A July Dreamer

A Travel & Lifestyle Blog

Africa ·

First Time Visiting Zambia Trip | Solo Travel

Zambia, my motherland and first home is a landlocked country in Southern Africa, not South Africa – Southern Africa. I left the only home I had ever known when I was 15, leaving behind all my friends and extended family. Since our move, I have only been one once and that was with family but this trip, I was alone. I have just started solo travelling and though I am enjoying it, its absolutely terrifying no matter the destination. Most of my friends assumed because I was born in Zambia, I should know how to get around forgetting I have not been for over 10 years.

Travelling to Africa in particular travelling to Zambia is not like travelling around Europe or America. It took me a long time to be confident enough to give solo travel a try but visiting Zambia is a whole new ball game, one I fear I am not yet equipped for. But I was excited to see my family, school friends, former neighbours and many other people including my former headteacher. The part I was not looking forward to was sharing a taxi and riding rusted hazard-prone buses (not all are bad)whilst someone invades your personal space. But, as they say, home is home no matter what it looks like.

First Time Visiting Zambia Trip

First Time Visiting Zambian Trip

It has been quite on here over the last 3 weeks because I was too busy enjoying life, catching up with family and there was no Wi-Fi. Either way, it felt great to reconnect with my cousins, make new friends and just switch off from everything for a while. Though the heading of this post is a little misguiding, it’s true that it was my first time visiting Zambia after many years abroad.

  • First Time Visiting Zambia
  • First Time Visiting Zambia

For the longest time, I have wanted to go back home and visit using my own hard-earned cash and finally, this year managed the dream and went to Zambia. I can’t explain how happy I was to be able to make my own money and buy my own ticket home to visit my extended family and friends. The last time I was in Zambia, mum took us and we had such a tight schedule there was no room for spending this with friends. This is why when I bought my own ticket, I made a decision to spend as much time seeing old friends as I could.

Zambia holds half of my life’s memories and it was surreal walking in the streets in played in, seeing the people I knew and eating the foods that I am only too familiar with. I felt for a moment like I was having an out of body experience and it felt great walking down memory lane. Visiting my old home and school was probably the most emotionally charged visits ever.

Things to Know Before Going to Zambia

Are you thinking of exploring Southern Africa any time soon? Well, if it’s your first time visiting Zambia, I want to share a few tips from a former local so you can have an enjoyable trip. Please remember like any country there are pickpocketers so be mindful of your belongings and keep everything out of sight. Below I have listed a few things to know for those visiting Zambia for the first time.

  • There are no beaches but we have rivers – Zambia is a landlocked country meaning we are enclosed by other countries and have no access to the seaside. We have plenty of rivers in Zambia and one I would recommend checking out is the origin of the Zambezi river.
  • Book hotels or Lodges than B&B and if you book a B&B then make sure it has the highest reviews possible. Don’t both booking taxis if your hotel provides airport transfer, book that instead.
  • Change your mum at the bank, Bureau or at the airport, this is to avoid being ripped off and have an understanding of how our currency works and compares to your country.
  • When you hire a car, make sure you take lots of peoples and report any damage beforehand otherwise you shall pay for what you did not cause.
  • Carry wipes and tissues for hygiene purposes as well as comfortable shoes, there can be a lot of walking depending on where you are in the country.
  • Tipping is not a thing in Zambia but it is generally accepted in most places
  • Travelling within the country via public transport can be tricky but is doable, I would hire a car to save time.

I was so happy to have visited my home and seen my friends as well as the extended family. One most memorable thing about this trip was reconnecting with my cousins and spending time talking about everything that has happened in the last 10+ years.

Have you ever been to Zambia?

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Comments

  19. Fiona Naughton says

    Such an amazing trip and always so great to visit home again. You look beautiful by the way, gorgeous outfit in the top two pictures 🙂

    Reply

  20. Mandi Kane says

    What an incredible opportunity. Your dress is beautiful, and you look so happy. Really eager to see how this went.

    Reply

  28. Karissa Ancell says

    Lucky you be on a fun trip! I’m going on vacation so I’m trying to plan some posts and get them ready so I can take time off.

    Reply

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