Down to Rhodesia...

[petermcleland]

Although 208 Squadron visited Rhodesia with Venoms, I thought I would continue my circumnavigation travelling South in Echo...

http://forum.mutleyshangar.com/index.ph ... -rhodesia/

Thanks for looking

[speedbird591]

Hi Peter. Those are great shots and brought back some memories for me as well. I've flown into Harare a few times and although the airport is primitive, I do remember it as being less basic than in your pic! One morning we were waiting on the apron in front of the terminal building watching our VC10 taxi on to the stand when from directly ahead of us two C130s appeared and started dropping paratroopers. It was a very disturbing moment as you can never be sure what is going to happen next in Africa. They dropped beyond the airport perimeter and fortunately hadn't appeared by the time the turnaround was finished and we left. We certainly breathed a sigh of relief as we lifted off.

I once flew in an Air Zim 707 from Harare to Victoria Falls airport and stayed over in the Vic Falls hotel. The nearby railway station was still using Garrett steam locos at that time! Whilst there I did 'The Flight of the Angels' over the falls but it wasn't as dramatic as yours. It was in a helicopter and thankfully he kept it whirly side up all the time It was still unforgettable, though.

Thanks for sharing the screenshots and reviving old memories for me as well your own.

Ian

[petermcleland]

Hi Ian,

Your post reminded me that I stayed in the Victoria Falls hotel in 1953 a few weeks after our Queen was crowned. I was with 266 Squadron at the time and we were flying Venom FB1s. We were on Operation Longtrek and were visiting for the Rhodes Centenary celebrations.

Anyway, I remember the hotel very well...there was a great trolley on rails system to get from the hotel down to the falls...It worked by gravity...The route was all downhill so we just rolled all the way down to the falls...Then the "Brake Men" who were blacks employed by the hotel, pushed the trolleys back up to the hotel

I had several visits to the falls, the next was with 208 Squadron with Venom FB4s in 1959 and the next was with my first wife and our young son in 1961 when we drove our mini from Nairobi to Durban and back...on the way back we went via Victoria Falls.

I remember there were huge changes in Southern Rhodesia and Northern Rhodesia from 1953 to 1961...I remember that on our first visit in 1953 the highest building in Salisbury was the Meikles Hotel and it was only two stories high...In 1961 Salisbury had some sky scrapers and the biggest was the Pearl Assurance building with that great big "Pearl" on the top of it.

My last visit was in 1977 when I was shooting in the IPSC World Championships in Rhodesia...I didn't come anywhere in the results but I enjoyed the visit, even though the country was in the midst of a war.

[speedbird591]

Thanks for those further memories, Peter. I don't remember the trolley from the hotel - it must have been removed by the 70s. I do remember Meikles in Harare, though. That was still one of the iconic places to drink and dine in Africa, along with the Norfolk and the Long Bar in the New Stanley in Nairobi, which I'm sure you were familiar with!

Sadly, most of Africa was becoming unsafe for residents and visitors alike by the 80s and leaving the hotel, even in daylight, was unwise.

Ian

[cstorey]

Ah, the Norfolk . A lovely hotel. Sadly, IIRC, it got blown up not long after my last stay , which I suppose was in the late 1970s

[petermcleland]

Hi Ian,

Yes the Trollies were only there on my first visit in 53...They were already gone without trace on my second visit in 59.

In Nairobi, I do remember the New Stanley and the Thorn Tree cafe and especially the Equator Club (was that still there in your time?)

Chris,

I think I only went to the Norfolk once...Very old time colonial and rather charming. I wish I had got to know it a bit better. A map these days is a bit confusing as the names of all the roads have been changed since Uhuru...I left Nairobi to go home Tourex on the day that Jomo Kenyatta was released from prison

[cstorey]

I think that in our day the Norfolk was just off what was called Uhuru highway . BCAL used it for a long time . One of its most attractive features was the bird sanctuary in the garden . There was also a rather nice ( and cheaper ) modern hotel called the Boulevard just north of the Norfolk where I used to stay with my wife when not on expenses!