UK, Zambia, & South Africa

[Diplomat]

Re: UK, Zambia, & South Africa

<span style="font-weight: bold"><span style="font-style: italic">Next stop - Fringilla...</span></span>

Fringilla has a bit of everything, a farm butchery with a meat processing plant where meat and farm products are sold to the public as well, and then there is the Fringilla guest house and restaurant which is the side where we made a quick stop at. Pictures are from that side of the property,






One of the cottages. A self-contained room at the lodge costs about K325,000 (approximately $65).

[Diplomat]

Re: UK, Zambia, &amp; South Africa


The red and blue contraptions are scattered on the property and are for washing hands.


A closer view - pretty creative, I think.


&quot;Toliets&quot; - so British!

[Diplomat]

Re: UK, Zambia, &amp; South Africa






<span style="font-weight: bold">Remember, US$1 = K5,000.</span> Not easy for the ordinary Joe to go on too many dates!


A hose reel - another bit of creativity...

[Diplomat]

Re: UK, Zambia, &amp; South Africa

We didn't intend on spending long here so my camera was working &quot;overtime&quot; to get as much pictures as I could. Unfortunately, our hosts didn't quite understand why I had to take as much as I was doing








I didn't get a chance to find out what these were...

<span style="font-weight: bold"><span style="font-style: italic">More to come...</span></span>

[Peasie]

Re: UK, Zambia, &amp; South Africa

Burglar bars

[Marielle]

Re: UK, Zambia, &amp; South Africa

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: ChurchDude</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I love this place (St. Paul's). Something about the magnificence of the structure and everything that it represents...</div></div>

Ok, I have a tip for you for your next visit to London, cross the &quot;wobbly&quot; bridge from St Paul's across the Thames to the Tate Modern (great place!) and go to the cafe on the top floor, they have a counter along the wall which is all window, and you sit there with your coffee/tea and have a magnificent view over the river across to St Paul's Cathedral, and beyond, it's wonderful! (And coming along the bridge, to the left you have the replica of the Globe Theatre, the original where Shakespeare put on his plays).

[Diplomat]

Re: UK, Zambia, &amp; South Africa

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Marielle</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: ChurchDude</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I love this place (St. Paul's). Something about the magnificence of the structure and everything that it represents...</div></div>

Ok, I have a tip for you for your next visit to London, cross the &quot;wobbly&quot; bridge from St Paul's across the Thames to the Tate Modern (great place!) and go to the cafe on the top floor, they have a counter along the wall which is all window, and you sit there with your coffee/tea and have a magnificent view over the river across to St Paul's Cathedral, and beyond, it's wonderful! (And coming along the bridge, to the left you have the replica of the Globe Theatre, the original where Shakespeare put on his plays). </div></div>
Thanks for the tip All things being well, definitely something I look forward to doing in 2011.

[Diplomat]

Re: UK, Zambia, &amp; South Africa

<span style="font-style: italic"><span style="font-weight: bold">Still at the Fringilla Lodge...</span></span>




I was really curious as to how the thatch roof survived heavy rains without at least some leakage into the cottage but didn't get around to asking.


Notice the fire extinguisher?


Play and &quot;picnic&quot; area. A lot of kids' play stuff was in this area as well.

[Diplomat]

Re: UK, Zambia, &amp; South Africa


On the way out.

Forgot to mention that to use the bathroom in the common area was K500 (ten cents US). Even with that, the lodge seemed quite a comfortable place for couples / families who needed to spend some time together out of the city.

More pictures taken while we were driving...




A transient vendor...


As mentioned before, Zambians do a lot of walking and share the road with vehicular traffic. In most places
there are no side walks but they walk on what we would call the shoulder of the road.

[Diplomat]

Re: UK, Zambia, &amp; South Africa


School kids making their way home.


Pickup trucks loaded with people in the back was a fairly common sight as were men bumming rides.


Public transport...



Going out into the country and seeing that side of the country was an interesting experience. Not only was it quite different from being in the city but it afforded us an opportunity to see why young people, like the counterparts in other parts of the world, would gravitate towards the cities for more opportunities. In a lot of ways living outside of the city seemed far more simpler, though more difficult because of the lack of industries to provide means of employment. Zambian youths didn't particularly care for farming and even though the cities offered no guarantees, they would much rather find out for themselves what was available.

Of course this meant far more people than there were jobs, but for those who were able to attend post secondary school, there were some opportunities. Most of the police officers we encountered at the various checkpoints seemed like they just graduated high school. What was common among urban and rural youths however was the same nationalistic pride and comfort in their own skins. They were wonderful people who despite the difficulties, seemed like they had not a single care in the world. In retrospect, the thing that stood out most was the absence of any sense of entitlement. I quite liked that.

[Diplomat]

Re: UK, Zambia, &amp; South Africa

<span style="font-weight: bold"><span style="font-style: italic">Next day out was on Friday, a trip to the market before our morning session. For those longing to hear about the mission itself, do bear with me. I'll get to that after this.</span></span>




Bottled water. This time of year was their summer and it was hot.

[Diplomat]

Re: UK, Zambia, &amp; South Africa

The problem at the market? Too many people, too little space \0/






Our security guy. We never went anywhere without him, but that wasn't because the city was violent. On the contrary, it seems most Zambians who were in the &quot;upper class&quot; so to speak, and a lot of business people from other countries living there, had private security at their residences. It seemed more like a proactive thing than a response to real threat. We even had 24-hour security at the mission house we stayed at, at the Senior Pastor's residence, and at the church. More on that later.

[Diplomat]

Re: UK, Zambia, &amp; South Africa




What are the guys to do when the ladies are shopping? \0/ It was like we had to stop at every other stall!




Some of these shoes were selling for as much as K500,000 (US$100) per pair.

After what seemed like forever and because of the time on the clock, we finally got out of there. The ladies had to make another stop at the dressmaker because they had bought materials so they could have dresses made in the local styles. Of course, they also had to shop for people back home. It would have been nice if they could drop off us guys before they got to the dressmaker but no such luck. It was an exercise in patience but we survived. However, there should be a law...

[Peasie]

Re: UK, Zambia, &amp; South Africa

<span style="font-size: 14pt"><span style="text-decoration: underline">Every</span> African man I know love wear dese pointed-toe shoes in all of kine of colors and textures!
And I have a lot of African friends </span>

[Diplomat]

Re: UK, Zambia, &amp; South Africa

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Peasie</div><div class="ubbcode-body"> <span style="text-decoration: underline">Every</span> African man I know love wear dese pointed-toe shoes in all of kine of colors and textures! </div></div>
Yeah, some of the shoes are so pointed upwards they look like a plane in mid take off; half on the ground and the other half in the air