CHIRUNDU TALES. (Part 6)
As time went by, a lot of work was done on the scientific aspect of the project both in the Salisbury laboratory and on the Chirundu site. The basic objective was to create a breeding facility for tsetse flies so that the male flies that had been bred could be sterilized and released into fly infested areas. Female flies only mate once so the plan was to flood an area with sterile male flies so that they could mate with “wild” females thereby preventing the production of young. It was hoped that by repeating the release process several times the virile population could be reduced to zero. Before that could be done a huge and continuous source of live flies had to be established. Several attempts had been made to establish breeding colonies but there had been only one such colony successfully established under laboratory conditions in Portugal but their methods were too small to meet our needs.
A series of cages were built that varied in size. We started out building cages using 8 ft by 4 ft netting panels. We did this so that the cages could be increased or decreased in size in an effort to establish an optimum size. This was not a success and it became obvious to the scientific staff that we had to try a larger unit.
It was hoped that if the walls of a cage were over 15 feet high, flies would not escape so we built one with 17 ft walls that covered nearly half an acre. We introduced logs to create artificial nesting sites for the flies that were introduced as well as tame warthogs to provide a natural source of food. The natural trees within the cage were not disturbed. Sometimes, in the afternoon, Helen and I would visit the cage and sit on the logs. In no time at all the warthogs would come up to us and one of them was so friendly that he actually climbed onto my lap for a bit of a cuddle! Regrettably the cage was not a success as all the flies we had released disappeared.
Our next project was to build a cage that covered an entire tree. It was quite a task getting the netting over the top of the tree but we eventually succeeded without doing too much damage to our workforce. We also built a large controlled environment insectary inside a double walled building. This was kitted out with air conditioners and humidifiers so that a constant environment could be maintained. This necessitated the provision of electrical power so two diesel generators were installed. We lived very close by so the wiring of our little house was approved by our director. We were able to use fridges, freezers and small appliances but air conditioning in our house was totally out of the question. In the summer, in order to cool off, we would sometimes go in to the building to have our afternoon tea. It was about seven or eight degrees cooler than the shade temperature at our house which does not sound a lot but when the ambient temperature was in the 40’s F and the humidity at around 90 o/o, it was a very welcome relief.
Work aside, living where we were was tremendous fun. Our fishing trips on the river, however long or short, were always an adventure with an endless variety of distractions such as hippos, crocodiles and a selection of birds that could only be classified as an ornithologists dream. The excitement of catching several species of fish was the icing on the cake.
Our frequent trips to Mana Pools were always special. Being about an hours drive away from our base made it very tempting particularly when we had visitors to entertain. It was no problem to make an early start, have a breakfast picnic in Mana, and be back home for lunch although we really preferred weekend trips when we could sleep over and get the true feel of the place.
We usually set up our camp beds around the campfire at the rangers’ camp which at that time was a couple of metal huts and an open kitchen under canvas. To say we had a lot of fun there is an understatement. Elephant were regular visitors both at night as well as during the day but they were left alone and did no harm. The worst that would happen if they were approached on foot would be a very noisy and somewhat frightening “dummy” charge.
Elephant were seldom a nuisance around the camp site but there was one exception. He was a young bull estimated to be about twenty years old at the time. He was very brazen about visiting the camp site at night and developed a taste for “masess”, the residue from African beer that was a popular ground bait used by fishermen in the pools. The masess had a high alcohol content and a very distinct and a somewhat unpleasant aroma. Obviously it was this aroma that attracted the elephant and he would think nothing of sticking a tusk through the sack and consuming the contents. The alcohol in the masess had the same effect on the elephant as the brew had on the consumers, he got tipsy and full of Dutch Courage. Of course this rightfully scared the living daylights out of the campers nearby in fact on a couple of occasions he walked right through the camp kicking anything in his way. He soon acquired the name of JD which made him something of a celebrity.
JD was one of the first elephants to be tranquilized and tagged by the Game Department as part of an exercise to study their movements. Apparently when the antidote was administered, JD woke up, stood up, and disappeared at a rate of knots never to be seen again in the park.
Another frequent visitor seen by park campers was “Oink” a tame warthog who was raised by one of the Cadet rangers who were stationed there at the tame. Oink was very friendly but he did frighten some of the tourists with his fearless attitude .
On one of our trips we were accompanied by a young English chap called Eric Tilling who was a Patrol Officer in the BSAP stationed at Chirundu. Eric had a good sense of humour and really loved life in the Valley. When we arrived at Mana we met up with Cliff Freeman, the resident ranger and were introduced to a tame leopard called “George”. George had been raised from a cub by a farmer in Karoi or Sinoia. He became a bit too big for the farmer to handle so Cliff was given the task of trying to release him into the wild. He was chained to a tree right in the camp area and appeared to be quite settled. He certainly did not appear to be aggressive at all but despite being offered a fresh impala to feed on, made no attempt to eat.
As usual, we set up our camp beds around the fire in the middle of the ranger camp and enjoyed our evening chat and a few beers before settling down for the night. It was a peaceful night with no incidents to report. In the morning however there was a whispered call for help from our friend Eric. It seemed that George got cold during the night and decided to cuddle up to Eric who was too scared to do anything about it. By the early morning, Eric badly needed to go to the toilet but he was afraid of alarming George if he shouted for help so had to settle for whispering until one of us woke up and went to his aid!
Poor George generated a bit of an upset with the press. Cliff had decided to leave the impala within easy reach in the hope that he would become hungry and start to feed. A large basin of water was also provided. At some point during the morning whilst we were all out and about, George must have moved and upset the water bowl with his chain. A tourist happened to go to the camp and saw the leopard without water with an untouched impala nearby. This did not look good but it was not as horrendous at it seemed. The visitor left a note and asked if Cliff could show him where he could find a rhino! In view of the rare sightings of rhino at that time, his was a virtual impossible request but the person concerned was, I believe, a fairly senior civil servant who felt that he should receive special treatment. Anyway a few days later, there were some unjustified accusations in the Herald which sparked off a bit of an unnecessary and unpleasant exchange. Later it was decided to transfer George to a zoo as he had been hand reared and his release into the wild was not a suitable option.
There were very few of us permanently resident in the Valley and none of us were severely affected by the terrorist incursions at that time but there was one close exception. A chap called Glyn Vale was an entomologist stationed at Rukomechi Research Station. Apparently he was alone, visiting one of his research sites one afternoon and left his Land Rover whilst he did his inspection. When he returned to the vehicle he came upon a group of terrorists. I do not know exactly what happened but it appears that the terrorists were more interested in the vehicle than they were in Glyn. He was miles from his base with no means of communication so there was little chance of him reporting them to the military. They left him there and took off down the road in his vehicle. He had a long walk home and the terrorists had an easy ride to the main road at the bottom of the escarpment (below Marongora) where the abandoned vehicle was later found.
In this, the 6th article on life in the Zambezi Valley I guess the one person who has been lacking in recognition of the part played, has been my wife Helen. As someone whose early ambition was to be a ballet dancer, the way she adapted to life in the wilds of Africa exceeded my most optimistic hopes. Before our marriage she was an accountant in a firm she partnered with her father in Karoi but was no stranger to Chirundu. In her earlier school days her father had worked as an accountant on the estate so she spent all her school holidays there and loved the place. The estate was very civilized with air-conditioned houses, the club with it’s swimming pool and other sporting facilities as well as a small butchery and trading store. Our station was somewhat different but Helen knew that and accepted it. Of course she had visited it many times.
Whilst the estate shops were operating, she would think nothing of jumping into our little stripped-down Land Rover and driving the 10 or so miles through the bush to do a weeks shopping. Her normal dress mode was a pair of shorts and a blouse or Tee shirt. Whilst she was on one such trip an army patrol arrived at the camp with a rather shaken officer in charge. Apparently they had passed Helen on the way and she had given them a wave and carried on. For their part they had narrowly missed a Mopani tree!
Our Series One Land Rover had the usual electric fuel pump which gave us problems when the points on it became worn. It was easy to diagnose the problem because you could hear the pump ticking when you switched on the ignition. If this failed all you had to do was give the pump a tap with a stick and away it would go. Helen knew exactly what to do and one day was at the trading store along with a truckload of “Troopies” Of course they were all eyeing the young ‘chick’ and jumped to her aid when the Jeep wouldn’t start. She calmly got out, opened the bonnet and hit the pump with a stick that was on the dashboard, started the vehicle and drove off with a nonchalant wave.
Helen learned a lot during her time in the Valley. She was a good shot with a rifle and had no problem dealing with snakes if I was not around. Despite her size she would would not hesitate to fire a heavy weapon up to and including my .375 magnum. She also became a very efficient fisherman and later won the women’s prize in the annual tournament at Kariba. If I have one regret about anything I taught her back then, it was how to drink a beer! (I’m still paying for those lessons)
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