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The main reason to visit Lusaka is to change planes or begin a trip to Livingstone or one of the game parks. The capital and largest city, Lusaka is not particularly attractive and has few sights to see: Plan to spend no more than a day there. The central city is compact. Built for colonial administrators in the 1940s, today it is woefully inadequate to serve its present population. (Services and facilities can't keep up with demand—there are occasional water and electricity shortages—and unemployment and crime rates are increasing.)

Spend your time in Lusaka at Lumburma Market and the outdoor Cultural Center, where about a dozen artisans carve wooden souvenirs and sell them. If time permits, see the National Assembly building, drive through the university area, visit the Anglican cathedral (patterned after the one in Coventry, England), the State House and the Munda Wanga Botanic and Zoological Gardens (plants, birds and a few wild animals). 220 mi/350 km northeast of Livingstone.