Mansa Mansa Mansa

I ABSOLUTELY love Mansa, Zambia. It's in Eastern Province, and is the definition of picturesque. It took 8 hours to drive from Ndola to Kipiri to Mansa. I'm so thankful I was able to go on this work exchange visit. We visited three clinics. One was over 70Kms (on dirt roads) from the main office, and the second was 60Kms. It took two hours to get to the first clinic (Matanda).

What I love about Mansa is that it's calm, and a there is no industry (ie copper, mining etc). It's a different side of Zambia, to what I've seen in the Copperbelt, Livingstone and Lusaka. There's a lovely beach called Lake Bangweulu in Samfya (45 minute drive from Mansa town center). The water is clear, calm and lives up to its name "where the sky meets the water." The sand is white. There are no resorts, or hotels built up around the beach. I'm told the beach is the size of Connecticut!

An hour of the drive to Mansa we were met with the beauty of the Laupula River. It makes the border between the Congo and Zambia. The Matanda clinic was 2 Kms away from part of the river, so I walked over to take a look. Beautiful.

I really needed to get away from Ndola for a few days, and this exchange visit was my saving grace.

Please enjoy the photos.

 

Laupula Bridge

It's not a melon... It's a cucumber

Had shima every day of the trip

Lake Bangweulu is stunning

Chitenge ideas!

More ideas

4 Dollars worth of food on the way back from Mansa!

Beautiful mushrooms. They taste lovely

Solwezi

Solwezi

Though this photo was pretty awesome

These are some photos of Solwezi. I got the opportunity to go a couple weeks ago for a work exchange visit. We visited a few of the clinics doing couples counseling and testing. The road from Chingola to Solwezi is the worst I've seen, and I've seen some pretty bad roads. The road will be paved, and then all of a sudden there's a 2 foot ditch in the middle of the high way. I stayed at Floriana Lodge, where I met some awesome expats. Two people from Australia and a South African. They were in the business of construction, and mining (everyone is, in Solwezi). 

Spaghetti squid pasta with Zanzibar Red Curry Peas

Riding in style

This photo sums up Solwezi. Big trucks and lots of copper

Cool bolders. One of the Zambians in the car said they've been there for many years

Solwezi Town

Solwezi Town

Gorgeous butterfly outside my hotel door

Before visiting some of the Kapijimpaaga village people, we had to meet the Chief. Before speaking with him we had to sit down and greet him, clap, and offer a monetary thank you. The chief is the one with the white hat on in the photo.

School children walking