Two hunting buddies and I will need to overnight in Lusaka in July. Any suggestions about where to stay will be greatly appreciated.

H. Kittle

We stayed at the Taj Pomadzi: http://www.tajhotels.com/Resevation/default.aspx It was very nice,clean and secure, but also very expensive ($200+). As we arrived late at night and left before sun up, it was a waste of money as we did not have an opportunity to really enjoy the facilities other than a quick drink in the bar.

opps the same info as SBT posted..sorry about that

The Taj also, but I stayed for half that in 2004... I could tell at the time that Zambia was on the rebound, but double the rates in ~2 years is pretty amazing.

YES Zambia prices (across the board) particularily for tourist places whom charge in USA Dollars have gone up a lot of late ..

One of the inherant problems in the last 6 months PLUS has been the exchange rate Kwacha vis US $ ...

What occured in the last year or so is the World Bank/IMF in their wisdom !!!! wrote off most if not all of Zambia's debt which had the effect of skewing the exchange rate and the Zambian Kwacha re-valued up against the Dollar

Cheers, Peter

I have friends who live in Lusaka, and I usually stay with them. However the only place I've stayed other than with friends is the Taj, but like Bill C, I paid $100 per night!

If you are flying on up to the Lungwa Valley, they only fly up there about twice per week, but the last time I was there, my friend pulled some strings and booked me through Ndola, then to Mfuwe, saveing me one day of hunting time. I had a plane break down, and missed my connections up to the valley, One usually has to over night once going in, and once coming out of the valley,in Lusaka anyway.

What concession are you hunting?

if memory serves I believe we stayed at the intercontinental, which was very good and at that time cheaper than the taz

As with butchloc, I'm going on memory, but I believe we stayed at the Intercontinental as well. It was a nice place, especially the dining buffet, but this was about 5 years ago, and hotels do wax and wane. (The gal at reception was certainly the prettiest African woman I've ever seen. )

I can't recommend a stroll to the other side of town. This is the older part, along the railroad. There were some pretty rough looking squatter's camps near the tracks. The old market was interesting, but a tourist guide we read after we got home suggested our getting out of there with our wallets was a matter of luck. I recall that in the walk down the center of the main road (parallels the railroad) there was a cover missing which let the unwary fall about 15 feet into the sewer, so do watch where you are walking. It's probably best to stay on the new side of town, where the government buildings are. On the whole, I liked walking about Windhoek better.

There is a Holiday Inn that is pretty stateside. The Taj is the way to go.

Mark

We were warned to stay away from the Holiday Inn. Evidently a place for prostitution and drugs. The Taj is an excellent facility and safe although pricey.

John

John,
That is what Mark meant by "pretty stateside".

...had a good stay at the "Lilayi Lodge" www.lilayi.com in 2003.