- Location
- Switzerland
- Name
- Matt
- Start Date
- Feb 20, 2023
- End Date
- Feb 20, 2023
M.
Not laughing about the name of the town, or the chip off the bottom (though one could), but you've just put us in our place as we were whining and ranting about such get-togethers centered around boozing in other threads. Yes, there's a reason they're popular - and it ain't just the beer.Many, many years ago, in southern Africa, there was a town called Wankie. It was a prosperous little town on account of the Wankie Coal Field, one of the biggest in the world. I had the good fortune to spend most of 1981 and the early part of 1982 there working on the completion of the coal fired Wankie Power Station. The town was renamed "Hwange" in 1982.
The town is 90km from the Main Camp of the Hwange National Park, 100km on a good road from Victoria Falls and about 50km on a narrow tar road from the Zambezi River fishing camps of Deka Drum and Msuna. For a brief period of time we thought we were living in Heaven on Earth.
In late 1981, the Wankie Cricket Club decided to try to raise some money by staging an "Oktoberfest" (code name for an excuse to party and drink lots of beer). Apart from a series of photos and some life-long friendships, the slightly damaged beer mug in the photo below is one of the very few mementoes that I have of one of the most enjoyable periods of my life.
More on Wankie / Hwange: Wankie / Hwange
Hope you are OK, Rose. I've seen some of the photos and I am not sure some of my old acquaintances are still OK as they are still unaccounted for. Kia kaha.Thought I'd walk along the creek today, after the big floods after Gabrielle. Big mistake, I slipped over three times, and had to take my shoes off to get into the car because of mud and silt, which seems to cling incredibly. This was the bath after I washed the dog's feet, as the silt has the potential to be toxic. I was going to try do something incredibly creative today too lol!
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I sent that photo to my boss from Wankie days, who now lives in Ireland. His reply:Not laughing about the name of the town, or the chip off the bottom (though one could), but you've just put us in our place as we were whining and ranting about such get-togethers centered around boozing in other threads. Yes, there's a reason they're popular - and it ain't just the beer.
M.