My 1st Bus Ride in Zambia

There is always a first time so goes an old adage. After six months of being in placement or in-country, all the volunteers from our batch were called to Lusaka for a meeting referred to as call-back. A week-long activity including travel; however, it took me more than 7 days away from work to take advantage of the trip and my destination was Lake Kariba.

Volunteers who have been in Chipata advised us to take the first trip to Lusaka which is at 5:30 in the morning because it is the most reliable one. If you catch the 2nd or 3rd bus, chances are, you will end up being in Chipata bus station until noon. Our pre-arranged taxi came to pick myself and my housemate from our house. Colleagues advised us to take “Jordan bus”, so we tried to look for it only to find out that the bus is called “juldan”. Another recommended bus was called “max” only to find out that the name is “mark’s”. I don’t know if they have difficulty in pronouncing the letters or I probably have hearing problem. Juldan bus was impressive, double decker, spacious and nicely painted.

We stashed our bags (which were quite big considering the duration of our stay in Lusaka!) in the compartment while ensuring that bags would be safe underneath. Afterwards, the conductor asked for the fare even before getting inside the bus. The fare was ZK110,000.00 (Zambian Kwacha). We were able to find a nice seat on the top deck of the bus. We were seated observing people come and being bothered by barkers as they try to select the bus they probably like or forcefully convinced to get on a particular bus by the barkers who were so insistent. We even saw the conductor granting one passenger discounted fare with ZK20,000 change for a ZK100,000-bill. One learning in Zambia and even Malawi, people can haggle for fare. I wish bus companies in the Philippines are also the same. Here in Zambia and Malawi, if the bus stopped by a passenger on the road, negotiations for fare happen. If the passenger is not happy with the price of the conductor, then the bus leaves.
The 5:30 trip schedule became 6:30. Bus was delayed although I was surprised with myself because I was patient despite the long-wait. Maybe because of the entertainment I found while observing the people at the bus station. When the bus started off, I was relieved only to discover the worst because all passengers the driver see on the road, the bus would stop. I was counting and, it stopped every 10 minutes until finally the bus was full.

Midway to Lusaka is a famous rest area called Luangwa bridge, private or public vehicle stop at this place to pee, buy snacks or fish, native crafts or just simply to stretch. I also got off the bus to buy coke believing that I can manage without peeing until we reach Lusaka because from Chipata I didn’t take any liquid for this reason. While myself bought a bottle of coke, other passengers were buying fried and grilled fish. I thought they will take them to Lusaka like our famous tradition as “pasalubong”, only to see them eating the fried and grilled fish as snacks!

Culture shock, I don’t really know. For me, it just conveys something about culture. Zambians have their own way of doing things while we, as Filipinos have our own way of doing things. We may think that our practice is alright but we are not sure if they think otherwise about what we do.