Childhood Days Part 2

My school was pretty cool. The school day started at 7.20am and finished at midday. I don’t remember any of the lesson details really, but they weren’t that exciting! The coolest thing we had at school was a pond. The pond was fenced off, with good reason, because in it, lived a baby crocodile! I’m not quite sure why – the headmaster must have thought it a good idea at the time!! I remember one morning assembly when he had to stand up and say “Would the pupils please stop throwing stones at the crocodile. Crocodiles don’t like this!”
I never liked the headmaster, and the feeling was entirely mutual. He got some cool pets though! He was (I think) chairman of the local Flora and Fauna Society, which meant he was something to do with the local zoo. N fact, I think it must have been run by the society, because my dad and I often had to feed the animals there. I think members took it in turn.

Before my mum and dad got married, he went to feed the animals one New Years Day. He was probably very hungover, if not still a little pissed from the night before. He got to the lions’ cage, and rested one foot up on the side of the cage. He hadn’t yet got around to getting the meat out of the bucket when the lioness, thinking this was her lunch, grabbed at his foot with a claw. She didn’t do a lot of damage, he doesn’t even have any scars from it I don’t think, but he does have a medical certificate which says “mauled by lion”. That’s quite cool – must keep it as an heirloom!

Anyway, back to the original point. The zoo had acquired a new lion cub, Shumba (Chichewa – language of Malawi - for lion), but for some reason, before it went into the zoo, it had to live with the headmaster for a while. He hosted a “Meet the lion cub” party. My mum went along with a camel coloured skirt on, and the lion cub took one look at her, thought “Mummy” and flung his front legs around her legs!! He was a very sweet lion cub – when school was finished he used to go down to the infants playground and play on the swings! When he got big enough, he did go to the zoo, and we always made sure we said hello to him.
He also had a couple of duikers (pronounced dyker), Sonny and Gwapi (which is, I think, Chichewa for duiker). I think he just kept them as pets. Gwapi was very sweet natured and friendly, but Sonny wasn’t. In fact, one day he went for the headmaster with his sharp little horns, gouging all the way up one leg. Looking back, it was a terrible thing to happen to him, and must have hurt like hell, but as a bunch of small kids who hated him anyway, no one felt any sympathy for him. In fact, I don’t think many parents had much sympathy either, as he had been told that the animal should be in the zoo, and not be kept as a pet. He did go to the zoo after that, and any time I went with my dad I always went to say hello to him, and he would nuzzle my hand through the fence. I think he kept Gwapi at home though – I don’t remember her ever going to the zoo.
My mum went to see the headmaster one day – I have no idea what about. She knocked and walked into the office, to be met by an empty room. Only it wasn’t quite empty – in front of her was a scaly anteater! She hurriedly shut the door, and went to the secretary, to reassure herself that she hadn’t been seeing things! Sure enough, there was a scaly anteater in the office! Everyone just took it in their stride though!
NB. I cannot take the credit for any of these photographs as they are not mine! The only one that belongs to me is the one of me feeding a duiker when I was small.