Introductions

My love of Zambia first began over eight years ago, when I visited the country as a gap student, no idea as to what I would encounter, but excited to be visiting somewhere many had only vaguely heard of. In the few brief months I was here, I was introduced to safari camps in Livingstone, the vast waters of Victoria Falls, the  history of Shiwa Ng'andu, and the secrets of places such as Kundalila Falls and Sunken Lake. And, as fate would have it, my 'tour guide' during these months would turn out to be the man I later married.

The Tent

After a few years more in the UK studying and working (and a few more visits to Zambia!), my husband and I began our journey back to the country, first heading to the warmer climates of South Africa to establish ourselves in the sprawling city of Johannesburg. Whilst definitely the right move for careers, friendships and fun, life in the big city would never truly be for us.  So, after much deliberating, we decided to invest in a sturdy 4x4, upgrade our crawl-in, much-used tent to a solid canvas, safari variety and travel north, moving closer to my husband's roots. And so, almost eight years after that first visit, we arrived back in Zambia, ready to begin our lives in this beautiful country and continue our adventures.

We now find ourselves living in a relatively green suburb of Lusaka, working from home as environmental and social consultants, with a thirst to discover as much as possible.  Here we get to experience the best of both worlds; with shops, restaurants and most of what we need on our doorstep, we are also located in the middle of the country only hours away from some of the most exquisite and un-visited scenery I’ve seen.

Life lessons in South Africa have taught me that it really is possible to work five (or six, or seven) days a week and then escape to another life at the weekend should you chose. No need to wait for public holidays or time off - just get the tent out, pack up some essentials and head off in whichever direction you feel. And this is our motto for life; experience everything and have fun doing it!

What we're finding in Zambia however, is that the hidden gems of the country really are hidden. Whilst my husband has childhood memories of some of these, we tend to rely on the sparse few lines found in guide books and word of mouth for some of the more off-the-beaten-track places. Zambia is still getting to grips with the internet and there is a definite lack of information available online. As such, we find ourselves packing all necessary supplies and heading in the right sort of direction many weekends, hoping to come across something, but prepared in case we don't!

What I'd like to share here are some of the more amazing sights and experiences the country has to offer, to get the word out that there's more to Zambia than Victoria Falls and expensive game parks, and to offer some tips on how to get to these places. Enjoy!