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Trip of a Lifetime: Ultimate Africa: Day 14 Part 2

14.2-HEADER

November 16, 2015 cont …

9:18P

Back from dinner and drum entertaining and dancing around the boma.  For our presentation we performed the hokey-pokey again.  All the staff members joined in and danced with us.  It was really fun and nice to drink a local beer (Zambezi) by the campfire.

So, anyway, back to our list at the Lukosa Homestead.  As we were sitting there in the “summer kitchen” we all went around and told our names and where we were from.  Then each of the villagers, minus the small children, who were only seen and not heard and very well-behaved, told us their names, marital status and how many children (and grandchildren) they had.

Homestead women

The women of the homestead were seated on a mat on the floor inside the summer kitchen.

Shalom, the first twenty-some year-old boy, translated for the headman as he explained the men’s duties in the homestead and his wife, via her grandson, who was the older young man, told us about the women’s role in the homestead.  We were then encouraged to ask questions followed by them inquiring about our life and culture back home.  They were particularly interested to learn about our process of getting married, weddings, and having children.  They were intrigued to learn that some married couples in our culture choose to never have kids.  The woman then brought in a tall wooden receptacle that resembled a butter churn and two long wooden poles.  Inside the receptacle they placed grain and used the wooden poles to pound down on the corn, alternating one pound at a time forming a fast engine-like motion.  By doing this for hours they would eventually create cornmeal. To help pass the time the ladies would sing while they worked.  The grandson who had now taken over the tour, translated the song’s lyrics:  “Those who work will prosper and those who are lazy will suffer.”

Cornmeal churn

Women making cornmeal

(Note:  We are now hearing the deep grunting of a leopard right outside our tent – yeesh!)

The grandson then gave us a tour of some of the structures around the homestead.

Village tour

Young man giving us a tour of the village. Beside him is the village “headman.”

We were able to go inside the girls hut because it was “the tidiest hut in the homestead.”  Haha!  The boys hut was off limits to our viewing because it was “messy.”

Village Hut

The girls room

We also went inside of the “winter kitchen.”  This is where the women do their cooking when it gets cold out because it’s more enclosed that the “summer kitchen.”  Interestingly enough, this winter kitchen is also where they hold “calling hours” for viewing a dead family member before they are buried.  The room was very simple.  It, like the “summer kitchen,” was round.  We were told the kitchens are intentionally designed this way because snakes like to hide in corners.  The villagers build their kitchens round so there are no corners for the snakes to hide.  Against one of the walls was a case of shelves and in the middle was a small fire covered by a metal grate.  On it sat a cast iron kettle with two small cast iron pots beside it on the ground.  The structures where everyone slept (the girls’ bedroom, boys’ bedroom and headman’s house) were all square.

Winter Kitchen

Inside the winter kitchen

After the tour we returned to the cool summer kitchen for “bush tea”, coffee and delicious rosemary shortbread cookies.

African Bush Tea

The young man being very hospitable and serving the “bush tea,” coffee and cookies.

We were also given the option of eating home-cooked mopane worms – yes, you read this correctly – WORMS!  This was a very interesting experience.  Vitals informed us prior to arriving in the village that the women would not be offended if we declined eating them.  The worms come from the mopane trees and are loaded in nutrients.  They were first boiled in water, then fried with onions and tomatoes.  As the bowl was passed around, I took one of the worms.  I mean, why not?  When in Rome … right?  The worms were crunchy on the outside and squishy on the inside.  Their flavor closely resembled that of a sardine.  Hmmm … no regrets but not exactly on my most favorite list.

Mopane Worms

Village woman offering us some mopane worms

As we enjoyed our morning tea and coffee, the learning and discovery continued as we were told that when a young man is talking one-on-one to an elder he never looks him directly in the eye or if the elder is seated the young man never remains standing so that he is above the elder’s head.  Eye contact is considered a form of aggression and standing above an elder is disrespectful.  So the young man must kneel or be seated.  I did not notice this behavior during our visit to the village.

Overall, visiting the Lukosa homestead was an amazing experience. The family was so grateful for all the groceries and cleaning supplies we brought them.  It was wonderful to see smiles on all of their faces.

Smiling African woman

I love the smiles on the faces of the villagers.

Next, we took the minibus to St. Mary’s School.  There, some of the kids came outside to greet us with a song.

African children singing

The boys and girls of St. Mary’s School in Zimbabwe greeting us with a song.

We were able to visit three different classrooms (the 1st graders, a computer room and the 4th graders).  In the 4th grade class we sat down amongst the students and talked with them.  They were still learning English but able to communicate pretty well with us.   I sat at a table with Cheryl and the kids told us about their favorite sports and games to play at lunch time and what they were learning.

St. Mary's School

Sitting down with the 4th Graders at St. Mary’s.

One particular boy was very enthusiastic in answering our questions and even read us a long paragraph from his English textbook.  It was so heart-warming to see the excitement in all their faces.  They loved having their pictures taken and insisted on us showing them their picture from our digital cameras.   Each of these kids had their own pencil, broken in half from a full one.  There were also aluminum soup cans on their desks filled with rocks or corn kernels.  This was what they used to learn math.

African Student Reading

One of the boys eagerly reading to Cheryl and I.

The school’s principal was grateful for all the gifts we donated including reading books, coloring books, deflated soccer balls, pencils, pens and crayons.

Some of these students walk up to 6 km a day to get to school and then, of course, another 6 km to return home.  This made me ask Vitalis if they had to worry about encountering wild animals during their walk.  Vitalis explained that the kids are only walking when their is, at least, some daylight and they are taught what to look out for and how to respond.  However, he said, there aren’t too many encounters with animals except for elephants.  Then he chuckled and explained that the elephants have learned to avoid and actually will run away when they hear children coming.  This is because children will sick their dogs on an elephant who is too big to stop a small dog as it darts in between and around their legs.  This behavior exhausts the elephant who then gives up. Additionally, find out if using a cbd for dogs is safe if you have any pets.

In addition, Vitalis said that children used to roll tires over to an elephant who would pick up the tire with its trunk and throw it down.  The rubber tire would then bounce back up and all over the place.  This frustrated and exhausted the elephant who didn’t expect the tire to bounce so they would eventually give up and walk away in frustration.  So because of this, Vitalis stated that as soon as elephants hear the sound of children coming, they take off to avoid these frustrations.  I thought this was an interesting and hilarious look into the life of the locals.

I have thoroughly enjoyed all the new learning and discovery throughout this trip.

 

Publishing

Trip of a Lifetime: Ultimate Africa: Day 13 Part 1

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November 15, 2015 – 12:46P

Sitting on the front porch relaxing in the cool afternoon temperatures of Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe.  Let me start by writing about last night.  What a fantastic thunder and lightening storm.  The lightening first appeared in the distance filling up the entire sky with deep shades of red.  Not long after, there came bellowing roars of thunder that spanned for nearly an hour as I lay awake in bed.  I was hoping for rain and between wind bursts I could hear footsteps in the grass outside our “tent.”  The wind bursts became so ferocious that one particular gust blew so hard against the canvas wall behind our beds that it knocked over the lamps on Aryn and my nightstands.  This really made us nervous and my first reaction was to quickly unplug my camera battery that was charging.  Then, I replaced the lamp onto the nightstand and finally it began to rain.  The rains were heavy and I pulled the heavy comforter up to my chin to keep warm.

Eventually, the weather system moved out and we were able to sleep again.  The following morning we both admitted our concern over the canvas roof possibly ripping right off or the doors flying opening and a lion creeping inside to escape the rain.  You know, I never did figure out what those outside footsteps were.

After a nice breakfast, the following morning, we headed out on our first game drive of the day!  The sky was overcast and a light rain materialized which really cooled things down to, I’d say, the mid 60’s.  It felt amazing.  I can’t say enough good things about OAT.  They don’t miss a trick because the jeeps came equipped with enough green ponchos for us all to wear.  Unfortunately, when the rains come the animals hide.  We did, however, see a few impala, zebras and some birds.

Zebras in Hwange

Zebras hanging out in Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe

After a while, we stopped at a picnic area with bathrooms.  The guides served up our morning tea and coffee with these wonderful rosemary shortbread cookies.  Since it was overcast and slightly raining, we gathered beneath the thatched roofs of one of the structures that stood beside a giant candelabra tree.

Hwange Pavilion

Pavilion where we gathered to escape the rain for our morning tea & coffee. Notice the beautiful candelabra tree.

One of our guides, Mafuka, had taken some long strands of tree fiber from one of the baobab trees.  He began by pressing them in a downward motion along his leg and by doing this he was able to twist the strands into a tight, thin rope.  He, then, used these short ropes to make bracelets for all the ladies.  I, selfishly, asked him to make one for me as well, which he did.  He also made one big rope and, when holding it up, said it was strong enough to tow one of the jeeps.  Wow!

Baobab Bracelets

Mafuka making the bracelets out of fibers from the baobab tree.

While Mafuka was making the bracelets, he shared with us bits and pieces of his life and the Zimbabwean culture.  He particularly focused on the cultural practice of polygamy.  Very educational.  Mafuka is 74 years old.  He has been leading game drives for over 50 years.  He, now, has 3 wives as he divorced his 4th one years ago.  Divorce is a very informal process here in Africa.  The man simply tells his wife he no longer wishes to be married to her and sends her on her way.  No divorce attorney or paperwork is required.   If there is a child between them, the man is expected to provide for that child.  Sometimes this gets messy.

The process of getting married is fairly simple, as well.  If a man likes a particular girl, he simply courts her and if she falls in love with him and and he wishes to be married, he asks her to marry him.  If she says yes, he, then, pays a dowry.  The dowry price ranges based on the value of what the woman can bring to the marriage.  For example, if she is educated, she could bring a substantial income to the marriage and, therefore, the price of the dowry increases.  Mafuka gave the example of “10 cows and $5,000,” as a dowry price.  He also explained that if a guy has a good reputation the dowry price is lower than a guy with a bad reputation.  This is the opposite of what we would think would determine someone’s dowry price.  However, it’s done this way so to possibly discourage a “bad boy” from marrying your daughter by raising the dowry cost hopefully to a level that he can’t afford.  Smart thinking!

Mafuka continued by stating that if a man finds another available girl that he likes or, in some cases, his wife may suggest bringing in a particular girl (say one of her cousins) and the man likes her, he can ask her to marry him as well.  Mafuka said he knew of a man with 40 wives.  He also shared that despite having multiple wives, some men cheat on their wives with a mistress.  This can create a lot of village gossip.  Our other game drive guide, Thabani, is much younger (probably in his mid 20’s) and has only one wife and three children.

We also learned there is a lot of societal pressure around having children.  So much that there have been cases where girls who were unable to bear a child have committed suicide.  There have also been cases of men committing suicide from the stress of trying to keep his mistress a secret from his wife(s).

Baobab Tree

Beautiful baobab tree where Mafuka stripped the fibers to make our bracelets. Notice the extensive scouring of bark. This is the work of elephants rubbing their bodies against the trees and can be seen throughout Hwange.

(This conversation will continue in part 2 of Day 13)

 

Travel

Trip of a Lifetime: Ultimate Africa: Day 9

Africa.Day09.Header

November 11, 2015 – 9:12A

It was nice to sleep in till 6A.  Had a quick & delicious breakfast before saying goodbye to Kay and all the wonderful and friendly staff at Wilderness Tented Camp before we all hopped in our 2 jeeps and MP and Paul drove us to the airstrip.

Kay and Brian

Kay and I by the bar in the main lodge at Wilderness Tented Camp

Proctor and Brian

Proctor and I in the Okavango Delta, Botswana

Okavango Delta Guides

Paul, our guide Vitalis, and Proctor in front of one of the jeeps at the Okavango Delta airstrip. Donna and Barb are in the jeep.

We stopped to view a hippo walking around, a dozen or so more in the water and a steenbok laying in the grass.  Proctor said that steenboks are affectionately referred to as “chiwawas” because they are the smallest of the antelope.

Steenbok

Young Steenbok laying in the grass.

I couldn’t help but reflect that on the last few game drives I’ve really had fun bonding with two of our travelers Cheryl and Norma.  Cheryl is Italian and lives in San Diego, California.  She and Norma travel together.  Cheryl is very funny with a contagious laugh.  She is a great photographer and actually takes pictures of horses (or “anything with four legs” as Cheryl puts it) for a living.  Cheryl always has 2 cameras ready while we’re on these game drives and her 40 lbs (I’m guessing) backpack of camera equipment.  I’ll never forget seeing her lug that around everywhere.  haha!  Norma is retired and lives in Palm Springs.  I enjoyed a really nice chat with her as we sweated out the afternoon heat in the main lodge yesterday.  She is 74 and this is second Ultimate Africa trip with OAT.   The other day when Vitalis had us all tell one another a little something about our background and reason for coming to Africa, Norma talked about the peace that she’s experienced during her two trips to Africa.  She stated that she believes “God lives here.”  I also learned that Barbara, from Washington state, is an artist.  I would love to see some of her drawings and asked her if she was going to do sketches of some of the photos she and her husband Dana have taken.

I’m now on the 7-seater “puddle-jumper” with Aryn, Judy, Katherine and our pilot flying back to Kasane Airport.  It’s so cool being able to look down and spot elephants and giraffes feeding off trees.

I’ve learned so many new things on this trip.  I think back to the days and weeks before I left for this trip and people would ask me what it was going to be like.  My only response was I had no expectations.  I had never been on an African safari.   All I knew to expect was what I’d read from the little “Final Document Booklet” that OAT had mailed me.  This entire trip has been quite the learning experience.  I would be remiss if I didn’t talk about all the wonderful people I’ve met so far.  They are always smiling and seem to maintain a positive attitude.  I also get a sense that they take very little for granted.  They don’t seem to be wrapped up in gossip or “drama” as we say in the US.

Vitalis told us that the African culture  believes in witchcraft.  He shared two anecdotes of how the African culture relies on guilt to punish those who’ve wronged against you.

One Example:  There was a man who stole a plow from his neighbor in the middle of the night.   The plow was very heavy and he carried it home on his back but when he reached his home he could not get it off his back.  For a while he tolerated carrying around this heavy plow on his back, for many days and nights until he couldn’t take it any longer and decided to return the plow to its rightful owner, who, at first, said to him: “that’s not my plow, you can keep it” knowing that the witchcraft’s punishment of guilt would force the thief to continue lugging the heavy plow around on his shoulders.  Finally, after the plow owner felt the thief had learned his lesson, said:  “You know, come to think of it, that is my plow.  Thank you for returning it” and wouldn’t you know it, the plow was finally able to be released from the thief’s shoulders.

Second Example:  There was also a man who stole corn from a farmer’s field in his village and for days he suffered of corn kernels falling out of his scalp and hair.  Eventually, the thief couldn’t take it any more and fessed up to steeling the corn and the corn kernels stopped coming out of his hair.

On another note, Vitalis educated us on the cultural belief: ‘you get what you give.’  For example, if you are starving you can go to a neighboring family and they will feed you.  Also, if you are out of something in your kitchen (ie. cooking oil) you just go to a neighbor and ask if they will give you some cooking oil (versus walking all the way to the nearest store).  The African culture understands there will come a day when they are out of something in their kitchen or they are hungry and will need to seek a favor from that same neighbor.  I appreciate all the “learning and discovery” that Vitalis and the other camp staff members are providing us.  Well worth it.

We would be landing soon. Then it’s off by minibus, boat and another plane to Zambia.  (btw – I’m amazed how well I can write in my journal on this flight – very smooth flying).

2:50P

Flying at 12,400 feet in our “upgraded” 12-seater “puddle-jumper” over Zambia.  Looking down at a beautiful view of the great Zambezi River.  We had a half hour delay at Livingston Airpot due to an issue with a traveler’s luggage.  Unfortunately, Wifi was down at the airport.  What a bummer since, last night, I had prepared a long text of updates to quickly send off to Aaron and my mom.  Oh well.  I’ll try again in 3 days.

It is said that yesterday’s high temp was 105.  Today’s is 110 and we are flying north, which means closer to the equator so I can only imagine how hot it’s going to be in Zambia if this heat wave keeps up.  For the next three days we are staying in another “tented” camp but this one’s situated along the junction of two big rivers.  As always, I am excited to see what this next camp is going to be like.

While we were waiting on our bus, a group of natives came up to our bus windows selling copper bracelets and wood carvings of animals.  After some persistent bargaining, I bought 5 bracelets for $20 – a good price for five.  The bracelets are beautiful.  I have one for me, Aaron, my mom, my sister Lisa and my friend Lynne.  Vitalis said to rub the inner lining of the bracelet with clear nail polish to keep the copper from turning your wrist green.  I noticed that our pilot Kyle’s wrists were green where he was wearing 3 or 4 copper bracelets on each wrist.  Our pilots on this flight are Shane and Julie.  They are very friendly.  Shane is from Ireland and introduced himself to me at the Livingston Airport.  He was very nice and we actually talked a lot about Ireland as I am planning on traveling there in 2017.  He gave me a few tips on food to try and towns to visit. Thanks Shane!  Very nice guy.

I’m signing off for now.

5:10P

OMG!  I love this new camp!  It’s beautifully situated where the Lafupa River meets with the Kafue River that eventually flows into the Zambezi River.  We are literally 100 km from any other form of civilization.  How exciting!  The camp is called Lafupa Tented Camp in Kafue National Park (say that 10 x’s fast).  As our jeeps pulled up, we were welcomed by men singing and playing African drums along with a cool wet hand towel (which has been a standard at each camp).  The hand towel is handed to you to unfold and place over your neck or forehead or just rub all over your face if you wish to help cool down … haha!  The camp manager is Natalie.  Very sweet girl.  The back of the main lodge is a long stretching balcony that overlooks the beautiful rivers.  The view is absolutely stunning.

Lafupa River Deck

Deck at Lafupa Tented Camp’s main lodge overlooking Lafupa River & Kafue River intersection.

When we first arrived we were served another one of those sweet tri-color cocktail along with “High Tea.”

Welcome Cocktail

TriColor Welcome Cocktail served to us at Lafupa Tented Camp.

This was tea served with three different kinds of flat bread pizzas (chicken, ham and vegetable), filo dough triangles filled with creamy butternut squash and a chocolate and white cream roll (like a pumpkin roll).  Delicious.  We sat at 4-seated small round tables along the deck overlooking the sparkling tier and the staff delivered a quick orientation of the camp, only to be interrupted a few times by some nearby snorting hippos.

Seating Area

Seating Area of Main Lodge at Lafupa Tented Camp in Zambia

After “high tea” we were escorted to our “tents.”  Aryn and I, of course, are in the furthest tent from the main lodge – #9.  We’re practically in stitches laughing over how being the youngest, we’re placed in the furthest tent.  HAHA!

I’m sitting at the desk of our tent and absolutely loving the view of the Kafue River.  Right beside our front porch is a large indentation in the land leading down to the water.  This is what they call a “hippo highway” as it’s the repeated path that the hippos take to get from land to water.  Hmm … I wonder if we’ll have any visitors tonight.  The tent is extremely spacious.  It’s walls and ceiling are canvas with a cement floor and a wooden front porch with two director’s chairs.  I’ll definitely be sitting out there.  I absolutely love this place although I did love how at the previous camp our beds faced the opening flaps of the tent for a great view.  I also miss Kay and the staff there. They were all so nice and friendly.

Lafupa Tent

Inside Tent #9 at Lafupa Tented Camp in Zambia

We are surrounded by a lot of tall trees so it doesn’t feel as hot as I thought it would.  At 5:45P we are to meet at the main lodge to leave for our first game drive in Kafue National Park – so excited!

Monkey Mommy

Monkey mom carrying her tiny baby outside our tent at Kafue Tented Camp in Zambia

9:30P

We’re back at our “tent” after a delicious dinner.  For my “sundowner” drink I chose a Jack & Coke instead of a beer – which was very refreshing.  Our game drive was very interesting because half of it was a “night drive.”  The elephants are more aggressive here because of the history of poaching in the area.  We encountered an elephant and our guide “Golden” (short for “Golden Boy”) would only stop for a few seconds for pictures.  The elephant looked up from the tree he was eating, turned to face us and immediately started towards us with his trunk raised and that’s when “Golden” stepped on the gas.  Wow!  That elephant meant serious business.  I think all of our hearts literally skipped a few beats.  Next we heard the warning call of a puku (another type of antelope that is prevalent in these parts) and just then a leopard striding down from its perch on top of a termite mound and disappeared into the “thicket.”  So for the next half hour, we drove throughout the area with “Golden” directing the spotlight all around looking for the glowing eyes of that leopard.  What a unique and exciting experience. We never did see the leopard again but it was cool looking out with the spotlight and seeing pairs or dozens of pairs of eyes glowing back at you from a distance.  Someone mentioned the glowing eyes looked like a small town in the distance and I said:  “Yes, it looks like Bethlehem” and we all agreed that that was a perfect description of how peaceful and beautiful those eyes appeared among the dark African night.  Mostly, we saw puku and impala but we did see a mom, dad and baby hippo walking in the grass.  Later on, we spotted another few hippos, a beautiful genet cat, a scrub hair in the middle of the dirt road staring back at us and two spotted hyenas creeping along – very spooky.  My camera takes horrible night shots but one of the couples in our jeep Dana and Barbara had an amazing camera that beautifully captured one of the hyenas.  Dana promised to send me that shot!  I love these night drives!  Very peaceful and intriguing to be on the hunt for these wild animals at night.

Spotted Hyena

Spotted Hyena taken by Dana during our first night game drive in Zambia

During dinner, an elephant walked right up to the entrance of the main lodge but the staff quickly “shoo’d” it away.  Golden then told us a story about one night last week when one of the guests blew their air horn (which is supposed to be for medical emergencies ONLY) because their was a hippo outside the door of their tent.  The entire staff came running for the emergency, with Golden at the head of the group.  When he saw the hippo he warned everyone else to go back. The hippo immediately began chasing him.   Apparently, when hippos run after someone their jaws repeatedly open and close.  So imaging Golden’s fear as he looks back to see this giant opening and closing jaw at his heels.  The hippo chased him all the way inside the main lodge where Golden was finally able to dart behind a corner, which confused the hippo, and Golden managed to get away.  Wow!  What an incredible story.

Speaking of hippos, Aryn and I just heard one snorting and grunting outside our tent.  We’re hoping to hear more.  We just heard a hyena too.  Hoping to sleep well tonight and praying for cooler temperatures tomorrow.  The good news is there is a swimming pool here.

Okay … I’m sitting here at the desk in our tent and there is something very large moving very slowly right outside.  The noise started right behind where Aryn is laying in bed, across the room, surrounded by mosquito netting and writing in her journal.  She can literally hear it breathing down her neck.  Holy cow.  Hold on.

We just turned off our main lights and it moved to the back of our tent.  I stood up on our toilet seat to try looking out through the screens above the bathroom but it was too dark out to see anything.  By the sound of it we assume it must be a hippo because when we heard it eating the leaves, it was too quiet for an elephant which would be breaking off tree branches and leaves to eat where it sounds like this thing is going only for the grass on the ground.  I hope these canvas walls are strong.  Very exciting yet quite intimidating.

Oh Geez, it just pooped outside our tent – you can totally smell it.  It’s amazing to us that there is nothing more than a canvas wall separating us from this 2.5-3.5 ton wild beast.  OMG!  It is now scratching is body against the back corner of our tent.  Our entire camp walls and ceiling are now shaking.  Holy Geez!

Now it’s walking along the side of our tent and seems to be heading towards the water.  I can see it now through the screened windows and yes – it is a massive hippo.  Amazing!

Well, on that note, time for bed.  I hope I can fall asleep after that experience.  HAHA!  Night night!  Don’t let the hippos bite!  🙂