Sunday, April 17, 2011

More of Zambia, in tiny sized portions


One of the only other places I visited in Zambia was Livingstone, the town closest to Victoria Falls on the Zambian side. It's pretty much a tourist town and the really isn't a whole lot to do there. There are museums and some buildings to visit and that's about it. The main road that passes through town is paved and continues to Lusaka and can bring you to the road to the airport also. I did however get to visit one of the markets there. I'm not sure how many markets there are in Livingstone (I saw this one and drove past a smaller market, well more like a road side market I suppose) but this seemed to be the main market. They sold pretty much everything. Out in front there were people selling bedding, electronics, and alcohol among many other items. Further inside there were clothes, foods, hairdressers, and small restaurants. Pretty much the main structure of the market was a concrete building that was portioned into individual stall spaces. The stalls areas were close together and the walkways in between were quite cramped. Once you add in hanging clothes, signs, and some pieces of cloth or metal to stop the sun and rain, the results were some very dark areas of the market. A shame really as I wanted a bit more light to take pictures but oh well. And of course like any good market the ground was a mix of dirt, crumbling conrete, and castoffs from various stalls. I did manage to take a few pictures. I also gave out a few more instant photos. The news that you're giving out free photos spreads surprisingly fast and by the time I had take four or five there was a smallish crowd (probably more like eight people, but eight people in a small alleyway!) asking if I could take their picture. I had run out of film at that point though so I couldn't take anymore. It's a good thing they accepted that I had run out as I pretty much had no where to go if I needed to make a quick getaway. They were all pretty friendly though. One man asked to take a photo of his small son with himself which I did. I wanted another picture of them but before I had a chance to take it with my digital camera they disappeared around a corner. This first picture is of a tailor. I took a few pictures before this one and he looked like the saddest most serious guy ever. No smile at all haha. Once I took an instant photo and gave it to him though, the smile came out. I also had a driver from the hotel with me and whilst most people spoke English they speak their own language much more comfortably and he was able to quickly get my message of picture taking across to them.






2 comments:

  1. i realized instant polaroid pictured are alway the best gifts for anyone, esp the locals. And nv fail to bring a smile on their faces =)

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