Crossroads Lodge – Solwezi

So this is one of those lodges I haven’t stayed at myself, but I have been there a few times to book rooms for my friends. It’s one of the more “upscale” lodges in Solwezi. It was wifi and a beautiful pool area. The hotel overlooks a colorful valley. The customer service is great, the only downside I’d say is that it is quite a ways outside of town, so if you’re planning on going back and forth a lot the taxi bills are going to add up. The cheapest room is 550kwa, then 750, and 800. I think there is some deluxe premium suite (or something equally as fancy) for more too.

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Chobu Lodge

Chobu is another lodge in Solwezi that I haven’t stayed at myself but have had many friends stay there when coming to visit where I worked. It is a little off the main road and not as nice as Solwezi Lodge, but it is a good, cheap, safe, backpackers place. It is walking distance to town center. Rooms start at 150kwa and go up from there depending on whether you want AC, television, or different types of bed. The basic room has a shared bathroom but the 200kwa room is self-contained.

 

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Lake Tanganyika

I don’t have too much useful things to say about Lake Tanganyika. It’s easy enough to hitch to Mpulungu, the town that lays next to the lake. Or you can take a bus, but we started by the side of the Kasama-Mbala Road. They dropped us at the turnoff, one road goes to Mbala, the other to Mpulungu. That wasn’t too hard to find another hitch the rest of the way to Mpulungu. It’s a nice town. I heard the fish market was pretty big but I didn’t see it. I took a b-line to an ice cream place. We stayed at a lodge I will talk about in the lodges section of Zambia, that was right across from the lake and a bar. We went to the lake-side bar to hang out and get dinner. It had beautiful views, although you cant swim because there’s crocs. We ended up staying at an school run by the Dutch across the lake called Eventure, because they knew some friends of ours. It’s a really cool place, not a place for vacation though. They had volunteers working there that seemed busy and I felt like we were just mooching off their space. I would check out Luke’s beach if you’re looking for a place to go. I’ve never been there but I’ve had a lot of friends who have, and I know Luke. It’s a nice quiet place on the water where you can set up tents, bring your own food to cook because I’m not sure if they sell food there. And I understand it’s a nice hike down to the water. So maybe not for someone looking for a nice, fancy, lake, vacation, but good for backpackers looking for an adventure and experience and somewhere to swim and hang out on a beach.

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