Lusaka - Post Report Question and Answers
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I realize this hasn’t been the most glowing review, and I do want to end on a positive note. After nearly twenty years in the Foreign Service lifestyle and multiple overseas tours, we’ve learned that every post comes with tradeoffs, and it’s important to name them clearly. Zambia has stretched us in ways we didn’t always expect — logistically, professionally, and personally — and at times it has been genuinely hard. But hard does not mean negative, and challenge does not cancel out value. Our time in Lusaka gave our family resilience, perspective, and some of the deepest friendships we’ve formed anywhere in the world. We are grateful for what we’ve learned here and for the community that carried us through the tougher seasons. If we leave with slightly fewer tears than at some other posts, it’s not because this tour mattered less, but it has shaped us differently. For those coming next: arrive prepared, stay flexible, invest in your people, and it will be a good tour; demanding at times, but meaningful and memorable. - Feb 2026
Previous people at post have oversold the post, in all honesty it’s fine, but I would not give Lusaka a glowing review. It gets boring here and there are everyday annoyances that grate on people’s nerves over time. - Apr 2025
For people who seem to only go to African posts, Zambia seems to be quite a paradise; it's just not mine. - Nov 2017
Zambia seems energetic and on the rise. Its profile as a travel destination has risen dramatically in recent years, and it's not surprising---given how much there is to see and do. Zambia has 17 major waterfalls, some of the best game parks in Africa, Lake Kariba for houseboating, fishing, and animal viewing, Victoria Falls and all the adreneline activities there, canoeing, fantastic fishing to include tigerfish, beautiful weather, unspoiled wetlands and savannahs and an opurtunity to travel to places few people ever get a chance to visit. One park in the western part of the country, for instance, is so far from anywhere that less than a few hundred people visit a year. And yet it has tens of thousands of wildebeast and other grazing animals and amazing birdlife, among other features. For old Africa hands it's one of those bucket-list destinations made even better by the difficulty in getting there and the lack of those who have managed it. Many expats take full advantage of their time here, and for those that do, I think they find it to be a special, remarkable place that they will never forget. - Apr 2013
Someone has to speak the truth about life here! It's incredibly expensive--travel is tough and expensive--Zambia is overrated. - Mar 2009
Best weather in the known world!! - Aug 2008
