A day of dismay

We left Kasama in my Volkswagen at about 8 PM on that Friday after the Regional Science Fair in Kasama. We were on our way to Luwingu, about 100 miles away on the Kasama-Fort Rosebury road. There were five of us in the car, Lasford, Smarts, Abraham and Joseph, students of Luwingu Secondary School, and I, their science club advisor. It was after a very hectic and colourful day at the Regional Science Fair and we were on the top of the world. The Luwingu science club had scooped four out of the six first prizes and two second prizes in the competitions. In addition, we were declared the over-all winners and Abraham, one of our junior students was given the title of the "most promising young scientist of the region". The students were having their trophies and certificates with them. They were discussing among themselves how glad everyone at the school would be and also about the oncoming National Fair in Lusaka in which all the first-prize winners would be participating, all expenses paid. I concentrated on my driving.

The Kasama-Fort Rosebury road was a gravel road all the way along. As there were many places of loose gravel on the road-surface, a car could skid easily if you were not very careful. There had been many accidents on the Zambian gravel roads resulting in to loss of lives. However, I was very confident and did not have any qualms about driving on these roads even during night. Moreover, I too shared the enthusiasm of the students and was eager to get home. That was why we even declined the invitation of a friend to stay over-night at Kasama and to proceed to Luwingu next morning.

There was good reason for our high spirits. As a matter of fact we did not have great expectations of attaining any remarkable achievements in the fair. Ours was a fairly new science club and we had no previous experience of taking part in any science fairs. However our students were very enthusiastic and they lacked no imagination. The projects were of their own creation. During the prize-giving ceremony, the leader of the judges mentioned that they were very impressed by the originality of the Luwingu projects and that had been a very important factor in deciding the first prize winners.

Once on the main road, I maintained a steady speed of 50 mph or about, as the road was fairly straight and not having a lot of "corrugations". The twin beams of my headlights cut a silver path through the sheer darkness that surrounded us. There was not even a glimmer of light in the darkness that stretched on both sides of the road. The road was completely devoid of any vehicular traffic or other movements as far as we could see. In fact, there was no sign of human habitation, but as it was not an uncommon phenomenon in rural Zambia, we were not bothered. The blue light on the instrument panel gave a soothing glow and the steady drone of the air-cooled engine was quite reassuring.

All of a sudden, I felt a tug on the steering wheel to the left. I tried to correct it by turning the wheel to the right. In a moment I realized that the car was out of control as it skidded and careered off the road, running on two wheels. There was nothing I could do, but to cling on to the steering wheel as the car rolled over its side two or three times before it came to rest on all four wheels. We felt being thrown about within the car, hitting here and there until all movements stopped. The engine had stalled and there was utter silence. The headlights continued to project their light, but on a very uneven terrain with many trees and shrubs in it.

I called out the name of each of my students and heard the answering "yes" . I was greatly relieved to find out that they all were there and none was hurt seriously. However, when we tried to open the doors we found that the doors were jammed and we could not open them. We thought we were trapped.

It was Smarts who discovered that the wind-screen as a whole, had come off leaving a large opening in its place. We extricated ourselves through that opening and stood on solid ground. It was then one of the students fainted to the apprehension of all of us, but the cool air revived him soon and we all found ourselves in reasonably good health.

After the initial excitements, we tried to assess our present situation. As the headlights were pointing in the wrong direction, we could not see much. However we realized that unless we get outside help, we would not be able to manage ourselves. One look at the car was sufficient to tell us that it would not be running for a long time to come. We noticed that we were at the bottom of a large ditch and the road was somewhere high up. We had to climb up a steep slope in order to reach the road. As we tried to climb, we found the loose soil underfoot giving way making us to slip down every now and then. By the time we climbed up and reached the road, we all were utterly exhausted.

We looked eagerly up and down the road for any sign of movement. Even though we could not see much in the pitch black darkness around us, we could make out the faint outline of the road stretching back and forth. It was totally deserted. The glowing dial of my watch showed the time as close to 9 pm. There was nothing we could do except to wait for some vehicle that may come along. We all knew fully well that we may have to wait until the next morning and anything could happen to us in the meantime.

By 10 pm we were feeling very tired. The initial numbness had gone and each person was feeling some aches and pains from the hither to unnoticed cuts and bruises that we received during the fall. The night air made us to shiver even though not violently at first. The night was turning much colder than I expected. We had no warm clothing. I yearned for a cup of hot coffee and a warm bed but our personal safety from wild animals and other hostile beings was my main concern.


Time passed on. It must have been past 11 pm when we heard the distant rumbling of some heavy motor. After a while we saw a certain part of the night sky getting paler at a distance. Soon it was apparent that some huge vehicle was approaching from the direction of Luwingu as powerful beams of light cut their way through the surrounding darkness.


Soon we could see the bright twin beams that were approaching fast. We knew well that no vehicles would stop in such a desolate place during night-time for fear of robbers, especially dissidents from neighbouring countries who encroached to Zambia to kill and plunder but we had no option other than trying to wave down the oncoming vehicle. We stood in the middle of the road for the driver to see us clearly and waved frantically. The vehicle kept on coming at us like a huge monster with two glaring eyes while the driver gave a mighty blast on his airhorn that sent us scampering out of his way for dear lives. However, before our shout of dismay died down fully, we heard the hissing of the hydraulic brakes as they were applied and saw the bright brakelights blooming out of the darkness. Sure enough, the vehicle was stopping. It came to a standstill some fifty yards from where we were standing initially and we ran up to it.


It was a massive trailer truck, the type which is commonly known as the "road-train". There were two people in the cabin, the driver and another person, probably the mate. They glared as if real mad at us and the driver asked furiously whether we wanted to commit suicide. However, he cooled down when he saw a foreigner among the "locals" and asked us what our problem was. I explained to him what happened and requested for a lift to Kasama where they were going. At first he hesitated saying it was company orders not to give lifts to hitch-hikers, but later relented and said he would take the "usungu"(foreigner) with him. I pleaded with him to take Smarts as I preferred to stay with the rest of the gang. I gave him directions to reach the house of one of my friends in Kasama by name Santhan Pillay and to seek his help. Smarts hopped into the truck and they left.

It was well after midnight that we saw a car approaching from the direction of Kasama. It stopped near our little group and Smarts and my friend Santhan Pillay got out. No vehicle had passed in either direction during our long vigil and we were much relieved to see them. We all piled up in to Santhan Pillay's car and went back to Kasama, leaving the wrecked car and other articles behind as nothing else could be done until day-break.

Even after many years, it is with gratitude I remember those good people who came to our rescue, especially the unknown Zambian truck driver who stopped his trailer truck for us. Perhaps it was his action that saved our lives that night from whatever perils awaited us on that desolate stretch of road. Who knows?