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Northerners All this talk about the Three G's - googling babies, gallstones and gaboon vipers ..... Here's another picture of a gaboon viper which I have scanned from the March 1955 edition of Roan Antelope magazine. The caption reads 'Colin Forrester, with the gaboon viper which was killed at the corner of C. Avenue and 11th Street just before Christmas. It measured over four feet in length. Heather Chalcraft (née Bender) — Click here to contact me Lusaka, Zambia Monday, July 29, 2002 at 15:53:07 (UTC)

Brasso So you have been busy wagging your shambok about? I hope you have not also been squishing yourself up against windscreens, no wonder so many women are queuing up to attend Banbury. Perhaps you meant a shamrock, which would explain your luck in getting a large Irish contingency to the Banbury bash. Interesting too, a cunning plan that has worked wonders. You may even have been wagging your jumbuck about, hence all the Australian interest, but be careful you may attract the wrong sort. But I think possibly you mean a sjambok, on which you have just tripped up. Report to the Headmasters office a week on Saturday with 50000 lines of "I must get to know my sjamboks from my shamboks". Alternatively a list of 150 people who will be attending the Banbury Bash will do fine. You can also ask Ms Chalcraft to report in at the same time with 50000 lines of "It is Rhokana, sometimes even Rokana, but never, ever, ever, Rhokhana" Heather Nice photo of a stony dam wall, some dead flat water and bits of dry shrubbery - thank you. I imagined a sunset there and it reminded me of - well anywhere - I must have a serious talk with you at Banbury. I see the spirit level I gave you for your camera is being put to good use now, or have you learnt how to use the auto-crop and straighten facility in your image programme suite? - better than a pair of scissors hey, at least you will have some image left to show now. Paudie As long as you play with your guitars and not your shamboks. The last rendition of Danny Boy I heard was by Marianne Faithful some time ago. It also sounded awful but she had an excuse. If you and Brasso both pull it off it will be a fantastic show. (And I mean by that getting all these NR/Zam muso’s together). Some good arm-bending hey! We need to get you both doing something like this instead Sue I thought you were buying my silence? The little secret you both have is still safe with me - your promise of couple of beers is still keeping me quiet. Remember I know Fiona Gayther, (who is very good at keeping a secret), I can always let her in on your little plan. Hey Graham Any longer and you’ll have to name your babe after Elias. Both seem reluctant to "come out". Mebbe we should try Johnny’s method on both Debs and Elias and give them both a thrashing with leaves. Marianne Couldn't find any pics of the people you mentioned just now but I will have a look - I'm sure I have one or two. In the meantime I notice you worked in the drawing office at Nkana. Take a look at this from Peter Hills collection of mining photos. If I were you I would take a holiday next month, I have a very revealing article and photo about you from a Rhokana Review that I will be posting. And I was right - you are posh. Kris Here's some doctors on a photo, do you recognise any of these? I am looking for something on you too so don't get too relaxed. This is because both you and Maz have cried off from going to the bash. Did you live in Nkana-East babe ? Marion Try one of these - a REAL snake Anyone remember a Mrs Ryans farm out on the Ndola Road? She had a pit with one of those in and fed it pork on the hoof. David Gray I see you lived in this dorp once. An aerial view of part of Bancroft township. In the immediate foreground are the new mine mess and one of the single quarter blocks. The European school is in the centre background and past it runs the East-West road. Remember this road? I forgot to mention that Ian Singer has a brilliant COLOUR photo of slag being poured over the edge of the dump. Ken Miller I have tried to email you three times but it seems without success - please contact me regarding the newspaper scans you sent in. Thanks. Hi Arthur, Heather's picture of the sign for Grasmere Farm made me think of the people who carved that farm out of the velt during the first world war. The photo shows my mother Peggy Hornby with her parents alongside grandfather George's Model A Ford taken at Chambeshi around 1928,29? This must have been just before she met my father Bill Garlick, of "Mr. Copperbelt" fame. Sorry to brag, but he forgot more about copper than most Geologist would learn in a life time. Certainly a million times more than his retarded son Gordon. Cheers Gordon Gordon Thanks for the photo - it is brilliantly clear and sharp considering how old it must be. I am intreagued by the method of inflating the car tyres. You notice that person on the ground on the right with a tube leading to the tyre? He must have had very big lungs. Arthur Arthur Steevens — Click here to contact me Romiley, Stockport, Cheshire, United Kingdom Thursday, July 25, 2002 at 19:30:00 (UTC)

Doug Grewar Undoubtedly old timers disease, although I don't suffer from it yet!! They were in jpeg format so don't know what happened. Politicians!!! The Pedicle Road is still not tarred and there is still no bridge at Chembe! But I do agree with you about the Pedicle being incorporated into Zambia - it would make a lot more sense. Gordon Garlick I took these photos of Grasmere Farm for you when I was on my way to the Kafue Game Park. Arthur This photo of Itezhi Tezhi Dam is specially for you - no sunset in sight. And these are for those farming and transport types: Mumbwa is an important cotton growing area and this was taken outside the ginnery at Mumbwa. From time to time, the cotton gets wet and spontaneous combustion occurs and the driver only realises what is happening when the cab of the truck is engulfed in smoke. And a multi-purpose vehicle Heather Chalcraft (née Bender) — Click here to contact me Lusaka, Zambia Tuesday, July 23, 2002 at 20:05:03 (UTC)

Dawie Don't ask me questions like this when I am supposed to be putting my magazine together! I have just spent the last two hours trying to find the information rather than working!! But first more info on Ngombe Illede which was first 'discovered' in 1960 and was one of the most extensive archaeological sites in Zambia, particularly the evidence of the second occupation (15th Century). Eleven richly decorated skeletons were found. They wore iron, copper and gold. The copper had preserved several pieces of cotton cloth, mostly of local manufacture, but one piece which was believed to have come from India. Other ornaments were sea shells, gold plate and glass beads. Also found were bundles of thick copper wire, bars of copper and cross-shaped copper ingots, in an area where no copper occured. It was therefore surmised that they had an extensive trade network which included the Copperbelt and Shaba. Also found were two amulet holders - the only ones of their kind reported from Southern Africa. It is thought that these were of a kind commonly worn by Arabs. The conclusion has been that there was significant trade, from about 1350 onwards, between the Arabs and the Zambian interior, at least along the Zambezi and that Ngombe Illede played a central role in the regional trade network which extended as far as the Zimbabwe plateau to the south and the Copperbelt/Shaba to the north. One researcher has suggested that Ngombe Illede's rise to trading prominence may have played a significant part in the collapse of the Great Zimbabwe state, by replacing the trade route along the Sabi River on which Great Zimbabwe's prosperity had been built. Of particular interest were the eight copper ingots cast in the form of elongated, flanged crosses. These were found not only at Ngombe Illede, but also at Chedzurgwe in Zimbabwe and some other sites. They were almost identical in shape and six are almost identical in size and weight, suggesting that they were intended to be of the same value and thus were used as a currency. At Ngombe Illede they also found three iron bells, each consisting of a sheet of iron, cut in an hour-glass shape and then folded over, with the edges welded into a narrow flange. The significance of these bells is that they were known to be symbols of chieftainship in the Congo basin. I have come up empty handed as regards specific information on the Arab graveyard at Kansanshi except that I know that it is designated as a national heritage site. Hopefully I shall visit there in October when I plan to go to Mwinilunga, Kalene Hill and the source of Zambezi River, but right now, my thoughts are on my next trip which is to the waterfalls in the Luapula and Northern Provinces - Mulombwa Falls near Serenje, then across the Luapula River on a two-kilometre long bridge, round the bottom of Lake Bangweulu to Mumbuluma Falls near Mansa (Fort Rosebery), to Mbereshi with its 100-year old church, Ntumbachusi Falls near Kawambwa. After that it is Lumangwe Falls which are known as the Victoria Falls of the North, then Kabweluma Falls, Lupupa Falls and then Chishimba Falls outside Kasama. After that it is Kapishya Hot Springs and Shiwa again and then Kundalila Falls, Kaudinia Falls and another set of falls whose name escapes me right now. There are about 15 (at this stage) of us going in four or five vehicles, one of whom is Quentin Allen, one of our artists, who has kindly said I can take some of his paintings over to the bash in Banbury if I make it. Here is one of his paintings that I scanned last week, just to give you a taste. Heather Chalcraft (née Bender) — Click here to contact me Lusaka, Zambia Tuesday, July 23, 2002 at 19:37:48 (UTC)

Dawie At the beginning of July I went down to Siavonga for a weekend and on the way back did something I have been promising to do for many years - I visited Ngombe Illede. Ngombe Illede means 'the place where the cow lies down' and is close to the confluence of the Lusitu and Zambezi Rivers, in a very marginal area. The site appears to have been an Iron Age village from about 700 - 1000 AD and then in about 1400 it was reoccupied and the excavations there have shown that the pottery of the later inhabitants was of much higher quality that that of their contemporaries in other parts of the country. But what I am trying to get to is that, I understand, Ngombe Illede was a Portuguese trading post in the 16th Century. Just how large or how important a trading post, I have not been able to establish as yet. I have to admit that it is not a terribly inspiring place to visit, so I shall probably not visit there again. But I did take some photographs for you. The road in Ngombe Illede Heather Chalcraft (née Bender) — Click here to contact me Lusaka, Zambia Tuesday, July 23, 2002 at 02:01:56 (UTC)

Elias Where do I get the energy from? It could be all the pure Zambian beef with no steroids or hormones. Or it could be the nshima I eat, made from non-genetically modified mealies. What do you think? Now I'm going to be serious for a while. Yes, the fraudster, Farley Winston, did have his place on the Lower Zambezi and yes, he did claim to be making diesel from grass. And yes, he did have a diplomatic passport and he was wanted in a number of countries in Southern Africa. But this is not the same person that Chris Tamm refers to. He was here in the 80's, and it was not only KK that was conned, there were a number of other people also conned by him. My trip down to Kafue was pretty rushed. It took us longer to get there plus we left late. I was taking down a cameraman from the British military but when he arrived on Wednesday evening, British Airways had left all his luggage at Gatwick. We went down in any case but left late because he had to buy some clothes first. And it was just as well that we did go down because they had a problem and had to leave one of the vehicles there. So I came back with ten in my car - here's a photo. There were ten in the bed ..... As we say about Zambian taxis - 'there's always room for one more.' And a few general photos of Itezhi Tezhi Dam - the dam itself, the dam wall, the spillway, the river below the dam wall; a few animals (not much time for game viewing, plus (Arthur) it was late by the time we got there which accounts for the sunset over the lake). Sunday I went down to the Lower Zambezi, back yesterday and here are some photos of that trip: The confluence of the Kafue and Zambezi Rivers The Chirundu Escarpment and Chirundu itself Chieftainess Chiawa's palace Hippos Elephants Lower Zambezi Game Park The view of the Zambezi from where we camped The Chongwe River Baboon Waterbuck (I am posting this one so that you can compare the vegetation down there with the vegetation in the Kafue Game Park) Matabele ants Do you remember the smell of a bushfire? Heather Chalcraft (née Bender) — Click here to contact me Lusaka, Zambia Wednesday, July 17, 2002 at 05:39:11 (UTC)

David Gray Thanks very much for the info on the photos and welcome to the GNR Message Board, I think this is your first posting? If you send me your snail-mail address I'll drop you the complete and updated Maxwell Mining Photos CD in the post along with another prezzie which I'm sure you will enjoy. I just read your narrative entry in the Names Directory and it is very impressive. You will be hearing from me shortly and also my cohort Heather, I'm sure we can milk you for a few photos and a story or two from the old days. I must read these entries more thoroughly. Are you attending Charlie Cartmill's Cape Town Caper? Charlie Where's your advert for the Cape Town bash? I have an army of willing volunteers currently loafing about who will do you something spectacular to get the numbers up. Let me know the date and I'll get them off their backsides and get their hands working on something useful before they go blind. Hope you are bending some arms of the Durban crowd too - John Tyne and others are very quiet just now, perhaps the tsetchy fly has been biting again? Have you had Elias's deposit yet? Um perhaps not, I hear you have mountains of guano down there anyway. Linda, Sandra People say a picture says a thousand words but I think a lot of these photos I post are completely silent until people like yourselves put a real life experience behind them and they suddenly come to life as you have done for the Technical College and so many other people have done for other photos on this site. I suspect a lot of photos I post here which never seem to get a reaction are still seen by many a silent reader who could in fact bring them to life as well. Sometimes it works - as David Gray proved with the mining photos I posted recently. So to all you lurkers and silent readers it's about time you got brave joined in. Elias Your croc experience reminded me that this photo and caption caught my eye recently. Taken from a Rhokana Review article published in July 1957 the caption reads - "Ten live crocodiles were flown from Livingstone to Johannesburg as part of Livingstone's exhibition at the Rand Easter Show. The baby crocodiles, which were the gift of hunters in the Southern Province of Northern Rhodesia were housed for their journey in an aluminium lined box. The crocodiles were exhibited in the large model of the Kariba Lake. Suitable measures to enclose the crocodiles were taken. Owing to the fact that visitors were alleged to have treated the crocodiles cruelly, they were withdrawn from the show and taken to Johannesburg Zoo". How can you be cruel to a baladdy croc? Did you kiss yours? These images caught my eye too - Kitwe Garden Shop - Fullers Bread and how Nkana got its name. The Garden Shop advert particularly got my interest - just look at that list of freely available toxins - especially KATAKILLER - wow just think off all the money I could save buying tins of airgun pellets or Katty elastic to discourage the local moggy population digging up the flower beds. Being a Northern Rhodesian product I'd expect it would cover all sizes of mog up to lion size. Just look at the other stuff too - Toxaphene (liquid and powder) DDT - not seen that for years in the shops here - and if that don't work just buckets of other sorts of useful TOX - no bugs, weeds, mogs or other pests and cheaper to run than a flame-thrower for a burnt earth look. Heather I need to put in an order can you still get this stuff? PS - Gill - I just love kitties. Really. Arthur Steevens — Click here to contact me Romiley, Stockport, Cheshire, United Kingdom Wednesday, July 17, 2002 at 00:13:35 (UTC)

Hey Linda Take a look at this What music did you learn to type to - Ag Pleeze Daddy? Arthur Steevens — Click here to contact me Romiley, Stockport, Cheshire, United Kingdom Sunday, July 14, 2002 at 06:28:17 (UTC)

Northerners ! Back for a short while so I will post up the stuff in my queue and a few extras. Last week I was gutted thinking I'd lost these scans I made of some very large colour photos from George Maxwells Mining Photograph Collection, most of which I have already put onto CD. The photos were scannned on my A4 scanner in sections of four and then all joined together for each photograph using Photoshop. Bet you can't see the joins. These will be released on CD at a later date and the photos are are around 20mb in size for each image giving stunning detail. Unfortunately I could not see any captions on the original photos and would be greatful if anyone who recognises where and what would fill me in with the details. I have another batch of mining photos in a similar vein belonging to Peter Hills - these too will be put on the CD. I will manage to cut a few CD's in time for the Banbury Bash, so anyone attending wishing to have a copy please let me know. I will also have some other CD's and possibly a pre-release of some Rhokana Reviews I have already scanned. A general release will be done sometime next year. Whilst scanning Peter Hill's magazines I also have been doing some other memorabilia Peter has lent the GNR and noticed this coin. Looking at the coin I noticed it is 100 years since Cecil Rhodes death - here in the UK nothing has been mentioned which is not unexpected - he is now one of Britains "Politically Incorrect". Times change. Here are some interesting banknotes which are in the GNR Archive waiting for a proper display slot but I will let you have a glimpse of a few. I have now practically all of the Zambian banknotes copied - those are for another day along with Northern Rhodesian currency and coin and stamps. Well here's the stuff in the queue and an article from a Rhokana Review. Arthur Arthur: Thanks for posting my Kansanshi photos - from - slides. In response to Elias's query re the location of Mutanda Falls, I attach the following additional photos of Mutanda River, Mutanda River Bridge, plus a map section extracted from the Times World Atlas. The falls are "about 120 miles from Chingola on the Angola road", as I recorded 35 years ago; Solwezi is about 100 miles, and the Lunga River crossing (bridge) is about 70 miles from Chingola. I have old slides of that, too, but have not submitted them for publication. I hope you can post these soon for me, too. Thanks, Arthur Bob Allan Hi Arthur, This may be of some interest. The caption reads, 'Successful Entrepreneur. Charcoal merchant Bernard Mudzvendi sells his goods on the Great North Road in Zambia. The launch of the African Union and its economic recovery plan Nepad could see this spirit flourish all over the continent'. Photo John Woodroof. I wish I had some of this charcoal for my braai. The South African variety is not half as good. Cheers - Doug Grewar Arthur - For those Northerners who may be interested in Dawie van der Bliksem's whereabouts, yesterday (July 10, 2002) David Cooper left the US to return to Amsterdam. As can be seen from the photo, he was travelling incognito. Glen Drake Hi Arthur I have sent a message in looking for Ilse Nichaela Newton Could you please attach these photos Thankyou Mandy The Lusaka Agricultural Show Once again there was an immense variety of exhibits at the Lusaka Show, and if you could stand the strain of trudging along miles of avenues, both in the halls and the open air, you could learn a lot - and much of it a heartening story of enterprise. Many of us make the mistake of setting aside one day to visit the Lusaka show and here we make a big mistake. Certainly the Lusaka Show is not the kind of Show that the countryman or visiting townsman can cover easily in a day. It is perhaps possible to see everything on view in the short space of three days that the show remains open. The Lusaka show is the largest of its kind in Northern Rhodesia. No matter what branch of farming visitors may be interested in they will find some section that particularly meets their needs. There they are able to chat with people of like interests, not only from their own areas but from all over the Federation, and in some cases from countries overseas. In the old days, when transport was difficult and the farmer's advice to his son had to be 'If you want to get on, look over your neighbour's fence' There was little chance to know even what the rest of the country was doing, let alone the world outside. It is nothing short of a revolution in farming that the Lusaka Show has, in the course of 32 occasions in which it has been held, been able to change the whole outlook by enabling farmers to have world horizons but at the same time set the pattern for similar shows in Northern Rhodesia. Statistics are always interesting but space does not permit us to give any details of the background work that goes into making a show like the Lusaka Show possible. But should you at any time have the opportunity of glancing through these you will not be surprised that the show preparation costs a considerable sum. Not all of this, by any means, is dead loss, because exhibitors pay fairly large rents to the Society for their stands. But the success or not of the Show depends on how many people visit it. The aim of the show is the same today as it was when the Northern Rhodesia Agricultural Society was founded in 1926. That aim briefly is to encourage by every means improved farming practice, the development of new implements and crop varieties and in fact everything that will assist the progress of agriculture. Nor is the Northern Rhodesia Agricultural Society lacking in its knowledge of human frailty, for it quite realises that such aims can only be advanced by offering inducements. The grants, prizes, and medals it awards have no great intrinsic value but they are eagerly sought after as the blue ribands of the farming world. The trade stands at the show cover almost every article you care to think of in connection with work on the farm, or in the farmhouse, or for the comfort and convenience generally of farming people. Round the arena you will find the crowds packed on the stands, peering over each others shoulders, and envying the more fortunate who have seats in the members' enclosure, to watch displays by police dogs, or see the Federation's premier horsemen and women vying with each other over the stiff courses. Then of course, there is always the N.R. Police Band. It is a great thing to stand in the sunshine talking to one's friends from all over Northern Rhodesia about all sorts of matters of farming practice and policy, with music drifting gently about you - and, of course, to enquire from the farmers how they have done with their cattle. And it is perhaps the cattle that really make the show - the white-faced burly Herefords, the red, white and roan shorthorns, the black Aberdeen Angus, the Golden Guernsey and dairy shorthorns, the chocolate and brown Ayrshires, the Africanders, the docile Jerseys, and black and white Frieslands. Horses too were there in their glory - and who, looking at these noble beasts, can ever feel anything but a determination that they must never be allowed to vanish from our Northern Rhodesian scene. There is no space to mention the many varieties of pigs, sheep and poultry on view, nor the many interesting educational stands organised by such bodies as the Ministry of Agriculture, Rhodesian Railways Ltd., the Farmers' Co-operative (N.R.) Ltd., Federal Dept of Health, Water Development and Irrigation Department, the Game Preservation Association and the Road Safety Society. The commercial vehicles and farming machinery at the show emphasised that the keynote today is consolidation. There is no question these days that the tractor is king of the farm. An astonishing number of tools and types of equipment can now be tailored, so to speak, to the tractor, so that the machine is right for the job it is doing. It means greater safety, higher output, and longer life for the machines themselves. Extracted from the Rhokana Review September 1958 Just to keep a balance here's a scan from the same magazine - anyone from the Centre of the Universe remember working here? Thanks to all for the contributions Arthur Arthur Steevens — Click here to contact me Romiley, Stockport, Cheshire, United Kingdom Saturday, July 13, 2002 at 21:22:20 (UTC)

Broken Hillians Yesterday I received an email from a friend of my mother's, whose daughter needed some help with names of Zambian hard wood trees. Whilst I was going through my book (Know Your Trees) to type up a list, I found that it had this to say about the big tree in Kabwe: The 'Meeting Place' tree in Kabwe is a fine example of Ficus Wakefieldii. It was possibly a 'slave' tree and the inscription reads "This large fig tree served as a meeting place on many occasions during the early years of the township's history and many were the safaris that started out from beneath its shade." This tree is now preserved as a National Monument. It, however, has an unusual form having virtually no trunk. At some stage it must have been cut down to almost ground level, and the resultant stool shoots have grown into massive branches. There are six of these spreading up from the base. And whilst on the subject of fig trees, some of you may remember the big fig tree along the Siavonga Road. Until recently, the area around it has been overgrown so it has not been visible from the road. However, they are currently rebuilding the road, so a lot of vegetation control has taken place and the tree is once more visible. Here is a photo I took when I was down there last week. I am not sure which species of ficus it is. Heather Chalcraft (née Bender) — Click here to contact me Lusaka, Zambia Wednesday, July 10, 2002 at 05:39:49 (UTC)

Northerners Just in case any of you are becoming concerned that Nkana (or perhaps even Nkana East) was the centre of the universe, here are some photos from Luanshya. This should get things back into perspective. They have been scanned from some Roan Antelope magazines which Reg Hughes has very kindly lent me and are from the October 1952 issue. Jim Tonkin and Charlie Chesters on board the Kontiki supervise the dredging of sand from the Luanshya River, in the shadow of the old tailings dam. An incoming train brings its welcome cargo of coal. Here at B Points weighbridge are Shunter H Olivier, Fitter Frank Davison and Driver H Breytenbach This steam-shovel is cutting a diversion channel for the Luanshya River. In the cabin is Joe Wheaton and below are Frank Fleiner, the General Foreman, and our guide, Chargehand, H Bellardie This is the bucket and drag line of the steam shovel which scoops up the earth at an astonishing rate For the non-mining types: An expectant crowd waits for the gates of the Swimming Pool to open When the cameraman makes his appearance, the youngsters frolic towards him in eager co-operation From Roan Antelope, October 1952 Reg, thank you very much and I will be returning your magazines to you shortly. Exercise Helping Hand During the last week, I have been spending time with 25 British military personnel who are in Zambia refurbishing ZAWA's vehicles, weapons and communications equipment. Here are some photographs which I have taken. This is a photograph of the room where ZAWA store all the confiscated weapons. It was encouraging to see this, as my perception has always been that ZAWA is achieving very little in the fight against poachers. During the three days that they were in Lusaka, they refurbished 37 guns which will now be used by ZAWA scouts. They have at last been introduced to the Zambian solution to all mechanical problems - the tried and trusted 'maleggin', in this case used for tying up the balljoints, the prop shaft and the rear brakes. Since their arrival last Wednesday, they have rebuilt 5 Landrovers and had them refueled on Saturday night, ready to go on Monday morning. But they weren't planning on the reality of life in Zambia. On Saturday night somebody siphoned all the fuel out of them so Sunday morning saw them pushing it to the fuel station. Ag shame! Just before setting off for the Kafue Game Park yesterday morning, they had a chance to read Zambia's best magazine, The Lowdown. Finally they were on their way I shall be joining them on Thursday at Ngoma, back on Friday and then on Sunday I shall be taking down a group from the BBC to the Lower Zambezi National Park where they will be continuing their work. Standby for the photos. Exercise Helping Hand is working in conjunction with the David Shepherd Foundation Heather Chalcraft (née Bender) — Click here to contact me Lusaka, Zambia Tuesday, July 09, 2002 at 06:08:13 (UTC)

Linda I have no preference to colour as long as its a flesh tone. These pics were taken from William Hill the bookies security cameras after a disturbance yesterday in Scarborough, this young lady was licking herself whilst waiting in the queue to place a bet. Apparently she could not decide what colour she looked best in. Notice the waxed legs (not shaved) I'll be back after I hear from the bookies shop in Dundee - no doubt with more suprises. Arthur Hello Arthur I was most interested to read your recent posting of the old Rhokana Review(Aug '55) article on Kansanshi and the old mine. It brought back memories of a trip my wife and I made the long Maydayweekend, 35 years ago (ie 1967) by car, our trusty old white Cortina GT, from our Chingola home to Kansanshi and Solwesi, where we stayed in one of the old rest camp rondavels. The views are of Mutanda Falls ~120 miles from Chingola on the Angola road, rest camp rondavels at Solwezi, the others of Kansanshi mine, township and approaches. Missing is a photo of a giant black mamba which flashed across the dirt road on the way into the township - too fast to snap! Bob Allan Melbourne Australia Arthur Steevens — Click here to contact me Romiley, Stockport, Cheshire, United Kingdom Sunday, July 07, 2002 at 09:50:34 (UTC)

Kapenta - The Food Of The Painted Women Kapenta (Limnothrissa miodon) first came to the towns and cities of Zambia from Lake Tanganyika, although as early as 1860, the explorer Richard Burton had described the use of circular nets lowered from a canoe to catch fish attracted by the light of an mbaula (wood-fired brazier). Today, kapenta rigs have enormous lights on the surface and are fitted with the same circular nets, although they are much larger, and lights which are lowered into the water. The lights attract the fish and when there are sufficient numbers, the net is lifted to the surface with the catch. Kapenta fishing is an important economic activity on Lake Tanganyika (where is is known as dagaa) and on Lake Kariba, where it has superseded bream in terms of commercial viability. The possibility of introducing kapenta into Lake Kariba was considered as early as 1956 although the first experimental attempts began in February 1962. Under the supervision of Dr George Coulter, Senior Fisheries Officer, in Northern Rhodesia, a brood of sardine fry of the genus Limnothrissa was netted near Mupulungu and placed into two galvanised iron transport tanks. They all died within five hours. It was decided that this was probably due to mechanical injury, so a method was used whereby the fry were caught in a large polythene net and placed in polythene bags. This resulted in a higher survival rate, although mortality was still high. However, some individual fry had survived and were growing beyond the maximum transportation size. Thus a trial run to Kariba was attempted. On the morning of 25th February 1963, 350 fry were caught and transferred to polythene bags which were then stored in insulated metal containers. These were transported by road to Abercorn Airport (Mbala), by air to Kariba Airport and by road to the lake shore. At Kariba, 7 1/2 hours after capture, 45 per cent of the fry had survived. Half of these were introduced immediately to a lake-side storage dam, where they all died within a few minutes, possibly because of a difference in the water temperatures. The next day only 14 of the original 350 were still alive. These were placed in a keep net in the lake, where they lived and grew for more than three months until a storm wrecked the net and the fry escaped into the lake. Albeit accidentally, the first introduction of sardines to Lake Kariba, had taken place. But it was still not known whether they would find conditions suitable for breeding and also which of the two species involved would be the better. Investigations were carried out and by September 1966, it was decided that Limnothrissa miodon, the larger, less specialised species would be the one. Limnothrissa miodon was known to grown to 17 centimetres in Lake Tangayika and did not require such deep water for laying its eggs. Further experiments on the catching, handling, keeping and transportation of the sardines were also undertaken and a trial flight involving 12,000 sardine fry was made to Sinazongwe in December 1966. About 50 per cent of the fry survived. Between July and November 1967, approximately 250,000 sardine fry were released into Lake Kariba from Lake Tanganyika. This involved 26 airlifts. In August and September 1968, a second series of flights took place and over 120,000 sardines were released. In Lake Tanganyika the fry were first located in the shallows and then herded with hoop-nets into a funnel and then into plastic containers. When sufficient numbers had been caught they were transported to Abercorn and then flown to the Fisheries Training Camp at Sinazongwe, where they were loaded into a twin-hulled boat and set free in the lake. Thereafter it was a matter of 'wait and see' but hopes of success were high At Sinazongwe, in late 1969, some fish, of varying sizes, were caught and these were identified as kapenta. This suggested that not only had they survived, but they had also bred in their new environment. The first attempts to catch the kapenta were made in October 1969 using banana boats, lights and scoop and lift nets. These catches were not spectacular, but large numbers of fish could be seen under the lights and by the end of that year, some had been caught 64 kilometres east of Sinazongwe. Since the declaration of UDI in 1965, communications between the Zambian and Rhodesian sides of Kariba had been virtually non-existent and Rhodesian biologists were unaware of the introduction of the kapenta into Kariba, but in June 1969, a strange fish was found inside the stomach of a tigerfish caught in the Sanyati Basin, 210 km west of Sinazongwe. On closer examination, it was found to be a kapenta. This was followed by numerous other instances where kapenta had become a tigerfish's meal. Although the numbers were by no means large, they were enough to say that the introduction had been a successful exercise and examinations of the stomachs of tigerfish showed that 70 percent of their food was now made up of kapenta. The Kariba kapenta are much smaller than the Tanganyika ones, reaching sexual maturity before a length of five centimetres and rarely growing beyond six centimetres Commercial fishing of kapenta started on the Rhodesian side in 1976 and on the Zambian side in 1980/81, after Zimbabwe's independence. At night, one can see the flickering lights across the dark waters of Lake Kariba. These are the fishing rigs at work. Catches are seasonal and during the summer months, the kapenta moves inshore, to protected bays, where they breed. Commercial catches rise again after March when the adults return to open waters. However, if the rain has been poor, there is less food for them, which means poor harvests for the fishermen (and for the fish and birds which feed on them) But it is not only man, fish and birds which are out to get this Silver Gold. These hardy little fish are sucked into the turbines and spewed into the stilling pool below. Yet, they still survive and have made the 220 km journey through a river, devoid of plankton and infested with predators, to establish new shoals in Lake Cahora Bassa in Mozambique. Because kapenta is so easy to prepare, an idle housewife can leave the beerhall just a few minutes before their husband comes home and still have a plate of tasty fish ready for his meal. Hence the name - the food of the painted women. SOURCE: A Wilderness Called Kariba by Dale Kenmuir Tales Of Zambia by Dick Hobson Zambia by Ian Murphy and Richard Vaughan Northerners Many of you have asked about Maurice Diamond. I spent last weekend in Siavonga and here is a photo of Maurice, taken at his hotel, Lake Safari Lodge: I also managed to bum some photos from his son: Above the dam wall The Wall Inside the wall The turbines The stilling pool The Gorge below the dam wall The Bush And Eye Sometime last month, I mentioned that Francois D'Elbee will shortly be publishing a new book entitled 'The Bush And Eye'. On Tuesday I met with Francois and was able to have a look at this superb book. It was only a quick look as he only had one copy - the rest are still on the printing press. The book will only be available later this year, probably in August. However, I did scan a few pictures to give you a taste. Francois spent five months in the Lower Zambezi National Park taking over 6,000 photographs and he has selected approximately 150 for this book. Some copies will be available at Banbury in September. (Arthur, before you ask .... no, I haven't got the picture of the chameleon yet, but I will be getting it - I'm just a little busy at the moment ....... posting all these photos). Elias It seems to me you're rather keen To get your hands on some glycerine But listen out while I tell That glycerine has an awful smell Of this you can be sure It it worse than manure Especially on manky chicken's feathers Plus I prefer Arthur ... in leathers Linda No, I don't know. Heather Chalcraft (née Bender) — Click here to contact me Lusaka, Zambia Thursday, July 04, 2002 at 06:46:36 (UTC)