An Alarming Intruder

Thursday, 26th February

We had leftover pancakes for breakfast from yesterday's giant crumpet bonanza that Jo, the mum, had kindly made. We feasted like kings! However the trip into Siavonga we had been planning had to wait as news came through about unrest in town. A group of people had been running round at night and throwing gas cannisters into people's homes to knock them unconscious, only to then rob them blind. How anyone could do this to people who barely had anything in the first place was beyond me, but it showed me the unrest caused by a lack of money and food.

Different political parties were being blamed for this so riots broke out in the streets and the army and police had to be called in with tear gas and riot shields. The whole town went into lockdown. I hadn't been expecting this; Jo said that this had never happened anywhere she had lived, and was especially unusual for such as peaceful country as Zambia. Apparently this was happening all over Zambia and people had even been dragged out of hospital beds in larger cities. From the lodge, we heard gunfire at regular intervals throughout the day but for some reason it felt like we were untouchable.

Later though whilst I was on reception duty, at the entrance to the whole lodge, as I sat there outside in the warm evening breeze chatting to Sammy, we saw a man sauntering up the driveway towards us. We called out good evening to him, but thought it weird he didn't reply so tried again. Silence. He continued sauntering up, and as he got closer I saw that he was keeping one hand firmly in his pocket. He walked straight up to us and demanded to see Sammy's father. I asked for his name and who he was, but he wouldn't answer. His hand remained in his pocket and it dawned on me that he could be harbouring a knife. "Sammy, I have a good reason to slap you you know," he threatened. I knew pretty much anything I said at this point would probably just make the situation worse, so I stayed quiet and kept my eyes on his hands. I was worried he was one of the rioters and had come to teach a white family a lesson.

But just as unassumingly as he had come, he turned tail and sauntered back off down the drive again, leaving us confused and slightly shaken. I guess we weren't in such an untouchable bubble after all.