Zambia in photos

During the first week in May, I was at an HIV conference in Lusaka, Zambia.  Volunteers from Botswana, Cameroon, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Tanzania, Swaziland, South Africa, and Zambia came together to further discuss the HIV impact in their countries of service.  This conference had some of the most engaging sessions of my Peace Corps service and covered topics from gender based violence to understanding the needs of orphans and vulnerable children (OVCs).



I had no idea what I was getting myself into by attending this conference and had even prepared myself for the worst, but my expectations were blown away.  Most of the information we learned was new, relevant and could be applied to what current volunteers are already doing in their communities. I had not been doing any HIV-related activities because I was not sure what to do or how to even get started with any idea.  This conference gave me the confidence to share basic HIV information and to be more actively involved in HIV prevention work.  The best part of the week was arguably getting to know more about what volunteers and their host countries do.

This is the Boiling Point, where the two streams of the
Zambezi meet to create a whirlpool
Zambia has a smaller view of the Falls from its side,
but we were having difficulty seeing them through the rain.

After the conference, I took a vacation to Livingstone, Zambia with another volunteer.  While I was sad to leave the comforts of the hotel, I was excited to take a few days to myself.  In Uganda, I am at site all day, every day and it was nice to get away from the stresses at work.  Livingstone is a quaint, tourist town right outside of Victoria Falls (one of the seven natural wonders).  Of course, I took the time to see the Zambian side of the Falls.  I was only in Livingstone for two days, but I also rode and fed an elephant, took a sunset cruise on the Zambezi, participated in a walking safari in search of rhinos, and explored Livingstone town.  My time in Zambia has easily become the highlight of my Peace Corps service thus far.

This blog is mostly dedicated to the pictures that I took in Zambia.  It's no secret that I'm not the best at taking photos (mostly because I do not need yet another reason to stand out in my community), but I was a typical tourist and had to capture as many moments as possible from my vacation.  Enjoy!

xoxo,
Emilia


The first activity I booked before arriving in Zambia was the elephant-back
safari. We share the elephants with the people who personally train them.
My elephant's name was Nandi and she was ten years old. 

The elephants are trained using positive reinforcement.  After our ride, we
get to take time to feed them to say thank you!

On the walking safari, our guides taught us how to track animals because
the rhinos are not chipped.

The sunset cruise on the Zambezi is the perfect way to end a busy day

The Royal Livingstone Hotel has zebras, giraffes, and baboons roaming
around its campus.  No big deal.

The water from the Falls and the light from the sun create rainbows at
different points.  Rainbows can even be seen at night during specific times
of the month depending on the moonlight.

Disclaimer: The contents of this website are mine personally and do not reflect any position of the U.S. government or the Peace Corps.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

They never said it would be easy, but...

Image
...never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined that my service as a Peace Corps volunteer would begin in an almost traumatic fashion.  But, before I get to ahead of myself, let's do a small capstone of the past ten weeks. For those who are unaware of the Peace Corps structure, all those who want to become volunteers most go through a two to three month training period known as Pre-Service Training (PST).  This training consists of orientation, the development of technical skills, the study of language, as well as the time to practice implementation of gained knowledge and skills out in the community.  I spent various amounts of time - anywhere from one to four weeks at a given time - in different parts of Uganda - Mukono, Gulu, Soroti, Kampala - to do all of these activities as required by Peace Corps.  For example, while in Gulu district, I studied Acholi, the local language of my placement district, for four weeks. During our language training, we are ...
Read more

Dear Diane,

Image
We lost you about one year ago.  I remember where I was when I answered that call and trying to keep my shocked self together at the office because I couldn’t say the words out loud.  It didn’t last for long; I cried all the way to town and even more when I met up with our language group.  I was angry at myself for taking your surgery so lightly because I felt like I failed you in meeting your greatest need when you had been there for me.  Your memorial service has haunted me.  Yes, we had a…somewhat disastrous…ceremony to honor your life.  The best parts were the lighting of candles that we stuck in buckets full of sand (but blew out instantly because it was so windy outside) and the time set aside for sharing memories of you.  Everyone knew we were close.  But I didn’t know what to say.  So I stayed silent because I wasn’t sure how to share you with our cohort (or at all).  It has taken me awhile but, after one year, I feel ready ...
Read more

Life after Uganda: What USP taught me

Image
One month ago, I stepped off of a plane into the unfamiliar familiar land of America after living in Uganda for three months.   I left Uganda hopelessly heartbroken and incredibly weary as to what to do next.   While I am the biggest work in progress alive, I (slowly but surely) have been finding restoration and have gained a greater sense of who I am as well as who I would like to become.   It can be extremely difficult trying to reintegrate back into “normal” life after living a completely different type of normal for an extended period of time.   Here’s a little update on my life outside of Uganda: It was only a few days into my reintegration process that I was able to land a part-time job at fast-food restaurant.   Please do not ask me how it happened because I still do not know how I was able to get a job after only a few days back in the states.   I was instantly thrown into a situation that felt like it was way over my head, but remained surpris...
Read more