How to explore Culture of Zambia

The purpose of traveling is to explore. Explore nature, scenic beauty, food, lifestyles, and more. Out of all these explorations, cultural exploration takes a significant place, and a good traveler never misses out on this. Exploring a country's culture means investigating its history and religions and learning about its society, beliefs, habits, and even local thinking patterns. Zambia is a country that has a great culture to explore, and this is something that you can try out.

Zambia and the tourism industry

Originating from the name of the River Zambezi, Zambia is a landlocked country that's blessed with natural beauty and rare wildlife. In terms of the tourism industry, Zambia holds a significant place when compared with its neighboring countries which include Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Namibia, and Botswana. Thanks to attractions such as Victoria Falls, Zambia hotels are among the highest earning players in the travel and hospitality sector, and Zambia is indeed proud of the journey that they have come so far in the tourism industry. 

The culture - the overall picture 

So, when you plan to spend a vacation in Zambia, choose to stay for a considerable time there because then only you can explore its culture well. Hotels such as Royal Livingstone Hotel by Anantara offer great packages for long vacations and you also have the freedom to adjust the package inclusions as you wish. You will understand that Zambia is a great mix of several cultures, and this diversity it showcases is irreplaceable. There are over 70 ethnic groups in Zambia, and they have their own beliefs, lifestyles, and even festivals. Doesn't that sound great? 

The language 

Like most of the other countries, Zambia was also a British colony once. As a result of this, the official language of this country is English. However, there are also some other local languages that are often used by the local community, and these languages are common to the African continent. Over 70 languages are being spoken by the local communities in Zambia, and out of them, Tonga is considered the most popular. If you travel to Eastern Zambia, the language called 'Nyanja' is the most widely used. If you cover the whole of Zambia during your long vacation while mingling with the locals, you can easily figure out how the accents, words, and tones of each of these languages differ from one another. 

Ceremonies and cultural festivals 

One thing that you would probably love about Zambia is that regardless of its ethnic diversity, the unity that the locals have within each other. Zambia hosts several cultural festivals annually, and the local communities all get together to celebrate them. There are over 20 such festivals a year, and some of these gather thousands of people together in one place. These festivals often contain entertainment segments such as songs and dances and involve a lot of drums. 

Zambian music 

As mentioned before, Zambians have an inseparable bond with drums. Zambians love music and they also use other musical instruments such as the thumb piano and xylophone. If you get a chance to listen to some music during your vacation, you will understand that today it's a mix of traditional, African, and Western music styles and that it also has a different vibe. 

Zambian Art 

If you get a chance to observe pottery and carvings done in Zambia, you will quickly realize how influential the traditional art scene of Zambia is. As the tourism industry plays a vital role in the country, the artists in Zambia also have done their art using metals, plastics, and other fabrics. Do not miss out on exploring the traditional African fabric when you are in Zambia.