Hi again, dear Steemians, as we cope with whatever is happening with our beloved Steemit platform in the background and I try to post this on busy.org (with weird shifting of periods after hyperlinks to the end of subsequent sentences - yikes - don't know what this is going to look like or whether I'll be able to edit it if my edits here didn't work), I thought I'd share a few more shots of Lusaka with you just to give you more of an idea what ordinary Lusaka is like. If you read yesterday's post, then you'll know I took these in haste from the car between meetings.
[Edit update: try as I might, I can't get these headings to work although they were fine in the original Steemstyle version. I might give up.]
While I would love to share photos with you of some of the leafier streets, and the spectacular hardwood trees lining them (especially since they were flowering in such a showy way), I didn't spend enough time in those areas of town on this last visit to give you a good sense of just how green Lusaka can be.
Since I can't share "green Lusaka" with you this time, let me share "modernising Lusaka" with you.
Driving around
What does it look like from the road?
Here's a typical genteel street scene, consisting of a decently paved road, walled-in houses and offices, well-tended gardens, and flowering trees (those purple trees are jacarandas just coming into bloom). Look how rich that red laterite soil is in the excavation. I'm not sure what the trenches were for; perhaps drainage improvement.
What you don't typically see are sidewalks, even though much of the population has to walk some distance to get to and from work. People put a lot of effort into keeping their shoes and clothes dust-free from their daily commute.
Where some people work
Here are some recently constructed office blocks.
Here is another office park in another area of town, with strong corporate tenants.
Where some people worship
And here's a newly constructed New Apostolic church in the suburb of Ibex Hill, not far from the (enormous, and unphotographable) American embassy.
I'll try to get a shot of the Anglican cathedral when I'm there next. It's situated in spacious, treed grounds and produces the loveliest sounds on Sundays as the choir gets into full voice.
## There are a number of different mobile money solutions
Most people now have mobile phones, and use pay as you go systems. They also use mobile phones as a way of transferring money; often urban residents send money to family members in rural areas.
Squint really hard at that green and blue stand. Whenever I saw one open, we were driving too fast for me to snap a pic, so please trust me when I said I saw many open during my five days in Lusaka. It's an interesting street-level financial services group, Zoona which uses "technology and entrepreneurship to bring about transformative change in Africa".
Looking at these Zoona outlets and other mobile money solutions Zambians use, it's not hard to imagine that crypto-based apps could develop traction here.
## People sell the most interesting things by the side of the road
Yes, bedframes and a hatrack. In case you're wondering, although the rainy season hadn't started in earnest yet, there were quite a few drenching showers the week I was there. I didn't see anyone, er, attached to these bedframes so can only assume that they felt all was well under control in terms of their product potentially getting soaked. Or stolen.
These columns would be harder to steal. Notice the new culvert by the side of the road - it will be a big relief for drivers and pedestrians alike once the rains start in earnest. Most drivers I've observed over the years don't slow down for puddles, so unfortunate pedestrians really get drenched. As far as I know, this is part of a large scale project funded by the American government through the Millennium Challenge Corporation to improve water supply and management in Lusaka, but since I didn't see any project signboards here, I stand to be corrected.
## A random wind turbine
This proved much harder to photograph than I expected - on the day I was alert enough to be taking pictures, the wind was pumping and this small wind turbine outside Samsung's office was spinning up a storm. At least in a photo, the lens captures the position of the blades in the split second the aperture is open.
## Many, many new hotels and malls
Those two boxy buildings are relatively expensive hotels, part of a South African chain now linked to the global Marriott brand, and built by a Zambian entrepreneur. While they might not be too attractive from the outside, they sit in a rapidly expanding mall area of Lusaka, in the middle of three malls, side by side. One is a more traditional Southern African mall undergoing a major overhaul and expansion, one is a banking mall with a couple of really nice restaurants (Indian, Thai and a pretty coffee shop for quick, inexpensive lunches), and the third is a big suburban mall with everything from Pick n Pay (a major South African grocery chain), to mobile network outlets, all the fast food brands you could possibly want (not moi) to a large home building/DIY supply outlet (Builder's Warehouse, for my South African Steemfriends).
South Africans will recognise a few well-known retail brands at this mall:
And this mall in quite an affluent area of town has an interesting anchor tenant - Choppies. Choppies is interesting as it was established by local investors in Botswana and has expanded subsequently into South Africa and the rest of the region. Usually we see South African brands moving outwards into the region - go Choppies!
More traditional malls...
I had to get a shot of this one because, well, maple. Said the Canadian, reminded of her former homeland currently celebrating its sesquicentennial. Say that ten times fast!
## ...non-traditional housing complexes...
The gentleman driving me around was convinced this complex had been built by Chinese contractors. Note the solar water heater on the roof. I didn't have a chance to check if its orientation made sense.
...and quite an odd design for a commercial building
This place, Cheers, seems to have everything anyone could possibly want: Hypermarket - Café (avec l'accent, s'il vous plaît!) - Wines & Spirits - Bakery - Butchery. This building must have some pretty clever roof drainage with a design like that. I wonder how many rainy seasons it's been through (dry inside)?
## And most of the traffic lights work!
