45) Holidays
Rhodesia was a beautiful country and I so regret that we did not get to see more of it but I am very grateful for what we did see. There was a terrorist war most of the time we were there and travel between towns and into the bush was dangerous with many vehicles being shot at or land mined. But we did not manage to go away sometimes and I remember those holidays and am very grateful for them.
In 1975 we took a trip to Wankie Game Park (now Hawange Game Park). It is a long journey and we did an overnight stop in Bulawayo. We had booked into the park for five nights but when we got to the reception the young lady there was rather negative about what we would see. She said the grass was too long and we would see nothing so if we decided not to stay the full five days she would understand and only charge for the nights spent there. We were staying in government chalet accommodation, we always found it wonderful value for money, clean, well furnished, equipped and serviced.
On our very first game drive around the park we were keen to see elephants. We had promised the boys that there would be lots of elephants so they were excited and longing to see some. We came round a bend in the road and Jonny saw the elephants first (he always did see everything first). Dominic had been standing up behind Jonny’s seat and when he saw the elephants he was shocked to see just how big they were and he quickly ducked down on to the floor of the car and was not in any hurry to come up again. He was only a little boy and elephants are rather large but he had been so looking forward to seeing them. We parked the car and sat watching the heard quietly browsing. It never fails to amaze me just how quiet a herd of elephants can be. If you stop the car turn off the engine and keep quiet for the most part they will just ignore you. They will go on feeding and all you will hear is the breaking of the branches as they pull their food from the trees and also the rumbling of their tummies. In a little while Dominic poked is head up to watch them but he was happier when we decided to leave them to their breakfast.
One evening as it was getting near to the time when visitors to the park had to be back in camp we were making our way back but we thought that we would have time to just visit one more water hole to see what was there. As we drove along the loop road that took us to the water hole we came upon a small heard of elephants. I think they must have been a group of young males (unruly teenagers); we slowed down to watch them but one of them took an instant dislike to us and charged us. He came forward a few steps, flapping his ears and trumpeting loudly, he was in a bad mood. We didn’t stop to ask what his problem was we just got out of there as quickly as we could. When we got to the water hole there were a group of tourists there with one of the game guards. Jonny told him about the unfriendly elephant and that we thought it would be better not to go back that way but to take the longer way home. The guard was rather offish, he told us that if we went the long way round we would be late coming back into camp and according to regulations we could be fined. Jonny said he did not care we were not going passed that elephant again. The guard called all his party and got them back into the bus and set off down that road. When we were in the dinning room at supper time he came and spoke to us. I thought “this is where we get a fine” but he said that they had also been charged by the elephant on their way home and that he understood why we weren’t in a hurry to go passed him again.
After three days we had seen just about all the animals that we could see at that time of the year and because we were very close to the Victoria Falls we thought that it would be a good idea to take the boys to see them. So we went to the receptionist and told her that we had decided to book out. She said she was sorry that we had not enjoyed ourselves but we told her, quite the contrary we had had a wonderful time seen lots of animals but we thought that we would go and see the Falls. She phoned ahead to find out if there was vacant accommodation for us at the Falls and we were on our way again.
I remember the first time I had seen the Falls on my honeymoon and how wonderful it was. I was pleased that the children would be able to see it but I did not expect to be so overawed by them all over again. Photos and film just don’t do them justice, to stand there in front of them and to get wet from the spray is an experience never to be forgotten. The first time we went into the rainforest, when we were on honeymoon we did not have raincoats because we did not realise that we would need them, this time we did not have raincoats because we had not expected to come to the Falls so we got drenched once again but that was fine. Jonathan stood near the edge of the Devils Cataract and looked down into the churning water far far below and asked “Mom, who dug the hole?” But I think that as young as they were they really did appreciate how wonderful the Falls are and how privileged we were to be there.
Too soon it was time to go back home again and so off we set. I remember I had a small book called “The Jumbo guide to Rhodesia” with me. It was a book published by the tourist board and was full of useful tourist information. We drove along and I read snippets out of the book about the places we were passing. I don’t think anyone was really listening to me as I said. “That last service station is the last before Bulawayo and this is the longest stretch of road in Rhodesia without a service station” We drove on a little way and Jonny asked “Did I hear you right, did you say this is the longest stretch of road without a service station” I told him that was just what I had said. He had looked at the petrol gauge and realised that we were running a little low but after making a few calculations we thought that we would make it. Then after a little while we thought maybe we wouldn’t make it after all so Jonny started driving to save petrol, going slower (resisting the urge to speed up and get there before we ran out), and free wheeling down the hills. The kids watched out for all the milestones along the way and told us as we passed each one counting them down and crossing our fingers that we would reach the petrol station before we ran out. We came over the last hill on the out skirts of Bulawayo there at the bottom of the hill was the welcome site of a row of petrol pumps. We were very glad to see it and even more glad that it was down hill as we ran out of petrol half way down and had to glide the last few feet.
Another holiday we had was to Lake Kyle and Zimbabwe Ruins. We had planned for this holiday for quite a while, we had thought of the things that we would do when we were there and were all looking forward to it. We were going to see the lake and we were going to hire a boat and go for a row, we would do some fishing, we would go to the ruins and go to La Rhone Game Park and Animal Orphanage. I remember Dominic being very excited by it all and as soon as we got into the car to go he wanted to be there already and as soon as we got to the lake he wanted to hire a boat and then he could not wait to go and see the animals. He was in such a hurry to do everything at once.
We arrived at our chalet and before we had unpacked Dominic wanted to go and look at the lake, so we took a stroll to the waters edge. We saw a family of hippo relaxing in the water very close to us and sat and watched them for quite a while. We really enjoyed that but the staff of the campsite were not so fond of the hippo. They accused them of coming out of the water in the night and raiding their vegetable patch. They showed us where the cabbage had been bitten off leaving just the stalks sticking up. (and some gardeners complain about caterpillars) I thought that they should just be so happy to have the hippos so close they would not worry about a few cabbages but I suppose I might feel differently if I had planted the vegetables and they were supposed to feed my family.
Jonathan and Dominic wanted to hire a boat and go onto the lake and we agreed but we warned them to go to the left of the jetty as we had seen the hippo on the right side. They met another young lad, he was smaller than both of them and they took him for a ride in their boat. They rowed up a little way and then turned to come back as they got fairly close to the jetty they passed a submerged hippo who was none to pleased at having his afternoon siesta disturbed so he stood up and scolded them. The little boy that they had given a ride to got such a fright he jumped from the front of their boat into another boat that was moored to the jetty, then from that boat to the one beside it and then on to the jetty. The boys said that he moved so quickly it looked as if he had walked on the water.
While we were at the Lake we went and saw the water spilling over the wall. This was the very first time it had ever spilled. It had been said that the wall had been built too high and it would never spill but it did that year. There was a ferry that took vehicles over the lake and crossed on it. Jonny was not impressed with it. He said it was in a very poor condition and not safe, he was right. A short while after our holiday we read in the newspaper that the ferry had sunk. It was carrying a film crew who were making a documentary in the area across the lake and they lost all their equipment and their vehicle.
When we visited Zimbabwe Ruins we were very impressed with the size of them. Those huge walls built with no mortar are such a mystery. Maybe the magic that surrounds them can be to a great extent be attributed to the mystery about their origin. The two facts that I found very intriguing were that no burial grounds have been found in the vicinity and that there is no adequate water supply in the area. The river had dry up or even changed course, there was some evidence that there had been a navigable river there at one time but it is gone now. I was told that there were some skeleton remains around the place but no cemetery as such. They did find one skeleton there that was reported to belong to a man that was nearly 7 foot tall. At least these are things I have read about the Ruins, but I am not sure that they are completely true. Stories have been woven around the place since it was first discovered by the western world in 1867. People have linked it to King Solomon and Queen Sheba to Haifa and the gold that King Solomon imported to build the temple. I think those stories are a bit far fetched but they certainly make one believe that an exceptional people had built it and maybe it is more romantic because we do not know for certain who those builders were.
Another holiday we had was at Lake Ngesi in the midlands of Rhodesia. We had a little boat by then and so we took that to the Lake with us. By then the terrorist war was at about its worst so we had to take extra security precautions on our journey. Before we travelled on any section of the road we called into the local police station to check that there had been no terrorist activity in that area, we made sure that we were at our destination before the sun started to go down and we travelled with our gun at the ready. Fortunately everything was quiet and we had no problems at all. We travelled mostly on gravel roads and we knew that they were much easier to land mine than a tarred road, but while we saw vehicles coming along the road from the opposite direction it was pretty safe to assume that there was no one waiting to ambush us. It did get a bit scary when there was a long stretch without any other traffic and we could not help wondering if there had been a problem on the road ahead and if we were driving into trouble. When we got to the lake we discovered that there was a company of Rhodesian soldiers stationed there so we immediately felt quite safe.
We spent a lot of time in our little boat on the Lake fishing, well at least Jonny and the boys fished, I had my book and just relaxed. One day Dominic caught a barbel, or catfish. They are very ugly fish with whiskers on its face. They make a horrid noise when you try to take the hook out of them and when Dominic saw what he had caught I think he nearly jumped out of the boat, the barbel came in on the one side and Dominic was ready to jump out on the other. He was the only one to catch anything that morning and he was not happy with his catch.
In 1975 we took a trip to Wankie Game Park (now Hawange Game Park). It is a long journey and we did an overnight stop in Bulawayo. We had booked into the park for five nights but when we got to the reception the young lady there was rather negative about what we would see. She said the grass was too long and we would see nothing so if we decided not to stay the full five days she would understand and only charge for the nights spent there. We were staying in government chalet accommodation, we always found it wonderful value for money, clean, well furnished, equipped and serviced.
On our very first game drive around the park we were keen to see elephants. We had promised the boys that there would be lots of elephants so they were excited and longing to see some. We came round a bend in the road and Jonny saw the elephants first (he always did see everything first). Dominic had been standing up behind Jonny’s seat and when he saw the elephants he was shocked to see just how big they were and he quickly ducked down on to the floor of the car and was not in any hurry to come up again. He was only a little boy and elephants are rather large but he had been so looking forward to seeing them. We parked the car and sat watching the heard quietly browsing. It never fails to amaze me just how quiet a herd of elephants can be. If you stop the car turn off the engine and keep quiet for the most part they will just ignore you. They will go on feeding and all you will hear is the breaking of the branches as they pull their food from the trees and also the rumbling of their tummies. In a little while Dominic poked is head up to watch them but he was happier when we decided to leave them to their breakfast.
One evening as it was getting near to the time when visitors to the park had to be back in camp we were making our way back but we thought that we would have time to just visit one more water hole to see what was there. As we drove along the loop road that took us to the water hole we came upon a small heard of elephants. I think they must have been a group of young males (unruly teenagers); we slowed down to watch them but one of them took an instant dislike to us and charged us. He came forward a few steps, flapping his ears and trumpeting loudly, he was in a bad mood. We didn’t stop to ask what his problem was we just got out of there as quickly as we could. When we got to the water hole there were a group of tourists there with one of the game guards. Jonny told him about the unfriendly elephant and that we thought it would be better not to go back that way but to take the longer way home. The guard was rather offish, he told us that if we went the long way round we would be late coming back into camp and according to regulations we could be fined. Jonny said he did not care we were not going passed that elephant again. The guard called all his party and got them back into the bus and set off down that road. When we were in the dinning room at supper time he came and spoke to us. I thought “this is where we get a fine” but he said that they had also been charged by the elephant on their way home and that he understood why we weren’t in a hurry to go passed him again.
After three days we had seen just about all the animals that we could see at that time of the year and because we were very close to the Victoria Falls we thought that it would be a good idea to take the boys to see them. So we went to the receptionist and told her that we had decided to book out. She said she was sorry that we had not enjoyed ourselves but we told her, quite the contrary we had had a wonderful time seen lots of animals but we thought that we would go and see the Falls. She phoned ahead to find out if there was vacant accommodation for us at the Falls and we were on our way again.
I remember the first time I had seen the Falls on my honeymoon and how wonderful it was. I was pleased that the children would be able to see it but I did not expect to be so overawed by them all over again. Photos and film just don’t do them justice, to stand there in front of them and to get wet from the spray is an experience never to be forgotten. The first time we went into the rainforest, when we were on honeymoon we did not have raincoats because we did not realise that we would need them, this time we did not have raincoats because we had not expected to come to the Falls so we got drenched once again but that was fine. Jonathan stood near the edge of the Devils Cataract and looked down into the churning water far far below and asked “Mom, who dug the hole?” But I think that as young as they were they really did appreciate how wonderful the Falls are and how privileged we were to be there.
Too soon it was time to go back home again and so off we set. I remember I had a small book called “The Jumbo guide to Rhodesia” with me. It was a book published by the tourist board and was full of useful tourist information. We drove along and I read snippets out of the book about the places we were passing. I don’t think anyone was really listening to me as I said. “That last service station is the last before Bulawayo and this is the longest stretch of road in Rhodesia without a service station” We drove on a little way and Jonny asked “Did I hear you right, did you say this is the longest stretch of road without a service station” I told him that was just what I had said. He had looked at the petrol gauge and realised that we were running a little low but after making a few calculations we thought that we would make it. Then after a little while we thought maybe we wouldn’t make it after all so Jonny started driving to save petrol, going slower (resisting the urge to speed up and get there before we ran out), and free wheeling down the hills. The kids watched out for all the milestones along the way and told us as we passed each one counting them down and crossing our fingers that we would reach the petrol station before we ran out. We came over the last hill on the out skirts of Bulawayo there at the bottom of the hill was the welcome site of a row of petrol pumps. We were very glad to see it and even more glad that it was down hill as we ran out of petrol half way down and had to glide the last few feet.
Another holiday we had was to Lake Kyle and Zimbabwe Ruins. We had planned for this holiday for quite a while, we had thought of the things that we would do when we were there and were all looking forward to it. We were going to see the lake and we were going to hire a boat and go for a row, we would do some fishing, we would go to the ruins and go to La Rhone Game Park and Animal Orphanage. I remember Dominic being very excited by it all and as soon as we got into the car to go he wanted to be there already and as soon as we got to the lake he wanted to hire a boat and then he could not wait to go and see the animals. He was in such a hurry to do everything at once.
We arrived at our chalet and before we had unpacked Dominic wanted to go and look at the lake, so we took a stroll to the waters edge. We saw a family of hippo relaxing in the water very close to us and sat and watched them for quite a while. We really enjoyed that but the staff of the campsite were not so fond of the hippo. They accused them of coming out of the water in the night and raiding their vegetable patch. They showed us where the cabbage had been bitten off leaving just the stalks sticking up. (and some gardeners complain about caterpillars) I thought that they should just be so happy to have the hippos so close they would not worry about a few cabbages but I suppose I might feel differently if I had planted the vegetables and they were supposed to feed my family.
Jonathan and Dominic wanted to hire a boat and go onto the lake and we agreed but we warned them to go to the left of the jetty as we had seen the hippo on the right side. They met another young lad, he was smaller than both of them and they took him for a ride in their boat. They rowed up a little way and then turned to come back as they got fairly close to the jetty they passed a submerged hippo who was none to pleased at having his afternoon siesta disturbed so he stood up and scolded them. The little boy that they had given a ride to got such a fright he jumped from the front of their boat into another boat that was moored to the jetty, then from that boat to the one beside it and then on to the jetty. The boys said that he moved so quickly it looked as if he had walked on the water.
While we were at the Lake we went and saw the water spilling over the wall. This was the very first time it had ever spilled. It had been said that the wall had been built too high and it would never spill but it did that year. There was a ferry that took vehicles over the lake and crossed on it. Jonny was not impressed with it. He said it was in a very poor condition and not safe, he was right. A short while after our holiday we read in the newspaper that the ferry had sunk. It was carrying a film crew who were making a documentary in the area across the lake and they lost all their equipment and their vehicle.
When we visited Zimbabwe Ruins we were very impressed with the size of them. Those huge walls built with no mortar are such a mystery. Maybe the magic that surrounds them can be to a great extent be attributed to the mystery about their origin. The two facts that I found very intriguing were that no burial grounds have been found in the vicinity and that there is no adequate water supply in the area. The river had dry up or even changed course, there was some evidence that there had been a navigable river there at one time but it is gone now. I was told that there were some skeleton remains around the place but no cemetery as such. They did find one skeleton there that was reported to belong to a man that was nearly 7 foot tall. At least these are things I have read about the Ruins, but I am not sure that they are completely true. Stories have been woven around the place since it was first discovered by the western world in 1867. People have linked it to King Solomon and Queen Sheba to Haifa and the gold that King Solomon imported to build the temple. I think those stories are a bit far fetched but they certainly make one believe that an exceptional people had built it and maybe it is more romantic because we do not know for certain who those builders were.
Another holiday we had was at Lake Ngesi in the midlands of Rhodesia. We had a little boat by then and so we took that to the Lake with us. By then the terrorist war was at about its worst so we had to take extra security precautions on our journey. Before we travelled on any section of the road we called into the local police station to check that there had been no terrorist activity in that area, we made sure that we were at our destination before the sun started to go down and we travelled with our gun at the ready. Fortunately everything was quiet and we had no problems at all. We travelled mostly on gravel roads and we knew that they were much easier to land mine than a tarred road, but while we saw vehicles coming along the road from the opposite direction it was pretty safe to assume that there was no one waiting to ambush us. It did get a bit scary when there was a long stretch without any other traffic and we could not help wondering if there had been a problem on the road ahead and if we were driving into trouble. When we got to the lake we discovered that there was a company of Rhodesian soldiers stationed there so we immediately felt quite safe.
We spent a lot of time in our little boat on the Lake fishing, well at least Jonny and the boys fished, I had my book and just relaxed. One day Dominic caught a barbel, or catfish. They are very ugly fish with whiskers on its face. They make a horrid noise when you try to take the hook out of them and when Dominic saw what he had caught I think he nearly jumped out of the boat, the barbel came in on the one side and Dominic was ready to jump out on the other. He was the only one to catch anything that morning and he was not happy with his catch.
Jonny and the Boys with our Little Boat
posted by JC at
11:04 pm
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home