One big reason to like Zambia

To counter-balance the previous blog posting of 350 reasons not to like Zambia, let me offer one big reason to like the country.

Zambia has figured out how to offer its natural resources to its citizens at affordable prices.

I blogged previously (see here) about the potential problems that I see in Namibia's model of ecotourism where natural resources (like National Parks and hunt trips) are priced for out-of-country tourists, rather than for in-country users. I still believe that if a country does not allow its citizens to access natural resources, the citizens will stop valuing natural resources--which will affect future legislation and policy.

So, we visited Victoria Falls. We had walked around for about 10 minutes, when I asked Kelly, "Do you notice anything about the people around us?" The answer was--there are native Zambians here.

It was refreshing to see local people exploring a natural heritage site. It was a holiday when we visited (not sure which one), and there were couples, families, and groups of friends enjoying the falls. It didn't look like Europe had just stepped off the bus...it looked like Zambia was there.

The way Zambia prices the Falls is key to this plan. We paid US$10/person to enter the Falls. As the photo shows, Zambians paid less than 2500 Kwachas (less than US$0.50) to enter. Compare that to Namibia's 25% discount for Namibians at National Parks. The Zambians get a 95% discount! So, tourists support the parks, and native people can enjoy them at much lower rates.

It's a model that Namibia needs to adopt!