Downtown Lusaka

Hall of Justice

Where the Pavement Ends

LUSAKA   There was only one building I recognized when I came to Lusaka (right side of first photo).  I'd seen a picture of what there is of a city skyline, and this building was so unusual. It was located on Cairo Road, one of the main shopping roads in town.  Of course, all that could change since the first mall in the country opened.   That was such a big event that hundreds -- possibly thousands -- of people stood in line just to get into the department store.  I wasn't one of them.

I wanted to take a photo of the president's house, one of the most beautiful buildings in the city.   But, I knew to ask permission.  The man at the security post slapped his hands to his cheeks in horror and shook his head no.  So, instead I took a picture of the Hall of Justice where there were no guards and nobody  to ask.  I liked the barbed wire around the building.  Perhaps it addressed the amount of justice in country?  The house helper for one of my friends was arrested.  He was in a mini-van that wrecked.  These vans were usually crowded but this particular one had four people.  Four people?  That was so suspicious that the police arrested and jailed them for suspicion of car theft.

Lusaka had a population of a million or so.   But, it didn't take long to get way out of town.  The school was on the very edge of the development.  There was a lot of open space, a few large farms, some grand houses, and a lot of little huts. 

Shel Silverstein wrote a poem called, "Where the Sidewalk Ends".  Well, the American school was very close to where the pavement ended.  It went on for a few miles past the school.  Then, you came to yet another security outpost and the dirt roads.   Photos didn't do justice to the vastness of the skies -- especially at sunset.