CAPE TO CAIRO - 7
It is 11 p.m. on a Saturday evening in the Alpha Bar in Lusaka, capital of Zambia (right). The air is hot and oppressive, the rainy season is coming. There is a babble of voices; old taxis rattle as they swerve to avoid potholes. The first drunks lurch uncertainly on their way. I arrived in Zambia late in the afternoon, after a seven hour bus ride from Zimbabwe. I was looking forward to my arrival, because in Zambia, as opposed to South Africa or Zimbabwe, your skin colour isn't that important. Blacks and whites coexist peacefully. After the ride in the hot and stuffy bus, I was thirsty. I had also just left Mugabeland unharmed and that was something to celebrate. Somebody recommended the Alpha Bar. The taxi driver told me that the Vice President had personally ordered that this disco be shut down some time ago.
"What's your name?"
The reason is not hard to fathom. The Alpha Bar is full of young women who in my travel guide, in the chapter on AIDS, are described as "professional sex workers" - prostitutes. Many are young, so young in fact that they should never have been allowed past the sign at entrance saying "no patrons under 18". Miriam, in a low-cut garment, has joined me. "What's your name" she says by way of an opening line. At least she doesn't ask me to buy her a drink. In as friendly a manner as possible I tell her that she is out of luck as far I'm concerned this evening. The next time I look up from my book - only a mzungu or a white man would read in a pub on a Saturday evening - Miriam is lounging in the arms of a sixty year old. The lady to my left also appears to have found what she was looking for - a stocky, bearded man, though hardly a stand-in for Roger Moore. Such scenes are played out every Saturday night in bars from Naiorbi to Johannesburg, where diplomats, businessmen and tourists go on "safari" for pleasure and relaxation.
Nike shoes or mobile phones
Sex tourism is big business in Africa. Sex tourists who find Thailand is getting too hot for them, or too expensive, go to Mombasa. The sight of fat old men with young African girls is not a pleasant one. Sex tourists exploit Africa's poverty. Lack of decent job prospects forces many Africans into prostitution. Many student residences in Africa are brothels -- this is the only way the students can pay for their studies. The Aids epidemic has changed little. It is not only poverty that is making young girls - and increasingly, boys - work as prostitutes, but also the desire for status symbols such as mobile phones or Nike shoes. And it is not only men who are the paying customers. In Kenya, Ghana and Gambia, hordes of single women chase after attractive black males. As I leave the Alpha Bar after midnight, the old man next to me is fondling Miriam's behind, the ring on his fourth finger glistening in the disco twilight.
Lusaka, 24th November 2003.