Zambia World Wide

Another treat for us, perhaps mainly on wet afternoons, was to drive up to the copper mines and watch the wheels operating the lifts spin around at the top of their towers. We would then drive around the mine, and I remember my favourite part was where there were lots of water fountains spraying water up into the air and all around. I have no idea what part of the copper mining process was actually going on there, but for me as a child it was very entertaining. I said earlier that I was never familiar with theme parks, but I think perhaps the tour of the copper mine was an equivalent thrill for me!

In the light of what an ardent animal-lover I became in later years, it is surprising to have to report I remember very little contact with animals from those early years. We did have a white cat called Snowball, of whom I was fond, but my only real memory of him is that he used to kill and eat blue-headed lizards which lived in abundance around our garden, and then sick them up inside the house, to the great annoyance of both my mother and the houseboy. We also had a brown boxer dog called Butch, and I remember he had to be kept tied up much of the time because he chased passing cyclists. I have memories of him chasing my sisters and me round and around our bungalow as well, and being genuinely afraid of him, as I think he used to nip. I think a neighbour at one time had some pet rabbits, and I vaguely recall one occasion when these rabbits apparently disappeared from their run during the night, and a visit from a fox was strongly suspected. My memory tells me that, the next night, my elder sister, Pat, and I sat up all night on our porch and watched for this fox, with the intention that we would rouse the adults and get it killed should we spot it. But I doubt we were really allowed to sit there all night, and in any case, we never spotted a fox.

We did occasionally come across wild chameleons in our garden, and I remember bringing them onto the veranda and trying to keep them as pets, though of course as we did not confine them they eventually "escaped". We were all fascinated by the way their skin changed colour, and the way their eyes rolled in their heads. One time I found a caterpillar, and I was allowed to put it in a lidded perforated shoebox with some leaves. Eventually, actually quite quickly I think, it changed into a chrysalis, and I was told it would turn into a butterfly, but was doubtful. I would open the shoebox every day to check, and of course one day, when I opened it, there was a beautiful butterfly! I wish my parents had made me release it there and then, but they allowed me to keep it inside the house, and it was not long before I found it dead in a doorway, evidently crushed when the door had been opened onto it. I can still remember the sadness that such a beautiful creature had had such a short life and tragic end.