1980 - ZIMBABWE Exploratory Visit - Salisbury#4

Tuesday December 9, 1980 – Salisbury

It looked as if it might rain when we woke up this morning and sure enough it did, but not the heavy thunderstorms which I remember from my youth. Just a heavy shower every now and then.

After breakfast I went around to the Tourist Association to pick up some maps of Inyanga and the Vumba so we could find our way around and then we set off to find the Company House which it has been suggested might be suitable for us to live in if we come up here. We had a bit of trouble getting the address out of  Eric and when we found the place it was not surprising. It is in Rhodesville and only just off Samora Machel Road East – not a very nice area at all. It is not suitable at all and we will have to try to find another one if we come up here.

We were a little early for our appointment at St John’s so stopped off at the Chisipite Shopping Centre. We had a chat with a very nice butcher about the price of meat, which seems much cheaper than at home and bought some stamps for a pal of ours who collects them. Rab saw an enormous moth – about nine inches across – with big “eyes” on the wings, similar to ones we had seen on a recent TV programme. It was still alive otherwise we would have picked it up to show Matt. (This reminded me of the occasion when my folks were entertaining an English business visitor. One of these moths flew into the lounge and landed on the wall near to him. He was really scared and my Mom offered to take his place, an offer he accepted with alacrity. This merely reinforced in my Mom’s mind what cowards the English were (apart from my Dad of course). If the moth was so dangerous how could he allow a woman to move into the danger zone?)

 

St John's School, Salisbury

The principal of St John’s – Mr Bowden – could not have been nicer. The school is very small – only twenty five in a class and although he could not promise anything, he would do his best. He knows Dauncy well (Dauncy was the headmaster at Matt’s school in Cape Town.). We felt much better after seeing him and then went on to Highlands School. Once again Mr Yates – call me Percy – was so friendly. He talked the hind leg off a donkey and said he would be only to pleased to take Matt, although he would have very stiff competition as his Standard 3A class was a very bright bunch. (Matt did attend Highlands School when we moved to Salisbury and was very unhappy there, but not because he couldn’t cope. In fact he found that he was ahead of the class in most subjects.)

With the question of schooling settled for the moment, we went back to town to have a look at a place called The Market which had all manner of interesting things in it – all the work of Africans. Rab wouldn’t let me buy anything because she says we have enough junk already. Boo Hoo! (This was to be a recurring theme over the years of our travels. I would spot something I thought would be an attractive souvenir, but there was never room  for that. On the other hand, there might be room for Rab’s choice. This resulted in some  subterfuge where I would casually draw her attention to an item and walk away. I knew her taste, I knew she’d buy the item.)

There was a restaurant called Bombay Duck nearby and we picked up a couple of takeaway curries and dashed back to the car between showers. We ate in the car and as it seemed to have stopped raining, we fed the parking meter and went to explore more shops and prices.  We had misjudged the rain so I had to nip back to get the car to pick up Rab. She had only been to the hairdresser to have her hair done this morning and certainly didn’t want to get it wet. We had managed to buy some bits and pieces for various people but had less luck in getting lottery tickets for the January draw for the ladies at work because they will not be on sale until Friday.

Our next stop was the Customs Department to find out about bringing our cars, our household goods and our small zoo into the country. They confirmed that there would be no problems and no quarantine for the animals. (At that stage we had two Siamese cats, two spaniels, a rabbit and a goldfish) and so back to the hotel for coffee and pigs ears (Palmiers: Schweineohren: Oreilles de Cochon) with cream – a rest for Rab and writing up this journal for me.

In the evening Frank Cross and his wife Monica came to the hotel and we had a few drinks with them. After they left we went along to the Pink Panther for a steak. Rab was a bit worried about eating there because the décor was somewhat tatty, but the food was excellent. We got back to the hotel early to watch TV but Rab fell asleep again, which was probably the best thing to do because one of the shows “The Nurses” was made in 1982 and was dreadful.