fish and trains

Funny how in any Country it seems that the people who get up and go to work earliest and who come home latest are the ones who earn the least amount.  I’m sure there’s a moral there somewhere – I will work it out one day!

To the old mine site again, looking for the fabled lakes so visible on Google Earth and spoken of in travellers tales.  Despite the gritty remains of pit wastes there is a jungle of reeds and bushes making progress difficult and with little visibility nevertheless, and with the help of families sifting for gravel for concrete I do find two of the smaller lakes which look to have potential for sailing and fishing.

At the railway station there is one official who confirms that I can get to Livingstone at a very reasonable rate but only twice a week at 2am and an 18 hour journey. The sleeper and business coaches advertised on the radio are no longer provided and using the same train to go to Lusaka is also cheap but takes twice as long as the buses

Minehead lake

Town centre

rented settlement homes

Up-dates

One and a half days off work with self inflicted food poisoning- with all the power cuts the fridge is really only a cupboard after all. Boss Raymond rang and called round ready to take me to hospital and Philippine neighbour provided a herbal remedy and I recovered.

Blisters on soles of feet through too much walking about but happily fixed and I must take more care

Trip to Lusaka – two and a half hours on a big, crowded bus but comfortable enough.  Doctor pleased to see blood pressure continuing to reduce and adjusts prescription.  VSO happy with the contribution I am making and assure me that my time will be extended, one way or another – to be confirmed within a week.  2 of the 3 travel agents who I was checking out could not be found, my trusted taxi driver reckons they must be ‘suitcase’ businesses and to keep clear – and contacts at the vso office are going to be able to advise. Aquire new camera to replace a good one that seems to have fallen out of a pocket when leaving the plane on arriving in the Country – not nearly as nice but the best that could be found and certainly better than the decaying old one that I still carry.

Back in Kabwe I have found a bakery/snack bar that has brown bread, samosas that taste like samosas, chips not floating in grease and (admittedly bottled) fruit juice,  It is run by a European looking bloke and his family.  He was born here son of an old chap who is still about and has a family with his local wife – the children are blond and blue eyed and all very happy.

pictures next time, using new camera

MKUSHI TOWN

A small town two and a half hours drive from Kabwe, the hills if not dramatic at least give the town some form and character and cycles remain a popular form of transport. As with Kabwe it has a low density of development with lots of unused or underused land. Nevertheless the Council have agreed with a neighbouring Chief to take over some of his land to more than double the size of the town and we are called on to make a plan for the new area.

First off a meeting with the Chief and his headmen to explain what we are doing but the District Council Chairman and the Secretary (chief officer) are not present which his Royal Highness Chief Chitana takes as a personal insult and refuses to allow the meeting to start even after the Chairman has been found “he is only a politician, here today and gone tomorrow, It’s the Secretary who signs documents for the Council and she must be here” so the meeting is deferred to the next day giving the Chief and his headmen another day’s allowances and overnight stay in the Council’s guest house/drinking den.

The lodge where Raymond, my boss and I are staying has no hot water, toilet seat or shower but does have a swimming pool in the grounds which proves fine at 6;30 each morning

The Chief naturally issues permits to build anything in his territory but appears to have been equally selling permits to build within the original town boundary, within school and hospital sites and even, the admittedly unused, air strip, The Local Authority think that such activity will stop now that the town boundary has been extended but are clearly reluctant to take any action that could upset relations with the Chief who would probably go direct to the President if he felt he was being harassed.  

our lodge chalets at Mkushi

 

 

 

 

 

 

town centre

SUBURBAN KABWE

A two km walk to the office in the morning before it gets too hot, or more frequently a 30 pence taxi ride from the communal water tap at the neighbouring settlement.  At lunchtime I can walk about the town centre,  shop for familiar foods and grab a samosa to eat. 

Weekends and a chance to explore further but first breakfast in a posh, if fading in elegance, hotel with an ex-pat Swede to tell me his story about trying to manage Zambian railways over many years both nationalised and franchised but always with increasing decay – he is now a business advisor. 

I visit the railway station to find two trains forecast for Saturday 2am going south to Livingstone and 7 in the evening going north to the Copperbelt – could it be the same train since the line has clearly been reduced to a single track?  Circling the town centre is a suburban ring of bungalows in 1 or 2 acre plots, each protected with walls and barbed wire but with a good collection of mature trees.  Beyond this scene are the settlements where it appears most of thr residents live. The houses are tightly packed precluding cars but still with garden plots of maize and other crops. I m cautious but the residents are friendly and guide me to the river I was seeking which turns out to be no more than a reed filled ditch draining from the old mine.  Returning by way of the railway compound I see a number of prefab type houses – maybe dating back to more successful rilway company days or some other public housing project.

In the evening there is a power cut but with the vso issued solar charged light and  fresh lettuce am ok for a salad and watching films on the lap-top.  Next week am office trip up north to Mkushi where some recent land deals between the local Council and a neighbouring Chief need investigating….. 

Railway leving town

BIKE SHOP

The road home