Zambia World Wide

Chapter 2

We arrived at Lusaka airport in Zambia at about 12.00 hrs. on the 12^th November after a twelve hour flight. We had a two hour wait before our flight to Kitwe. I must admit we did again wonder what we were getting into. It was so hot that as we got off the plane the blast of heat took our breath away, we could see the heat coming off the ground in a haze and were dazzled by the glare. Lusaka is the capital of Zambia, a city we would become familiar with later. The airport was basic with few facilities not the place to hang around for two hours after a long journey, we had been travelling for about twenty four hours. We were therefore relieved when it was time to board the flight to Kitwe which is on the Zambian Copperbelt. The plane we flew in was a DC4 turbo-prop, the flight took about two hours, at first we could not help but stare at the terrain below. We began to wonder if there were any towns or village’s, all we could see was miles and miles of the African bush. We finally saw Kitwe airport in the distance, we came in to land and knew our journey was almost over. The airport was a runway in the bush and the only building was a metal prefab. There was no where to shelter from the heat, also nowhere to get a drink, we were by now hot and tired and just wanted to get to our new home so we could shower and change, also Gary needed a bath and some sleep. We had left Great Yarmouth at 09.00 the previous day and it was now16.00 which meant we had been travelling for more than thirty hours with hardly a break in the journey.

We were to be met at the airport by a company representative who I would be working with. Unfortunately he was late, so we had to stand in the sun and wait, at the same time try to keep Gary cool. By now we were starting to feel the strain, after about an hour the company representative arrived and we drove to town for a quick tour and a promise that a proper visit was arranged for the following morning. Then we were driven to the house that the company had allocated us. The house was in Phillips Street in a district known as Nkana East. When we went inside it was obvious that the company had made every effort to help us settle in. The pantry and fridge were stocked with enough food for at least a week, the house was fully furnished including crockery, kitchen equipment, bed linen and towels etc. We have finally arrived, now we would have to see if we could settle, it would be down to us. After unpacking we showered and changed and then wandered round the house and garden, I think after all the travelling we were still in a bit of a daze. It was just after sunset when we first heard the sounds of the African night. The chirping of the crickets and croaking of the tree frogs broke the silence, seeming at the time quite loud. These were sounds that would over time become familiar and friendly night sounds, particularly when camping in the bush.