Tuesday 5 August 2008
17th July 2008 Lusaka - Heathrow.
Lusaka International Airport.
As usual there is chaos inside. Its two hours before our flight leaves but we have to join a queue for check-in immediately. There is confusion, people getting into queues for the wrong plane, for the wrong ticket class and so on.
Eventually a BA ground staff man appears and bellows out a few instructions and it settles down.
We go through the baggage check and then through immigration. Into the pleasant, spacious departure lounge and we have a cup of tea. Dave and Sue look in the shops.
The flight is called and we form another queue through a security check, followed shortly by a second before queuing for the last time to get on a plane.
A young look-at-me Englishman with a toddler lets his kid run around before running after him and picking him up then repeating the performance twice more. Look folks, I've got a baby. No one smiles.
Up into the 767. Smiling Stewardess. Seats in the middle again. Less Americans, more Zambians on this flight. A stewardess comes down the aisle with a flyspray squirting it every few feet. It is just as ineffective at pest control as it was forty years ago.
The pilot gives us some chat as we settle in. The plane is full again.
We leave on time; its a daylight flight so sleep isn't easy. We read, doze, Sue produces a couple of crosswords, watch the TV and eat.
The toddler runs down the aisle followed by Mr. Look-at-me saying, 'Come back'. Then he appears in the opposite aisle. Everyone notices that he's got an extendable lead and could control his kid. No one looks at them.
The hours pass. We start the descent to Heathrow and have to stooge around above central London for ten minutes waiting for air traffic before finally making a smooth landing.
Another ten minutes taxiing across the airport and then another twenty minutes before we get our bags, clear customs and walk out to see Kev jiggling the car keys and grinning at us.
Twenty minutes later we're in a traffic jam on the M25.
16th July 2008.
The holiday is almost over now. After an early breakfast a car arrives for the Males to take them to Lusaka Airport for flights to Chobe in Botwana for another couple of days game viewing.
We say our goodbyes.
Durbers make arrangements to get the next available car and wait around for it to arrive.
Paul phones Kevin to confirm pick up from Heathrow the next day.
Males say goodbye..................................................................................................Paul phones home.
Humphrey drives at one speed - fast - and one braking method - hard. Two shut-your-eyes hours later we are in the middle of Lusaka. He drops us at the Holiday Inn just before lunch.
A few more drinks by the pool then Sue and Paul go to bed.
15th July 2008 Chingola - Ndola - Kabwe.
Monday 4 August 2008
14th July 2008 Chingola
A late breakfast today. Into the dining room at 8.30am for the now customary buffet with fried breakfast options as well as cereals and fruit. Many of the other residents seem to be mining engineers with South African accents to the fore. Most are immaculately dressed, have laptops and they sit around in the dining room, the patio, the bar and reception tapping away.
We abandon the cars for the morning and walk up the hill into Chingola town. Sue and Paul met and married in Chingola and Sue's family were long time residents.
Although slightly run down its a much neater town than say Kitwe or Kabwe and we all feel at home despite the lack of white faces. We walk through the town to Fourteenth Street where Paul lodged for a time with his mate Eddie Kirkham, his late wife Sheila and young daughter Julie. The street is untidy and has little tarmac left but otherwise looks the same.
The Kirkhams old house, 30, Fourteenth Street.
Back in Chingola we walk through a market just off the main road. Dave D. calls in for a haircut - £1.50. We're all struggling with Zambian money. Its 6,600 Kwacha to the pound and everything seems expensive until its calculated. To confuse the issue we've also brough US dollars as these are accepted by most traders and we sometimes have to make another calculation.
Pictures below show the market and Dave D. getting a Number One haircut.
Pam and Posh Spice blouse ..... ............We then walk up to a cafe for a drink on the outside patio.
We walk back down to the Protea and for the only time on our holiday spend thirty minutes sunbathing by the pool. Alison Hart, the manager comes over and introduces herself and we discover that the Goddards who Durbers were friendly with in the sixties are still here, that Ann Goddard is still working at Stubbs Chemists in town and that she is Alison Hart's best friend.
Thirty minutes in the sun and we are burnt. We go inside for lunch.
After lunch Dave M drives Sue and Paul into Chingola; we go into Stubbs the Chemists and wait for Ann Goddard to appear. naturally she is bemused at seeing blasts from the past but promises to come to the Protea for a drink that evening.
A beer, photos and we move on.
Back at the Protea we make calls to organise the rest of our trip and then meet in the bar at 630pm. Waiting for us are Tony and Ann Goddard. Tony was the 'official' photographer at the Durber's wedding.
Above right Males, Durbers & Goddards.
13th July 2008 Ndola - Kitwe - Chingola
Dave M. is still on the internet when we head for the buffet breakfast at the Mukuba but denies having been there all night. The 'broadband' in Zambia is painfully slow.
We check out, the general opinion being that the Mukuba is distinctly average.
On the plus side it sports a small herd of impala and a clutch of noisy peacocks.
Peacock at Mukuba reception..........................................Dave in front of impala.
Yumba arrives and drives us to Polite Car Hire nearby at Ndola Airport. Whilst we wait for our cars to be organised by Florence we ask an armed policeman if we can take photos as Ndola Airport hasn't changed much since the 1960's - still the same old big Nissen hut used as the terminal.
We guess our way into the city centre and immediately the roads deteriorate. We locate the Edinburgh Hotel, park in a security guarded enclosure and go in for a bite and a drink.
All of the big, western stores have gone but the Post Office, a large, imposing building looks from the outside as if it has retained its smart appearance.
Mutondo (now David Mwila) House.
Traffic snarled up after accident..........................................................Protea Hotel
Blog Archive
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2008
(16)
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August
(10)
- 17th July 2008 Lusaka - Heathrow.
- 16th July 2008.
- 15th July 2008 Chingola - Ndola - Kabwe.
- 14th July 2008 Chingola
- 13th July 2008 Ndola - Kitwe - Chingola
- 12th July 2008 Luangwa - Lusaka - Ndola.
- 11th July 2008 Luangwa Valley
- 10th JULY 2008 Luangwa Valley
- 9th July 2008. Lusaka to Luangwa Valley
- 8th July 2008 Livingstone - Lusaka
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August
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