Site Report: Mpika

Visits

• 2002-11-26: We ignored the locals who suggested the overnight bus from Mbeya, Tanzania to Lusaka, Zambia. Thus, we ended up stranded at the border waiting for some kind of a lift to get further into Zambia. I wanted to try and see the African Shoebill in the Bangweulu swamps. In our several hours at the border, we met many people who told us we would need to get on some other bus which was to depart several hours in the future. Luck came our way, however. We paid two truck drivers from Nairobi for a lift to Mpika. Barbara and I squeezed in with two Zambian women, and off we went. It was more comfortable in the truck than most of the buses we had ridden, but we were moving really slow, and we did not arrive in Mpika by nightfall. Instead, we camped out on the side of the road. Of course the driver thought he was doing us a favor by letting us sleep in the truck, but I wish I had known we were stopping. My tent was locked in the luggage hold, unusable. Early the next morning, we continued to Mpika, arriving in the afternoon. It had taken us nearly 24 hours to get here, and the bus was not leaving until the next morning. This was a great town to get stranded in. For one, there was a very interesting market for caterpillars. The vegetarian dish at the restaurant was the "All White" dish. White Rice, Boiled Potatoes, and Nshima delicately spiced with salt. We got tear gassed while walking to the bus station out of town.

Species Seen