The first flight to Minneapolis was at 5:50 am. As a frequent Delta customer, Laura got an upgrade to first class, so we didnt sit together. I always ask for the aisle seats when I can. A man sitting next to me tried to engage in a conversation three times. I behaved evasively as I didnt feel like talking so early in the morning. The flight was a mere 2h40min. I used it to snooze and read an ebook about the adventures of an English family in Africa, starting with their first few months in Zambia.
We arrived at Minneapolis St. Paul's airport with no delays. Lindbergh Terminal 1 is a very modern and busy one. As we had over 5 hours lay-over until our next flight, we decided to get out and go discover Minneapolis. The best way to hit downtown is by light rail. It's fast and convenient, it serves both terminals, and for just $1.75 is an easy way of getting to town.
Minneapolis is home to the famous Mall of America, the second largest in the US, and the Minnesota Vikings Football team. The buildings around the main Washington Avenue are interconnected by a network of skyways, which is quite common in cities where winters are very cold. The Mississippi River divides the city and creates a very pleasant area for terraced coffe shops, bars, restaurants and recreational areas for walks and runs. Its streets are very clean and are dominated by a fairly large number of modern glassed skyscrapers. There's a nice skyline view from the south bank of the river by the Historic Stone Bridge where Nicolette Island is.
It just takes two hours to get a flavor of what the city looks like. After that, we made our way back to the airport to jump on our next flight to Amsterdam. This second flight of the day was a longer one. Over 7 hours. Laura and I sat together this time. I continued reading my ebook, the next chapters narrated their experiences in Zimbawe. I also enjoyed watching two good movies compliment of Delta's entertainment system: 'Ruby Sparks' directed by Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris, and 'The perks of being a wallflower' by Stephen Chbosky.
After two movies, some games, a bit of ebook reading, two meals, plenty of snacks, some short naps and random chats with Laura, we arrived in Amsterdam. The 11 pm US time had become 6 am CET due to the time zone difference. The initial plan was to take the short distance train into the city to kill some of the four-hour-lay-over before our next flight. However, we thought it'd be too tight and decided to stay at Schiphol airport and enjoy Laura's Delta membership, which allows her and a companion access to KLM's lounge. It couldn't have been a better decision as we could have a great breakfast, a refreshing shower and relax for a while before our journey odyssey continued.
The next flight from Amsterdam to Lusaka, via Harare went pretty fast. I was really tired so I slept for most of the 10-hour journey. This included a 1 hour stop at Harare, capital of Zimbawe, where we were asked to remain aboard the aircraft. After some passengers got off the plane and some others got on, we took off for our last flight segment to Zambia. At around 10:30 pm Zambia time, we landed. Upon getting off the plane, I sensed a familiar smell that I remembered from my trip to Africa last year. I was happy!
On arrival to the bus terminal, there was a bunch of random young men asking where we were going and offering us help to obtain the bus tickets to Livingstone. This literally meant opening the car boot to take our luggage out, grabbing our bags and quickly bringing us to a pseudo ticket office 5 meters away from where all the buses were starting their engines in the middle of people rushing, shouting and going around systematically. We were kind of worried that we'd be ripped off or that our bags would disappear. However, we found out that all these men wanted was to choose a trip on our behalf so they'd get the commission from the coach service company. Cash was handed out to the guy who was the fastest in grabbing our bags and bringing them to them where we bought the tickets. Two minutes after we were putting our bags in one of the bus' luggage compartment and getting on the bus, which was already in motion. All this happened in less than 5 minutes; organized chaos!
The bus journey lasted 7 hours and included two 15 minutes toilet stops. It's a nice way of getting a good sense of Zambia. We passed by little villages where people live in thatched huts, shepherd their cows or goats, and grow maize. We also passed by larger towns like Kafue, Mazabuka, Monze, Pemba, Choma, Kalomo and Zimba, where we could see a further level of commercial development, greater as we got closer to the jewel of tourism that Livingstone is. However, all in all, my first impression is that Zambia is still a quite poor country, in terms of western economic standards. I can tell that a large proportion of Zambian people still live under a subsistence economy.
After nearly 60 hours since we left Missoula we arrived in Livingstone. A sense of relief arose. Laura and I were finally back at the place where just over 1 year ago we had met. We met our friends Merche, Miriam and Marie, owners of Feeling Africa, for a bite to eat and local beer Mosi. It was great to catch up with them!
They were great in giving us a lift to the lodge where we're staying. It was late, dark and chilly. We slept tight and woke early this morning to come across a wonderful setting by the river Maramba, where we've had breakfast at the spectacle of several playful monkey families eating and jumping on the trees across the river. Paradise!
