Kris Massie's memories of Kitwe.
Part 31
I have one more little incident to relate. On another return flight from Lusaka as we boarded we could see a couple of men attending to one of the engines. One stood holding the ladder while one was up the ladder, fiddling. Not a good sign but its something one should by now have become familiar with. It was hot in the cabin and with passengers already seated, even hotter. A passenger decided to fiddle with the air conditioning nozzle. Cold air only wafts of course when the engines are switched on … and as he twisted and turned, so the ‘innards’ fell out and dangled … We now had another problem!! Having seemingly ‘fixed’ whatever the matter was with the engine, the two mechanics came into the cabin to see to the dangling bits. Try as they might they couldn’t stuff them back up from whence they came! (We were taught in first aid that should someone suffer injury to the abdomen and the intestines were to spill out, we were not to attempt a repositioning. It is impossible to accomplish and would cause further injury, so a sterile bandage is to be laid over the area and made fast with tape) This was a similar situation! I eventually intervened suggesting they just tape them to the ceiling. Mission accomplished and we were off!
Flying on some of these 748’s one also got used to having no door to the cockpit and if seated on the aisle, one could view what the pilots were up to … suddenly a siren went off and it was enough to descend us into a sudden sharp downward slide while oil commenced a-spewing forth from that ‘repaired engine’ … With more grey hair than I started the day with, we landed at South Downs and eventually made our way down the stairs on rather wobbly legs.
This allowed for the popular caption Zambia ‘Scareways’!
Involved with Medic Alert Zambia, our first trip arose in 1979 (we had a second one in March 1981) to attend one of their international conferences in Turlock California. We again arranged for a ‘farm-sitter’ and flew from Lusaka to Amsterdam via Paris from where we took the train to The Hague. It was a golden opportunity to call in on the parents-in-law for a couple of days and thereafter flew with KLM to La Guardia New York. Having cleared immigration and customs, as we were walking away we were called back by Customs. They’d spotted we lived on a farm. Despite our stressing we had not come directly from the farm, it cut no ice with them and we had to slosh our shoes with feet in situ through a disinfectant solution … We had some funny looks from the other passengers because we were the only two who had this treatment!
We spent two nights and a day in the City and were able to view Broadway and surrounds in relative quiet on the Sunday. I remember finding a beautiful old church with wonderful architecture and alas, I have long forgotten the name and actual location. This is indeed the trouble when one decides to wait years before scribbling … and at the time, no written diary was kept …
This occasion is marked by my walking down a side street into a small square where I wandered around. Not being able to locate the street from which I had entered I spied a policeman further along and decided to approach him to ask for directions. To my utter consternation he drew his side arm which was pointing directly at me! I immediately held up my arms shouting I was a tourist and lost. Unconvincingly with the firearm still levelled at me, I got directions and a slow walk (no sudden movements!) arrived at familiar surroundings. I have never forgotten this little episode.
Our next flight was to Los Angeles where we were met at the airport and taken on a little tour to one of those wonderful Redwood Forests and also a Vineyard where we sampled different wines and thankfully lunch was provided otherwise … double vision … !
Our first night was spent in a hotel downtown and we were taken to a meet and greet dinner on ‘the what-ever-height’ floor of a restaurant with, I was informed, the most amazing views. When I heard where and how we were to get up there, in a glass walled lift outside of the building, I put my foot down. I dislike lifts, am not a happy bunny in them and as for getting way up yonder – forget it! Persuasion fell on deaf ears but they were becoming visibly distressed at having to leave me behind. I eventually provided the solution that if they were to situate me in the middle of however many could fit in at any one time, then I’ll give it a go! So cocooned, I got there. I wasn’t very happy up there either, having sensitive inner ears I could feel the slight building movement.
The dinner was to be fried chicken, French Fries and salad and I was longing for something non-fried. I couldn’t believe my eyes when I spotted a couple of baskets filled with crudités and neatly positioned myself next to one as we sipped our drinks. Cherry tomatoes, cauliflower florets, cucumber, carrot batons and radishes – all vanished from the basket and I had a grand time. Of course I couldn’t eat a morsel of the dinner!
This was when I spotted the ‘doggy bag’ – my first experience. Not knowing what they really were for, I immediately offered my meal in the bag to the lady seated adjacent and mentioned ‘for your animals ...’ Great laughter followed when learned that these were for later consumption!
The next day we set off for Turlock by car where we stayed in private homes with wonderful hosts. The conference itself was excellent with attendees from around the world and we also made many useful contacts.
Afterward we returned to Los Angeles for a few days courtesy the ‘milk run.’ A small plane took us hedge-hopping from Bakersfield to San Louis Obispo and Santa Barbara before finally reaching Los Angeles. The pilot whose informal, friendly and joking manner we were not used to (British flight deck crew are pretty formal), apologised for those disembarking passengers almost as if they were a nuisance. We had a good laugh about that.
Our hotel was in the middle of the city, ‘downtown’ as it was termed and as no catering was provided, we had our meals at an adjacent restaurant. I won’t forget my first steak and salad. The steak was so large it overlapped the plate and try as I might, I could not finish it. I learned to ask for a child’s portion and even that was almost too much!
The next day we wandered around to get the feel of the place and mid afternoon encountered a poster depicting a ‘parfait’ at an ice cream parlour. Now this is something I hadn’t had since my teens in South Africa – fresh fruit and ice cream served in a tall glass. It was indeed a must. To my great dismay with the mentioned ingredients present, double cream was found in the mix. I had been unaware until I’d tucked in whilst wondering why the ice cream was quite so creamy! I could only muster a quarter and indeed, by dinner time, I was still sated. So I spent an astonishing time looking at the many TV channels with advertisements galore and much less of the actual programme between them (I did a lot of channel-hopping just because I could!). Something else I found disturbing was the constant wailing of either police or fire brigade sirens throughout the night.
I managed some shopping though and in one of the larger stores I was even more astonished when on wanting to pay in cash, they really didn’t know what to do about it. (Zambia did not yet have credit cards so we took travellers cheques and had fun cashing these too – it was already a credit card world outside of Africa) In the end my cash travelled in a small container via overhead wire on a sort of pulley system to the cashier. I had last seen this system operate in a drapery store in Grahamstown, South Africa, in the 50’s!!
I also bought at next to no cost ($40), a pair of Christian Dior sunglasses and had them fitted with my prescription lenses. I treasured these and I was as mad as a snake when some 10 years later they fell from my handbag on a flight to South Africa and I stood on them by mistake …
Via street car we paid a quick visit to Fisherman’s Wharf, I loved the atmosphere regretting we had such a short visit. Took loads of photos and had to re-load my camera once. Back in the hotel I couldn’t find the film I’d taken out and put into my handbag despite searching over and over – it was nowhere and to this day, lost andgone forever! Exactly the same happened with a film on our second visit – how on earth can one explain this?
We paid a visit on that occasion to Disneyland which was quite entertaining. Most impressive were the toilets, or bathrooms as Americans call them. So clean one could have eaten off the floor – unlike those in Kitwe which you could get a whiff of a block away!
At the end of our stay we booked a Continental Airlines flight to Houston, Texas from there to return home with BCal via London to Lusaka. We were to collect our tickets at the airport and stood in a queue. In front a man was purchasing his and when the time came to pay, he unfolded a wallet to proffer some 20 dangling credit cards and my jaw dropped! He was either filthy rich or lived off credit.
It was a Sunday morning flight and a full hot breakfast was served. On each tray a greeting card had been placed depicting a rising sun on the outer cover and over leaf, a short prayer. I have never forgotten this and thought it a particularly lovely touch. The breakfast itself was superb, husband found he was still hungry and it must have been from the look on his face that had the cabin staff offer him another!
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