Lusaka Things to Do

Lusaka City Market lies in the center of the city, west from Cairo Road. It is a huge, one roof market place, housing over 4000 market stalls selling and producing various kinds of products and services: clothes, CDs, DVDs, food.. The market is a place worth visiting, even if you wouldn’t be planning to buy anything.

Lusaka National Museum has four main sections telling about the history of the country form many aspects. There are paintings, sculptures, maps etc. To me the most interesting was the one on witchcraft.

The museum is open from 9 to 4.30 every day and the admission is $2.

Situated outside of the city on the way to the airport is a private game park called Chaminuka. It's pretty large, but don't go thinking that you're getting a "true" safari experience. You can see cats (though they are caged in their own part of the park), elephant, lots of Kudu, antelope, zebra, and a bunch of other animals. There is a fantastic restaurant attached to the lodge (which I hear is quite nice as well) that serves a really good buffet lunch. There is also a pool. Tours of the park are done in game-drive fashion - basically you're sitting in the back of a covered pickup truck on comfortable seats. If you've never done a safari and don't have the time to do a weekend getaway to a proper park, Chaminuka is well worth the $100 for the all day visit (which includes lunch and transport to and from hotel).

Here is a link to some info online about the park: http://www.getawayafrica.com/index.php?id=428

I also have a bunch of pics from Chaminuka online here: http://mikepanizza.albumpost.com/LusakaZambia

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There are two different types of game reserves. There are the ones that are open with no fences and then there are the types that are fenced in that keep the wildlife in an enclosed area so that you can view them all. Chaminuka is all enclosed and fenced in with a variety of animals for you to view. The grounds are actually very nice and showcase a large selection of art that has been collected by the owners over the 20+ years they have been there. The staff is extremely pleasant, and as an added bonus...you can do a cheese tasting of cheese made on the grounds! The reserve has rooms for people to stay and also has enough room for several hundred people to come for business functions.

Nothing too interesting here. You will be done with everything in about 30 minutes really. The exhibits are small and humorous at times, but there is a little bit to see. There is a fair amount of material on the fight for independence and the history of that period. Some of the things they could do without though - like the skull of a lion that attacked a woman coming from a politcal gathering in the 1960's. Oh yes. And of course there is a separate charge for foreigners: $2.

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Cathedral of the Holy Cross

Although the Cathedral had been in use since 1962 it could not formally be consecrated until all the work was finished all the bills paid. It is good to record that in 1970 this happy event took place. Work on the fabric was completed and money was raised to pay for it by April 28th 1970 when the Archbishop Oliver formally consecrated the Cathedral

I Got out of the capital and ended up in some village where a local was expertly carving an elephant out of a large piece of wood. I bought it then and there and I still have it some 20 years later.