Maningi Mangos

From Great North Road

By Kenneth Miller.
July 17th, 2001

Stuart Park in Lusaka, was a favourite location for a young man to quietly woo any damsel that accepted his company, enjoy a cigarette, often a quiet beer, and more.

The park was at the Woodlands end of the Ridgeway Road. The natural state of the park with its trees and thick bushes offered the privacy that we so often craved for.

The Western edge (I think it was the Western edge) ran along the boundary of Government House, now known as State House. A high security fence, kept out the common folk from wandering into the domain of the Governor who in 1961 was Sir Evelyn Hone. Nicholas Hone his son and heir, attended Woodlands Primary School with me in the late 1950's and for what ever reason did not frequent the park with all it's natural beauties.

One hot hazy afternoon in January, 1961, a group of us decided to breach the security surrounding the humble adode of Her Majesty's representative. We located a large drainage ditch, that was unprotected, and made our way to a cluster of mango trees to eat of the forbidden fruit.

Our brave band made our way keeping out of sight of the African horticulturists who were slashing away with their thin steel cutting accoutrements, as they trimmed the immaculate lawns of Lusaka's biggest kia. We reached a tree, out of sight of the horticulturists, which was laden with an abundance of ripe mangos. As I reached up, grasping a mango, the branch pulled down to expose one of the hardworking horticulturist, on seeing our happy band, gave the alarm and our crew of five or six, raced down the storm drain for the safety of Stuart Park.

My good friends had a distinct advantage over me, as I was the only one wearing a full body plaster cast which supported my left arm at a right angle to my body. In the confusion that ensued, I was fortunate to reach the perimeter, dive under the fence without damaging or breaking any other bones in an almost perfect body. The day was not lost, I had kept the obstinate mango, which I was able to carry to freedom. Biting through the thick skin to taste the sweet yellow flesh with the juices running down my face, was truly worth the effort.