Dixon Family's Arrival on the Copperbelt

From Great North Road

By: Gordon Dixon

My father Len Dixon first saw the Copperbelt, Nchanga, in 1945. Nchanga was then a staging post for the demobbed South African armed forces after World War II. Needless to say he fell in love with the place and put in to motion our move from the Transvaal to the Copperbelt.

My father preceded us north and we the family arrived in Luanshya on the 5th May 1947, funny how some dates are etched in the memory. We first stayed "across the river" in "H" avenue. The most memorable event was that the Luanshya River coming down in flood and we had to be ferried across the river to get to school, shops and to work. Another flooding that springs to mind was the Kafue flood in the early 50's, I can't remember the exact year. But I do remember the occasion as my father had to get to Kitwe, which was cut off, and got a flight with Jack Thompson the General Manager of Roan Antelope Copper Mines.

My father used to play soccer for the local soccer club and one epic trip I remember vaguely was the trip to play at Nchanga. The bus left the Club early in the morning to get us to Nchanga on time for the kick off. We did not get home until about 10:00 pm that night. After the roads were sealed and cars used to take just over an hour for the same trip!

Up to 1953 for all our holidays we travelled by train leaving Ndola station on Friday nights. These were balmy nights for us kids, watching the train shunt into the station, locating the carriage and compartment getting all the necessary bits and pieces, toys & games, loaded. By the time the train pulled out of the station and the bedding was sorted out we children were completely bushed.

My father changed jobs, which meant changing towns, in early 1953. He started at Nchanga and my sister Cynthia and I travelled south to South Africa to stay with our grandparents in Boksburg, whilst he arranged for accommodation for the family. It took some time to get mine housing and people moved from leave house to leave house.

Once family accommodation was sorted out my parents drove down to South Africa to pick my sister & myself up. We travelled up via Bulowayo and the Vic Falls. As we were travelling by car we spent time at the Falls as in previous years we had always travelled by train and as such did not see the extent of the Falls. As those who have seen this spectacle it is AWESOME for those who haven't I advocate that they put it on their To Do lists!!

Nchanga (1953) (in the local African language Bush Baby / night ape)

When we first arrived in Chingola / Nchanga the main picnic area was the Hippo Pool on the Kafue about five miles north of the town. At this time the NR border post was at the Hippo Pool, this was relocated closer to the Congo border post after Bancroft was established. Beside the big pool which was fed by the river passing over a small water fall there were hot springs.

On one trip south we had to negotiate the old fabled Kapiri Mposhi road. For our trip we had a CARS bus a few miles ahead, which in some ways ensured we made it through the mud bath that was the road. Our car was locked into the tracks of the bus and it was as if we were travelling on train lines, where ever the bus had been we were sure to follow! The tales of people getting into a spin and driving on and ending back at Ndola or Kapiri are numerous. What a saving both of tempers and vehicles when the road was finally tarred and the Ndola by-pass installed.

Prior to 1954/55 when the swimming pool was completed we used to go swimming at either "Elleys" or "Jacks Rock". Both these locations were on the Nchanga stream the former on the golf course and the other some three miles out in the bush. When Kabundi (a different species of night ape) was created Jacks was a lot easier to get to.

In 1959 Trevor Griffiths and myself ventured down to our big lake Kariba, whose wall had been completed and "Operation Noah" was in its last days. Trevor had a TD MG which we travelled down in. Quite an experience on the gravel roads as they were then. We stayed at one of the resorts on the south bank. The resorts were mobile then as the dam still had quite a few feet to rise.

I returned to Nchanga in 1963 after a spell in England and it was in this period that I purchased a boat and outboard motors and took up water skiing and fishing. During two fishing trips on the Kafue I had close encounters with the friendly hippos of the river.

Encounter number one occurred shortly after I had bought my first motor, no boat at that time. I borrowed a boat from an acquaintance and Ian McMichael and Mr & Mrs Pryce and myself ventured forth for a day on the river with fishing thrown in. After travelling some miles upstream from the game plot we heard a loud coughing sound coming from a deep pool just around the corner from where we were. Being the intrepid explorers that we were, we beach the boat and ventured forward on foot. Needless to say the only thing in sight was a speeding runabout in the pool. The occupants informed us that they had seen a hippo in the pool and that they were hoping it would show itself. After some time the others left and we went and stoked up the braai (BBQ for the uninitiated) for lunch. After lunch we continued upstream to see the hippos for ourselves. About a half a mile passed the pool we again beached the boat and sat and watched the cows and calves frolicking in the river. On the way down we decided to fish the big pool so I wasn't going much over an idle on the motor when all of a sudden the water boiled up immediately behind the boat, right next to me! All I remember seeing was a gaping hippo mouth, needless to say I accelerated out of there and puffed a few cigarettes, smoked in those days, to quieten the nerves.

Encounter number two happened years later after I had acquired my own boat and also had a bigger outboard. Ian McMichael and I had been fishing and had come across a heard of hippos many miles upstream from the game plot and arranged to go and photograph them. As we knew where they were Irene had agreed to come as well to check the hippos out. With the big motor attached to the "Jinx" we sped upstream until we came across the animals and the beach the boat and proceeded on foot to get a better advantage. After taking the photos and watching the hippos for a time we started down stream. Irene driving the boat me in front and Mac sitting on the eskey ( Coleman Cooler ) in the back. We had only gone a few hundred metres downstream when Irene let out a yell, I noticed the water boiling up in front of the boat. Fortunately the control for the motor was floor mounted and I accelerated and swerved around the disturbance. Mac shouted from his location behind us "What the_____! Get The Hell out of here!" Later he told us that the hippo came up mouth all agape ready to have a piece of the boat. Irene said later that if Mac had fallen out of the boat and into the water there wasn't any way she was going back to get him.