bio - biography

Stories of our life in Zambia

1967 - 1071 

Zambia

1968 Working for Roan Selection Trust visiting the Chambishi mine
with Pier Luigi Binda in white shirt

1968 Jan as a miner underground at the Luanshia mine

1968 Women with babies at Chief Nkanas village,
next to Kalulushi

1968 Trip to Lubumbashi (Zaire)

1968 Girls in Lubumbashi

1969  Our house in Kalulushi, 10 Marlborough House Road,
Pepa in dooropening.

Starting off in Kalulushi in a singles quarter,
this was my third address as a senior married geologist,
with the high window of our bedroomon on the left.

The Binda's were living on the other side of the road and the Sunday mornings they would sent their 4 or 5 year old daughter to us, for getting some privacy theirselves.  Francesca Binda would throw some small gravel at our bedroom window to wake us up. After letting her in she would get in our bed between Pepa and myself. Don't remember  our conversations, but as a grownup Francesca had international jobs and we saw each other quite frequently during our entire lifetime.

1969 The wife of our houseboy Popfa and Pepa with Carlo Binda

1970 Induced polarization investigation in Dongwe

1970 Percussion drilling in Dongwe

1970 Refraction seismics at the Kalengwa copper mine (near Dongwe}
to determine the alluvium depth overlying the mineralised formation. It is worth mentioning that I was familiar with the calculations from the teachings of Johan Gregorius Hagedoorn who was "buitengewoon professor" in geophysics at the university of Leiden. In fact he himself had developed a graphic method for the oil company Shell. These were the very beginnings of refraction seismics and reflection seismics method did not yet exist.

The portable recorder I am using was bought by Selection Trust on my recommendations. At that time it was just coming on the market and it was manufactured in Sweden.

Later on in 1970 I used refraction seismics on the tailings-dumps covering the area above Mufulira mine. This was after the disaster on 25th september when 89 miners lost their lives.  The flood of tailings  entered the eastern part of the mine and the 1600 level where I had been working the previous year was abandoned. The refraction seismics were used to establish the depth of the tailings dam, these waste products were being poured there since 1939. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GYr7BYMbG2w

1970 Dongwe camp

1970 The cock at Dongwe camp.

This man had been working for the company maybe his entire life and with the regular change of geologists from all over he had a formidable variety of menus. We were very well cared for and the single motor Cessna flew in with fresh food every week.

1970  Jan in the bathtub and Gijs Niemijer fishing.
We had a bath every day,
but we could not swim in the river because of the bilharzia.

1970 Catching a fish

1970 My colleague, Gijs Niemeijer, who was brought op on a farm in Kenya and who knew all about handling animals, started domesticating our wild pet. From now on called Camboli, the name given by our black assistants.

Some years after I had left the company, i got the news about a tragic accident. Gijs had married and, as he was fond of wildlive, he had arranged to have his honeymoon in the Dongwe fieldcamp. Observing a herd of elephants with his wife hiding in dense bush they were
overwhelmed by a lone male elephant from behind and his wife was trampled by the elephant. She survived, but not without serious injuries.
As an afterthought I can tell you that the elephants were never a problem in the camp itself while people were there, because the elephants stay at a distance, but if you are looking for them in their habitat and come close to a herd with babys, it is quite different.
Gijs had been overconfident, but I am nevertheless deeply affected by the accident.

1971 Francesca Binda from our neighbours visiting us in Kalulushi.