Zambia World Wide

C4) The section between Kasane and Maun

We spent our evenings in luxury while working in this section. On the first part of the section we slept in the Chobe Safari Lodge. The stretch midway between Kasane and Maun we spent our evenings in the Khwai River Lodge. The lodge was on the eastern section of the Moremi Game Reserve. The lodge attracted the tourist who wanted a tour of the Moreme but still sleep in luxury and at night when they heard the lions roaring or sounds from other animals they felt safe. The lodge would take their guests to see a Bushmen clan of about twenty which had settled some 12 kilometres from the lodge. Their settlement was where the track from the hotel met the track from Kasane to Maun. This settlement had already been westernised but when they heard the Land Rover of the lodge approaching they would strip down to their traditional clothing. The tourists could not get enough photos of them and they would empty their purses for these poor people. I do believe the only reason that the tourists made their way back to the lodge was the smell of these Masarwas as my labourers called them. To be honest how they survived is a mystery as the only water they had was that which was supplied by the lodge with their visits. To crown it all the area was riddled with Tsetse flies. I hired them to help us get through the heavy sand in the vicinity. In the mornings they would wait for us at the start of the sandy patch and in the evenings it was in the opposite direction. They would jump on the back of the vehicles and as soon as there was a possibility of being bogged down they would jump off and start pushing. Places where we got stuck they would return and pack grass in the tracks and flatten the high sandy islands. For this we paid them sixty cents /day. Another problem we faced was sand getting in the carburettor. At the end of the trip I could clean a dirty carburettor within a half hour. .

Whenever I was in this vicinity my labourers would approach me for money which they needed to satisfy their sexual needs with these Masarwas. I would always give them more than requested with the understanding that they purchase any skins that the Masarwas might have as they were reluctant in doing business with a white man. I still have two karosses (skin-rugs made from jackal hides) which I got at R20 each. Most of my labourers as a bonus ended up with syphilis.

C4.1) Tsetse flies

During our time is this area we were unceremoniously stung by tsetse flies. As you motored along the sandy tracks at low speeds the tsetse flies would gather in your slipstream. As soon as you stopped they attacked. To overcome this I armed each labourer on the back of the trucks with a tin of Doom (insect spray) which I got from Khwai River Lodge. After every 5kms we had to stop and take our readings but before stopping we would knock on the rear window and out came the Doom. The tsetse flies came in the cab although all the windows were closed. They were tough and those you squashed in the cab somehow always seemed to come alive again.

When we approached Maun we slept at the Crocodile Camp then owned by the Wilmot’s. The only accommodation available at the time was the honeymoon suite, which I had to share with the United Nations representative. Don’t worry they gave us an extra bed. The second night there my companion woke me up, as he wasn’t feeling well at all. He had a high temperature with a severe headache and he complained of feeling sore all over. The first thing I did the next morning was to ask Miss Wilmot if she had something for my companion. She advised me to take him to Maun hospital immediately as it sounds as though he has sleeping sickness from the tsetse flies. Suddenly I developed the same symptoms. When I spoke to the labourers they too suddenly had the same symptoms. At the hospital in Maun I found a doctor and I told him that there is a strong possibility that we all have sleeping sickness as we were badly stung by Tsetse flies for the last week. Believe me by now we were all feeling pretty grim. He started to laugh which did not amuse us at all. Once he told us that the incubation period was fourteen days we all started feeling better. As a matter of fact we needed no medication except the U.N. representative who had a bad dose of flu. Here I realized how strong mind over matter is.