Zambia World Wide

The scenery was well worth looking at and we stopped many times on our route through that part of Europe. We spent about four days in Calais as we realised our trip had taken longer than expected and we would not reach Rotterdam in time for the return trip to Great Yarmouth. As things turned out we had a very enjoyable stay in Calais and were surprised at how much there was to see and do. We sailed back on the Calais\Dover Ferry and rode home from there stopping at Southend overnight on the way back. This was the first time that I had travelled overseas and we had seen and done so much in the time available that I knew it would be the first trip of many if the opportunity arose. At this time I was still working as an apprentice with the Generating Board so money was a bit tight, even so I was determined to save enough to travel overseas the following year. The only decision I had to make was how much could I save and where would I go. However this would give me something to think about over the winter months. At this time I was still interested in ballroom dancing and most Fridays I would take dancing lessons, Saturdays was a time to meet other people as it was an open night for all members to meet and dance with the partners they wished to. I was still very interested in motorcycles and would spend time in the winter checking the bike and doing any repairs that were necessary. Not only my bike but those belonging to my brothers as well. I would also find the time to go out and take photographs of winter scenes as photography had been a hobby of mine since I was quite young.

During my teenage years monochrome processing was relatively inexpensive and I would spend many evening in the winter months developing and printing my own films. I would then select the best and enlarge them changing the format as I went along to obtain the most pleasing results. My father first interested me in photography when I was quite young. I can still remember the first film I developed as though it was yesterday. At the time we had no enlargement equipment, so had to expose the negatives to sunlight in a split frame and continually check to get the right exposure. When I was happy with the exposure I would then fix the print.The print was of course Sepia and the print was a contact print which was the reason for using 120 film. Over the next few years I was to meet many good photographers and with their assistance would learn a great deal about photography that I could not have learnt on my own. I became so interested that over a period of time I built a reasonably good studio setup and also at this time a darkroom that was more than adequate for the work I was doing. Much of the studio equipment I did have to make myself but it was good enough for my requirements. Over the years I collected a large amount of prints, slides, cine film and video which at some time I would like to be able to sort out and organise in some order and also enhance in some way. Unfortunately I never seem to find the time and of course the longer I leave it the harder it becomes.

We are now well into winter and I have finally decided my destination for my holiday next summer. Since I will be travelling alone, I have decided on a coach trip through the middle of Spain and then a ferry across to Tangier’s in Morocco. We drove from England via the cross channel ferry from Dover, through France and the middle of Spain. The trip was not without incident as the coach broke down near San Sebastian in Spain and we had to stay the night. My first thought was, what a waste of valuable time but I was wrong. We stayed at a hotel which had a Greek nightclub in the basement, we had quite a party and finished the evening off drinking champagne cocktails and dancing Zorba’s dance to traditional Greek music. The following day we continued on our way across Spain. The villages and towns in central Spain are very different to the tourist resorts around the coast, it is like travelling in a different country. Many parts of Central Spain are arid with dirt roads through the small villages and towns and you get the feeling that has passed them by. It was an experience I would not have missed, you got the feeling that it was the real Spain and not something artificially designed solely to attract foreign tourists. We finally arrived at the port in Algerceras and boarded a ferry for Tangiers, on arrival in Tangiers we were taken to the Hotel Chellah, booked in and then went sight-seeing. Having never been to an arab country before there was much to see and do, at first it was quite bewildering. The Medina in the old town was a most intriguing place to walk through and of course if like me it can take some time, particularly if one is looking and bartering for souvenirs etc .as you walk along. The music from the mosque’s, the dust and constant noise all add to the excitement of being there. Some of the Arab customs I found appalling, like the incident I witnessed one morning as I was walking through the town. This Arab was riding a donkey whilst his woman walked beside him laden with goods on her back. He had a rope round her neck and if she faltered he beat her with a stick and pulled on her neck with the rope, until she caught up with him. The large number of beggars also tended to take away some of the charm, although I know that to these people begging is a way of life and that a lot of children are deliberately crippled at an early age by their parent, I still cannot understand the mentality of these people who can mutilate their own children as a means of earning money. The way servants were treated I also found distasteful, the Arab’s looking for work would sit along a wall in the Medina and the wealthy would walk round and look to decide who to select as a servant. This would be accomplished with much hair pulling, kicking and looking into the mouths of the hopeful servants which were generally forced open with a stick. I guess it could be said that servants were definitely worth much less to these people than an animal. Apart from my dislike of the above I did have a good holiday there and would certainly go again