By Derek Mwale There are places that produce. And then there are places that make production possible. Kapiri Mposhi belongs to the second category. It does not mine copper.It does not manufacture goods at scale.It does not dominate headlines as a financial center. And yet, without it—and places like it—much of Zambia’s economic activity would…
By Derek Mwale There is a kind of story that never gets told. Not because it lacks meaning—but because it moves too quickly to be captured. It exists in bus stations, in roadside stops, in the brief exchanges between strangers who will never meet again. It lives in the in-between spaces of travel, where people…
By Derek Mwale There is a quiet discomfort in being in between. Not at the beginning, where everything is still possibility. Not at the destination, where meaning is often assigned after the fact. But somewhere in the middle—where nothing feels complete, where the journey has started but not yet resolved. This is where places like…
By Derek Mwale There are towns you visit because they promise something—beauty, excitement, escape. And then there are towns that matter, whether or not they try to impress you. Kapiri Mposhi is one of those towns. It does not compete for attention. It does not present itself as extraordinary. There are no dramatic skylines, no…
By Derek Mwale There are places that people pass through, and then there are places that quietly define the act of passing itself. Kapiri Mposhi belongs to the latter. At first glance, it may appear like just another stop along Zambia’s vast network of roads and rail lines—a functional town, practical in purpose, unassuming in…
By Derek Mwale There is a kind of power that does not announce itself loudly. It does not come with monuments or headlines. It does not seek attention or demand recognition. Instead, it exists quietly, embedded in systems that people use every day without fully questioning how deeply they depend on them. Transport hubs belong…
By Derek Mwale There is a quiet rebellion happening in the way people travel. It doesn’t make headlines. It doesn’t trend on social media in the same way fast, flashy destinations do. It doesn’t come with urgency or hype. It comes with something else. Stillness. And in Zambia, that stillness is beginning to feel like…
By Derek Mwale There is a kind of place that doesn’t exist on maps. Not because it cannot be found, but because it cannot be defined. It is not marked by coordinates, pinned locations, or tourist signposts. It is not measured in distance or ranked in travel guides. It is something you feel more than…
By Derek Mwale There is a story unfolding in Zambia every second. You won’t hear it announced. There is no narrator, no soundtrack, no dramatic voice guiding you through it. It happens quietly, relentlessly, beneath the surface of what most people see. To the untrained eye, the bush looks peaceful. Golden grass swaying in the…
By Derek Mwale There’s a moment, just before sleep finds you, when the world feels impossibly vast. You’re lying there, not beneath a ceiling, not inside walls, but under a sky so wide it almost feels unreal. The stars are not distant pinpoints of light—they are alive, scattered across the darkness in a way that…