One of the options when staying at Toka Leya is to visit a local village to see what it’s like to live in a small Zambian village. You get to meet the local elders and hear about their everyday challenges. We decided to combine this visit with a stop at a local school. We had brought two satchels of school supplies for the children with us from Chicago as they are always in need of them. We stopped first at the school.
Twabuka School teaches grades 1 through 9. Children attend kindergarten for three years and then join the primary school.
We were escorted by a teacher named Mongo who walked us through some of the classrooms. The kids were thrilled to have visitors and jumped to attention when we walked into their math class (which was awkward, but sweet!).
At the end we saw this beautiful mural on the side of one of the buildings and had to snap a picture with Mailos our guide, Mongo, and Jeff.
Next we went to Sinde village where we were met by the headman and a lovely lady named Lillian who guided us through the village. This is the headman’s hut, and it’s made from a mixture of termite mound and mud. The combination makes the walls quite strong and impermeable to rain.
Then we walked around the village and saw the market where villagers can buy their fruits, vegetables, and fish.
The local pub, complete with pool table.
The convenience store.
And we also saw a young boy making charcoal for sale. In Zambia it’s illegal to cut down a tree but if an elephant destroys a tree (which happens a lot) then they can use the wood for commercial or personal purposes.
Overall this was quite a day for us, and our last day in Zambia and at Toka Leya. Tomorrow we cross the border into Botswana for the next phase of our trip.
