With a title like that I’m sure I captured everyone’s attention, after all who doesn’t want to read the same old story? But for those that have persisted this far, I promise it isn’t the same story, despite much of my new life feeling a little like my old life in Etosha. This is despite vast differences between Zambia and Namibia. These differences (in wealth, health, climate and demography, not to mention history) should be more well known. Perhaps then there would be fewer people who still consider Africa to be a single country, all alike. Whereas, Africa is a continent made up of 54 countries boasting somewhere between 1500 and 2000 languages and some of the most diverse regions and people on the planet. I often say I live in Africa, particularly when travelling or meeting new people, it’s a response born out of convenience. That’s because no-one asks where Africa is, unlike Namibia or Zambia, so it makes the conversation less painful and means I don’t have to air-draw a map of Africa, pinpointing my current home country. And I can assure you my air-drawing skills are as lacking as my on-paper-drawing skills. But this is probably a convenience I should avoid, if only to try and improve people’s knowledge on this vast and diverse continent that is not, in fact, just a single country.

So, back to my new life that is a bit ‘same-same, but different’ to my old Etosha-based life. I arrived in Lusaka, at an airport that straightaway told me that there was a vast difference between Namibia and Zambia (at the risk of judging a book by its cover). While Zambia is a much larger country than Namibia (it has over 6 times the population) the airport is not much larger and but it is substantially tattier both inside and out. A clear sign of the wealth difference between the countries. Then I was driven from the airport to fetch the groceries I would need while in Kafue. I excitedly got out of the car upon seeing a Spar Supermarket at the chosen mall. Spar was my favourite supermarket in Namibia, it was the one that stocked the freshest veggies and best selection of “international goods” (i.e. it had soy sauce!). But the sight of wilted veg and mouldy fruit in this Spar, and my inability to find most things on my shopping list, left me a little devastated. All I could think was that if this was the best, then I was in for a shock. Fortunately, over the next couple of weeks, I discovered that while the supermarket chains in Zambia are the same as Namibia (Spar, Pick n Pay and Shoprite), their quality is not. In fact, in Namibia I avoided Shoprite (I went there once and walked out slightly disgusted and completely empty handed), but in Zambia it is one of my favourites and at the same time I don’t think I’ll ever head back to Spar in Zambia unless I am desperate. Same-same, but different.