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Africa
Travel Magazine's "Great Cities of Africa"
editions include Lusaka,
Zambia and Livingstone,
tourism capital and home of Victoria
Falls, one of the Top
10 Wonders of the
World Discover
the Real Africa in
Livingstone! The
first buildings to be erected at the new
Livingstone were made of poles and mud,
with tin roofs. The site was high up on a
sand ridge in the middle of a forest of
teak trees. The railway line had only
reached the station, about one km away -
quite a distance to walk on the sandy
roads. The people were not happy in the
new Livingstone and wondered what was to
become of them. Then the BSAC decided to
move their administrative center from
Kalomo to Livingstone. From 1907 to 1935,
Livingstone was the capital of North
Western Rhodesia, and this was a time of
prosperity. It was during these years that
many buildings were erected. We
often consider these times as being
romantic, and to us it must seem that way,
but life was not easy. Water was a
continual problem - it had to be pumped up
from the Maramba River and bucketed to the
houses. The toilets of all the houses were
sited at the back of the yards where the
bucket brigade using ox-carts came every
morning to empty the sanitary buckets. All
the roads were deep sand, making a walk of
any distance tiresome. A tram-line was
laid from town to the railway station and
then on to the boat club. Small cabooses
were made for people to sit on and they
were pushed up and down the hill by
servants. Many of the old houses which
were built at this time have fallen into a
state of disrepair. But some are being
lovingly restored and are well worth
looking for. In the future if the economy
continues to pick up more will be restored
and this will enhance the beauty of
Livingstone. North
Western and North Eastern Rhodesia were
amalgamated in 1935 to form Northern
Rhodesia and it was then that the capital
was moved to Lusaka - a more central
location. Livingstone continued to thrive
for some time because it became a
manufacturing center. Factories made
blankets, textiles, clothes, cars. But
slowly, as the economy started to decline,
so did the wealth of Livingstone. After
Independence in 1964, Northern Rhodesia
became Zambia and shortly after that
Zambia adopted the politics of humanism,
which is akin to socialism, and a
one-party government. More and more Zambia
cut itself off from the outside world. The
price of copper, their main export,
decreased. The economy did not diversify.
Zambia became poorer and poorer.
Livingstone suffered badly as tourism was
not encouraged and the manufacturing base
declined. It left Livingstone (along with
the rest of Zambia) with extremely high
unemployment and dreadful poverty. Finally
the people stood up to be counted and
voted in a new government which espoused a
multiparty democracy. Since then Zambia
has opened its doors to the outside world
and taken on major economic reforms.
This
has led to an increase in tourists
visiting Zambia, especially
Livingstone. For
full information on services at
Livingstone Tourism Association, see the
web site: www.livingstone.com,
e-mail: lta@zamnet.com
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A
delightful characteristic most ATA
delegates share is their eagerness to
explore new parts of this fascinating
continent. With 53 unique countries and an
endless variety of topography, cultures
and wildlife species, it's truly a
lifetime quest. The trio on the right is a
fine example of ATA's jet setters - Robert
D'Angelo of Philadelphia; Elyse White of
Harlem, and Robert Eilets, whose photos
are seen on our web site and magazine.
Like most members, they are anxious feel
the spray and catch the splendor of
Victoria Falls. They also seek to learn
facts about Livingstone, our hosts for a
key segment of the 2003 Congress.
Livingstone Tourism Association has
provided the following historical sketch,
written by Mr. Gill Staden, a well known
journalist from the area. We know that you
will enjoy his story. 
The
City of Livingstone was born on 25
February, 1905, much to the annoyance of
the white pioneers who had come to the
area. These hardy men and women had
settled themselves by the river, 5 km
upstream from the Victoria Falls and they
felt that a move up to the new Livingstone
would be disastrous for trade. The British
South African Company (BSAC), who
administered this area of Central Africa
had, in 1905, completed the Victoria Falls
bridge and felt that it was about time to
move the pioneers from the
mosquito-infested swamplands by the river
where the people had lived for the past 10
years. The BSAC had to enforce the edict
by giving fines of one shilling per day
for anyone who failed to move. Eventually
the old settlement was abandoned. There is
not much to see at the original site,
known as the Old Drift, only some
non-indigenous trees and the graves of
some of the many who died there. It is now
within the Game Park.
