Zambia World Wide

One evening on leaving the club the rain came down in buckets. I accepted an offer of a lift not knowing that I would be sealed off in the sidecar of a motorbike. If he intended scaring me he certainly did a good job. As if the detour he made to demonstrate the speed of the bike wasn’t enough he went heading straight for the mine fence and he was making no attempt in reducing his speed. My problem was that I could not see the bend in the road and I do believe he miscalculated his speed as the sidecar was within inches from the fence as he negotiated the bend.

With my return train journey through Bechuanaland (Botswana) I was continually greeted with a horrible smell. I later realized that it was the smell of the South African cigarettes. I promised myself there and then that as soon as I had smoked the carton of Rhodesian cigarettes I would stop smoking. To this day I have kept that promise. Some of the brands I remember were SRV and Life. Then there was a brand, which we believed was floor sweepings, which sold at four for a penny

My Mom and siblings leave for Northern Rhodesia

Come March/April 1953 my Mom and siblings immigrated to Northern Rhodesia. I went and stayed with an Aunt and Uncle Money in 26, Wiener Street, Vasco until the end of January 1955. During this time I took up Judo and I celebrated my 21^st birthday. On the 1^st May 1953 I had to call Nurse Kempshall the local Midwife. She arrived with her horse and trap and delivered my cousin Anne. She also delivered my brother Douglas on the 10^TH May 1943

My second visit to Northern Rhodesia.

In Dec1953 I was back in Nkana to spend Christmas with my family. My parents were now staying in 123 Geddes (Kariba) Street Nkana. My sisters boyfriends did their best to entertain me. First I had to have a swim in the Kafue rapids. Then it was to see the red glare of the slag as it was dumped. Of course a visit to Mindola Dam was also on the cards. On Xmas the mine held a party for the teenagers of its employees at the Rhokana Club. Dancing to a live band was not unusual but the sprung floor was fantastic. Collar and tie was still the order of the day. I also enjoyed the time spent at the Astra Restaurant. But I felt uneasy with the Sunday sundowner and going to a cinema show afterwards. It must be remembered that in South Africa on Sundays every shop was closed. The radio stations only broadcasted church services, classical music etc.

Coming back the train was delayed for 22 hours at Palapye Station as a river close by was in flood and it was considered too dangerous to make the crossing. The up side was that the passengers who had brought their musical instruments with them could entertain us. The downside was that I would not report for work on time. The Railways on this occasion certainly proved that they considered the well being of their passengers. Extra food was delivered in trucks. The rest of the journey was rather scary. At times the train reached speeds way beyond my imagination. On the straight sections the coaches rocked so badly that walking down the corridor was only possible if you held onto the railing. At most of the watering stops to make up time another engine filled and ready to go was waiting for us. Arriving in Cape Town at 09h00 the Monday mourning meant that we were only 11hours late. My Aunt took my luggage home and I went to work to apply for a day’s unpaid leave. Instead I was fined for being late and given a list of faults to attend to. With my first fault I had to walk nearly 1.5 km with a tool bag weighing close on 10kg. Arriving at the hotel I was rather embarrassed, as I had not bathed for 5 days. On explaining my situation to the receptionist she immediately offered me the use of the hotel’s bathroom facilities. I had to refuse as we were allocated a time for each type of fault. If we did not meet these times we had to please explain. The tea and sandwiches went down well.