White Farmers

Lunch - important on the road - has usually been an egg sandwich stolen from the breakfast table. But today is different, because today we are the guests of Roland and Mandy Smith who farm 1000 hectares of southern Zambia. 

Mandy and her neighbours have put on a magnificent display. Chicken, ham, salads, strawberries, ice cream. All home made and all amazing. Alex and I kept very quiet about the bacon sandwich and boiled egg we had eaten on the road not half an hour beforehand. 

Their farmhouse is in the Dutch style with a thatched roof. Inside is open plan and easy comfort, a big sitting room and a dining room to match. There’s a modern kitchen too, but that’s an illusion because the real work is going on in the back, where the old school prep table wouldn’t disgrace a stately home. To complete the picture are multiple dogs and a genuine welcome. 

Outside, the garden is something special. A glorious blaze of summer flowers across the lawn leading down to an immense lake. It’s a view and situation to die for. And some of the dogs have done so - crocodiles come up at night and take what they can. 

The Smiths support the local school, and each year they fly in doctors to help the local villagers - this is the only time they will see a doctor. If there’s a medical emergency in the rest of the year there is no help. 

It’s a strange and remarkable life being a white farmer in Zaire. Beautiful, hostile, important, unloved, forgotten. And yet part of a community and, somehow, a stake in the ground that defies the chaos of Africa and brings a little oasis of humanity.