Travel and Arrival

 Travel arrangements started from Lusaka on Sunday 26th May 2015. I had been looking forward to traveling to Livingstone after many captivating stories about the Southern tourist city of Zambia. I had gathered information from friends, from online and even had to access google earth just to get a feel of how the city is.
A chilly Sunday morning added to my excitement as the driver hooted at my gate ready for the airport transfer.  I was up early, actually by over one and half hours at Kenneth Kaunda International Airport. Hurriedly, I went through check-in procedures only to receive information from the check-in counters that boarding time will be "one hour from now". Proflight, a domestic flight in Zambia apparently doesn't have check-in hustles like international departures. At exactly 11:00hours, we were airborne aboard Proflight 704 to Livingstone. The excitement at this point was palpable.
One hour and ten minutes, the flight had touched down at Harry Mwanga Nkubula airport in Livingstone. The weather was warm, relatively hotter than I was used to in Lusaka. The airport structures looked fairly simple and not congested. Being a first timer in Livingstone, I followed the trail of fellow traveler as we headed to check out counters. There was no baggage area really and we just stood in a simple allay leading out, to wait for our bags, delivered shortly in a simple hand cart.
As I head, out several taxi drivers are standing by the exit, beckoning each approaching traveler to accept their offer of service, of course each trying to convince their best offer. "How much is it to Kaazmein lodge?" I ask as a tall dark, slender taxi driver grabs my suitcase. "One eighty kwacha boss" he replies as he headed towards the taxi. "How many kilometers is it to town" I ask. "About five to eight boss" he replied shyly. "But then five kilometers is not justified to charge one eighty kwacha"
I lamented, as I pull him back in disagreement. "Ok boss I can take fifty kwacha for the same" he said as he realised he was just about to loose a customer. So in about ten minutes minutes, we turned in at Kaazmein Lodge on Maina Soko road.

About Livingstone

 Livingstone was, until 2012, the capital of the Southern province of Zambia. Lying 10 km (6.2 mi) to the north of the Zambezi river, it is a tourism centre for the Victoria Falls and a border town with road and rail connections to Zimbabwe on the other side of the Victoria Falls. A historic British Council city, its present population was estimated at 136,897 inhabitants at the 2010 census. It is named after David Livingstone, the British explorer who was the first European to explore the area.
Named after Scottish explorer Dr David Livingstone, Livingstone’s culture and history is intriguing – as is evidenced by the arts and craft producers, museums, colonial architecture, traditional village life, local food and the general African lifestyle.

Pre-colonial History

Mukuni, 9.6 km (6.0 mi) to the south-east of present day Livingstone, was the largest village in the area before Livingstone was founded. Its Baleya inhabitants, originally from the Rozwi culture in Zimbabwe, were conquered by Chief Mukuni who came from the Congo in the 18th century. Another group of Baleya under Chief Sekute lived near the river west of the town. The most numerous people in the area, though, were the Batoka under Chief Musokotwane based at Senkobo, 30 km (19 mi) north. These are southern Tonga people but are culturally and linguistically similar to the Baleya and grouped with them as the 'Tokaleya'.

Memorial to David Livingstone

The Tokaleya paid tribute to the Lozi of Barotseland but in 1838 the Kololo, a Sotho tribe from South Africa displaced byZulu wars, migrated north and conquered the Lozi. The Kololo placed chiefs of their subordinate Subiya people ofSesheke over the Tokaleya. In 1855 Scottish missionary traveller David Livingstone became the first European to be shown the Zambezi in the Livingstone vicinity and to see Victoria Falls when he was taken there by the Subiya/Kololo Chief Sekeletu.
In 1864 the Lozi threw off their Kololo masters and re-established their dominance over the Subiya and the Tokaleya in the vicinity of the Falls, which became the south-eastern margin of the greater Barotseland kingdom.

Accommodation
 Livingstone offers a variety of accommodation options to choose from. There are three star hotels in the range of ZKw 350 to Zkw 500, numerous lodges, some as low as Zkw 150 while the high end lodges can be as high as ZKw 380. You can sample Fairmount hotel, woodlands lodge, Prime apartments and lodge, Kaazmein lodge among many others in and around town.

Kaazmein lodge, set in an African theme housing with African bandas for accommodation and a natural setting will evoke your long forgotten village life. The bandas are grass thatched with a modern bathroom and toilet and a shower cubicle. Apart from the Dstv in the room and the modern bathrooms, the room gives a feeling of living deep in the village.The lodge has two Zebras that roam around day and retreat to the bushes under cover of darkness. The Zebras will usually graze near where people gather.They will extend their muzzle for you to strike them. But caution though, that when they charge, don't run! Stand still, and they recognize you are friendly. The warder explained that running away is an indication that you are unfriendly according to the Zebras. There are benches by the bushes and green lawns, a huge fishpond with beautiful fountains. It was a fulfilling experience to live at Kaazmein Lodge.

Food and Dining

While at Livingstone, enjoy a samptuous meal at food palace along Mosi otunya road next to bata shop, coffee cafe along the same road on the opposite side, fast food restaurants like hungry lion, shoprite deli.

Residents at a breakfast table

At Fairmount Hotel, you can enjoy a well prepared Indian cusine. Kaazmein Lodge is famous for its chicken bred within the premises. They also have a good assortment of vegetables grown organically within the compound.
Transport and Infrastructure
Livingstone has a fairly developed infrastructure with a good road network of tarred roads. The streets are clean and well lit.  Transport around town is by taxis which you can pick from the parking lots or wave it down as they zoom about town. Booking from the parking lots has different pricing but generally cheap compared to Lusaka. On average twenty Kwacha can take you around the town estates.

Attraction sites
Victoria Falls
Livingstone Museum
Mukuni VillageBunjy Jumbping


Venue of Training

Kaazmein Main Restaurant

 Kaazmein Lodge offered a perfect training gound. It was very quiet and the environment was very conducive. The soft breeze from the natural forest all around, the green scenery and natural light in the Gazebos offered the perfect learning environment. The health break at 10:00hours and 16:00hours was something we all looked forward to.
 
Training Experience
 The training, conducted by two versatile trainers Francis Ekwaro and Denis Nsiimenta was a rewarding experience. Their intellect, prowess and grasp of the subject was awesome.At the end of the training, I felt, renewed, rejuvenated and more upto date on contemporary issues in advanced knowledge and information management.

Day Excursion in Livingstone

Closing ceremony 

New Friends at Kaazmein Lodge
 Human socialization is about meeting new friends and parting old friends. This experience at Kaazmein Lodge was equally exciting. I met friends of varying characters, some of which kept our stay at Livingstone

Benji and his Zabras

Lion at Kaazmein museum

Wildbeest at Museum