Zambian Immigration

After an uneventful flight, involving a stop over in a corn field (Llongwe Malawi), we arrived in Lusaka Friday the 12th. Entering a new country is always a bit unnerving since you never know if they'll find something they don't like about you or try to bribe the socks off of your feet. We investigated the 4 immigration counters and quickly got ourselves to the right queue. The line moved along nicely until we were next to be called. Just as we were starting to approach the desk, some nuns (dressed in a Mother-Theresa-esque outfit) came back from the luggage (post-immigration) side of the counter and start talking to the officials. And talking...and talking.....20 minutes later we notice that there's only one group behind us, all the rest had jumped out of the line into another.

The officials motioned us to go to another line...we look to the left, a group of 20 Japanese tourists were getting their visas en masse. Not a good sign. We look to our right, a couple Egyptians were wrangling over something, using mostly body language as they seemed to not know English. Ugghhhh.....we tried switching from one line to another but none of them were moving. A school tour group came through, walking past the counters and we wondered if we could just make a break for it. Another 20 minutes later, we are absolutely the only people left from our flight and still no visa.

Finally, Mother Theresa Inc figured out their problem and we got to the counter. Thankfully, the officials were sympathetic, and only required the US $50 that we planned on spending for a visa. So began our trip to Zambia