Mark Mpundu on Nshima, the Zambezi and Going Where the Locals Go
Mark Mpundu started out streaming video games from places you would not expect to find a console, and turned that instinct into a running record of Zambia in short form. Known online as @honeymarku5, he documents the places, events and everyday moments of contemporary Zambian life across Instagram and TikTok, moving between travel, lifestyle, conferences and collaborations. The EU delegation in Zambia named him a Game Changer for Climate Action for his work on the country’s water infrastructure.
For this edition of Word of Mouth, Mark talks about the book he keeps returning to, what he watches, where to eat nshima, the towns he travels back to, what is on his speakers, and why the best of Zambia is usually found where the locals already are.
On readingCan’t Hurt Me · David Goggins
In Zambia you will find almost everyone reading a religious text of some kind. The one I keep going back to, and keep recommending, is Can’t Hurt Me by David Goggins. I picked it up for what it says about discipline and resilience. At the start of every month I set a routine that sets the tone for the rest of it. I keep a to-do list and hold to it every day, and a friend and I meet up to check in and talk through the days we are looking forward to.
On film and televisionBreaking Bad · Better Call Saul · Interstellar · The Batman
My favourite show is Breaking Bad. Right now I am watching Better Call Saul, partly because the story keeps folding back into it. For film it is a tie between Interstellar and The Batman, the one with Robert Pattinson and Zoë Kravitz. And I have to shout out the Zambian film industry. On Becoming a Guinea Fowl, directed by Rungano Nyoni, went to Cannes, where she won best director, and took best film at the Zurich Film Festival.
On food and where he eatsNshima · Matebeto · KFC
When I want a meal that leaves me full, and it is healthy and traditional, I go for nshima. You will find it at restaurants and stands all over. Some of the best is tucked down an alleyway in Longacres, the kind of place that meets you with spice and the smoke off the braai stands. Nshima goes with braaied meat of your choice and greens: lumanda, beans, kalembula, okra. I love home cooking, but I eat out plenty too, and yes, KFC is on the list.
Matebeto is its own thing. Traditionally it is what a wife prepares after a wedding, with her family and friends, an array of traditional dishes to thank her husband. The word has grown past that, though. Now it stands for the bond you build over a shared meal, with friends, family, colleagues, or even a plate you sit down to on your own.
On travelLivingstone · Siavonga · Northern Province
Livingstone is the place I am grateful to keep going back to. It works as an escape and a work trip at once, there is always a conference or an event or tourism moving people through it, down in Southern Province. The one thing I tell people to do there is get on the Zambezi. A river cruise shows you the landscape a different way, how the water moves through the different stretches. And if you are in Livingstone, go to Limpos Pub and Grill.
Up in Northern Province there are waterfalls hardly anyone talks about. And Siavonga, on Lake Kariba, is worth the drive. Wherever you go, go with a local.
“Wherever you go, go with a local.”
Mark Mpundu
On musicYo Maps · Macky 2 · P-Jay · BabyDaiz
Yo Maps is a classic. He is the Zambian artist who always has a song or an album in rotation on somebody’s speaker. “Chafina” and “Hello” are my favourites off his latest album. The country leans amapiano, it is what is on the car radios and in the clubs, but I go back to Macky 2 and P-Jay. I would point people to South Africa’s underground scene too, BabyDaiz especially, I think he is next. To hear any of it the way it is meant to be heard: Supersoft by Ministry of Groove, or Lusaka Thrift Market.
On local knowledgeGo where the locals go · Kabwata Cultural Village · Tribal Textiles · Wayi Wayi
The easy thing to know about Zambia is that we are welcoming. The harder thing is finding where that welcome actually happens, and it is usually not at the obvious sites. Go to the pub and grill around the corner. Find where people spend their afternoons and evenings. Every holiday, try a neighbourhood spot instead of the polished one. Sit down and share a meal with a stranger and pick up a point of view that is not your own. For craft, go to places like Kabwata Cultural Village or Tribal Textiles rather than only the galleries. If galleries are your thing, Wayi Wayi Art Studio and Gallery.
The Verdict
Overrated fine dining, clubbing, high-end luxury travelUnderrated hidden waterfalls, local talent and artistry, conservation and sustainability
I am not convinced the most expensive version of Zambia is the most interesting one. High-end travel puts distance between you and the people who give a place its character. Fine dining does the same, so much of it is presentation. There is no shortage of nightlife here, but I would trade a club for a sundowner on the Zambezi. What I want people to look at is the quieter, more natural side, the wildlife, and the people making work across the country. And conservation, in a country whose land and wildlife are among its greatest assets. It is not about ignoring the obvious. It is about pushing past it. I have been able to travel because of content creation and my work with Discover Zambia, and through that I feel like I am becoming a proper Zambian, can’t lie.
