ODDS’N’SODS — Zambia-bound

I chose to become a mining engineer because I felt it would afford the best opportunity to travel. When, some time ago, I was invited to be interviewed by RST International, which held an interest in Zambia Consolidated Copper Mines, I jumped at the chance.

The company made an offer following the interview, conditional on a medical examination and the successful compliance with the red tape required to work there. The visas and permits were approved in late August, and my departure for Zambia was set for Labour Day.

My trip to Africa started with a short flight to New York City, followed by an overnight flight to London. Upon my arrival there, I checked into a hotel near Heathrow Airport and headed downtown to pick up my permits and visas at the company’s offices.

The trip to Lusaka, Zambia, involved another overnight flight, but with a refueling stop in Rome. I snapped some pictures during the half hour it took to clear Italian security, including one of a soldier armed with a sub-machine gun (which I later discovered was pointed directly at my camera).

The stopover there was short, and I spent my only visit to Italy waiting in two lines — one for security, and another to board the airplane that would take me to Lusaka.

Sleep was impossible on this leg of the journey since every baby on the plane — and there were a lot — seemed to be crying. In addition, safety regulations for this Zambian airline didn’t seem very strict. Trips to the washroom involved running a narrow obstacle course consisting of a maze of baby carriages.

Upon my arrival in Lusaka, I was approached, after clearing customs, by a Zambian soldier toting a Lee Enfield .303 rifle that must have dated back to the Second World War. He demanded to see my passport. Although Canada Customs advises that one should never surrender your passport to anyone, he was the one with the gun. I handed it over and he returned it a little while later without a word of explanation.

The flight to Ndola was uneventful, and before long I was in a van headed toward Luanshya, my final destination. Later that day, new employees were taken on a tour of the town. An integral part of that tour was an introduction to the man who could exchange foreign currency, which he did at the black market rate of more than twice the official bank rate.

I returned to Canada after two years in Zambia, largely because Zambia’s currency had been devalued by 25%.

— The author, a mining engineer, resides in South Porcupine, Ont.