Africa Journal/August 18-24,1998
August 18,
1998
We set up camp
in a true wilderness across the Zambezi River from Mano Pools
National Park. We set up our camp chairs facing the river and
watched Fish Eagles fly up and down the river in front of us.
They are related to our Bald Eagle only bigger. As we watched,
two elephants came down to the far shore to bathe both in the
river water and to dustbathe on the shore. They were oblivious
to us. Hippos were all around in the water. We heard them grunting
all afternoon and night. At night it was a little unsettling because
we couldn’t tell where they were. They do come on land sometimes.
In the late afternoon, we took the boats out for a sunset cruise.
We saw more of everything including a wonderful Bull Elephant
on a small island. He had a waterline on his body showing the
depth of water he had walked in to get out there.
Night on the Zambezi: hippos calling, lots
of unidentified sounds, no perimeter fence. The bush bathroom
seemed very far away in the dark, much closer in the morning.
We got up early, sunrise on the river was beautiful. I hated to
leave this place. Most of us got up earlier than usual just to
sit and watch the river. We motorboated back to Gwabi Lodge to
spend another night.
August 19,
1998
Today we got
up at 4 a.m. because we had another long drive ahead of us. I
enjoyed the very early morning driving through the Zambian landscape
watching families gather to cook at their outdoor fires. At Livingstone,
we crossed back into Zimbabwe to go to Victoria Falls. We had
our first free time here. We had dinner at the Victoria Falls
Hotel, another remnant of the British Empire. Lovely gardens,
great food, a nice diversion.
August 20,
1998
Today is our
only free day. Many in the group signed up for activities like
Class 5 Whitewater Rafting and Helicopter rides over the falls.
We chose to wander in town and soak in the art of the Ndebele
people who live in this area. We stopped in a native craft and
art store where we learned a lot. We bought a “story quilt”
which has a written story placed in a special pocket to tell the
quilt’s story. We went to the Falls Craft Village which has
brought homes from all the native groups living in Zimbabwe. This
included Shona, Batonka, Bushmen, Ndebele, Nyanga, and Venda people.
We finally got to walk around inside many of the kinds of homes
we had seen in our travels so far. They were functional and beautifully
decorated works of art. The curio market behind the village was
loaded with giraffes and other carvings. The quality was very
high. There are many artists in this country. The galleries had
fine examples of Shona Sculpture by some of Zimbabwe’s leading
artists. The town is touristy but fun. Lots of hustlers to watch
out for. One member of our group changed money on that street
at a great rate. The problem was that the outer bills were Zim
dollars and the interior bills were worthless Zambian dollars.
She gave one to each of us.
August 21,
1998
Up at 5 a.m.
to strike camp and go see Victoria Falls. The falls are splendid
in the early morning light which creates striking rainbows. The
area is full of birds. It would be fun to stay at the Victoria
Falls Hotel and walk over to bird the area, come back in time
for high tea in the garden. (Next time?)
August 22,
1998
Another long
ride. We got to Matobos Hills in the dark, set up camp amidst
huge boulders. There is a nice lodge here. Rooms are $65 a night.
It would be a nice place to spend a few days. You can walk around
here, to some degree, but there is a dense leopard population.
We toured Matobos Hills National Park with
local guides from African Adventures. The first leg of the tour
I was in a group guided by Sam, a Matabele naturalist who studied
6 years to learn to interpret nature. The later part of the day
I was in a group led by Ian, a white Zimbabwean and descendent
of White Rhodesian settlers. Sam and Ian were both excellent guides,
coming at it from very different points of view. When we climbed
the hill to the Cecil Rhodes gravesite, Ian told us about the
many overlooked great things Rhodes did for the country. Sam told
us there is a Zimbabwean political party that would like to dig
Rhodes up and throw him in the Zambezi River. Touring the natural
areas, we saw seven White Rhino, Sable Antelope, Impala, Plains
Zebra, and Giraffe. We finally saw Black Eagles, too.
Ian took us to see paintings by the San
people (Bushmen). He said they are the only true natives of Southern
Africa. All others moved into the area in the last few centuries.
The paintings are believed to represent the animals a San hunting
group found in the area, and were a message to the next group.
Paintings would be covered by new paintings. One animal painting
blended over another blends the spirits of the two. There are
at least 50,000 paintings in this park, some as old as 30,000
years. They are created with ash and dirt. The floor of this
cave is covered with a soft, fine powder. Ian said this is the
ash from San fires used to light the cave over the centuries.
Ian told us there is a plan to move the
Kalahari Bushmen in Botswana. This is the last large remaining
group of San people. It is being done because of a study by an
American graduate student that concluded that the Kalahari could
not sustain the existing population over time. He was very eloquent
about how sad it will be if these people become extinct and only
the paintings survive. He really brought the San to life for us.
He said they share everything equally, and that if there are not
enough resources, they don’t reproduce. Their way of life
is specialized and old, that moving them is sure to kill them.
August 23,
1998
Up again at
4 a.m. for the long ride back to Jo’berg. Lately, we see
all our sunrises and sunsets from the truck. We get in at 8:30
p.m. It feels good to sleep in a real bed.
August 24,
1998
Our free day
in Johannesburg is compromised by the danger to tourists. Unfortunately,
our tour company doesn’t believe it is safe to let us have
a free day. Like Harare, there is too much crime against tourists.
We are taken to another shopping mall on the outskirts of town.
We relaxed, sat outdoors eating prawns and prepared mentally for
our long journey back home.