| Lundazi | |
 | |
| Administrative building. | |
| Information | |
| Country |  Zambia |
|---|---|
| Population | 11 637 hab. (2006) |
| Spindle | UTC 02:00 |
| Location | |
 12 ° 17 ′ 5 ″ S 33 ° 10 ′ 30 ″ E | |
Lundazi is known as a "BOMA" (British Overseas Military Administration) in Zambia. In other words, it was a former colonial seat. Today the city is the capital of Lundazi district, which is the central part of the Eastern zambia. It has government offices, a bank, a gas station, many small shops, a daily market, and a bus station.
Understand
The main language spoken in Lundazi is tumbuka and the main tribes are Tumbuka, Chewa and Ngoni. The main source of income is agriculture and commerce. Most of the traders are Zambians of Asian descent. Lundazi's nickname is 'Box One Kanele'.
Weather
| J | F | M | TO | M | J | J | TO | S | O | NOT | D |
Temperature diagram in ° C | |||||||||||
26.2 16.9 | 26.3 16.9 | 26.6 16.6 | 26.3 15.1 | 25.4 12 | 24.1 9.2 | 23.6 8.6 | 24.7 10.7 | 27.7 13.2 | 29.5 16.2 | 29.1 17 | 27.3 17.2 |
| 226 | 201 | 168 | 61 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 64 | 184 |
| Temp. max. annual mean in ° C 26.4 | |||||||||||
| Temp. min. annual mean in ° C 14.1 | |||||||||||
| Annual precipitation in mm 927 | |||||||||||
| Legend: Temp. maxi and mini in ° C • Precipitation in mm | |||||||||||
Source:www.weatherbase.com | |||||||||||
To go
Minibuses bring visitors north from Chipata and south from Chama also for about 5 $.
It is possible to travel by bus between Lundazi and Lusaka in one day. A bus makes a return trip once a week to Mzuzu to Malawi.
- 1 Airport – Dirt track 1 100 m.
- 2 Bus station
Circulate
Lundazi is small enough that most people can walk or cycle. In fact, you can walk from one end of town to the other in less than 30 min. Calmly.
To see
- 1 Chateau hotel Lundazi, P.O Box 530100 Katete,
260 21 6480173, e-mail : [email protected] – A Norman-style brick castle in the Zambian countryside. The golf course that once stood there no longer exists. The construction of the castle was built in 1949-1952 under the direction of the district officer named Errol Buton, who is said to have sketched his design on the back of a packet of cigarettes. The girl named the castle Rumpelstiltskin if one believes a plaque on the wall of the building. The chateau started out as a government guesthouse and is now a private hotel. History has it that Buton received a certain amount of money to build a guesthouse for the district like all the other district officers in what was Northern Rhodesia. All the others built a rectangular building covered with a corrugated iron roof, except Buton. He chose to build a replica of a small Norman castle in one of the poorest regions of Africa. As he quickly exhausted the allocated money, during the dry season and no one was working in the fields, he checked if everyone had paid their taxes. Obviously, the country being very poor, nobody had paid. The offenders were then sentenced to six months of forced labor, 3 months to pay their back taxes, then three months of paid work, so they left with money and he advanced in the construction of his guest-house. This story was told in 1974 by the then hotel manager as an interesting take on how colonialism works. The castle overlooked a swamp at the confluence of the Lundazi and Msuzi rivers, which Bouton dammed by transporting the earth in wicker baskets. The dam now supplies water to Lundazi and is the home of several hippos.
Do
You can always visit one or the other of the few dams in Lundazi, most are within walking distance and if you are a fan of fishing then you can do some fishing in these dams. If you take a picnic with you then you can spend the whole day there.
To buy
If you are going to meet Zambian friends at Lusaka after visiting Lundazi, the rice of Chama can be a good gift. In town at the Wildlife Conservation Society, you can purchase "It's Wild!" Branded honey, peanut butter, and rice. which are purchased from farmers to discourage poaching in game management areas.
Eat
The Hôtel Château offers braais (barbecues) most weekends. They also serve simple meals (e.g. rice and chicken) every night of the week for around 3 $.
There are also a lot of small restaurants in town, including the Rejoice (run as an income-generating activity for people living with HIV / AIDS), Amama's, Masopela and Masopela 2 which offers traditional meals for around 1 $.
Have a drink / Go out
There are several small bars in town, including the Chateau Hotel, Ester's Nest, Hunter's and Masopela.
Interestingly, Mosi, Zambia's national brewer, has a beer vendor in town. A refrigerated freight container where you can only buy beers in boxes of 30 units.
Housing
- Chateau Hotel
about 25 $ the night. – A unique pension in the country. The Chateau Hotel offers two dozen single rooms for guests. Guests can choose from a variety of rooms, but the most popular is the Large Turret Room, overlooking the lagoon. - Tigone Motel (Motel "Let's go to sleep" in tumbuka) (near the bus station) about 10 $ for a double room, breakfast included. – A more ordinary choice is the District Guesthouse
about There are several other good guesthouses for around the same price, and other basic establishments for around 2 $ per night. There is no camping as such, but the guesthouses will probably be ready to help you find a place to pitch your tent.
Around
- 1 Chipata (Towards the south.) – Provincial capital and border town with the Malawi.
- 2 Chama (Towards the north.) – Known for its rice and its difficulty of access.
- 3 Nkhata Bay (To the east.) – Lundazi is located very close to the border with Malawi. If you have your own vehicle you can take the dirt road east, cross the border near Mzuzu, and make the road to Nkhata Bay, on the shores of Lake Malawi in one day.
