If you want to see the world’s best wildlife parks, make sure that Zambia is on your list.
South Luangwa, Zambia’s premier park is simply spectacular.
While some wildlife parks are like drive-through safaris, a trip to Zambia’s
untamed terrain is like visiting an animal’s backyard.
It won’t take long before you realize that you are treading on their turf.
The only drawback about Zambia’s parks is that they are difficult to reach,
so you’ll have to spend a bit of money and time to get there.
But for the wildlife park connoisseur who has a bit of both,
Zambia’s out-of-the-way parks are a seldom tasted treat.
Zambia (called Northern Rhodesia while under British rule)
first gained European attention in the 1890s when Cecil Rhodes,
founder of (Southern) Rhodesia, sent expeditions into the area
to look for more minerals and cheap labour for his South African mines.
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, multi-racial republic.
Kenneth Kaunda, one of the heroes of Africa’s anti-colonial movement,
was president until late 1991 and imprinted the nation with his vision of humanism,
a mixture of socialism and Christianity. (While Zambia is predominantly Christian,
traditional beliefs are still strong.)
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, the money was spent to import outside goods rather than to develop
self-sufficiency or an adequate infrastructure, and when the price of the metal
tumbled in the ’70s, so did living standards.
A regional drought in the early ’80s harmed agricultural operations
(they have never really recovered), while inefficient government-run
corporations
have accomplished little in other sectors of the economy.
As the ’90s progress, the country continues to face food shortages.
As a result, the Zambian government, once one of the most stable in Africa,
experienced civil unrest in 1990, leading to a decision to schedule multiparty
elections.
In October 1991, President Kaunda suffered a decisive defeat at the polls by
opposition
leader Frederick Chiluba, in what is regarded as one of the smoothest and
fairest
national elections Africa has ever witnessed.
More recently Kenneth Kuanda was arrested in revenge for his past corrupt ways.
(The country is made up of an overwhelming 73 different ethnic groups,
speaking more than 80 different languages.)
Physically, landlocked Zambia is set on a high plateau (averaging 4,265 ft/1,300 m in altitude),
with mountains and hills in the east and north.
Almost half the land area is savanna and bush, a quarter is forest or woodland
and less than 10% is cropland (tobacco, corn and peanuts are the main crops).
(P.S. The most disgusting public toilet I have ever seen was in Lusaka, Zambia).
There are probably other, more disgusting ones in the world, but I don't plan on looking for them!
For a more detailed map click here
These maps are big, so be
patient.
Parts of this text were borrowed from other sources.
