Blues Brothers

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85V8Q6o0c-k

Although not travel related, wanted to share a video done of a recent Karaoke contest that I participated in. What fun! But....tough to watch oneself sing, and try to dance!

Leaving Lusaka

I am leaving Lusaka and am sure going to miss the nice warm weather. It is supposed to be rainy season, but we missed it this past week. The local residents want the rain though!

Today when I awoke I spent time looking out the window and oddly did not see many birds, nor cats, nor dogs, forget about squirrels. In fact, as I drove from the hotel to the various locations I visited, there weren't many animals to be seen. With a populaiton of just about 10 million, I can now understand why there aren't many tall buildings in the downtown area - with the amount of land Zambia has, they can spread it out. Traffic is non-existent. Again, less people, at least in the parts I visited, lots of space, minimizes the contribution to traffic.

Another interesting observation I made is that you only receive paper monetory notes - not a coin to be found! At least I didn't get any coins as change when making purchases.

Lusaka

Arrived in Lusaka on Tuesday morning, had a really good flight from London. I had a long layover(11 hours) in London, and because of that decided to utilize a "day-room" at the Heathrow airport. The day-room was provided by Yotel, what a cool place. The rooms are in the actual airport and were designed after the newer first-class airplane cabins, only not on a plane! Very small rooms, but enough to get you a hot shower and a few hours of comfortable sleep. Prices are good, and a great alternative to flying business class, but not at the rate of business class!
Lusaka surprised me, for some reason I expected to see a bustling city, instead to my pleasant surprise I found a peaceful, rural landscape. To me, the people are what make the southern part of Africa so great - very friendly citizens. In my visits to Africa, what I have learned to be typical African are people who enjoy to chat, are very helpful (want to help you!), and above all, keep a cool demeanor. I have nothing but respect and admiration for the residents here.
You can tell I had a great "people" day, can't you?

Back to Africa

After a nice Thanksgiving holiday - although I ended up catching a stomach virus over the long weekend, I'm back on the road heading to Lusaka, Zambia. My work there will include providing technical training and a pilot test of a new version of our Council ACASI software. We have re-engineered the software to operate on a touch-screen laptop, otherwise known as "tablet" computers. Currently in London, England with a layover before my long flight to Lusaka. Will keep this Blog posted on my travels. Stay well.