Inspired by the mammoth Data Sheet of Nigeria by Moma, I felt I could contribute regarding my time in Zambia, mainly the capital city of Lusaka.
I am a tall white man, so everyone assumes I am Bill Gates. The funniest moment that sticks out in my memory, I was walking down the main street in the city centre, not many foreigners around. These kids were talking to one another, walking in the opposite direction, the one looked up in astonishment, quickly brushed his friends off and went up to me with his hands out looking for change. All of a sudden he became a beggar. Keep in mind, no matter how poor you are by Western standards, the average income is under $1000.
It is generally a safe country. I am always more worried about HIV and Malaria then violence. But do keep in mind people are desperate, and they think you are rich. Avoid some areas at night, and you will be fine. It’s far safer then South Africa for example (not that that’s saying much). The people here are friendly, helpful and welcoming. Beware of people that talk to much (the loudmouths, trying to get what they can out of you $$ or want to appear valuable to other locals), but don’t hesitate to engage people in conversation. If you like football/soccer, the bars here are packed every weekend to watch the Premiership etc, and the people are very knowledgeable.
The official language is English. And everyone speaks English (in one form or another), in addition to regional native languages. Nyanja in Lusaka, Bemba in the Copperbelt (Northern part of the country, large string of cities, historically Copper Mine towns). Their accent is something different, really takes getting used to. Sometimes they uses phrases, which if you read them are correct, with sentence structure and accent, you havent a clue what they are trying to tell you.
For brown/tanned skins guys: There is a bit of an Indian population, as in other English-speaking African countries. The Lebanese are getting a bad reputation. Migrating to start businesses, but don’t treat the locals with much respect, and throw a lot of money around. Rumour about them making sex tapes and exploiting girls there. When I allude to things being rumoured, whether its actually true or not is irrelevant, gossip spreads like a bush fire here. There was a rumour in the late 90s after the HIV outbreak, that having sex with a virgin would cure you, obviously that’s not true, but it led to a problem of young girls (elementary school) being raped. I wish I was lying about that.
Ultimately though, if you are foreigner of any kind, even black guys (they can tell), you will be priceless.
I have been there multiple times for a period of 4-6 weeks. Mainly for business purposes (not mining or NGO).
TRAVEL
For North Americans, send your passport to the embassy a month before you go. Include copies of your flight confirmation, travel itinerary, hotel/lodge reservations. If you are already in South Africa for example, the embassies are all in Pretoria, in either case, you can ask for rush service for an extra fee. The visa fee itself is about $80-$100 depending on how many entries you need (if you leave to neighbouring country and want to come back).
The only direct flight from Europe is British Airways from London Heathrow, though apparently KLM are resuming service from Amsterdam. Emirates also flies from Dubai, South African Airways from Johannesburg, and a few other African airlines from neighbouring countries. Currently there is no flagship airline, the latest one Zambezi Airlines had their license suspended, not meeting safety regulations I think. Zambian Airways was the airline a few years back, but they went bankrupt, common occurance. None the less, the airports are still serviced, and if you want to get around the country by air, Proflight Commuter Service has small planes that do it.
I went to a travel doctor before I left. Got all the hepatitis shots, travellers diarrhea, and malaria pills. Depending on how long you stay, and time of year, malaria pills might not be absolute necessity. During their winter (southern hemipshere winter, May-August’ish), its cooler, and mosquito’s aren’t as common. Just cover up the exposed skin at dusk. If you go during the hot or rainy season, beyond October, take the pills, they will make you feel fatigued and mess with your dreams, but you will get bit, no matter how much you cover the skin and use repellent.
Bring your own toilet paper. You won’t have trouble finding a toilet, but its doubtful that it will have toilet paper or a toilet set, and have Imodium on hand
The local currency is Kwacha, its in the process of being revalued. $1 US=5000 Kwacha, but they are knocking off two zeros, so in the near future it will be around 50 kwacha.
When you arrive at Lusaka airport, get off the plane as quickly as possible, in fact, check-in for your flight online 24 hours before hand, and get a seat with as quick an exit as possible. When you get inside, there are 3 customs lines, 1 for Zambians, 1 for other Africans, and 1 for everyone else (usually the longest). With typical African efficiency, each person has to go through the process, tell them why you are there, show them reservations and flight confirmations for departure, and they will stamp your passport. You don’t want to be the guy at the back of the line after departing an overnight flight on a 767. I have heard stories about them trying to get more money out of you, never seen it myself though. Apparently, if you didnt have time to get a visa beforehand, you can buy one at the point of entry, but the price is unknown to me, and naturally more expensive. After getting through baggage claim, you will be swarmed by taxi drivers. They will tell you the equivalent of about $40 is what it cost to get into the city, realistically, its closer to $25, and you shouldn’t have trouble getting it down to $30 if you ask around and tell them you paid that much “last time”.
LODGING/TRANSPORTATION
There are a couple nice hotels, but they are priced accordingly, $200+ a night, the Intercontinental being the most noticeable, one of the largest buildings in the country, along with the Holiday Inn and The Pamodzi. They are in and around Cathedral Hill area, where all the embassies are, thus the high price. A few mid-range hotels are decent enough, $50-100 a night. Lodges are good too, $20-$40 for a room, a bit tougher to find though. Hostels for $10/night, apparently aren’t that bad, but I wouldn’t.
I was staying with a local, so we had our own pad, that was most ideal, but its not really ideal for a tourist, as there is a lack of rental properties available. 1 bedroom house in a decent part of town, $400/month, min. 3 months. What some foreigners do as of late in the Livingstone (Victoria Falls) area, they will rent a house for that price, or slightly higher, for the entire 3 month period, but only stay there a few weeks, because it will still be overall cheaper, especially for a group.
It would be imparative that you bring an unlocked cell phone with you, and buy a sim card, like $5 and comes with “talk time” (credit), remember which sim card you have, when you need to buy more talk time, some places only sell one brand (MTN, Zain). There is no such thing as a landline in Zambia, everyone has cell phones, you will need one for everything, there is simply no way of getting around without it.
Renting a car is not really practical. $50/day, and you wont have the slighest clue where to go, and forget about Satellite Navigation system. Taxi’s are the best way, but again, as a foreigner they will tell you near double what something should cost. Most places around the city shouldn’t be more then 25 000 kwacha, they will tell you 40-50 000. Use the line “last time” and walk away, the price will drop, there is no shortage of people willing to give you a ride.
There is a mini-bus system, but try to bother with that, especially if you are not with a local. It is cheap, under $1 a ride, but the routes are non-sensical, and you will likely be squished in, they travel full. The drivers are erratic, the maintenece is highly questionable, and they bus stations they drop you off at, arent the best places for outsiders.
WOMEN
Zambians are very proper in public, they analyze all your body language, respect means a lot. “Lady in the streets, freak in the sheets”. When first meeting a girl, don’t come on too strong, they don’t have the same sense of humour. I have a dry, sarcastic, clever humour at times, which is fine and dandy in North America, but in Africa, they really don’t comprehend it.
I find African black women to look exponentially better then black women in the Americas. They are very natural, have great bodies, very curvy, soft skin. The only fast food here is fried chicken, pizza and Subway, but these are considered luxuries, and the average women cant rely on these like in the Western cultures. They never eat more then they need to, because food is expensive, and there is a lot of walking.
Zambian women are interesting creatures. They like sex, and thus have amongst the highest HIV rates in the world. They will play games with you, but its like honest games, you can see right through it, its not very clever and you can call them out on it. It is there way of trying to make it seem like they aren’t completely easy. Which they generally are.
There is no room for hesitation or beta behaviour in Africa. You don’t think, just do. You are only limited by your imagination.
There wasn’t a women in the country I didn’t feel I had a legitimate chance with. On one trip, I was boarding the flight in Jo’burg, walking up the stairs to the 737 and asked the model looking girl in front of me, who was struggling carrying her bag up the steps if she needed assistance. She seemed very grateful, and after the flight I chatted her up walking from the plane to the terminal, and again at baggage claim. Turns out she was Miss Zambia. Got her number, she kept calling me, but was HIGHLY flakey. Didn’t seal the deal, because of logistics (I was there for work afterall, and I flew half way around the world...), would have been a nice addition to the list, but there is always something to strive for next time. In retrospect, I got the feeling she was going to try to hit me up for money, and a year later I found out she had a baby (pregnant within months after I left). The point is; if Miss “any country” is hitting you up, it pretty much makes you feel invincible with any women in the country.
Texting is quite common, you may need a translator though, they take short-hand to a new level. If a girl gives you a missed call, 1 or 2 rings and hangs up, she wants you to call her back and use your credit, instead of hers. Its pretty normal.
Zambia still maintains a colonial class system. While we can talk to people of different races here like equals, the chances are, the girl you talk to hasnt had many foreigners have a respectable conversation with her. Utilize to your advantage, you really don’t even need to game, just talk to them. Its like the anti-Toronto.
Because of this class system, the higher class girls are used to having money spent on them. With so much of Zambia’s worldly exposure being through US media, the men with money are the ones who display beta tendencies, and splash the cash on females. Being a foreigner, they will already put you in the class of being rich (by their standards), and you won’t have to prove yourself and wealth, just don’t hesitate to buy her a $5 pizza.
A friend of mine (local), a coloured (the legal definition of someone who is mixed, not the racist way its used in the USA), said in high school, if a girl agreed to come to his house, he would just lead her to his bedroom and get down to business. It worked 50% of the time, and of the 50% of the time it didnt work, half of those he would still get at a later date. I attempted this strategy at one point, with success.
ANECDOTE
I was staying with my local friend, and one of the neighbours was his girlfriend. She worked at a bank, at rented the house with her two sisters. I would buy the food for dinner, and they would cook it and bring it over. I started to notice the one sister was quite nice looking, apparently she was a model, 5’10, banging body, cute face. She was a bit shy, but persistence she started to open up more and more, progressing over time. Her eldest sister was also protective of her, as she was just 18.
One day my buddy was next door at their house, as they had the internet (a rare commodity in a house). I had just got back from being out at a meeting, and was walking over to pick-up the keys. Coming from the other direction was the model sister. We spoke breifly, she was much more open after some time, and out of range of her mother hen sister, it also helped that she saw me bringing another girl back to my place a few days prior and completely ignored my presence when we passed on the street. She asked what I was doing now, which wasn’t anything, and suggested we go for a walk around the neighbourhood. We strolled along, progressively getting touchier, sometimes arm in arm, then I would pull away, pinched her sides, etc. At one point my buddy asked me where I was, since I had told him I was about to be right there to get the keys, I said I was out walking with this girl. We finished the loop around the block and I suggested she come over to my place. No reason given, no reason required, she accepted. I still had to go get the keys though...so I walk in next door, get the keys real quick, and go on my way. He is on the computer with his girl, and they ask no questions (I knew he would be on point and make no mention of where I was to his girlfriend, cause that would cause havoc).
I take the model into my room, quasi-Caveman, the smallest of resistance which coincided with her putting her hands down my pants, so not really resistance. Yadda, Yadda, Yadda. The girl goes home, my friend can put 2 and 2 together, comes back and says the girls name in question form, I start laughing, he stars doing the African laugh (loud, slow, maniacal, chuckle, when you hear it, you know). I get a text 5 mins later “don’t tell my sister” actually it probably looked more like “dnt tel ma sis”, and I start doing the African laugh.
DAY GAME
There are two malls in Lusaka, all of the country actually, Arcades and the newly renovated Manda Hill. Its the best place to run day game, because if a girl there is shopping, they have some sort of money. There are a number of restaurants there too. Talk to any girl that looks nice, working, shopping, if shes into you, she will give you her number.
Being an obvious foreigner, you shouldn’t have any trouble starting up a conversation with a local, about anything. Ask her where something is, what time it is, where to buy talk time, anything. She will engage in conversation, and she will have a cell phone. Get her number to meet up later, go for drinks, or a movie. They have a theatre (yes, a theatre) at the Arcades mall, its up to an average American standard theatre. If you feel she is into you, you can ever get an insta-date, as most things to do are in the mall area anyway (The malls are about a mile apart from one another).
The city centre, Cairo rd. is another place, its bustling during the day, but the options are limited, and you don’t really know what you are getting yourself into with some of those girls. (Might be from the slums).
The best plan of action, depending on logistics, is to get them to make you a meal. Ideally, your place, but unless you are staying with a local, its not really possible. If they are a young single female, its rare they will have there own place, likely living with family of sorts. So its a bit of a tough game to wheel, but it is the best if you can make it happen. They will just expect you to bring the food (uncooked).
If you are in Livingstone, Victoria Falls area, there will be plenty of tourists around. Lots of European chicks traveling alone or together, looking for a worldy experience. Though word has spread that white girls go to Zambia, and hook-up with locals unprotected. So don’t get a false sense of security that you can go lax on protection because she is from the Northern Hemisphere.
NIGHT GAME
The high class establishments are around the mall area. There is clubs near each mall, and some of the restaurants with bars turn into lounges. The higher-end hotels all have bars/lounges which are good, and you know the girls there are of higher class.
Northmead area has the bars full of the younger crowd, no cover, thus you never know what you are getting yourself into. You will have to use instincts to make sure the girls aren’t outright prostitutes, I usually slip it into the conversation within the first few minutes and see their reaction. Sometimes I just ask outright, though thats when I have had a few, and is probably not Plan A. Lots of girls turn into prostitutes on the weekends.
Again with day game, just converse with them normally, ask if they want to dance. African girls know how to move their bodies. Be careful, if you dance with a girl, and then she asks you to buy her a drink, just drop her immediately. A good course of action is to scout a couple females, and watch them buy their own drinks.
The importance to putting on nicer clothing, a half-decent collored shirt and jeans or khaki’s, should be enough. Enough so you don’t look like a Red Cross volunteer.
ACTIVITIES
There really isn’t much to do in Lusaka outside of the malls. Most people are there for business, government, or national aide type NGOs. Tourists at most stop here for a couple days at most in transit. Almost all the tourists go through Livingstone in the south, as Victoria Falls are there, they are quite a site to see. There is plenty of game parks around there, and other activities, white water rafting along the Zambezi, bungee jumping, seeing animals etc. Kafue National Park is to the east of Lusaka, and the Zambezi river is to the south. There are a few other game reserves in the Northern Province, headed towards Congo and Tanzania.
The Copperbelt is along the northern border with Congo. It is a bit of a “rough” area. It has a blue-collar mining background, where as Lusaka has the white-collar bureaucratic roots.
With all areas though, the women and game is still the same.
If you are looking for an African adventure, Zambia is a great place to go. The locally refer to it as “The Real Africa”, a shot at South Africa, which they refer to as Europe. It’s a bit far to get too, but if you are in the area already, its worth stopping over. Feel free to ask any questions, or bring up topics I may have omitted.
I am a tall white man, so everyone assumes I am Bill Gates. The funniest moment that sticks out in my memory, I was walking down the main street in the city centre, not many foreigners around. These kids were talking to one another, walking in the opposite direction, the one looked up in astonishment, quickly brushed his friends off and went up to me with his hands out looking for change. All of a sudden he became a beggar. Keep in mind, no matter how poor you are by Western standards, the average income is under $1000.
It is generally a safe country. I am always more worried about HIV and Malaria then violence. But do keep in mind people are desperate, and they think you are rich. Avoid some areas at night, and you will be fine. It’s far safer then South Africa for example (not that that’s saying much). The people here are friendly, helpful and welcoming. Beware of people that talk to much (the loudmouths, trying to get what they can out of you $$ or want to appear valuable to other locals), but don’t hesitate to engage people in conversation. If you like football/soccer, the bars here are packed every weekend to watch the Premiership etc, and the people are very knowledgeable.
The official language is English. And everyone speaks English (in one form or another), in addition to regional native languages. Nyanja in Lusaka, Bemba in the Copperbelt (Northern part of the country, large string of cities, historically Copper Mine towns). Their accent is something different, really takes getting used to. Sometimes they uses phrases, which if you read them are correct, with sentence structure and accent, you havent a clue what they are trying to tell you.
For brown/tanned skins guys: There is a bit of an Indian population, as in other English-speaking African countries. The Lebanese are getting a bad reputation. Migrating to start businesses, but don’t treat the locals with much respect, and throw a lot of money around. Rumour about them making sex tapes and exploiting girls there. When I allude to things being rumoured, whether its actually true or not is irrelevant, gossip spreads like a bush fire here. There was a rumour in the late 90s after the HIV outbreak, that having sex with a virgin would cure you, obviously that’s not true, but it led to a problem of young girls (elementary school) being raped. I wish I was lying about that.
Ultimately though, if you are foreigner of any kind, even black guys (they can tell), you will be priceless.
I have been there multiple times for a period of 4-6 weeks. Mainly for business purposes (not mining or NGO).
TRAVEL
For North Americans, send your passport to the embassy a month before you go. Include copies of your flight confirmation, travel itinerary, hotel/lodge reservations. If you are already in South Africa for example, the embassies are all in Pretoria, in either case, you can ask for rush service for an extra fee. The visa fee itself is about $80-$100 depending on how many entries you need (if you leave to neighbouring country and want to come back).
The only direct flight from Europe is British Airways from London Heathrow, though apparently KLM are resuming service from Amsterdam. Emirates also flies from Dubai, South African Airways from Johannesburg, and a few other African airlines from neighbouring countries. Currently there is no flagship airline, the latest one Zambezi Airlines had their license suspended, not meeting safety regulations I think. Zambian Airways was the airline a few years back, but they went bankrupt, common occurance. None the less, the airports are still serviced, and if you want to get around the country by air, Proflight Commuter Service has small planes that do it.
I went to a travel doctor before I left. Got all the hepatitis shots, travellers diarrhea, and malaria pills. Depending on how long you stay, and time of year, malaria pills might not be absolute necessity. During their winter (southern hemipshere winter, May-August’ish), its cooler, and mosquito’s aren’t as common. Just cover up the exposed skin at dusk. If you go during the hot or rainy season, beyond October, take the pills, they will make you feel fatigued and mess with your dreams, but you will get bit, no matter how much you cover the skin and use repellent.
Bring your own toilet paper. You won’t have trouble finding a toilet, but its doubtful that it will have toilet paper or a toilet set, and have Imodium on hand
The local currency is Kwacha, its in the process of being revalued. $1 US=5000 Kwacha, but they are knocking off two zeros, so in the near future it will be around 50 kwacha.
When you arrive at Lusaka airport, get off the plane as quickly as possible, in fact, check-in for your flight online 24 hours before hand, and get a seat with as quick an exit as possible. When you get inside, there are 3 customs lines, 1 for Zambians, 1 for other Africans, and 1 for everyone else (usually the longest). With typical African efficiency, each person has to go through the process, tell them why you are there, show them reservations and flight confirmations for departure, and they will stamp your passport. You don’t want to be the guy at the back of the line after departing an overnight flight on a 767. I have heard stories about them trying to get more money out of you, never seen it myself though. Apparently, if you didnt have time to get a visa beforehand, you can buy one at the point of entry, but the price is unknown to me, and naturally more expensive. After getting through baggage claim, you will be swarmed by taxi drivers. They will tell you the equivalent of about $40 is what it cost to get into the city, realistically, its closer to $25, and you shouldn’t have trouble getting it down to $30 if you ask around and tell them you paid that much “last time”.
LODGING/TRANSPORTATION
There are a couple nice hotels, but they are priced accordingly, $200+ a night, the Intercontinental being the most noticeable, one of the largest buildings in the country, along with the Holiday Inn and The Pamodzi. They are in and around Cathedral Hill area, where all the embassies are, thus the high price. A few mid-range hotels are decent enough, $50-100 a night. Lodges are good too, $20-$40 for a room, a bit tougher to find though. Hostels for $10/night, apparently aren’t that bad, but I wouldn’t.
I was staying with a local, so we had our own pad, that was most ideal, but its not really ideal for a tourist, as there is a lack of rental properties available. 1 bedroom house in a decent part of town, $400/month, min. 3 months. What some foreigners do as of late in the Livingstone (Victoria Falls) area, they will rent a house for that price, or slightly higher, for the entire 3 month period, but only stay there a few weeks, because it will still be overall cheaper, especially for a group.
It would be imparative that you bring an unlocked cell phone with you, and buy a sim card, like $5 and comes with “talk time” (credit), remember which sim card you have, when you need to buy more talk time, some places only sell one brand (MTN, Zain). There is no such thing as a landline in Zambia, everyone has cell phones, you will need one for everything, there is simply no way of getting around without it.
Renting a car is not really practical. $50/day, and you wont have the slighest clue where to go, and forget about Satellite Navigation system. Taxi’s are the best way, but again, as a foreigner they will tell you near double what something should cost. Most places around the city shouldn’t be more then 25 000 kwacha, they will tell you 40-50 000. Use the line “last time” and walk away, the price will drop, there is no shortage of people willing to give you a ride.
There is a mini-bus system, but try to bother with that, especially if you are not with a local. It is cheap, under $1 a ride, but the routes are non-sensical, and you will likely be squished in, they travel full. The drivers are erratic, the maintenece is highly questionable, and they bus stations they drop you off at, arent the best places for outsiders.
WOMEN
Zambians are very proper in public, they analyze all your body language, respect means a lot. “Lady in the streets, freak in the sheets”. When first meeting a girl, don’t come on too strong, they don’t have the same sense of humour. I have a dry, sarcastic, clever humour at times, which is fine and dandy in North America, but in Africa, they really don’t comprehend it.
I find African black women to look exponentially better then black women in the Americas. They are very natural, have great bodies, very curvy, soft skin. The only fast food here is fried chicken, pizza and Subway, but these are considered luxuries, and the average women cant rely on these like in the Western cultures. They never eat more then they need to, because food is expensive, and there is a lot of walking.
Zambian women are interesting creatures. They like sex, and thus have amongst the highest HIV rates in the world. They will play games with you, but its like honest games, you can see right through it, its not very clever and you can call them out on it. It is there way of trying to make it seem like they aren’t completely easy. Which they generally are.
There is no room for hesitation or beta behaviour in Africa. You don’t think, just do. You are only limited by your imagination.
There wasn’t a women in the country I didn’t feel I had a legitimate chance with. On one trip, I was boarding the flight in Jo’burg, walking up the stairs to the 737 and asked the model looking girl in front of me, who was struggling carrying her bag up the steps if she needed assistance. She seemed very grateful, and after the flight I chatted her up walking from the plane to the terminal, and again at baggage claim. Turns out she was Miss Zambia. Got her number, she kept calling me, but was HIGHLY flakey. Didn’t seal the deal, because of logistics (I was there for work afterall, and I flew half way around the world...), would have been a nice addition to the list, but there is always something to strive for next time. In retrospect, I got the feeling she was going to try to hit me up for money, and a year later I found out she had a baby (pregnant within months after I left). The point is; if Miss “any country” is hitting you up, it pretty much makes you feel invincible with any women in the country.
Texting is quite common, you may need a translator though, they take short-hand to a new level. If a girl gives you a missed call, 1 or 2 rings and hangs up, she wants you to call her back and use your credit, instead of hers. Its pretty normal.
Zambia still maintains a colonial class system. While we can talk to people of different races here like equals, the chances are, the girl you talk to hasnt had many foreigners have a respectable conversation with her. Utilize to your advantage, you really don’t even need to game, just talk to them. Its like the anti-Toronto.
Because of this class system, the higher class girls are used to having money spent on them. With so much of Zambia’s worldly exposure being through US media, the men with money are the ones who display beta tendencies, and splash the cash on females. Being a foreigner, they will already put you in the class of being rich (by their standards), and you won’t have to prove yourself and wealth, just don’t hesitate to buy her a $5 pizza.
A friend of mine (local), a coloured (the legal definition of someone who is mixed, not the racist way its used in the USA), said in high school, if a girl agreed to come to his house, he would just lead her to his bedroom and get down to business. It worked 50% of the time, and of the 50% of the time it didnt work, half of those he would still get at a later date. I attempted this strategy at one point, with success.
ANECDOTE
I was staying with my local friend, and one of the neighbours was his girlfriend. She worked at a bank, at rented the house with her two sisters. I would buy the food for dinner, and they would cook it and bring it over. I started to notice the one sister was quite nice looking, apparently she was a model, 5’10, banging body, cute face. She was a bit shy, but persistence she started to open up more and more, progressing over time. Her eldest sister was also protective of her, as she was just 18.
One day my buddy was next door at their house, as they had the internet (a rare commodity in a house). I had just got back from being out at a meeting, and was walking over to pick-up the keys. Coming from the other direction was the model sister. We spoke breifly, she was much more open after some time, and out of range of her mother hen sister, it also helped that she saw me bringing another girl back to my place a few days prior and completely ignored my presence when we passed on the street. She asked what I was doing now, which wasn’t anything, and suggested we go for a walk around the neighbourhood. We strolled along, progressively getting touchier, sometimes arm in arm, then I would pull away, pinched her sides, etc. At one point my buddy asked me where I was, since I had told him I was about to be right there to get the keys, I said I was out walking with this girl. We finished the loop around the block and I suggested she come over to my place. No reason given, no reason required, she accepted. I still had to go get the keys though...so I walk in next door, get the keys real quick, and go on my way. He is on the computer with his girl, and they ask no questions (I knew he would be on point and make no mention of where I was to his girlfriend, cause that would cause havoc).
I take the model into my room, quasi-Caveman, the smallest of resistance which coincided with her putting her hands down my pants, so not really resistance. Yadda, Yadda, Yadda. The girl goes home, my friend can put 2 and 2 together, comes back and says the girls name in question form, I start laughing, he stars doing the African laugh (loud, slow, maniacal, chuckle, when you hear it, you know). I get a text 5 mins later “don’t tell my sister” actually it probably looked more like “dnt tel ma sis”, and I start doing the African laugh.
DAY GAME
There are two malls in Lusaka, all of the country actually, Arcades and the newly renovated Manda Hill. Its the best place to run day game, because if a girl there is shopping, they have some sort of money. There are a number of restaurants there too. Talk to any girl that looks nice, working, shopping, if shes into you, she will give you her number.
Being an obvious foreigner, you shouldn’t have any trouble starting up a conversation with a local, about anything. Ask her where something is, what time it is, where to buy talk time, anything. She will engage in conversation, and she will have a cell phone. Get her number to meet up later, go for drinks, or a movie. They have a theatre (yes, a theatre) at the Arcades mall, its up to an average American standard theatre. If you feel she is into you, you can ever get an insta-date, as most things to do are in the mall area anyway (The malls are about a mile apart from one another).
The city centre, Cairo rd. is another place, its bustling during the day, but the options are limited, and you don’t really know what you are getting yourself into with some of those girls. (Might be from the slums).
The best plan of action, depending on logistics, is to get them to make you a meal. Ideally, your place, but unless you are staying with a local, its not really possible. If they are a young single female, its rare they will have there own place, likely living with family of sorts. So its a bit of a tough game to wheel, but it is the best if you can make it happen. They will just expect you to bring the food (uncooked).
If you are in Livingstone, Victoria Falls area, there will be plenty of tourists around. Lots of European chicks traveling alone or together, looking for a worldy experience. Though word has spread that white girls go to Zambia, and hook-up with locals unprotected. So don’t get a false sense of security that you can go lax on protection because she is from the Northern Hemisphere.
NIGHT GAME
The high class establishments are around the mall area. There is clubs near each mall, and some of the restaurants with bars turn into lounges. The higher-end hotels all have bars/lounges which are good, and you know the girls there are of higher class.
Northmead area has the bars full of the younger crowd, no cover, thus you never know what you are getting yourself into. You will have to use instincts to make sure the girls aren’t outright prostitutes, I usually slip it into the conversation within the first few minutes and see their reaction. Sometimes I just ask outright, though thats when I have had a few, and is probably not Plan A. Lots of girls turn into prostitutes on the weekends.
Again with day game, just converse with them normally, ask if they want to dance. African girls know how to move their bodies. Be careful, if you dance with a girl, and then she asks you to buy her a drink, just drop her immediately. A good course of action is to scout a couple females, and watch them buy their own drinks.
The importance to putting on nicer clothing, a half-decent collored shirt and jeans or khaki’s, should be enough. Enough so you don’t look like a Red Cross volunteer.
ACTIVITIES
There really isn’t much to do in Lusaka outside of the malls. Most people are there for business, government, or national aide type NGOs. Tourists at most stop here for a couple days at most in transit. Almost all the tourists go through Livingstone in the south, as Victoria Falls are there, they are quite a site to see. There is plenty of game parks around there, and other activities, white water rafting along the Zambezi, bungee jumping, seeing animals etc. Kafue National Park is to the east of Lusaka, and the Zambezi river is to the south. There are a few other game reserves in the Northern Province, headed towards Congo and Tanzania.
The Copperbelt is along the northern border with Congo. It is a bit of a “rough” area. It has a blue-collar mining background, where as Lusaka has the white-collar bureaucratic roots.
With all areas though, the women and game is still the same.
If you are looking for an African adventure, Zambia is a great place to go. The locally refer to it as “The Real Africa”, a shot at South Africa, which they refer to as Europe. It’s a bit far to get too, but if you are in the area already, its worth stopping over. Feel free to ask any questions, or bring up topics I may have omitted.
