Zambia World Wide

Chapter 6

Having arrived at Lusaka airport, we prepared ourselves for the blast of heat which would hit us when we walked down the ramp from the aircraft. It was always the same, the blast would momentarily take our breath away, and the heat haze rising from the runway was almost blinding. It only took a few moments to adjust, but during that period of time it was like walking through a blast furnace. After collecting our luggage we went through Immigration and Custom’s. We declared a nominal amount of stuff that we had brought back, and paid a small sum in duty “many passengers say they have nothing to declare”, bad move! They finish up turning all their luggage out, and usually end up paying duty anyway. Having cleared Immigration and Custom’s we proceeded to the Internal Departure Lounge for our flight to Kitwe. The flight to Kitwe we always enjoyed as the plane was a turbo-prop, which flew much lower than the jets. This gave us the chance to look out and follow the ground below, we were able to see the towns and villages below and also follow the roads and rivers through the bush, many of which were now familiar to us.

What a relief to finally arrive home, it had been a long journey and although we had enjoyed our holiday it was still nice to be back in our own house. We began to unwind and relax almost immediately, unfortunately Gary and Craig were the opposite, and they couldn’t wait to start unpacking their toys and stuff they had brought with them. We compromised, they unpacked their stuff and we relaxed. While we were away we did wonder what state the house would be in on our return, however we need not have, the house was just as we had left it. We went into the swimming pool area, and true to his word Eddie had got his builders round and completely re-built the pool apron. They had not only re-built the apron but combed the surface which made it anti-slip. It was much safer now than it had been. Not only was it safer but also improved the appearance of the pool area.

Over the next few weeks we heard many tales of what went on while we were away. The first indication that we had was when Jan tried to play our records, there was not a single one that was not damaged. They were all un-playable, we had no choice but to bin the lot. It appears while Eddie had his son staying with him, he was a model citizen. After his son left and went back to school in South Africa, it appears he had many wild parties and orgies at the house. In the corner of the pool area we had erected a lamp-post with a 1000watt sodium lamp at the top. The lamp was so bright it not only lit up our garden, but also the gardens each side and at the rear. The noise of loud music and drunken people shouting and screaming was almost a nightly occurrence. Most night’s naked men and women were seen running between the house and pool area, also around the garden. I don’t think Eddie realised how visible they were when the light was on, this did however explain the damage to our records. Without music life would be rather dull, we didn’t have local radio, or TV that was entertaining to us. The highlight of our week was the BBC world service, which enabled us to keep in touch with the outside world. However Jan solved the problem, she went round her friends and recorded music onto a cassette tape recorder that we had, fortunately blank tapes we could get.

Once back it took very little time to settle, after a week or two it was as if we had never been away. We had brought a watch and some clothing back for Richard, which he was delighted with, although he pretended that he had expected nothing. Gary was now back at school and Craig was now going to a crèche in the mornings, at first he was not to keen but after a week or two settled down and then looked forward to going. For the next few weeks life was pleasant but a little dull, we went water ski-ing and swimming at the weekends. During the week we would have friends around for a braai and a swim, we also played golf and bowls at the company club. It does sound as if life was ideal but we were approaching the rainy season, and the weather has become very hot and oppressive. It will be nice when the rains start and the temperature cools a little.