Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
they make up roughly 6% of the population. The annual inundations provide good soil for
crops and good grass for cows, so naturally the Lozi are farmers and herders, although
when the flood plain is covered in water, they often have to move to villages on higher
ground.
Relative newcomers to the country include South African businesspeople and Zimbab-
wean farmers who lost their land under Robert Mugabe's rule. There are also many
Europeans and North Americans; some (such as mining consultants) have been living in
Zambia for decades, while others (such as aid workers) stay for only a few years before
moving on.
FOOTBALL NATION
Kennedy Mweene, the goalkeeper and captain of the Zambian national football team (who are known as Chipolo-
polo or 'the copper bullets'), endeared himself to Zambians during the sudden-death shootout for the 2012 Africa
Cup of Nations in Libreville, Gabon. After blocking Cote d'Ivoire star Didier Drogba's shot, Mweene mimicked
the hand-in-face move meant to suggest, 'I'm so fast, you can't see me', of American wrestler John Cena (both
Cena and World Wrestling Entertainment, or WWE, are extremely popular in Zambia). Zambia took the Cup, a
massive high for a nation that had suffered the greatest tragedy when, almost 20 years earlier, the entire national
team was killed in a plane crash en route to Senegal for a World Cup qualifier.
As a somewhat deflating counterpoint to the euphoria and pride of the African Cup win in Gabon, Nkoloma
Stadium in Lusaka fell into disrepair and a section of the stands even collapsed in 2012. This prompted the nation-
al team to move to the Levy Mwanawasa Stadium in Ndola until a new one is built. Keep your eyes open for
enormous roadside billboard ads with Herve Renard, the French coach of the national team, in his now trademark
white collared shirt open to the chest.
The quality of the country's domestic league is undermined by players lured abroad with more lucrative salar-
ies. Some of the best Zambian footballers are recruited by TP Mazembe in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
(DRC), which is widely considered the Real Madrid of Africa. However, two of the country's four most competit-
ive teams are associated with the military - the Red Arrows of the air force and the army's Green Buffaloes. The
other two are Zanarco (Lusaka) and the Warriors (Kitwe).
Environment
The Land
Landlocked Zambia is one of Africa's most eccentric legacies of colonialism. Shaped like
a mangled butterfly, its borders don't correspond to any tribal or linguistic area. And Zam-
