SAFARI - Overbooked: The Exploding Business of Travel and Tourism - page 150

cracked and uneven, and the smoke from cooking fires can burn your eyes in the evening.
There is also an unmistakable smell of change in the air. A landlocked nation in south-
ern Africa, Zambia has become the forgotten, almost homely country in a flashy neigh-
borhood. Fabled South Africa to the south is the giant of the continent. Zimbabwe, direc-
tly south, was once a wealthy dynamo, until its president, Robert Mugabe, ran it into the
ground. Botswana and Namibia are far better known for their wilderness tourism.
Zambia is slowly recovering its footing in the region. Since the government opened
up its copper industry to foreign investment, the economy has been booming, growing at
6 percent every year, with copper earnings making up more than half of Zambia's gross
domestic product. Much of the new money underwriting this transformation is Chinese.
The Asian giant is a new player in Zambia's mineral industries, including its precious gem-
stones, joining the dominant Canadian, Australian and Indian companies.
Mark C. Storella, the U.S. ambassador to Zambia, argues that Zambia is an overlooked
country. “It has a stable and functioning government, has never had internal armed con-
flicts and is a showcase of democracy in southern Africa, especially after the September
2011 elections that saw another peaceful democratic transfer of power.”
Tourism is a laggard next to the mining industries. Zambia has some of the largest wild-
life parks in Africa, but they have been mismanaged and were never publicized well in the
larger tourism world. Today, Zambia's tourism officials are trying to raise their country's
profile and slowly balance Zambia's dependence on minerals. Last year, tourism made a
small leap, contributing nearly $1 billion to the economy, but copper is king, providing 65
percent of exports. The tourism receipts are also minuscule compared to the $41 billion
that South Africa pulls in from tourism every year.
Tourism, though, is on the rise, and foreign visitors coming on safari are a mainstay of
the culture of Zambia, like oil in Texas. I discovered this at a mass at St. Ignatius Church
in Lusaka, where a choir sang inspired hymns throughout the service. Father Chilanda
built his sermon around the gospel story of the apostles fearing for their well-being once
Jesus left the earth. He used a tourist to symbolize modern man. Then he put the tour-
ist in danger, falling off Zambia's Victoria Falls while he was trying to take a photograph
of the tumbling waters. Father Chilanda said: “Miraculously, the tourist broke his fall by
grabbing a branch.”
Then the tourist heard a voice calling through the blue sky, saying: “Let go, I'll catch
you.” The tourist asks “Who are you?” When the voice says he is God, the tourist refuses
this promise of salvation from an invisible God and instead says, “I'll wait for someone
else.” The congregation laughed. Where would priests be without the feckless tourist to
act as the fall guy?
More than a few Africans and tourist experts asked me why I was headed to Zambia
and not Kenya, or South Africa. As it turns out, Zambia benefits from being off the beaten
track. I was promised a safari where I wouldn't have to worry about spending days in the