Friday 15th
November
The
Journey
I have barely been in Monze for 24hrs, yet it seems like forever!
I live in two very different worlds and it is difficult to make sense
of the reality. One moment I am in England with temperatures not far
from freezing, where maybe we have a short power cut once in ten
years, where water always flows from the tap, where goods are
delivered to your door by van and where you hardly meet a neighbour.
Then the next moment the temperature is in the mid 30 s, where power
comes on for a few hours a day, where – unless you are very lucky –
clean water is some distance away – and that might be too far,
goods are often moved around on wheelbarrows, and everyone is a
neighbour and they say hallo. There are many other differences
between the two worlds which my brain cannot reconcile. So I jump out
of one world and land in the other as you might when coming out of a
dream and resuming life where you left it the night before.
My journey to Monze was quite uneventful. I travelled on my coach
with an extra carrier bag weighing 3Kg to ensure that my case –
restricted to 20Kg on National Express – would have the full 23 Kg
for Kenya Airways. With only one case I wasn't going to be short
changed! I must have been keen to get to the train connecting to
terminal 4 because in my eagerness I managed to be half way through
the gate before it fully closed thus wedging my trolley underneath!
With the help of some attendants we pulled and pushed, but got
nowhere – however before having to dismantle the equipment, another
attendant opened the gates from the other side.
I had a plan to prevent the experience of security clearance that I
hadon my last visit. The idea was to empty all my pockets into my
jacket before getting to security, leaving just my belt to be taken
off. Fortunately someone noticed the belt – or even that plan would
have failed!! At Nairobi I remembered my belt, but forgot I still had
my phone in my pocket. Fortunately it was a simple process to return
through the screen and try again.
My plane from Heathrow left at 17.25, we had supper at about
20hrs/21hrs (8pm/9pm), we were woken for breakfast at about 24hrs and
landed at just after 2 am (known as 5am in Nairobi!!) Sunrise was
about 3 am GMT. As you can imagine trying to cope with anything after
this is tricky – a security check where, this time, shoes need to
be taken off along with other slight variations in procedure from
Heathrow becomes another nightmare. That's my excuse anyway!
So all is going to plan. We leave the gate at Nairobi airport on
time, only to find ourselves back there 5 minutes later. The guy next
to me said he thought one of the engines cut out! The pilot told us
it was a problem with an air conditioning unit (perhaps he didn't
want to worry us!). He called for an engineer who came after about 15
minutes. He left quite quickly with a folder and spent the next
quarter of an hour turning pages and writing notes. We were told by
the pilot that everything had been recorded and we would be on our
way. A steward then went up the plane looking concerned and a further
few minutes lapsed while people, including the engineer went up and
down the plane. Eventually the pilot said all was well. Forms had
been filled and the toilet was now also functioning!!
Feeling totally reassured we took off!!
We arrived at Lusaka at just after 10hrs – an hour after schedule,
but without further incident. I caught a taxi – you can no longer
negotiate rates at Lusaka airport 400 ZMW (approx £25) is the
current fare. The driver told me I would be at the bus station by
11.30 well in time for the 12.30 bus. In the event we arrived at
11.45 for the 13hrs bus which left at 14hrs!!
I don't know if it is me or the effect of 24 hrs travelling, but the
journey from Lusaka to Monze always seems to take longer each year. A
few years back the roads were atrocious for the first half of the
journey to Kafue. They spent a year or so creating a new highway,
during which things got worse, now this road is good. However there
are several sets of speed bumps which cannot be taken at above 5 mph
– some lorries perhaps slower. To pay for the road, a toll system
has been introduced - where you stop to pay and I;m sure that an
extra police checkpoint – where you also invariably need to stop -
has also been set up. The result is that this stretch of road is
probably slower than any other time in it's history!! The road from
Kafue to Mazabuka has got pretty bad of late. So “road
improvements” are taking place. The diversion is on the mud at the
side of the road – a bit of heavy rain a couple of days ago hasn't
helped! However we moved very quickly from Mazabuka to Monze on the
“unimproved” road. Despite my misgivings we made the journey of
100 miles in under 4 hours!
At Nairobi airport it was good to see the pied crows abundant here in
Monze and some swifts now gone some months from UK soil. The
flamboyant trees are certainly living up to their name and there are
some fine specimens in Lusaka.
By the time I had reached Monze I had already spoken to Jennipher,
Bright rang me and I had arrange a taxi from my friend Obert.
I picked up chicken and chips from the bus station – Tooters
Roadhouse – knowing that I was unlikely to find power when I
arrived at the Curia. Obert dropped me home at about 18.15 with
almost 15 mins of daylight remaining!
Chris
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