African Mysteries

Johannesburg is a young city that was incorporated in 1886. Prior to that incorporation, tribes, the English, Dutch, Germans and Portuguese had all put down roots. You can hear five official languages in the “City of Gold” – a truly diverse place. The city boasts the world’s largest hospital, the tallest building on the African continent and one of the continent’s most vibrant economies. For us, it will be a hub for arrivals and departures. Our stay will be a characteristically short one; a quick overnight to fill out our travel group. Happily, our hotel contains a first-floor pub called Rosie O’Grady’s and we quickly rush there for food and an attitude adjustment. If there is anything I understand in this world it is an Irish Pub. Spirits are lifted both figuratively and literally.

Our comfort was short lived as the trip’s first crisis appears. One of our Hwange companions suffers from severe hydration and kidney distress. He has collapsed more that once and shows the classic symptoms of system failure: dizziness, loss of balance and severe cognitive impairment. Our retired doctors rallied around immediately to get him hospitalized. Eventually, there was enough recovery for the man to fly home with an escort. As our trip continues we will do regular checks on the man’s recovery. His travel partner is in constant touch with the man and his family and shares progress reports with the group. Those of us that remain in Africa get the point that there will be no lack of drama on this journey. We press on.

Our flight from Johannesburg to Victoria Falls Airport is followed by a long bus ride to Hwange in Zimbabwe. The dryness of the Kahlahari Desert is palpable. Hwange National Park was established in 1928 and it currently hosts over 100 animal and 400 bird species. It is a target rich environment for our photographers. On our way to camp we encounter our first kori bustard, a classic sign of good luck in tribal culture. The largest bird in Africa that is capable of flight, the kori bustard becomes a kind of propitious talisman for the group and their booming calls resonate with us. We look for them on our afternoon drive through the stands of teak, acacia trees and scrub growth.

When we arrive at the lodge, we gather for an orientation where we are told that we must never walk alone anywhere in the compound after day without an armed guard. An armed escort – with a high powered hunting rifle will lead us to our tents. Linda and I are happily ensconced in tent number 9, the tent that is furthest from the security of the lodge. The drama is further enhanced by the guide who remarks that a leopard has found a home in a tree 20 feet from our tent. We crawl under the mosquito netting with a bit more than mild anxiety.

In the morning, we will have visitors that will take advantage of tent 9’s location at the far end of the compound. Tent 9 had the best, unobstructed view of the beautiful African sunrise and Linda has invited her fellow photogs to a five am shoot on the tent’s east facing deck. It is dark when the gathering begins so the visitors are escorted by the armed guard who sidles up to Linda and asks, “don’t you have sunrises in America?” Linda simply replies, “not African ones.”

Our two-a-day game drive schedule continues in Hwange. Kashawi Camp gives us our first chance to get to know Sku, our trip leader. Sku is the diminutive for Sikhumbuzo Mayo. We all agree that “Sku” was the better name as our mouths can’t quite get around his full name – a real tongue twister for us Yankees. Over the next few days Sku becomes indispensable and one of the best parts of the trip. His contributions to our education and enjoyment were constant and he delivered cultural knowledge and animal identification with impressive patience and wit. Sku was a family man with Zulu roots who was proud of his wife Samurai and his children. He was also proud of Africa in a way that was engaging and instructive. The cultural inputs that Sku provided included a visit to a local school and a local village. He coordinated dinner visits with local families and conducted talks about various subjects including mining, trophy hunting and the political history of Zimbabwe. His most important efforts were those that got us closer to the African people. Sku also created cohesion in our group by encouraging us to ride with different people in different vehicles to give our photographers the best and varied views. Sku was a gem.

Sku also acted as a source for continuing education as he suggested books, music and art that we could access long after the trip was over. He shared his personal story and the fact that his Zulu heritage was somewhat problematic. The Zulus were the premier warrior culture in southern Africa and their historic campaigns and depredations negatively impacted most people in the region and the resentment and lack of trust has survived to the present day. Sku made the words of Edith Wharton come to life. Wharton wrote, “one of the great things about traveling in Africa is that you find out how many good, kind people there are.” Sku proved Wharton’s case.

After the meeting with Sku, we were scheduled to visit the students at St. Mary’s Primary School, and the local village of Lukhosi…the central village of the Nambya people. After a short ride to the school, we were assigned a student for a one-on-one discussion about the student’s background, goals and dreams. My student – Nyssa – shared her dream of becoming a biologist. Math and science were her favorite subjects and her favorite activity was tennis. She was the epitome of the charming teenager, and it was inspiring to see her rise above so many obstacles to pursue her dreams. We shared some gifts, including school supplies, soccer balls, clothing and cash that was donated earlier through our tour structure.

Nyssa’s school was founded by the Catholic Church and the Catholic Church influence was manifest in much of Zimbabwe. Whether the motivation was evangelism, colonialism or something else tended not to matter as we saw the heavy investment that was made in the welfare of the people. We departed the school knowing that we had been charmed.

We were soon off to the Lukhosi village. On the way, we stopped at what Sku called, “the African shopping mall” where we purchased gifts for the village to comply with the African tradition of bringing gifts to our hosts. The “shopping mall” was a series of low-slung cinder block buildings complete with goats and dogs that ran about the place. Our gifts were very practical including large bags of rice, millet, corn meal and sugar. We sweetened the trove with bottles of cooking oil. These items would satisfy the tradition and make a real contribution to village welfare.

We were in for a few surprises.

We were tasked with making mud bricks with soil gathered from termite mounds and pounded grains in large mortars.

Finally, after a bit of work, we were rewarded with a feast. The village women presented us with a delicacy – a heaping plate of mopane worms. The worms are actually a species of emperor moth and they are an edible caterpillar. The “worms” are eaten by native people throughout Southern Africa and they provide protein to the local diet. The first step in their preparation is a sustain boil followed by a light sauté. Tomatoes, onions and salt are added. The taste is often described as similar to well done beef or beef jerky. They did not taste like chicken. The worms were not eaten by all the travelers but I added them to my travel menu that includes, piranha, goat, warthog, alpaca, guinea pig and other regional foods. Strangely they were very good.