostly been the order of the day and indeed still is. However, things have improved over a period of time, business has been encouraged, facilities are improving and the recognition of the value of tourism has bolstered the notion of continuing improvement. Zambia is now a great place to visit.