

A Journal of a Trip in Southern Africa  
Eva Walter

Copyright 2011 Eva Walter

Smashwords Edition

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Table of Contents

Chapter 1 - Vervet Monkey Foundation, Tzaneen, South Africa

Chapter 2 - EcoTraining. Drakensburg Escarpment, Karongwe Private Game Reserve

Chapter 3 - Capetown

Chapter 4 - Southern Africa by overland Truck. Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe.

Chapter 5 - Baz Bus to Swaziland

Chapter 6 - The Journey Ends

Table of Images

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# Chapter 1: Vervet Monkey Foundation, Tzaneen, South Africa

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03 March 2004

The flight from NY turned out to be pleasant. Flew Boeing 747. Largest plane I've ever been on, I believe. The flight landed in Dakar, Senegal one hour early, and passengers traveling on to Johannesburg were not allowed to deplane, so we sat on the tarmac for roughly 2.5 hours while passengers got off or on. Five AM when we landed, so still dark out. The airport was little more than one landing strip with a few parking spots for planes and buses to transfer passengers to an unseen terminal. At 6:30 am as we taxied down the runway, I watched the sun rise over the city of Dakar. Beautiful white stucco 2 or 3 story luxury buildings were what I imagine Tuscany or Greece might look like.

At the end of the runway, we turned around for takeoff. I saw the view on the west side of the landing strip and instead of a paradise, saw poverty. So close geographically, so far apart economically. The plane lifted off and flew out over the Atlantic again before circling around. Before we were too high, I saw just the stunningly beautiful villas on the shoreline.

05 March 2004

After landing in Johannesburg, South Africa and spending a short night, I took a long distance bus from Jo'Burg to Tzaneen. 7.5 hours. Arrived at the Vervet Monkey Foundation after working hours were over, but in time for dinner – beans and salad. The group seems nice enough. Tried to put off using the long-drop toilet, but that only works so long. It's 7:30 pm and pouring rain. "Tent Village" really is simply tents. You lay out your sleeping bag on a foam pad and that's it. We are provided a Rubbermaid bin to keep some clothes dry. From my tent, the monkey enclosures are 12 feet away. "Bandit" monkeys are those monkeys that are roaming free or break into Tent Village. I have only had instructions to carry a large stick and don't look them in the eye or raise my eyebrows at them, as it will antagonize them. The pathways are simple dirt trails between the tents.

I seem to be quite lucky, as my tent only leaks in spots (so far) and I am still mostly dry.

06 March 2004

First full day and I was permitted to sleep late due to travelling for 2 days. Woke at dawn but stayed in my tent until 8. Rose to see the others off to work, then tried to sleep some more. Went to the house for Tea-time and from there was meant to have orientation, but Arthur had to go to town for supplies, then to fetch a monkey from Pietersberg. Arthur has offered me the opportunity to go on an expedition to some waterfalls tomorrow. I pitched in today and met some of the handlers. Richard is the nicest so far, very friendly and hard-working. We sorted through the monkey food, which is really just garbage (older bread and past-peak fruit) donated by businesses in town. Then we arrange into buckets and distribute to various enclosures.

It rained off and on all day today and is pouring again tonight. Hermann dug a ditch around my tent in an attempt to keep me dry.

I asked about a giant bug I saw and first learned it as a "miller bug". I later realized it was what I know as a millipede. Just one example of how accents and language translations affected everything I learned.

07 March 2004

Today is Sunday, so we only work the main feed. At 8:00 am we started by washing the bowls, then washed the lettuce and split fruit to distribute to the various enclosures. After just one full day, I'm much more comfortable and am able to walk around alone now. A gentle "wa-purrrrr" is a vervet "hello", so I make sure to purr whenever a bandit approaches.

Had orientation with Arthur H., who seems to be recognized as the leading expert on Vervet monkeys. An excellent long talk about the progress so far on the cause. Vervets are on the world's endangered species list, yet the Republic of South Africa (RSA) has classified them as "vermin" since 1973. Limpopo Province, where the foundation is located, has reclassified Vervets and they are no longer allowed to be shot by farmers. The Northern & Mpumalanga Provinces are set to vote on the issue within the coming months.

Here in Limpopo, we are in the middle of a rain forest and the weather tends to be unpredictable. It was hot and sunny this AM while we worked, but is raining yet again. The situation with the tent is endurable, but with another volunteer arriving tonight, I am afraid of the puddles being tracked to my side of the tent.

08 March 2004  
10 PM. 31 degrees Celsius.

This morning, my first official duty was to walk around every monkey enclosure and monitor the monkeys, reporting any injuries, runny eyes or noses, or dirty (diarrheal) tails. There are hundreds – 405 presently – in the enclosures, so we throw corn to get different monkeys to approach the fences. At the same time, it is necessary to ward off the bandits who try to attack to get some corn. The dogs are a big help, and we also throw corn away from ourselves to divert the bandits.

After lunch I worked babies. Ten new orphans were brought in and we fed them in the Skunkie(a) enclosure (see image above). They are so different than I anticipated. I expected something like a cat, but they are extremely light and nimble – more like birds in their ability to move, but like humans with dexterity. They can drop onto your shoulder from 3-4 feet and you only feel a slight pressure. They love shoelaces and anything they can pull on or put into their mouths. We always secure all objects when we enter the enclosure or risk losing them. Double-knot shoelaces, remove jewelry, secure wristwatches and ponytail holders.

Arthur told us some local customs and superstitions tonight after dinner. He showed us some fossils of animals and plants set in stones around the main house. Maggie and Katie taught me how to address them in their native language, Shangaan.

A Friendly Shangaan Greeting:

Greeting: Kunjani  
Reply: Nicona kunjani  
Response: Nicona

10 March 2004

Yesterday was my first day off and Dave, Jacqui, Holly and I went into town (Tzaneen) on the back of the pickup (locally referred to as a "bakkie"). Ran errands and bought a much needed raincoat – though in the past two days it has only rained about 5 minutes in the middle of the night. Tzaneen is only a few blocks, but they have supplies and restaurants. A nice day.

***Evening***

Today I worked babies in the AM - the "Jasper Group" in the back room of the main house. The babies are demons with so much energy. They bounce around the room, and then tumble into each other. My shoulders, head, arms, and legs became just trampolines for them too bounce off of. The sweetest is when Jasper or Ringo holds onto you like a baby, then falls asleep (rare), or more often sucks your ear or grooms your hair! Arthur says these are signs of depression because they are desperately trying to re-establish some family order after being ripped away from their troops.

I snipped at one of the other volunteers today and told her not to shut the water off when I'm washing my hands. Water is a real issue here, and everyone is extremely careful not to be wasteful, but I don't think washing hands after feeding and handling baby monkeys is wasteful and I said so.

Arthur took me around today to show me the various monkeys. Regis was the first and is still the favorite. Vervets live to be 20-30 years or more. They don't really know yet, but we'll find out through the work here.

Dinner was meatless patties and beans again. Not much variety, but it doesn't seem to matter after a hard day's work. Arthur is vegetarian, so he doesn't allow meat products to be served here. We are allowed 1 type of cheese – some type of an orange cheddar. I'm not sure why this type is okay and other dairy is forbidden. Another volunteer said the methods for extracting the milk are cruelty-free, but I've never heard this before.

11 March 2004

I awoke to the sounds of the cocks' crow all over the Letaba Valley. It's nice to lie in my tent and hear the "cock-a-doodle-doo" calls grow louder with each successive cock waking up and crowing, all the while my tent begins to glow with the first rays of sunshine.

Another hot day, but it feels wonderful as long as I stay hydrated. I feel good here and have experienced no headaches since my initial caffeine withdrawal. The diet must be somewhat healthy – and even though it's all frozen processed food, it is vegetarian.

There is a virus or bug going around. Almost all volunteers here have been getting it for 5 months now. We hear that people in town are getting it too. Symptoms are bellyache, nausea, diarrhea, and general malaise. The Travel Clinic dispenses antibiotics and rehydration cachets, but they do not bother to diagnose it so it just keeps making the rounds. Those people here with it are miserable and the heat does nothing to help.

I hear thunder. It will rain again tonight.

13 March 2004

The entire camp and all belongings are thoroughly soaked after two nights of severe storms. Some bridges were washed away and the dam flooding has washed away roads after the downpour of 11 March.

After a hard day's work eradicating weeds to create a fire break around the enclosures, we all went out to a bar called Half-Human (Half-Mens in Afrikaans). That's an apt description of how I feel today.

Riding in the back of "The Bakkie" pickup truck in the pouring rain doesn't seem so bad when there are 8 others squashed in next to you on the way to a steak "Braii" and many beers.

***PM***

Poured all day – too much to do any work other than feed the monkeys and play with the baby monkeys. My tent is so waterlogged, my tent-mate Nikki had to move to another, and I have a single again.

14 March 2004  
19.2 degrees Celsius

Sunday. 1/2 day of chores. Rainy. If the boredom can be held at bay on days like this, then I can endure anything.

There is a "Giant African Land Snail" outside of my tent. It's hard to imagine a shell like this one so far from the seashore. I moved it to sketch it, but it hasn't moved yet.

The rain has stopped. Had a fantastic dinner and campfire stories with the other volunteers. I really enjoy the company of another girl named Rachel. We're the same age and just like to talk about anything.

My snail is missing and there is a pile of poo in its place. I think the bandit may have eaten it. Haven't found the shell yet.

***The Ides of March***

The sun finally broke through today and the rain has stopped! I guess Madjidi, the local rain queen, has had enough. I'm so removed from what the rest of the world is doing, it almost doesn't matter.

I've noticed a complete change in my expectations of this trip. I was warned to expect Third World conditions, but I didn't believe it would apply to any foreigners. I was prepared to see locals living in these conditions, but I was completely unprepared to live in an unsanitary mess myself. (How naïve!) When it rains, we get wet. When the tents leak, our clothes and bedding get wet. When the roads flood, we cannot get into town. When we're out of water, we stay dirty to conserve drinking water. When everyone in camp gets sick, they go to clinic on the next available transit or just wait it out. We don't get refunds, we don't get moved into a hotel, and we don't get coddled. It's very different to come here from what I'm used to. In America, we're really not allowed to do anything where there is a possibility we might get hurt. The fear of lawsuits is too high. Here, I am doing things where one could easily be hurt, but that is part of life, and a lawsuit here would be absurd. I'm so glad to be doing this.

They have sweetbread here, similar to fried dough or doughnuts. Here, they are called "fat cakes". I love it! (Note: I later found out this is an Afrikaans word "voetcake". Pronounced fat cake.)

The night sky is so bright and full of stars now that the clouds have receded. Thousands of stars are visible with the naked eye. The Southern Cross and Orion's belt are the brightest and most easily recognizable.

16 March 2004

Day off. Drove into Tzaneen for some supplies. Tzaneen is roughly 30 kilometers from the foundation center. But it takes more than 15 minutes to drive the first 2 kilometers because it is a very poorly maintained dirt road. When the firebreaks are complete, we may be assigned to re-grade the road after the rains. The driving age here is 20. One of the workers, Hermann, has gone for his learner's permit yesterday, but he failed. He picked me up from town today – so much for the law in these parts! It is the custom to pull into the shoulder without slowing when another car wants to pass. The effect is a 2 lane road becomes four-lane, with everyone travelling at as high a speed as their vehicles will travel. The pedestrians walking along the shoulders are in mortal danger every time this happens.

17 March 2004  
1 AM. 25.6 degrees Celsius

"Small Friday". That's what these Afrikaaners call Wednesday nights as another excuse to go drinking at the bush bar in the middle of the week. Went to Half-Human again. 8 cars outside. 8 people inside. Until we got there, that is! 12 people in the bakkie and yes, of course, it's starting to rain again.

In all the days I've been here, it has rained every day but 4. Today was very warm, and though wearing 35+ SPF, am still slightly burned. Cleaned bowls this AM, which entails cleaning monkey poo and any leftover food garbage out of giant plastic tubs. In the afternoon, I was assigned to socialize the babies. There are so many different accents on this project that I am starting to even think with an accent!

18 March 2004

I saw a flock of 30 or so Tarentaals today. Large awkward flying bird. Not sure of the name in English. Tarentaalrand (next town over) is named after the bird. They look ridiculously out of place with 10 or 15 of them perched in trees.

19 March 2004

This morning I made the milk for the babies, and then fed them. They are very active in the morning, playing all sorts of games and jumping, careening, and ricocheting off every possible surface. Heads, shoulders, knees, and hands seem to be their favorite things to jump onto, and then soar from. Chaka came onto my lap and fell asleep for quite a long time. He is a gorgeous male, about 12-18 weeks old. He is gentle and trusting, willing to sprawl out spread-eagle on my lap while he sleeps. What I thought was trust turned, including sleeping and especially sleeping through warning calls and other adolescents jumping on him, is depression-related. He was taken from his troop and is pining for his family. We don't know where they found him, so we can't put him back. He will be nursed to good health psychologically, if possible, then we'll find a place for him in a troop here. The foundation tries to educate people that when they see a vervet baby on its own, the family troop is most likely nearby. Even if they see a dead mother, the best thing to do is to leave the vervet where it is because most likely the troop will come back to get the baby after the human threat is gone.

20 March 2004

Babies, babies, babies everywhere! Babies again, morning and afternoon. I have scratches on my neck, forehead, cheek, and legs from being used as a springboard.

The oddest thing happened last night and is happening again tonight as I write at 11:45 PM. Dogs have started barking and howling far away; then the barks travel from dog to dog across the valley. They are communicating, and most loudly. Even our dogs, Lady and Shywanee have been howling and they never bark, except at bandits when protecting humans. I wish I knew what these dogs were saying.

Split a bottle of Guirdin Cab/Merlot tonight at Half-Human. It's odd to be out here "roughing it" and in the nearest bush-bar to find some excellent wines. I will have it again tomorrow.

Jimmy the Snail was found again today 50-75 feet from last known sighting. He had his head and antennae out of the shell and he was eating. He was able to eat a piece of greenery the size of a half-dollar in roughly 15 seconds. I've never seen a snail eating before.

21 March 2004

Sunday. Half day of work. I made milk for the babies, then propped the bottles up against the side of their cages since the babies don't come out to play on Sundays. Then I helped change a flat tire on the bakkie from driving too fast last night. At 4 PM, we all went to a braai at Half-Human in honor of Hermann's mum, Antoinette. Braai is the Afrikaans word for "roasted meat". They served a mouthwatering stew of mutton and vegetables, called "bredies", cooked over an open fire in cast-iron pot. Side dish was rice. Condiments with garnishes were Chili-pa, a pickled chili pepper, marinated mango slices, hot spicy pepper-relish, etc. It was a surprisingly tasty meal.

The pit around the Braai is huge with room enough to seat everyone. By the time we ate, it was too dark to see what we actually were eating – probably a good thing for me with my minor phobias about germs. Too hungry to care anyway.

Today I found a different type of dung beetle: much smaller (approximately 1 cm) and iridescent green. Two beetles working together pushed a dung ball more than twice their size.

Practiced driving for the first time. I knew I'd have to be certified to drive in South Africa as part of my duties, but it was difficult staying on the left side of the road – especially on turns. Even more difficult to shift with my left hand. Not to mention every time I tried to turn on a directional signal, I turned on the wipers instead!

22 March 2004

Froggy is back in my tent tonight. Arthur has informed me that man did not evolve from the animal kingdom. His reasoning is that the earth's ecosystem is dependent upon every living thing, and if any one species is removed, then the natural balance gets out of whack. Every species that is, except for Man. He then continued with his belief that we are descendents of aliens who colonized Earth. Eccentric? Yes.

23 March 2004

Dracula bit me today and drew blood. He bit me once on the upper right arm. Nice bruise – as big as a peach. Then my left inner forearm so hard and he held onto it. Broke the skin there and on my thumb. At this point, I started to rethink my decision not to get the rabies vaccine, and Arthur was really not helpful in trying to determine the cost/benefit of doing so.

Jasper is in a fragile state. He has been very needy and clingy – squealing and crying whenever someone leaves the room. Now he is withdrawn and distant. He plays dead so the other babies won't bother him. Last night he developed diarrhea, which is a forerunner to death in Vervets if not corrected immediately. Arthur says we have 2-3 days to pull him out of this or the bacteria in the diarrheal intestines will begin to attack his white blood cells. Because Jasper likes me, I was assigned to give him extra TLC. I wrapped him in a towel around my waist to put him in and hold him. This is similar to how most of the tribal people in this area of Mpumalanga carry their own infants.

The bandits are getting completely out of hand. When we carried the babies down to the playpens this morning, an unidentified female approached and charged. Rocks, sticks, and yells did nothing to dissuade her. She saw we had the babies and tried to take them away from us. We finally dropped the cages and ran into Tent Village. Doctor had to chase her away while we got the babies into the enclosures. When I went back up to the cottage and picked up Jasper, I was meant to carry him with no cage, just in the towel, but Bandits came right up to me to take him away. Surrounded, I needed help to escape, and Freddie had to beat the ground with the big stick. I finally was driven all the way and escorted into the enclosure. The situation seems to be getting worse and Arthur is oblivious to it. Monkeys are going in and out of the electrified enclosures, by squeezing through the wire chain link, or by climbing the poles where the electric is turned off. With the bandits becoming ever more cheeky and daring, and other adult monkeys now venturing onto the foundation's land, I fear this place will no longer be safe for volunteers soon. It's difficult for Arthur to admit defeat, and he's so proud of the electric fence design, but we see many of them roaming about as if the enclosures didn't exist. And when others see, they learn the same exit routes.

The fencing is set up so that the first 12-16 inches from the ground up is uncharged chain link, then the electric portion starts above that. They do learn not to climb/jump on the wires, but so many can squeeze through the links at the bottom and others are learning to climb the support poles.

Speaking of Arthur and defeat, he finally relented on some hygiene issues. New policies have been posted. We will no longer wash the baby bottles in our kitchen sink, or wash dirty hands in the kitchen. Arthur has also asked that toothbrushes not be left in a big cup on the sink as it spreads germs. (All the Brits let their toothbrushes co-mingle, while I carry mine to and from my tent every time I use it. This may be one reason why I haven't taken ill yet.) In addition, we can no longer wash monkey poo off our hands or clothing in the sink where we brush our teeth.

24 March 2004

One of my bites looks infected. I'm using antibiotic ointment and I'll know tomorrow if I'll have a problem. It rained almost all day today and it's pouring now and will probably continue. Tuesday and Thursday are wash days here, but on Tuesday when the rain started, we pulled the laundry down still wet. Hoped to dry it out today, but no luck. Too much rain.

Laundry is another interesting topic here. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, all volunteers bring their clothes to the house for washing. Katie and Maggie fill the washer with unfiltered water from the well. The first load of clothes is loaded into the agitator, let to wash, then removed, carried into the bathroom and dumped into rinse-water and hand-wrung, then carried back to the machine and loaded into the spinner side of the machine. When the water is spun out of the clothes, the clothes are removed from the spinner and thrown onto the floor. The cycle is repeated until all clothes have been through the cycle, but the water in the washer side of the machine is never changed, nor is the rinse-water.

Finally, all clothes are then hung outside (either on a line, or draped over bushes) to dry. The net effect of washing all the clothes in the same water is as would be expected. Anything that was once white turns the color of dirt. Everyone's clothes are full of monkey poo, and the same water is reused, meaning even clothes that were never exposed to monkey poo are now discolored by it.

Eventually, at dinner time, everyone roots through huge piles of unfolded clothes and picks out their own clothing. It seems that socks and knickers are the two most commonly pinched or lost items. I've been afraid to send my towel up to the house, but it's getting musty smelling, so I'll have to. I just hope the rain will stop long enough for everything to dry before I leave for Kruger. I've decided to give out tips before I leave for Kruger.

25 March 2004

Jasper is recovering. He is still a bit detached, but his stomach feels much firmer. When the bellies are squishy, it is a bad sign.

Last night it poured all night again. We should have had full water tanks from all the rain, but the handle on the flush toilet up at the house was stuck in the down position and it ran all night. The entire tank was drained and this morning the faucets ran empty. No milk for the monkeys today.

The bite on my hand looks okay, but a protruding piece of rusty metal from the Beatles' cage punctured my leg. It went into my leg about 1 cm. Very painful still. Might just be a bruise around the puncture wound. Hoping to avoid any serious infection out here.

26 March 2004

Went to town today for my 2nd half-day off this week where I was able to squeeze in a visit to Tzaneen Museum. It is essentially a 2-room structure. Along with Sotho, Tsonga, and Zulu baskets, carvings, and clay pots, the museum specializes in the Venda culture, which is native to this north-eastern Limpopo Province. Madjidi, the Venda rain-queen, has quite a prominent display in the museum. Twenty percent of the small museum was about Madjidi or her spirit sticks and legend. The current rain queen has only been so for about 6 months.

The last rain queen died without a successor 2 years ago, and the region had been in drought while there was none. The people used to believe that there was only ever one Rain Queen and that there was an eternal fire out in the forest and every time the Rain Queen changed over, locals believed the old Queen walked into the fire and emerged young again.

We found an 8-foot long black mamba in tool shed with a rat still in its belly! It reared up on Dave almost getting him, but he had a shovel and hacked it. We had to hide the evidence in the brush so the workers didn't get in trouble from Arthur for hurting an animal. The black mamba is also called the "6-step snake" because that is about how many steps you can take before you fall over dead if you get bitten by one. They are extremely dangerous - especially out here where we would not be able to get help in time if we were bitten.

I have two geckos living in my tent. I threw them out yesterday, then found them again when one was crawling across my belly! I've decided to let them stay once I learned they eat other insects, but I just shook one out of my sleeping bag and the sound of the pitter-patter of their feet on the tent is just making my skin crawl. Still, they're better than scorpions and if I can survive until I fall asleep, then it won't bother me anymore.

Yesterday I gave all the workers here a tip of 200 South African Rand and today, two of the workers wrote me a beautiful letter and gave me a small gift. ZAR200 converts to about US$25, but to the workers here, it is more than one week's pay. I would love to give more, but there are 8 workers, and two more months to go with me not knowing how many more workers and tips to save for.

Katie and Richard both live on the same tract of land as the Foundation center, California Plot. They live in one-room shanties with no electric and no water. They earn 90 Rand per week for 6 days of back-breaking work. One beer at the shebeen near here costs ZAR9. On their weekly income, they can afford a 6-pack and a pack of cigarettes. Food, clothing, and necessities are much less expensive and somehow they manage. I think they may not eat on their day off, because I think they take all meals here at the main house.

Richard took me to the Shebeen one day while I drove him home. It is an old steel shipping container (boxcar) that somehow ended up here in the middle of nowhere. Shebeens are illicit bars found in the black townships because blacks were not allowed in whites-only bars and pubs. In the 10 years since apartheid ended, I'm not sure the people in this province ever got the news. News is very slow to travel and very inaccurate because they just don't have access to reliable news sources.

Tonight I had my first call from home.

Some of the Q&As from home:  
Best thing I brought: This Journal  
What I forgot to bring: Raincoat  
Most appreciated item: Colored Pencils for sketches  
Items I wish I had brought: Alcohol-based hand cleaner (for days with no water)

Our menu:

Breakfast: - none until tea time, but I have a handful of walnuts and a handful of raisins that I smuggled into the country.

Tea time (about 10am) – we fend for ourselves in the kitchen and have the choice of white bread, plain or toasted and any one of many condiments. While there's no butter for toast, there is jam, but because it isn't refrigerated, I stay away. Bananas are available a few times a week. Of course there is water and an electric kettle, so I always drink Rooibus tea. Most of the Brits don't like the Rooibus, but I love it. I think part of what has kept me from getting sick with the others is that I drink more boiled water than plain water. Our drinking water is carted in from town daily in a giant plastic vat, and then poured and stored in used plastic 2-liter coke bottles).

Lunch – we make our own lunch. Either peanut butter & jam on white bread or cheese on white bread. Sometimes I want some type of spread so I've actually eaten Peanut butter & banana sandwiches. Not my favorite, but it's okay for a change. Although I've been warned (in the US books) not to eat any fruit or vegetable without a thick rind, when there are tomatoes available, sometimes I just have to risk it. There is so little variety in our meal choices that you'll risk dysentery for a slice of tomato!

Dinner

Mondays: Meatless schnitzel, corn, peas, carrots  
Tuesdays: Pasta – Rotini with creamy sauce  
Wednesdays: Meatless burgers, baked beans, chips (steak fries)  
Thursdays: Veggie curry and rice  
Fridays: Meatless burgers, beans, and chips  
Saturdays: on our own (see lunch menu)  
Sundays: Soup

27 March 2004

Sunday. 1/2 day work. After work today Arthur took a few of the volunteers up to the rain forest – the Agatha Plantation. Much of the forest is being used as a tree farm. So much has been deforested. But Arthur knows the good spots and took us to a secluded area about 30 minutes upstream to a waterfall with rock slide. The forest is about 1 hour south of town in the Wolkberg Wilderness area, in the northern tail of the Drakensburg mountain range. We left the car on the road and walked over rough terrain, rocks, streambeds, and through the river to get to the waterfall. At one point crossing the river, the water was so swift my shoe was ripped off my foot and floated downstream. I threw the other one in and continued on barefoot. The slide was amazing. The waterfall had, over the course of many years, smoothed the rocks so that one can slide down them into the river. A thrilling experience! JRR Tolkien is believed to have written Lord of the Rings trilogy here on the banks of this river, or so Arthur tells us.

Because Arthur's license has expired, I drove to the Rain Forest. It is quite an experience to drive the bakkie. The steering wheel moves 10-15 degrees in either direction before the car responds. There is a fanny-sized hole in the driver's seat that has just a towel, bunched-up, to keep the driver from falling through. I kept thinking there must be something sharp under the seat to wear a hole through the vinyl, and hoped it didn't get rammed up my arse on any of the bumps we hit. The gas pedal sticks if you accelerate too fast, and of course, the stick shift is on the wrong side!

29 March 2004 – Letsitele to Kruger Park - Shingwedzi

30 March 2004 – Kruger - Olifants

31 March 2004 – Kruger Park to Tzaneen

31 March 2004

Dave, Jacqui, Nikki, Hermann, and I left for Kruger 2 ½ days ago. I took ill on Monday and asked the chemist at the drug store for amoxicillin on Arthur's advice. It seems to be running its course and I'm feeling better after 2 days of sheer misery.

Arrived Kruger about 1pm on Monday and we drove from the Punda Maria gate where we entered on the northern side of the park, to Shingwedzi Kamp. Spotted elephant, giraffe, zebra, impala, nyala, a Nile monitor, a tortoise, and 1 terrapin. We slept in a lovely cottage at Shingwedzi, had braai, then a swim in the pool in the am. Then we headed south again.

I consider myself lucky that I came down with the illness while on the road rather than back at the foundation. At least here there is AC in the car and the sanitation in the camps is better with flush-toilets and (clean) running water at night. I've been lucky also that I'm only vomiting during the daylight and the dysentery effects are coming at night rather than during the day. I don't know what I'd do if I had to walk out into the bush to take care of business. I don't want to be caught by a lion with my pants down. At least this way I can just lean out of the car door when I have to vomit. There is also Gatorade on sale at the shops in the night camps, so I am keeping hydrated with it and I don't have to drink the nasty rehydration cachets for the electrolytes.

On day two, we saw close-ups of everything we saw previous day. An elephant's eyeball just one meter from mine! Two giraffes could have touched us by leaning their necks. We stopped in at Letaba Kamp for lunch and a beautiful viewing spot on the Letaba River. Then we proceeded south towards Olifants Kamp, where we slept in two rondavals. We would have been able to make do in just one, but at the last minute, I invited Hermann to come with us and despite living nearby his entire life, he had never been to Kruger and didn't anticipate ever getting the chance to come. He was thrilled with the invitation. The rest of us all chipped in to cover his share of park fees and accommodations. He only had to pay for his own meals.

Saw momma and baby hippos, many baboons, and glimpsed a cheetah! Finally, Wednesday morning, we depart; continue south while searching for more animals. We did witness a flock of thousands of Marabou stork. Dear Zeus, they are grotesque! It's inconceivable that so many can share the same sky at once. They are huge. Exited Orphen gate at 3pm.

Drove to the Giant Baobab in Modjadjiskloof on the way back to the Foundation. It is 23 meters in diameter and has been carbon dated to be around 6000 years old. There is a bar carved inside the trunk that can seat 23 people. Largest single-trunk specimen in the world. Enormous.

1 April 2004 – Touring Day 4

Debengeni Falls. The falls are 30 km from the foundation. Local legend says that the falls are ruled by the spirits, and when the white man came, the local tribal chief put a curse on the white man who entered the area. Ever since, each year, there is exactly one death at Debengeni Falls. It is always a white. The death is said to be the "Debengeni curse".

After spending the morning at the falls, we went to SaPekoe Tea Estate for lunch. It is the largest tea estate in southern Africa. Had tea and cakes. I chose Early Grey and Honey Bunch teas. After lunch, we drove another 60 km to Eiland spa to spend the afternoon in the hot and cold mineral water springs, hot baths, and sauna. Disappointing as it was cloudy and a sunny day in the pool would have been wonderfully refreshing.

*** The Cottage ***

Arthur's cottage is a one-room house with a sink and toilet. Arthur lives, works, and sleeps there with about 50 monkeys at any given time. The cottage doubles as sick bay and any injured monkeys live in cages while they recover from surgery or stitches. Arthur usually does surgery or repairs himself, as most vets don't know or care much about Vervets and he's decided he might as well do it for free rather than pay someone else to experiment. Whenever I am in the cottage, I make sure no one blocks my exit, as my gag reflex kicks in often and the need for fresh air arises suddenly. The sketch below identifies the layout of the cottage. The square blocks with numbers represent a small cage with the number of baby monkeys kept inside. Inside the cottage, you cannot help but understand why humans were not meant to co-exist in the same small dwelling with animals that are not potty-trained.

*** The Main House ***

The main house is actually Dave D.'s home. Up until three months ago, he shared it with his wife. He lets the volunteers take tea, lunch, and dinner up at the house, while he is at work at one of South Africa's largest networking companies.

The house, although it has two housekeepers to clean up after the volunteers and cook for us, is in a perpetual state of mess. It is closer to fraternity house conditions than third world. The dogs come into the living room and spread ticks and fleas to the furniture, and our legs are covered in flea bites. The furniture consists of foam couches with flea-covered blankets covering the exposed foam through torn fabric.

The kitchen counters store about 30 loaves of bread that we all rummage through to get the piece we want. The kitchen table has over 50 bottles of assorted condiments permanently displayed. At meal times, we just eat around the constantly growing collection. I don't use the condiments often as I have no idea how long they've been sitting out and of course they are never refrigerated. The Brits don't seem to have a problem eating out of the jars. Over time, I'm sure I'll become less picky.

Once past the kitchen, the hall, bathroom, and back rooms reek because the back of the house is used for Monkey sick bay and baby playroom when it rains. It is an odor that is unmistakable and it permeates everything. None of the volunteers has ever been to the sick bay in the house and it is rarely mentioned, so it was a big mystery. I finally asked Arthur and learned that there is a blind monkey who will attack and bite when it hears an unfamiliar voice in the room. It makes me wonder if they are not in cages back there. The back bedroom is where the baby monkeys play when it is cold or raining outside. It is a bedroom with a bed and some shelves. The monkeys poo and wee all over everything, including the drapes as they climb up them, the bed and mattress as they bounce across it, the carpets, and every surface imaginable. We usually take in one towel with disinfectant, to wipe up the poo & wee, but with 18+ monkeys in the room at one time, the towel quickly becomes too gross to touch, and the poo & wee just gets rubbed in, picked up on feet & tails, and carried to the next surface. When they jump onto your shoulder, they use their tails to balance and their dirty tails very often swish across my face and lips! The smell is indescribable. It is much worse than when they are outside in the dirt. Somehow the dirt seems to make it all cleaner, or at least to somehow deodorize it.

02 April 2004

I hear an owl outside tonight. This is my last night here at the Vervet Monkey rehabilitation center. My entry dated 22 March has a schematic of the toilet hut, but lacks a description, which I will add here. The long-drop toilet is a permanent hole dug 6 or 8 feet down, with a raised plywood box and toilet-seat atop it. Crap just keeps going down, and once a week, some enzymes are added with buckets of water to start breaking it down. Since I've been here, the level has risen significantly due to the number of volunteers increasing, and while we were at Kruger, the monkeys stole the enzyme packet from Hermann's tent and Hermann is afraid to tell Arthur.

# Chapter 2: EcoTraining. Drakensburg Escarpment, Karongwe Private Game Reserve

03 April 2004

My final day at the Vervet Monkey Foundation! I left at noon, to the Caltex Garage in Tarantaalrand to be met by Gavin of Eastgate Safaris. Gavin is a ranger at Kruger and supplements his income by moonlighting for Eastgate. He specializes in Jackal and Leopard and was most interested to hear about my experiences and the rates of release at the Vervet Foundation.

I've been dropped off at Ingwe Lodge, on the Karongwe Game Reserve to await pickup and transfer to my camp. This is surely the cruelest joke because I wait in luxury and I feel like I belong here. I don't want to go anywhere else. I'm sitting on a plush sofa on the outdoor patio with soft music from the bar and the waterfall of the swimming pool behind me. I am free to wander about while I wait, but have been warned not to roam far, as there are no fences here, and there is an abundance of wild animals.

Gavin has described the tents here and is excited for me, but I cannot convince him that the luxurious accommodations are not meant for me. He is convinced I will have a tub and shower on one side of the tent, separated from my four-poster, mozzie-netted bed by reeds. I know better now. Although I know in my heart I belong in this luxurious setting, my pocketbook disagrees. So I will be off shortly to another "tent village".

*** Later ***

I am in Heaven! This place is wonderful, although very basic in accommodations. There are seven of us in the Field Guide Course and we are staying in an old-style colonial house. We have 2 to a room, with cushions on top of raised plywood platforms for beds and sheets! No electricity, but we have 2 toilets and sinks between us, each with semi-running water! Meals are cooked for us, and our dishes are washed. I will have all my laundry done for one month for R100. I can't wait to get the monkey poo washed out of my clothes! Although the water pressure is barely a trickle, there are no real water restrictions, other than not to waste water in a country where clean water is so rare!

I was picked up from Ingwe and driven in a safari vehicle (a giant diesel Range Rover) to Edeni.

We had a brief orientation, then our first field walk to Pride Rock, a big granite outcropping called a kopje (pronounced "Koppie". On the way to the rock, we saw elephant tracks, baboon tracks, giraffe tracks, and more! We followed the elephant's path across a creek, then climbed Pride Rock where we watched the sun set over the mountains and tree tops. We can see "God's Window", a mountaintop with a view of "the ends of the world". While atop the rock, a big warthog came by and just fed and fed. He didn't seem bothered by our presence at all until we descended and then he ran off.

We returned to the house, had a braai, and then called it a night. I'm thrilled to have an almost-proper bed (2 inches of foam on a plywood platform raised off the ground), with mozzie netting, a flush toilet, and turn-down service! I'm gonna love it here!

INSTRUCTORS:  
Marius * Sarah * Henny * Lianna * Rob

KITCHEN & CLEANING STAFF:  
Lorraine & Eunice (1st two weeks)  
Francine & Evelyn (2nd two weeks)

04 April 2004

The schedule here is to rise at 5 AM, have tea & coffee at 5:30, and start walking on a bushwalk at sunrise. We return by 9:30 AM, have brunch: porridge, omelets, toast, and fruit. Lessons from 10 AM to 12, then rest and read or study until 2 PM. More lessons, then another game walk or drive.

SCHEDULE:

05:00: Rise  
05:30: Tea  
06:00: Bushwalk  
09:00: Brunch  
10:00: Lessons on the veranda  
12:00: Study break or rest  
2:00: Lessons & Tea & Cakes  
4:00: Game walk or Game drive  
7:00: Dinner cooked on the braai  
8:00: Stories or charades around the bonfire or Night game drive

OTHER STUDENTS:

Robby  
Richard  
Alex (Ali)  
Bunny  
Bryce  
Will

04 April 2004  
9:30 PM

Outside the house, we are hearing lions growling. They are moving down from the north and they are roughly 2 km from the house right now. We've been told we must close the doors tonight.

EcoTraining Lesson Schedule

Day 1: Orientation and Tracking  
Day 2: Tracking  
Day 3: Birds  
Day 4: Geology and Soils  
Day 5: Trees and Grasses  
Day 6: Ecology  
Day 7: Test 1 (46.5/50 points)  
Day 8: Ethology – Animal Behavior  
Day 9: Insects  
Day 10: Rocks and Minerals  
Day 11: Dangerous Game  
Day 12: Snakes & Reptiles & Tortoises & Frogs  
Day 13: Arachnids  
Day 14: Land Rover Driving / Safety / Tyre change  
Day 15: Off-road Driving  
Day 16: Test 2 (79.5/86 points) ; Presentation 1 (40/50 points)  
Day 17: Day off  
Day 18: Driving  
Day 19: Habitat Management  
Day 20: Climatology  
Day 21: Astronomy  
Day 22: Weapons Handling  
Day 23: Presentation 2 (86/100 points)  
Day 24: Field Observation (173/200 points)  
Day 25: Game Drive Assessments (207/250 points)  
Day 26: Game Drive Assessments  
Day 27: Final Written Exam (118/138 points)  
Day 28: Moholoholo Animal Rehabilitation Center  
Day 29: Game Drives & Picnic  
Day 30: Game Drives

05 April 2004

Tracked the lions we heard last night. Picked up the trail and followed to determine the number and sex of animals. We tracked at least two lionesses and some sub-adult males. Followed from the waterhole and caught a glimpse of mane of the sub-adult and the tail of the female.

05 April 2004

4 pm Bushwalk: We tracked the lions down to the riverbed and although we are not supposed to track from a low position when we know we are close to a dangerous animal, we took the chance because we didn't want to miss the lions. We were able to approach quietly and spotted a young male lying on the riverbed 20 meters away. We each took turns approaching (crawling) to 15 meters, then we each backed away to avoid spooking or intimidating the lions. 30 minutes after our return to the house, waiting for dinner on the veranda, Bryce was roaming about the Braai, when Bunny spotted something in the grass 10-15 meters away. Four male lions had approached and were curious as to who had been watching them earlier. Bryce wandered back onto the patio, none the wiser, while Marius ran to get the rifle. One adolescent male lay down in the grass line by the house, with an older male behind, another to the right, and one to the left. For twenty minutes, a mix of adrenaline, terror, and ecstasy! Finally, one approached to within 3 meters, and we scared it back with a beer can. They backed off a few minutes later, and we can't believe how lucky we are to have seen these lions on day 2 of the course!

Marius said afterward if he had known we were dealing with 4 males, we NEVER would have gone into that riverbed.

06 April 2004

The rain poured down last night and ensures any spoor we find will be fresh. Walked down by the other EcoTraining camp and found their entire camp washed out by rain. They experienced some flash flooding and actually lost a few tents to the river. Everyone got out safely, with one instructor having to hold on to a tent while the last student got out of the tent before the water took it out.

Lectures today focused on plants and grasses and trees native to the Sweetveld (very fertile grasslands with grasses very good for natural grazing).

Just a few I've learned to identify:

TREES:

Marula – sweet fruit liquor made from fruit  
Red bush willow – 4 side pod.  
Acacia – paired thorns  
Cork tree – bark is cork  
Buffalo Thorn – twigs shaped like lightning  
Jackal berry  
Zebrawood – darkwood/lightwood

GRASSES:

Kaifa Kaffa  
Herringbone grass  
Saw-toothed Love Grass  
Blue Grass  
Spear Grass

07 April 2004

INSECTS:

AFRICAN MONARCH BUTTERFLY  
Taste bad or even toxic to predators – defense mechanism.  
As caterpillars, they feed on toxic plants. Toxicity remains into butterfly stage.

The AFRICAN FISH EAGLE is closely related to America's Bald Eagle

We just found out 3 people in the next camp have TICK-BITE FEVER. They are very ill and haven't been able to move. But they will live.

Our game walks focus on everything we encounter while we are out in the bush. We are always looking for game, especially large game, but while we're walking, we learn about ecology, trees, plants, grasses, insects, birds and bird calls, the terrain, geology, rocks and minerals, animal behavior, tracking spoor, dung & feces, and many other subjects.

08 April 2004

Today's lesson: ECOLOGY – living organisms, their relationships, and the effects of the environment.

Getting to know my companions:

The other STUDENTS here are:

ROBBY: Funny, would never suspect he's a religious zealot.  
RICHARD: The only one of us who wants to guide as a career. Can't make it through a bushwalk without a smoke.  
ALI (Alex): Nice girl. Starts Uni in September. Sporty.  
BUNNY (Caroline): Last name Bunn. Sweet, smart girl. Farmgirl.  
WILL: loud. Very familiar and will drink out of your bottle before walking 3 steps to get his own.  
BRYCE: On a semester off. Studies English Lit. Only child.

My EcoTraining class and lead instructor Marius

INSTRUCTORS:

Marius: looks like neo-nazi, but smart as a whip, gentle as a lamb. An excellent human being.  
Henny: former game hunter.  
Rob: complete introvert. Seems aloof at first, then flirty.

THE CATENA

The Catena is the related sequence (chain) of soil types created by changes from one drainage condition to another. Understanding the soil helps us to understand the vegetation that will grow in the location so in our quest for viewing animals we can look in the areas with the vegetation the animals eat. Catena types that support large herbivores will also attract the carnivores.

CONSTELLATION LEGEND

Orion, a giant in Ancient Rome, became overconfident and believed he could overpower and slay anything found in nature. Athena, goddess of Nature, became very displeased with his arrogance and his threats against Nature, so she sent a tiny Scorpion to take down Orion. The scorpion mortally wounded Orion, but a doctor was able to rejuvenate him the next day.

In today's southern skies, Orion rises long before Scorpio. Scorpion is 180 degrees opposite Orion, so when the Scorpion rises, Orion is dying out and falling below the horizon.

09 April 2004

The food here is delicious. Very hearty. South African Afrikaners tend to like creamy dishes, so we have many "stick-to-your-ribs" meals. It is a welcome change after the zero-variety vegetarian meals last month. As an example, below are some of the dishes we've had in the last few days:

Sunday Meals:

Brunch: Bacon & Cheese omelet  
Tea: Juice & cakes with Jam  
Supper: Sausages on the Braai & veggies

Monday Meals:

Tea: Tea & Fruit  
Brunch: Maltobella, Fried eggs and hamburger  
Tea: Chips (thick cut potato wedges) and cheese  
Supper: Fried chicken, cooked veggies

Tuesday Meals:

Tea: Tea & Fruit  
Brunch: Porridge, Scrambled eggs & bacon  
Tea: Meat & Cheese Butties (a sloppy-joe type sandwich)  
Supper: Pasta & Cheese

Wednesday Meals:

Tea: Tea & Fruit  
Brunch: Sliced ham & French toast  
Tea: Bacon Butties (sandwich)  
Supper: Pork chops, veggies, cheese

The nicest part is the pride that Lorraine and Eunice take in their work. Each evening when we come for supper, the table is set and on each plate is a sprig of some special grass, or a flower, or a special leaf. After we leave in the morning, they sweep our rooms and tie our mosquito netting in a knot that hangs over our bed. While we take dinner, they turn down our beds and pull the netting down to surround our beds. It's definitely not luxury here, but these special touches make us feel as if we're being pampered.

Lavender Fever Berry Tree only grows on kopjes (rock outcroppings)

List of Animals and the timing with which we've encountered them. The different ink colors signify different days. As time went by, we saw fewer new animals to add to the list, but you can tell the order in which we first saw (S), heard (H), or tracked (T) each animal. My field notes next to each animal will help me to identify them later.

Identify Dung

Zebra: non-ruminant, kidney shaped dung.  
Giraffe: similar to kudu, but scattered dung.

This morning's drive took us to the river where we tracked White (square-lipped) Rhino. Tried to cross the river to pursue, but the river is still too high. Got stuck and had to dig out the Land Rover. Rebuilt opposite road to get back up the hill. Everyone wet and muddy. A fantastic time!

This afternoon we had a big treat. Were unable to repair the flat tire (our afternoon's task), so we headed to the Karongwe river for a swim. Beautiful warm water, gorgeous silky mud. Brought back memories of childhood, when it was fun to be dirty and have mud ooze around your toes. Still no sign of the Rhino, but an experience I shall never forget.

Some foods I've had in South Africa:

Beskuit – a hard biscuit or rusk  
Biltong – cured, salted meat, eaten in strips. Much saltier than jerky  
Bobotie – spicy mince pie  
Boerewors – spicy sausage from the Braai  
Braai – anything cooked over the fire – barbeque  
Bredie – Stew  
Chakalaka – spicy tomato and onion relish or salsa  
Voetkoek – pronounced "fat cake". A sweet bread like a doughnut.  
Mealie Pap – stiff maize, similar to sticky mashed potatoes, but made from corn. A staple at most meals.  
Lekker – sweets or "nice and tasty"

THE BAOBAB TREE

Bushman says the Baobab Tree was thrown out of Heaven by the Gods. It landed upside down and today we see the roots growing up in the air.

The SHANGAN PEOPLE  
The Shangani People were Zulu and fiercely loyal to Shaka Zulu. When Shaka's half-brother murdered him, some of the Zulu ran and fled to Mozambique. They left their children behind and they were called "She-angani" for those who cry and are left behind. The Shangani eventually returned to be reunited, and many settled here, in Limpopo and Mpumalanga.

Ndebele is also an offshoot of Zulu. Ndebele means "one of the people". Matabele means "many bele people". This is according to Sila who is Ndebele. Matabele was the name chosen by the warrior who led his people away from Shaka. He hid his true identity so Shaka couldn't pursue him. Matabele does refer to the fighting-warrior style he favored – namely, fighting in coordinated attacks, sometimes using columns of warriors.

Our Shangaan Nicknames: (given to the students by Lorraine)

Nyeleti – Star – Ali  
Dyambu – Sun – Eva  
Nsuku – Gold – Bryce  
Nweti – Moon – Will  
Ndzalama – rich – Richard  
Dyondzo – Lamb – Bunny  
Vutinanhi – Active – Robby

We played my favorite game of "Stupid Human Tricks" where everyone must exhibit some strange skill they have. After all the years I've played, this was the oddest group of skills/abilities/deformities I've ever seen.

Sarah – extra or missing valve in esophagus causes regurgitation and rumination.  
Alex – moves eyeballs independently  
Eva – doublejointed fingertips & lobster claw hands  
Bryce – cracks jaw  
Will – Folds ears and tucks flap into ear bud  
Rich – lower lip fits over nose  
Bunny – ULTRA high frequency "peep"  
Robby – Nostril flare  
Henny – Monkey face  
Jenny – Folds ears and double-jointed fingers

The millipede is a favorite meal for the scorpion, which uses its venom to start external digestion of the millipede to break down the toxins. Millipedes have cyanide and hydrochloric acid as defense mechanisms and taste quite nasty and toxic. The only mammal that eats and can digest millipede is the African Civet. The dung of the civet often has pieces of millipede shell in it. When tracking, we check the dung for contents to determine what animal left it.

10 April 2004

Dolerite Dike ~ Knob Thorn ~ Mopane ~ Stinking Grass

Bateleur – Short-tailed eagle. Named for French Tight-rope walker because it is the only raptor that totters while soaring.

The field notes next to the list of birds encountered represent what each bird's call sounds like. I will have to be able to identify bird calls for my mid and final exams.

Afternoon game drive: saw hippo at the dam. Red Hartebeest, Blue Wildebeest, Waterbuck, Zebra.

Many ungulates have white markings on their hind quarters to allow their young to follow them. The waterbuck's marking looks like a toiled-seat rim. Impala have white on the underside of their tails. They keep their tails tucked down to protect against predators, but when they move with their young, they raise the tails so the babies can follow.

My earlier impression of Afrikaners could not have been more wrong. The guides here are Marius and Henny and Rob from the other camp, as well as the other guides who have stopped in. They are some of the most thoughtful, giving, and genuinely intelligent people I've ever met. Every question for Henny or Marius is given careful thought and an intelligent answer, often accompanied with self-deprecating wit. They seem to know something about every subject that comes up: from science to history to politics and of course, everything Nature related. They don't know anything about current movies, or current events. They see the news twice per month usually. They are extraordinary human beings.

First Exam was today. I scored 46.5 out of 50. Very pleased with what I'm learning. Of course, I'm not here to become a guide professionally, so I don't sweat the exams or presentations, but I do want to get as much out this experience as possible. At first I thought I didn't care at all about birds or insects, but they can be made just as interesting as the large mammals once you start to learn about them. Tonight we had our first night-time game drive. Didn't see much, but the experience of being out in the pitch black was eerie. I wouldn't want to be out here alone at night.

11 April 2004  
Easter Day

Today the students in the other EcoTraining camp went home, and Rob needed someone to drive the bakkie full of luggage behind the Landie. I was selected and had to pull the pickup – with about 2 inches of clearance to the undercarriage – out on these dirt roads with deep ruts. Having already been stuck twice since I've been here, I was nervous, but pulled it off. Afternoon game drive turned into another night game drive when we got lost. The road we were on is seldom used, and just became overgrown. We lost the road and had to make a new one with the panga (machete) until we could find another road. About 1 hour late for supper.

These notes are for my second graded presentation about the similarities and differences in cooperative hunting techniques of different types of wildlife.

Giraffe!!

Crepuscular Rays – "Bible Light"

Although the rays appear to spread, they are actually parallel. Optical illusion similar to railroad tracks converging in distance.

12 April 2004

We rose early this morning to start our game drive before sunrise. We started tracking and driving, and this morning I sat in the tracker's seat while Robby drove.

The tracker, sitting on the seat on the front of the Landie, must watch for spoor, dung, or markings to track animals. At the same time, the tracker must let the driver know of any obstructions in the road such as deep ruts, large rocks, or overhanging trees that could injure passengers. Tracker must alight from the vehicle to scout paths if the driver isn't sure the vehicle can get through, and must also whack down any encroaching tree limbs that pose a hazard to guests and/or could decapitate someone riding in the Landie.

This was the most exhilarating experience of my life. After 3 hours, we climbed the high Kopje and watched giraffe and just listened to the music of the bush. For the ride home, we switched positions, and I drove the Landie. Much easier than I thought, and tremendously powerful. Diesel Engine.

Tonight is our first Sleep-out!

13 April 2004

First sleep-out last night under somewhat clear skies and a half-moon. We each took one hour shifts as "Watch" to guard against predators. My shift was 1 to 2 am. During the night, we heard hyena, lion, and leopard. The lions were most disturbing due to the proximity of the roars/breathing noises and the movement from one area to around the side of the campsite. The hyena wasn't too disconcerting until we found out the next day that it had been as close as 15 meters to camp without anyone having seen it.

The leopard we heard at first light – a grunting noise.

Guard duty entails staying awake and alert and sweeping the area with a spotlight for eyes every few minutes. Nocturnal animals, including cats and hyena, have a reflective coating on the back of their eyes, so when the light shines, the eyes appear to glow and jump out at you.

Predators like Lion, Leopard, and Hyena will show two eyes looking back at you and usually appear reddish with the light reflection.

Antelope such as impala will reflect only one eye because their eyes are on different sides of their heads. They lack binocular vision. Prey animals have a wider field of vision behind and to the sides. It is important not to shine the light directly into the eyes of diurnal animals as they can go blind and become disoriented for 30-40 minutes. These guys sometimes have a greenish-bluish cast reflected in the light of their eyes.

14 April 2004

Very early this AM, about 4:30 or 5 AM, lions were heard very close to camp. We woke, had tea, and then set out to find them. We could hear two: roaring and breathing, probably within 50 meters of the house. We picked up the spoor on the dirt road by the house and followed in the Landie. We tracked for approximately 2 km, until the spoor stopped, so we followed on foot, picking up signs in the grass and in the sandy soil. The spoor was of at least one, possibly two, very large males. In sandy soil, the spoor was very deep, and pushed forward, displacing the sand, betraying the weight of the animal. Following on foot, we were able to find an area where the lion had rested. We could tell from the flattened grass. We tried circling around again, but ultimately we lost the trail where the ground hardened and transitioned into stone. Tracking is exhilarating and scary! You need to move quickly enough to keep up with the animal if you can, but not too quickly that you lose the signs, or become unaware of surroundings. At any time an animal that you think you are tracking can double-back and begin tracking you.

Jumped back in the Landie and drove up the road to another dam, where we spotted 5 hippos lounging in the water. We crept up to the edge and sat by the water's edge to watch for a half-hour. The hippos were aware of us and tolerated us, even showing off a bit by trumpeting and blowing water. They seemed jubilant, it sounded like the tuba section of an orchestra. Thrilling! When we backtracked to the Landie, we found fresh lion spoor in the tire track of the Landie. Were we tracking lions or vice versa?

These field notes helped me remember how to identify the many different trees and plants we found. During game drives, a professional guide must be able to tie all the pieces of nature together for the guest. As a guest, you don't realize all the different pieces of information that go into an interesting story or fact.

14 April 2004  
Voting Day RSA

After the afternoon game drive, we drove to the "Trading Post" Bush Bar & Restaurant because the kitchen staff had time off to vote and had to be driven to their home provinces. Voting is taken extremely seriously by the blacks, because they went so many years without a voice and with no rights. They each traveled 8 to 10 hours on backroads to cast their ballots.

For dinner, I had ostrich stir fry, which was very much like beef and so tasty! Um hum!

DANGEROUS EIGHT

The "Dangerous Eight" is made up of the "Big 5" + 3 other dangerous animals. The "Little Big 5" are small animals with the names of the Big 5 animals in their names.

Warning Signals from Dangerous Game:

APPROACHING DANGEROUS GAME

The Legend of Hippopotamus:

The hippo spent all his time in water, but he wanted to come out of the water at night to graze on grass. Hippo asked the gods for permission, but the gods said "No, you've been very naughty and you eat all the fish in the water." And Hippo said "No, I don't eat any fish." So the gods said Hippo could eat grass at night, but to prove he hasn't eaten any fish, he must scatter his dung on the bushes every night to show there are no fish bones.

HIPPO DUNG

Most characteristic sign of Hippo droppings is the accumulation of broken-up dung clinging to the bushes. Bulls turn their ample posteriors towards these marking sites and as the droppings are expelled, the short fat tail is flicked rapidly from side to side, causing the dung to be broken up and scattered.

15 April 2004

Today's game drive, I took a turn driving off-road style. The dirt paths were very rough and I was assigned to first drive up a mountainous kopje. A few minutes later I had to drive through a muddy rut with very uneven ground. We came close to tipping, but Henny calmly talked me through how to handle the Landie, and promised high marks on my driving assessment because I didn't panic.

16 April 2005

2nd Assessment: 79.5/86

18 April 2004

Friday afternoon, we drove to Nelspruit for Internet and stayed over at a backpacker's hostel. Set out first thing Saturday morning for Kruger and stayed the night at Satara Kamp. On the nighttime game drive, we spotted Leopard coming across the field. The guides in Kruger are not as environmentally or nature-sensitive as what we've been taught by EcoTraining. Instead of an Eco-friendly approach, the Kruger guides were more aggressive in finding and viewing game. As they explained, many guests have a limited time and want to see as much as they can. The guides here learn to have "successful excursions", while the guides at EcoTraining learn to talk about everything encountered on the chance that no big game are found.

After leaving the camp, Ali was given the spotlight to act as spotter on the side of the bus. The guide worked in the front. Our spotter saw the eyes within 5 minutes, and we saw it was a leopard. We watched for a few minutes until another vehicle came up. We showed them where the cat hid, then backed up and drove around behind it, leaving the cat no escape route! After our training about the comfort zone, we knew better and dropped our light from the cat's location. After a few more minutes, we told the guide to move on - no need to stress the cat unnecessarily.

A few kilometers down the road, we saw a bull elephant rubbing on a tree. We watched a few moments while everyone snapped photos, then the ellie started to show warning signs, trumpeted its ears, wagged its head from side-to-side, and trumpeting and screaming. We noticed the warning signs, and knew we were well within the elephant's comfort zone when the ellie suddenly charged. I've never seen one move so swiftly, and he aimed right towards me, as I was sitting next to Ali with the light. When he was within 2 meters of the vehicle, he pulled up and stopped – a false charge. The guides then revved the engine to frighten him off and he walked off. He got behind the vehicle and was letting us go on, when the guide decided to push the limits and reversed towards it. At the point, all 5 of us told the guide that we wanted to be sensitive to the animals and we should continue on.

One of the bull elephants we saw later decided to pull a sneaky move that we hadn't seen before. As we watched him, he put his tusks on either side of the tree, pretended to rub his face, and let his trunk wander up to the fork, where the tip of his trunk came over and he proceeded to smell us!

Only Bull elephants will be sneaky when smelling. Cows will openly sniff humans.

We also spotted black-backed jackal, blue wildebeest, spotted genet, crocodile, and our guide spotted a chameleon and a Marula tree! The following day, I finally saw a herd of Cape buffalo, bringing my Big 5 count up to 4 with only the Rhino missing from the list. An amazing time had by all!

*****

Speaking to Henny about our elephant experiences, he told me about some of his: An elephant cull is a carefully organized project. The matriarch is the oldest female in the herd. Elephant memories are so strong that they remember places and things and other animals over years and years and they pass the info down through generations. In times of drought, the Matriarch knows where to find a water hole, where to find food, and how to get there safely. During a cull, the herd is selected and the Matriarch identified. She is the first shot, and when she goes down, the other elephants are confused and just circle around, trying to protect and nurture her, yet not knowing what to do. The rest of the herd goes down in about 30 seconds as they just stand there as targets. An entire herd is killed at a time, as the Bushmen and all rangers believe that if any witness ellies survive, they will carry the hatred of man forever and pass it down for generations. They fear that these elephants would routinely attack man, unprovoked.

The Apple Leaf tree holds some importance locally. The locals say if you cut down an Apple Leaf, then within a few days, one of your immediate relatives will go out for a walk, and get lost and go missing, never to be seen again.

Apple Leaf Tree is easily identified by crushing a leaf in your hand. It's dry and sounds like you're biting into an apple!!

19 April 2004

Last night I had a private lesson in Astronomy by a true gentleman. Rob spent a few hours behind me, using my arms and his eyes to point out various constellations and the stars comprising them.

Individual stars in the constellation are named from brightest to dimmest using the Greek alphabet and the name of the constellation.

180 degrees from Scorpius is Orion's Belt, so they are not visible at the same time.

Saw 7 shooting stars. Looking forward to more lessons.

20 April 2004

Today we built a blind between two trees at a water hold in order to watch animals and birds without being seen. The blind consists of a number of branches assembled together as a type of lean-to, but more vertical than horizontal. We went back after a few hours and just sat, watching and listening. No human noise. Just a cacophony of bird calls and frogs. A grey heron was 10 meters in front of us the entire time and became quite comfortable that whatever was behind that wall of branches (us!) would do no harm. Beautiful day. Campfire at night again. Every night is campfire.

21 April 2004

Today was all about Weapons handling and safety in the bush with a rifle. After learning the basics of loading and unloading, we went to the rifle range and fired off a series of rounds in the .308 caliber B Mauser to practice. We then switched to the .375 Bruner Rifle which takes down a Bull Elephant with one well-placed shot. The .375 is the minimum caliber weapon approved for field guides. I shot a dead-on bulls-eye with the .375 and had the best single shot. Bunny had the best overall with two shots close together in the 9th ring of the target. Poor Robby never hit the target.

TRACKING ~ WHAT WE LEARN FROM DUNG:

\- Diet (Grazer, Browser, Ruminant, non-Ruminant)  
\- Time deposited (warmth, moisture, insect activity)  
\- Territoriality (middens as markings)

Insect Activity around Dung also tells us a lot:

Ant Lion Larvae – form tiny holes in sandy soil and trap ants as they walk by. Ant lion larvae are nocturnal so if spoor or dung is disturbed, it was left before the previous evening. Ant Lion Larvae have such huge mandibles that they must travel backwards, leaving a distinct trail. Identifying these trails either on top of, or beneath markings gives us clues into when our quarry was in the area. If we see cheetah spoor disturbing the tracks of Ant Lion Larvae, then the cheetah has been there between night and now. On the other hand, if the insect trail disturbs the cheetah spoor, then we know the cheetah passed through the area prior to the previous night.

Dung Beetle – beetles move in and around dung piles, disturbing the heap and mixing in dirt. It takes a few hours of work to churn it up, and Dung Beetles only use fresh dung. If we find Buffalo dung that is churned up, then the Buffalo are a few hours ahead of us.

Broad Bordered Grass Yellow – gets moisture from fresh dung. Presence of Yellows indicates fresh dung nearby and helps us track animals. Whenever we see a few yellows fluttering around off road, we stop to investigate to see who has been through the area.

TROPHIC PYRAMID

TROPHIC PYRAMID

22 April 2004

Today I gave a trial game drive, driving everyone around, while my tracker pointed out spoor. I had to stop at various points to explain what we were looking at and some of the smaller aspects of the bush, as you cannot always be guaranteed of seeing big game every time you go out, and today we didn't.

As guides, our goal is to provide multiple aspects of information to make it more interesting. So if we're looking at a termite mound, we might also tell about the soil that we're on, what types of vegetation grow on it, the types of animals that feed on the vegetation, any folk beliefs or customs about it, any medicinal uses, and so on.

Some highlights from the drive:

Marula Tree -> Fruit is favored by baboons and Elephants often get drunk on the fermented fruit -> used locally as a cure for malaria -> primary ingredient in Amarula liquor -> name some local places where guests can try Amarula. This type of description makes the guests feel as if they've connected with the animals described, even though they haven't seen any yet. After seeing a Marula Tree and hearing about the fruit, everyone orders Amarula liquor at the next opportunity.

Zebra Spoor -> commensal symbiosis -> likely to be found with Wildebeest and giraffe -> territorial markings -> zebra playground and dust baths.

Last night I was awakened at 3AM by noises in the house. We were expecting the Hyenas to come back, so we've been on alert. We ran out to see them pulling the garbage apart, and when interrupted, they just meandered off. Three minutes later, they circled the house and came back from the other direction. We waited and watched, but they were unhappy with the interruption and had full bellies by then. The female (alpha) was huge and cocky. So ugly she's actually beautiful. Hyenas are matriarchal and the high level of testosterone they carry gives females a pseudo-penis.

Hyena: inquisitive, no fear of man. A hyena will get curious and cheeky enough to approach a sleeping human and take a bite out of your eye or ear. Very dangerous, but easily scared off.

*****

This afternoon we went for a swim in the rocky pass of the Karongwe River. Much more shallow than the section we swam in previously, but Henny didn't want us to swim in the deep sections because of the possibility of crocs.

Then I drove home and bridged the river in the Landie. It's very steep and difficult to maneuver. We had to look for elephants to be sure not to surprise them if they were in the riverbed.

23 April 2004

We watch the bush babies jump from the roof of the house to the Marula tree to the bush every night at 6:00 pm.

The bushbabies jump from the house to the bush each night at 6 PM.

Every few days we have to cross the river and start the pump to get the water flowing from the taps. It's an old diesel pump that is hard work to start, but has become quite an adventure! I found out that the water we drink is not processed in any way. The pump draws it up out of the ground, from 50 meters below surface, through a bore hole. It is lovely. Clear as glass and sweet as rain.

Rob found a leak in the pipes today between our camp and his. We hope his patch will fix the problem and give him regular water.

After the presentations today, we drove to the river, which is now too high to cross in the Landie, parked, and then took a bush walk to review what we've learned. After last night's rain, we were able to see only new spoor, and we found we were on the trail of a White Rhino. We followed the trail, but only from the downwind direction, having to cross the river on foot through a rocky gorge. Though we moved at a fast pace, we were unable to catch it, and eventually had to turn back, lest we get caught in the bush in the dark.

My presentation was on Predatory Behaviors and I scored 86/100.

Map of the roads of the Edeni Game Reserve. Walking puts a huge restriction on how far and how much you can see, so when I drew this map I only knew a few roads.

For the record, Henny is from Zimbabwe and Rob is from South Africa (Capetown), but is not an Afrikaner. He is far from the aloof bushman I thought he was. He's very much the introvert, and out of his element with more than 3 or 4 people, but I am drawing him out, and he is very playful one-on-one. Quite boyish actually, but still charming. We've nicknamed him the Honey Badger due to his penchant for digging holes, his reported bad temper, and of course, his hairiness!

*****

White Rhino, also called square-lipped rhino, is not actually white. He was named Weit Rhino – Afrikaans for square – "Wide-lipped".

*****

Honey Badger – compact dynamo ready to let loose its energy, muscles, and courage at the slightest excuse. It will take on any comers when challenged, teeth bared and snarling if cornered. Yet it's a shy little fellow with a sweet tooth. Hence its willingness to face a swarm of angry bees to get at their sweet honey! The Honey Badger is reputed to attack a full-grown lion and win -- they attack from the underside and go for the gonads!

25 April 2004

Yesterday we had the field observation, a walking exam of trees, birds, calls, animals, spoor, dung, insects, arachnids, orientation, geology, and clouds. Basically everything we've run across so far in the bush. I had the highest mark by six questions! Quite proud of my achievement. Last night Rob's camp came here to shower and talk around the Boma – Braai. Nice chat.

This morning we went to Hoedspruit to sort out my flight to Capetown and do a bit of shopping. Henny and Leanna brought me to Eastgate airport and have offered to stay on an extra day after the course is over so I will have a place to stay on Friday night. They'll then drive me to Eastgate for my flight.

This afternoon, we all went to Ingwe Lodge for a dip in their pool – what a treat. Henny and Leanna are trying to convince me to get a work permit and stay in RSA for a couple of years. What an idea! I love this lifestyle where you enjoy every minute of every day, no matter what you are doing. I'm so used to rushing to finish my current task so I can begin the next. I've never known how to enjoy the moment. I love it here. I love the lifestyle. I love the people. And I love the country.

One of the most irresponsible things I've ever done.

Game drive tonight.

I spotted a chameleon sleeping on a branch. We got out and picked it up, then let it crawl over each of us. Chameleon's eyes can move 360 degrees and they have prehensile tails. The hands and feet look like lobster claws and they have sharp fingernails for gripping, but it doesn't hurt on the hand.

TRACKING ANIMALS

TRACKING TERRESTRIAL ANIMALS

-Droppings (dung, feces)  
-Urine (spray)  
-Spoor (size, time, weight)  
-Markings (feeding or territory)

TRACKING ARIAL ANIMALS

-Calls  
-Scents

BROOD PARASITISM IN BIRDS

Jacobin Cuckoo males distract host birds (Paradise Flycatcher), while the female cuckoo lays its egg in their nest. The host raises the cuckoo and feeds it as if it were their own.

Diedericks Cuckoo eats one egg in the host nest, and then the female lays an egg of her own to replace it. The host bird is usually not aware of the switch!

LEAVES AND LEAF STRUCTURE

All Acacias have paired thorns and are bipinnately paripanate.

Fig Tree is pollinated by the Fig Wasp. The female wasp burrows into the fruit and lays her eggs. When the hatchlings emerge, they continue the cycle. Females leave the fruit tree, picking up male pollen on their way out, and fly to another fig tree to lay eggs.

Male fig wasps are believed to live in the fruit their entire lives.

26 April 2004

South Africa has huge incidence of HIV/AIDS in the population. There are many rumors in the rural areas about the disease, its causes, and its treatment and cure. One rumor that is popular in the townships and rural areas is that if a man has sex with a virgin he will be cured of AIDS. More and more very young girls are getting raped, and we heard on the news today that a 20-month old baby has died from injuries caused by rape.

After our final written test this morning, we went on a long game drive to the northern part of the reserve. We gave up on seeing anything new and were just enjoying the ride and the lush vegetation, when we spotted a Rhino! Finally! He was just running off into the wind as we alit from the Landie and made haste to follow. We had a few more quick sightings and I tried to snap a few photos, but he was on some type of mission – either food or a mate. We turned back and were able to confirm that the Landie had the flat tire we thought we heard hissing when we jumped off. A flat tire is no impediment to tracking game in Africa and was well worth the Rhino sighting – no matter how brief.

Marius is back tonight from his Botswana safari. Weather is turning cooler. It still gets to around 30-33 degrees Celsius in the sun at midday. But tonight it's down to 25 degrees C. Even on the hottest days here, it is still pleasantly cool in the shade and there is almost always a breeze brought in by the Southeastern Trade Winds.

27 April 2004

This morning's game drive brought Hyena directly in front of our vehicle as two large females or pseudo-females crossed the road. We followed closely, and the hyena kept parallel to the road with us for over 10 minutes. They showed curiosity and inquisitiveness as is expected from Hyena.

When we returned home for breakfast, the elephants were moving down from the north and we could hear them trumpeting and knocking down trees. It was a nursery herd, and the ellies were unhappy for some reason, angrily knocking down everything in their paths.

Immediately after breakfast, we headed out again and completed our game drive assessments. Out of a possible 250 marks, I scored 208, which is considered high.

28 April 2004

Last night we slept out at Beacon Rock and had a grand time. Again, we took shift on night-watch, and this time was slightly more nerve-wracking due to the animals around and we are in rutting season for impala – they grunt and snort and throw things around with their horns during rutting season, and at least one male was up all night making these territorial sounds. Around 3 AM, we heard the Hyena, very close, howling. They kept it up steady for 20 minutes, then off and on for the rest of the night after we chased them off and they started to move off. During my watch, from 4 to 6 am, we heard leopard. We do know that a female leopard with a cub has her territory on and around that kopje and sure enough, we heard her.

Tonight's excellent adventure: The water pump has broken and we've been without water since yesterday. Ingwe Lodge tried some repairs and got the pump going, but it's not producing water so we had to go turn the pump off so it didn't burn up. It's somewhat hazardous duty to cross the river at night on foot when there are two adult hippos and a baby right there somewhere. We saw them at the dam before sunset, and they are most likely between the dam and the river now. Very exciting and great fun. Then we parked the Landie on the dam and listened to the rutting impala, painted reed frogs calling, cape turtle doves, and dwarf puddle frogs. We talked about the stars a bit while counting 4 shooting stars. 23 degrees Celsius with steam rising from the dam water. So still.

The Jewel Box is a cluster of thousands of stars, of all different colors below Beta crux. One of the Greek Gods is said to have opened up a box of gems – emeralds, rubies, sapphires, topaz, and diamonds – and tossed the entire box up into the sky!

The Coal Sack is a dark cloud of gasses. Very dense. No light can penetrate the cloud.

30 April 2004

Yesterday we went to Moholoholo Wildlife Rehabilitation Center. A fantastic experience as we were able to study lion, leopard, wild dog, serval, and many raptors up close. Afterwards we went to The Trading Post restaurant to celebrate our final night together.

Robby, Alex, Bunny, and Bryce have left today, and I am absolutely sick to my stomach at the thought that I must leave tomorrow. I wish I could stay here forever, but part of what I love here are the people, and without Rob and Marius and the girls and Robby and Will, I would grow lonely. I have grown enormously during my time I've been in Africa, but most of it has been this past month.

The impala are growing noisy outside my window as I write. All day and all night I've heard scuffing, snorting, grunting, banging. It's amazing to be this close to nature. The baboons are calling Bore-eh! Bao-uh! Bokkum!

This evening I joined Rob's team on a game drive. We passed the GVI Research team who had just seen two cheetah, and we walked in to investigate. The cheetah were gone, but we could see where they had been laying in the grass and we tracked the spoor, but with two of them, they had backtracked over their own spoor. I'm sure they were watching and tracking us. Stayed for dinner and great conversation. I really enjoy Rob's conversation.

01 May 2004

Hoedspruit-Eastgate Airport is very small. A few rooms and a landing strip. Security is such that to enter the grounds, you fill out a form with the number of people in the vehicle and your purpose. After validating the form, and completing your business, you may exit the airport – as long as you have the correct number of people or a ticket stub to prove one flew out.

To the call of the Emerald Spotted Wood Dove:  
My Friends are Gone  
My Course is Over  
I sit alone at the airport  
so sad my Heart is Aching

# Chapter 3: Capetown

04 May 2004

Arrived Capetown Saturday and picked up by the Dreamcatcher herself, A.R. In the past few days, I've had Afrikaans lessons, history lessons, demographics lessons, and I've worked on Cooking with Kamammas, a community program with the National Tourism Ministry. I also had to take driving lessons.

On Sunday we drove to Klapmuts Township where we met a man named Yellow and his wife Pasqualien. Entering the township is an eerie experience, as the stares and shouts are not pleasant. My host seems oblivious to the jeers, as she never looks at the faces. They are shouting "What do you want here?" Inside the townships, on the streets where we are expected, the attitude is quite different. Children stare with astonishment, yet as soon as I wave, they are all smiles and wave ferociously back to me. We meet Yellow, and my host wants a picture with me in Yellow's new, government-subsidized two-room brick house and a picture at Yellow's old shack down the road. A.R. keeps telling me to watch out where I tread, lest I walk in the human feces and slop on the path to the shanty section of the township. I can assume only that she doesn't want me to track it back inside her car. A.R. takes forever to snap a picture, and in our mutual nervousness and embarrassment, Yellow and I share a laugh. Later that night I realize I am grinning like an idiot standing in front of a one-room shack with no toilet, no running water, and no electricity, that this lovely man and his wife shared with their three children. I am mortified. Monday I teach my first lessons and visit another township. It is not any easier. Tuesday I have more lessons, and then depart on a tour of the Capetown townships by a local township boy, Khotso.

Townships were created under apartheid government to move blacks out of the cities and suburbs . . . forcibly. The conditions have been deplorable, but now the government gives ZAR 17,000 per township family in the form of ZAR 3000 for a small plot of land and ZAR 14,000 in building supplies and labor. This gives them the same two-room brick structure with no ceilings, and just the plug-outs for plumbing and electricity. If they want indoor plumbing they must pay for and install the fixtures themselves. It takes years for all these houses to be built, and meantime, people – families – still live in shanties made up of whatever building supplies they can scrounge – until it is their turn to qualify for a house.

Khotso's tour took me through 4 different townships, pointing out where murders and massacres and martyrdoms had occurred. He didn't seem at all nervous, until I spoke and someone heard my accent, then he sped off and explained that if they know I'm American, I'm a target for my possessions. That evening, I stayed at a homestay in the Township. Every township has a good section, and bad section, and the squatter/shanty section. The good section has homes made mostly of brick, and some have plumbing. The bad section is homes called matchstick homes, and they usually have two or three shacks on a lot. When the government gets around to building the home for the owner, two more families will be displaced into the squatter area. The squatter section has raw sewage leeching out of the ground and piles of rubbish burning. Sometimes they are able to illegally wire their homes for electricity from a neighbor's service. This causes many fires, and when one shack catches, an entire block will go up – that can mean 50 families. I stayed with Thope. She is considered rich, as she runs her house as a B&B for tourists. She fed me a delicious dinner, and then locked me in for the night. Every house that has a door in South Africa has metal gates on the doors and bars on the windows.

Every door in the house is locked with a key when you come or go. The thought of fire terrified me, and each time I woke during the night, it was because my heart was racing. I reached the point where I could not accept my role here. I need to feel safe and I don't.

Rob called to remind me to watch the eclipse. Clear skies at 10:45 PM, but I was locked in! Final straw!

06 May 2004

Yesterday I left Durbanville, left Paarl, and came into Capetown. Cape Heritage Hotel where, due to lack of availability, I am in a luxury suite for the price of a single room. Gorgeous. A view of Table Mountain and double doors that open up onto the street from the second story! I will do some touring over the course of the next few days.

This morning I made arrangements for the next few days and have been trying to figure out my next steps. Meantime, I did some touring with Khotso as my guide.

Cape Point!! Cape of Good Hope!! Chapman's Chance (peak), Good Hope Nature Reserve, Penguin Colony @ Boulders, Simonstown, Hout Bay, False Bay, Clifton, Camps Bay, and on and on.

I tried to document whenever I met someone of a different culture.

In just one day, you can experience all four seasons anywhere on the cape!

Dinner at Maja on Heritage Square:

Vegetable & Chicken Samoosa w/ peanut & fiery chakalaka salsa on the side.  
Malay Vegetables, and Calamari spinach salad – Thai style

07 May 2004

This morning seems like EONs ago. I ascended Table Mountain by cable car, and then walked the 3km around the top. A cloud layer hung well below the top of the mountain. The Fynbos – fine bush – of this area is the only vegetative type that can survive the harsh conditions of the cape. Sea and salt water, rocky soil, granite outcroppings, searing sun, harsh wind. The top of TABLE MOUNTAIN looks like it could be the MOON!

Shopping with Barbara Meek: She's taking me to wholesalers' outlets for curios, skins, and other items.

Tour of the city bowl, District Six, Company Gardens, V&A Waterfront, Green Market Square!

08 May 2004  
26 degrees – 32 degrees c

Awoke to Islam's call to prayer 6 am. Beautiful song of beckoning.

Khotso described his initiation to manhood when he was 15 or 16. As a Sotho, living in Xhosa society, he is the center of a harsh ceremony to prove his worthiness when he becomes a man. First he is circumcised – without anesthesia. There are certain acceptable ways to scream out in pain, he tells me, and there are unacceptable ways, all indicators of whether the boy will become "a man". After the initiation rite and ceremony, the boy is turned out to the wild for 6 weeks to reflect and to survive on his own. Infection is not uncommon, and many boys never return from this portion of the test. The boy then burns his old clothes and blanket, and dons new men's clothes and returns to his village as a man.

I've had difficulty understanding why African locals who live within the modern world still believe in fortune-telling, magic, ancestral healing, and mythical cures for disease. Maggie from Limpopo had just finished a course in "fortune-telling and healing" when I met her as the house maid at Arthur's. Katie told me that she would now be considered a healer. The main TV channels here are SABC1, 2, and 3 and are modeled somehow after the BBC. SABC1 usually broadcasts in Xhosa or Zulu, SABC2 broadcasts in Afrikaans, Tswana, and Pedi, while SABC3 broadcasts in mostly English. SABC 1 and 2 have talk shows broadcast sometimes in English with subject matter of fortune telling in a serious, scientific-looking format with debate and "evidence" as to where it fits in with today's culture, religions, and lifestyles. They discuss topics such as curing AIDS through methods that come in dreams, and report as fact that certain behaviors will cure this most serious of diseases.

10 May 2004  
*** Garden Route ***

Drove to Mossel Bay where we are staying on an old train that has been converted into a B&B. It sits directly on the most beautiful beach and this morning I'm watching the sun rise over the Indian Ocean. The water is cool and the sun warm.

A Bed & Breakfast made from an old train.

MONDAY

*** CapeTown to Mossel Baai***  
Drive through Overberg region  
Game Drive. Dinner in Boma. Jacuzzi  
Albertinia – Garden Rte Game Reserve – Santos B&B Mosselbaai

TUESDAY

*** Mosselbaai to Oudtshoorn to Wilderness***  
Cango Caves – Klein Karoo, Little Desert  
Ostrich Ranch, Cheetah Breeding Project

WEDNESDAY

*** Wilderness to Plettenburg Bay***  
Canoeing & Outeniqua Mountain Pass  
Tsitsikamma  
Storm River  
Outeniqua Choo-Tjoe train from George to Knysna  
Blokraans River Gorge – Bungy Jump 216 meters (not me!)  
Tsitsikamma National Park & Hike to Storm River Mouth

THURSDAY

*** Plettenburg Bay to Knysna to Swellendam***  
Beach @ Plettenbergbaai  
Rose Cottage outside Swellendam

FRIDAY

*** Swellendam to Hermanus to Capetown***  
Winetasting – Overberg Region  
Penguin Colony @ Betty's Bay  
Grotto Beach! - Spectacular Hermanus

11 May 2004

*** BOK BUS ***

The Bok Bus Group:

Marius: A guide with little patience  
Tyler: 3 year Peace Corps volunteer - Zambia  
Ana: Crazy Brazillian. Nuts!  
Miriam: Economic Journalist from Brazil  
Steph: Volunteer Travel Coordinator from UK on holiday  
Juliette: Steph's co-worker  
Andy: Swiss boy. Sweet as Lindz  
Bob: 64 yrs + Canadian with business in Tokyo. Self-described "Ladies Man"

Oudtshoorn to Cango Caves – we went caving. 800,000 yrs old stalactites. Next we visited an Ostrich Ranch were we fed ostrich, played with them and stood on eggs. Finally, we visited Cheetah Breeding Foundation before we drove to Wilderness and are staying in a beautiful backpacker's lodge, the "Fairie Knowle". It is quite chilly here by the ocean tonight. Wearing a jacket.

12 May 2004

Lovely Breakfast at Fairie Knowle backpacker's then directly to canoeing, but the weather was chilly and overcast so we decided to take the Choo-Tjoe from George to Knysna. A beautiful 2.5 hour trip with excellent scenery. Quick stop in Knysna, then to the world's highest bungee jump, which we all declined. Then on for a hike of the Stormy River in Tsitsikamma National Park

16 May 2004

Back in Capetown. Have moved from Cape Heritage @ R580/night to Ashanti Lodge @R80/night for dorm bed. Dropped my things then went to Waterfront and Green St. Arena Flea market w/Elizabeth, a teacher from Alaska. Returned to find new dorm-mates had flung their underwear on my bed! Ewww!

17 May 2004

Another gorgeous day in Capetown. Ascended Table Mountain for a long leisurely stroll. Taxi to Internet Café. Walked back the entire length of Long Street. Stopped in at Nomad Adventure Tours.

18 May 2004

Visited Robben Island Maximum Security Prison. Saw the solitary cell where Nelson Mandela spent 27 years. Mandela is honored like a god here in RSA, and it is easy to see why. He fought for an educational system while in prison, and helped develop it, secretly at first, and then through hunger strikes, had it provided to prisoners as a privilege, but never as a right for political prisoners. Leaving prison and years of apartheid, abuse, punishment, torture, and inequality behind with thoughts only of the future, and equality for all when revenge must surely lie in the heart, requires a HUGE man.

After intermittent access to newspapers and TV news including CNN International, SkyNews, and SABTV, I'm beginning to understand where animosity towards US begins. The news is constantly focused on US foreign policy and every world leader is interviewed about what they believe the US should be doing. There is no news about Americans as people who have normal lives. Instead, we are an anonymous society, grouped together, with a handful of faces to represent us all. Bush, Rumsfeld, and Powell personify every American. Entire news programs are dedicated to what the average Arab, Brit, European, African, or their leaders think of the US policies. Always phrased as "The US must..."; "The US should....", "The US is doing...." Or "America should...." It's no wonder there is so much anger towards us. We are never represented as people or human beings living lives. We are represented as a faceless nation hell-bent on controlling the world.

TOWNSHIP ELECTRICITY

The state of a township can be discerned, in some part, by the patterns of electrical wires overhead. In the days of apartheid, large, high voltage, stadium lights were installed in central locations throughout the townships.

Very often, this was the only source of electricity available to most township homes. After apartheid ended, a government initiative began to make electric and clean water available to every house. Available, but not installed.

Some townships have many houses with electric power, legally, while many townships still have too many people in close proximity where they've started the "spider web" system of distributing electricity. Additional power lines are strung into an existing power cable, legal or illegal, with little thought as to whether the infrastructure can support it. It definitely wasn't built to support that type of rigging.

Then of course, there are still many homes without power. If they live within the old township borders, they use the stadium lights to find their way in the dark, for they remain on all night. If they are in the shanty with no neighbor willing to allow them to tap into their power source, then they use open flames. Fire is an extreme hazard.

19 May 2004

Today I experienced the "Rikki" as an alternative to a cab. A cab to the waterfront costs R40 to R60, where a Rikki costs R14. It is essentially a hollowed out microbus, completely gutted until there is only a thin aluminum-can-width shell around the back. Two benches welded to the floor run the length. One enters through a gate at the back, held shut by another welded-on coke can. The only instruction is "passengers ride at their own risk".

20 May 2004

Yesterday Hesta and I were the only ones left in our dorm room, but then last night they turned it into a mixed (coed) dorm and filled it to 7 of the 8 beds. The smell of feet and rotten cheese became overpowering but I tried to get through it. Then from 3 AM to 6 AM one of the British girls snored so loudly, all of us were awake, cursing under our breath. Her coughing just made me anxious that we would all catch whatever superbug she harbored in that cramped, musty, stale room. I moved into a twin double for R140/night (about US $21).

# Chapter 4: Southern Africa by overland Truck. Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe.

23 May 2004

Began 21-day journey with Nomad Adventure Tours today. We trucked from Capetown over the Cedarburg Mountains, where we are now camping. The truck is a large, Mercedes-Benz cargo truck outfitted to seat 25 people with luggage. Our camp is situated in an orange grove and we took a 3-hour hike of the mountains.

Travelers:

Jan . Juan . Sela . Maria . Katrin . Holger . Jun . Sebastian . Tabea . Sally . Devina . Johanna . Nicole . Sam . Jeanette . Manno . Jason

The blue line represents our trek across multiple countries in Southern Africa.

24 May 2004

7 hours driving overland. As we passed the final stop sign of Springbok, a police car whizzed past, sirens blaring. We caught up 5 km down the road where we saw a young boy, 3 or 4 years old, had been killed – struck by a car. He wore denim shorts and a white tank top. No shoes. The whole village watched from the roadside.

25 May 2004

Canoed down the Orange River today, separating Namibia and South Africa. Surrounded by mountains on all sides.

26 May 2004

Crossed boarder into Namibia. The landscape is worlds away from South Africa's. Even the South African desert, which we've been driving through the last days, is still somewhat green with succulents. The Namib Desert is like the photos from Mars. It is red with large rocks in semi-regular patterns. But the sand is as soft as powdered sugar. After setting up camp, we headed down to Fish River Canyon. Second largest canyon in the world (after Grand Canyon). Sundowners and dinner at the edge of the canyon. The most amazing part is the complete isolation. Apart from not having seen another car for 5 hours, we were the only people at the canyon. It is immense, 27 km across. One can only wonder what the first people to see this canyon thought of it. A holy place? Home to the gods? Or the devil? Tonight is cool, but not cold, and a light breeze will keep the dew off. I will sleep outside to watch the stars with a few others. The night is clear and calm. Silent. We are miles from anyone.

*** Namibia ***

On the south western coast of Africa, Namibia is almost 4 times larger than Great Britain. It is one of the most sparsely populated countries in Africa. The land is full of contrasts and extremes with diverse landscapes and wildlife. The Fish River Canyon descends into the depths of the desert while a few miles away the Sossusvlei sand dunes tower over head. Along the coast, scorching desert heat clashes with the cold Benguela current, which carries water directly from the frozen icebergs of the Antarctic. The warmth of the beaches and the cold of the water attracts, fish, seals, and birdlife. Herds of desert elephants migrate along river valleys in the Kaokoveld, the north's waterways team with game, and the desert's dry plains harbor herds of gemsbok.

27 May 2004

10 hours drive time. We've set up camp then head off to Sessriem Canyon. Sessriem, in Afrikaans, means "six tongues" and the canyon does appear to have six different pathways. We hiked to the bottom and then returned to catch the last of the sunset over the mountains reflecting their pale orange sheen into the canyon.

28 May 2004

Woke at 4 AM to hike Dune 45 at Sossusvlei and watch the sun rise. Fine, red sand 120 meters high, but difficult to walk in. After a hot breakfast, I took 3 hour guided walk through the dunes with Franz Boosman (Bushman). Sossusvlei means where the sea ends – from where no one returns. We are told that every 10 years there is a flood, and the little water that makes it this far into the desert is enough to keep the little vegetation that exists alive. When dunes close up, a new Sossusvlei is created and the old one becomes the Deadvlei, as water can reach it no more and all vegetation dies.

Tsumeb is a pleasant surprise after miles of dry grassland dotted with termite mounds. 45 minutes away is the largest meteorite in the world: the 60 ton Hoba Meteorite.

The 600 km Caprivi Strip was ceded by the British to the Germans in 1893. It forms the boundary between Angola, Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and Namibia. Its length is made up of woodlands, wetlands, and the flood plains of the Zambezi and other rivers.

For the first time I can ever recall, I found myself enjoying the moment – not waiting for the next thing to happen, and not wishing to relive a previous moment. I was merely sitting on the truck, after hours of traveling, and loving every minute of it. I have never felt so good. The smile on my face seemed to have been permanently branded.

29 May 2004  
Swakopmund

I adore quad-biking! For two hours, tooling through pristine dunes with the power to climb and roll. I had an absolute blast and will do it again!

My name, written in Kanji, Katakana, and Hirigana. By Jun

31 May 2004

Delay in leaving Swakopmund due to sandstorm. It was so strong it knocked out power to the town. When we finally departed we were forced to drive slowly due to the wind. Storm brought in hot, hot air. Stifling. As we drove, the hot air blasted us and the sand tore at our skin and burning our eyes. This is the hottest weather I've experienced here in Africa.

02 June 2004  
ETOSHA NATIONAL PARK

Entered Etosha yesterday and stayed in Okaukuejo camp. Early this AM started game drive 6 AM and immediately found a pride of over 12 lions. 1 adult male, 4-6 subadult males, 2-3 cubs, and the rest lionesses. So early, the lions just wanted to rest, but they watched zebra and springbok with much interest. As the sun rose, they lay down in the sun for warmth, but they wouldn't move too far off the trail because of the dew in the grass.

The Etosha Salt Pan is 5000 square km of dead land. Dried lake bed. No vegetation. No water. No wildlife. This camp is overrun by Jackals. They are cheeky bastards and have been howling all evening!

03 June 2003

Mel's birthday and I can't help but feel isolated. I haven't had access to a telephone in days. Cell phone has no network coverage out here. People and towns are few and far between. We exited Etosha this morning and are camping on the Kovango River that separates Namibia from Angola. A few of us took a river boat ride and because we dropped an oar in the water, were "forced" to stop on the Angola side where we all got off, and ran around on the sandy banks exalting in breaking the law by entering the country illegally. There was not a soul in sight on Angola side, so we were safe from being thrown in jail.

04 June 2004

Went for a walk through Myana, a Namibian village and stopped in at the primary school where we were introduced to a few of the classes and were able to speak with the learners and ask questions. Tonight we are camping on the Kavango, just outside of Botswana and the Okavango Delta. Crazy night of dancing and drinks in the bush bar.

A Springbok toast, taught to us by the bartender at the bush bar

08 June 2004

Spent the past 3 days in Botswana at the Okavango Delta. Driving in, transferred to an old army truck for transport across the deep sand then by motorboat through the canals into the Delta about 2 hours by speedboat. Made camp at an island – flycamp - then next day we were taken by Makuro – dugout canoe made from sausage tree – to the bush camp. We were taken on a Makuro tour of the delta with game viewing. Too luxurious to be a part of this tour! Someone pushing me around in a boat for a few hours while I enjoyed the sun and even dozed off. My makuro oarsman woke me whenever we came across any game that might interest me. I was so spoiled! A nature hike in the afternoon and again the next morning on different islands. The lions here in the delta have adjusted to environment and are often seen swimming from island to island in search of their next meal. We found a steaming hot (fresh) lion droppings that were full of hair, so they had eaten very recently. On day 3, we were poled back in makuros, and then transferred by motorboat to the river lodge. The water in the Okavango delta is crystal clear, and pure for drinking right out of your hands. The water must flow through all reeds and papyrus in the channels and it acts as natural filters. In any case, I drank straight from the canals and have experienced no ill effects. Tonight I am sleeping under the stars on the bank of the Zambezi River.

09 June 2004

Re-entered Botswana through Chobe National Park. Arrived early and went on a game cruise up the Chobe River, near where it intersects with the Zambezi. We saw thousands of Hippo sunning on the beaches giving us displays of dominance as we watched from our boat. Herds of elephants with 2 babies as young as 3 weeks!! A solitary buffalo, no more than 4 meters from us, and of course, impala, and red lechwe. The buffalo eyed us warily as we snapped pictures, and we made sure to stay seated so we didn't change the shape of the boat or startle or aggravate it.

The elephant herd quickly ushered the babies behind bushes, while the youngish males and older females made shows of might and strength!

10 June 2004

Crossed the border into Zimbabwe. Carvings of Robert Mugabe EVERYWHERE! Every home's front lawn, every business has a photo portrait, a huge head carving, or both. Bizarrely so. Visited the falls. The water is so high because of this year's rains that there is no rafting allowed down the Zambezi. Visiting the falls, my clothes could not have been more wet had I jumped in the ocean! Difficult to see much because of the mist and unrelenting downpour! The roar of the falls was fantastic!

11 June 2004

Experienced Victoria Falls in all her glory today. The weather was magnificent. Warm and clear. I took the aerial helicopter over the falls and up the gorges. A spectacular sight! Only from above, when the view is not clouded by mist and stinging rain, can one truly appreciate the enormity of this Natural Wonder. And for my first experience in a helicopter, I enjoyed it thoroughly.

For my afternoon adventure, I saddled up for an elephant-back game drive. We didn't see very much and I think it is more of an elephant-ride than a game-viewing experience. The elephants' hair is very wiry. The skin feels rough because of the dried mud. And every inch of them smells to high heaven. The inside of the trunk, when they grab something from your hand, smells of the foulest breath imaginable.

The hawkers here in Vic Falls are some of the most determined individuals on Earth. It actually has become tiresome to have to keep saying no when they try to sell their wares. They are willing to trade for old t-shirts, jackets, shoes, anything. But the buyer must be very wary because the "ebony" bookends or masks are simply waste wood covered in black shoe polish. The carved or decorated wood bowls are decorated with ink pen that runs and bleeds when in contact with water. Just about everything for sale on this continent is junk.

14 June 2004

Returned to JoBurg on the Nomad truck. Although I'm now seeing other parts of the city, its more affluent areas, and am even staying in an old mansion converted to Hostel, this city is still a hell-hole. I love everything about this country except this city. I cannot get used to living behind razor wire, with double-buzz entries and bars across every opening. Even deeply protected in what is called "the white cocoon", it is disturbing to be such an outsider.

# Chapter 5: Baz Bus to Swaziland

17 June 2004

Booked a trip on the Baz Bus and arrived Funky Monkeys backpackers' in Nelspruit yesterday. Enjoying the relaxing atmosphere and warmth. Excellent meals served family style around the dining table. My trip on the Bas Bus will include "the loop" from Jozi via Swaziland to Durban and back to JoBurg via the Drakensberg Mountains.

18 June 2004

I've been through a lot in the past 3 months, and it really shows in the mirror. I'm looking pretty haggard. So I treated myself to a pedicure and a haircut. The soles of my feet were cracked everywhere with black lines running through them. The amount of skin shaved off was enough to fill a shot glass. Was quite embarrassed, but now my feet are pink again. Actually had to have the tender insole part sanded down to get rid of all the dead skin. As for my hair, the stylist decided to make me a blonde – Pearl, with mahogany lowlights. It's good to feel like a girl again.

Johnny Hangman a.k.a Fiscal Shrike

This bird gets its nickname from its habit of plucking baby birds from their nests and hanging them on barbed wire until maggots start eating away at it. Then the shrike feeds on the maggots.

19 June 2004

I continue to be impressed with the attitude of South Africans were money is concerned. They are not, as yet, all consumed by thoughts of making money and they play by rules of "fairness". Everything in hostels is paid either on tab, with just your name, or on an honor system. They do not charge more just because they can. In fact, if you attempt to get priority service by paying more, they really don't understand why. When I booked the Baz Bus, I originally only paid for one leg, used it, and then wanted to continue on the loop. No problem. They just discounted me what I had already paid. When I booked the helicopter, I didn't want to pay until I landed on the ground. Again, no problem. People here let you participate, and make sure you have a good experience. Worrying about money is secondary. It makes every experience that much more pleasant.

Crossed the border into Swaziland and made it to Manzini. Passed another horrific accident. A coach bus appeared to have crossed the median and overturned. There were still bodies face down on the ground, but I couldn't figure out how they would have been thrown all the way from the bus to where they settled. Could have been passing motorists who stopped to help and then were struck while crossing lanes. It's hard to shake the images from my mind. I wonder about these peoples' families.

21 June 2004

25 June 2004

Swaziland is gorgeous and the people here are easy-going and friendly. Went on tour Monday to Manzini Market, "House on Fire" – wicked outdoor concert / theatre / club, then to Mbabane and some craft markets and a Swazi cultural village to meet with some village elders including the chief's First Wife, the grandmother, and the Auntie. Was scheduled to depart on Baz Bus, but delayed my departure, then saddened to realize my passport/airline tickets/credit cards had gone missing. Back to Mbabane to US Embassy. May be able to get moving again within one week.

My friend Peter has taken me to meet the owners of Malendela's House on Fire:, Pete T, Jiggy, Shulte, and Big Zoe. He also helped me with the Malkerns Police Department where we met with Mrs. Dlamini, then on to the US Ambassador and Consulate.

26 June 2004

Some permanent travelers, Clare and Simon, have taught me to make beaded bracelets. They travel all over Africa on the money they earn from selling Jewelry.

02 July 2004

After many unreasonable, unexplained or unnecessary delays, the US Embassy delivered a new passport to me this morning at 8 am. Swaziland does not have a machine required to digitize new US passport format and South Africa would not permit entry without a valid passport. Today will be my last time on a minibus-taxi. They are considered unsafe for whites in South Africa, but they are pretty safe and convenient and inexpensive here in Swaziland. A 50 Emalangani fare in a taxi is about E2 on a minibus taxi.

The King's motorcade passed on the road again today and we again had to pull over to allow passage. Thoba, the barman at Swazi backpacker's was in the King's regiment from the age of 7 until 14. His duties were to attend to the King's wives and to run to announce guests to the King whenever a visitor requests a meeting with the King. In return for his labor, Thoba was sent to the finest schools until he left the regiment. But he was discouraged from any contact with his parents so he didn't disclose any secrets.

King Mswati III was chosen as King from among all his brothers because of a number of "signs" that showed he was meant to be King. Most important, he is the only son born to one of the King's wives, but he is not the first-born son, nor even born to the 1st wife. The next sign was that, as an infant, he cried for 6 hours straight, and for some reason, the powers-that-be decided this was a sign of power.

In Swaziland, the King rules alongside the Queen Mother, who is actually the mother of the King's first wife.

Mlilwane is a private nature game reserve run by Ted Reilly. After he couldn't get the Kingdom to set aside more land for public game parks, Ted set his private family land for public use and the King decided to donate lions, zebra, etc. from his private game park.

Hitching a ride on a minibus-taxi requires the use of hand signals. To hail the taxi one finger is placed in the air. Depending on where you go, you may point up, down, or horizontally. If there is space in the Kumbi, the driver's aide, or doorman, will place his hand out the window with a number of fingers pointing downward to indicate the number of passengers that can fit. They will pass you by if you are alone and they believe 3 or more passengers may be further up the road. I notice the way to be less conspicuous is to look completely bored at all times. Ignore anyone you don't wish to speak with and have a blank look on your face. The culture here has specific methods for dealing with rude behavior. Anyone begging or speaking out of turn is simply ignored and it is the accepted form of quashing undesirable behavior. Any response, eye contact, or, resistance seems to be interpreted as flirting!

*****

All the people I meet here have such fascinating background stories and lives. Peter is a French and Swiss citizen, born in Lesotho, raised in South Africa, currently living in Swaziland after working and living for years in London, Bangladesh, and Nigeria. The interesting lives generally go back one or more generations to the people who originally settled on this continent, coming from Europe for various adventures. Cole was born in Zimbabwe (then Rhodesia), raised in Uruguay and South Africa and now makes his home in Swaziland.

*****

Swaziland has the most dangerous road in the world. It averages 2-3 motor accidents per day. It is the road from Mbabane to Matsapha... Manzini. The one I take every day to visit the embassy or town from Mbabane. It goes down the side of the mountain with steep turns and a steep grade. Trucks crawl down in, but cars and minivans fly. Every day the newspaper carries photos of the previous day's accidents, complete with photos of the victims as they are pulled out of the wreckage. Most cars overturn at least once. Gerry, whom I've met here at Swazi B/P, comes from Pretoria every week to investigate accidents for Swazi insurance fund.

# Chapter 6: The Journey Ends

The 4th of July, 2004

Some things I take for granted at home and the differences here in Africa:

Paper products: Toilet paper, napkins, Kleenex, paper towels, etc. Trees are in such demand – for burning for heating and cooking, that there is no waste for paper. I haven't seen a paper napkin at all on this continent, no paper towels, and if you think you'll need TP, it's best to carry your own. (Cloth napkins are a rarity too unless dining at a nice restaurant).

Hot + Cold = warm water. The sinks are almost always separate taps for hot and cold, situated so far apart and so close to the sink edge that you can't put anything directly under the tap. These are designed to be used to fill the sink and wash up with limited water rather than leave the water running. About half the lodges I've stayed in remove the handle from the hot tap in the bathroom sinks: most hot water is solar heated or gas-heated.

Central heat. It can get quite cold here, even dropping below freezing at night, yet I haven't come across a single house with central heating. Everybody still uses wood-burning fireplaces as their only source of indoor heat.

Automation. Anything automatic. In countries with so much poverty and unemployment, it is unheard of to have an automatic washer, dryer, dishwasher, etc. Everyone has domestic staff to keep their houses.

Stainless steel. In a place where they try to limit the amount of plastic in use, it is everywhere. And it is gnarly. It might be because they reuse containers that are intended for one-time use, but plates, cups, bowls, drying racks, etc, are all nasty gross plastic. I'd like to introduce stainless steel dish drying racks and colanders.

Refrigeration. I won't need to be so compulsive about refrigerating everything anymore. I like eggs, cheese, and jam and other things at room temperature now. I haven't been sick from eating them, and they are more flavorful when not ice cold. I like the netting used to keep the bugs out too.

04 July 2004

I leave here in 2 days and the only reason I am not terribly sad is that I believe I will be back in Southern Africa very soon.

I made a trip to the airport today to sort out my missing plane tickets. In the time it took, I saw a number of flight arrivals and departures. The airport is actually not so bad until shortly before an international flight arrives. Then it seems to fill up with dodgy characters almost instantaneously. Anyway, I'm sorted and will be flying home in two days.

05 July 2004

As a parting gift, in my last few days here, I've been attacked by a swarm of fleas. I found Sally, the dog, sleeping on my bed the day after I felt I had been bitten. Now my legs, ankles, arms, neck, and face are swollen and blotchy with big raised welts and bloody sores. So today I checked into the Holiday Inn at the airport. It is 8x more expensive than the hostel, but what luxury! 2 soap bars! And 3 large towels – not to mention hand towels and face cloths! A bathtub and room service! Oh joy! I also have TV and the Tour de France is on and...heat! That's great news with an unexpected cold front moving in today. This is the only place I've been in the past few months that has quality standards equal to what we're used to in the US and while I can live without the spoils and without all the extras, I surely do appreciate them when they are available.

The End.

###

Table of Images

Image 1 - Bon Voyage messages from family  
Image 2 - My first tick!  
Image 3 - Sketch of a Giant Millipede  
Image 4 - Drawing of the Letaba Valley  
Image 5 - Schematic of the Monkey Enclosures  
Mark - Shangaan Greeting  
Image 6 - Froggy  
Image 7 - Drawing of a Vervet Monkey hand  
Image 8 - Froggy the Welcome Frog  
Image 9 - Giant African Land Snail  
Image 10 - Snail poo  
Image 11 - Schematic of Constellations  
Image 12 - This evening's tent visitor - Stick Bug  
Image 13 - The biggest Mozzie I've ever seen  
Image 14 - Taraantal  
Image 15 - An armload of monkeys  
Image 16 - Braai pit  
Image 17 - Dung Beetle  
Image 18 - Schematic of the toilets hut  
Image 19 - Electric Fence enclosure  
Image 20 - Automatic Washing Machine  
Image 21 - Benny has malaria  
Image 22 - Gecko in my tent!  
Image 23 - Letter from Richard & Katie  
Image 24 - Letter from Richard  
Mark 25 - The VMF menu  
Image 26 - Sketch of the Kruger National Park  
Image 27 - Rondavals at the Olifants Kamp  
Image 28 - Giant Baobab - The largest single trunk Baobab in the World  
Image 29 - Layout of Monkey cages in the Cottage  
Image 30 - Drawing of the house and the Monkey Bedrooms  
Image 31 - Schematic of Long-Drop Toilet  
Image 32 - Safari Vehicle  
Image 33 - The Ecotraining house  
Mark 34 - Daily Schedule at Ecotraining  
Image 35 - View from Veranda - the Drakensberg Escarpment  
Mark 36 - Ecotraining Schedule of Lessons  
Image 37 - Lion spoor  
Image 38 - Schematic diagram of the Lions approaching the house  
Image 39 - Dog v. Cat spoor  
Image 40 - Zebra spoor  
Image 41 - Saw-toothed Love Grass  
Image 42 - Hemi metabolic & Holo metabolic Insect phases  
Image 43 - African Fish Eagle  
Image 44 - Painted Reed Frog  
Image 44 - Golden Orb Weaver  
Image 45 - Discerning Jackal & Civet spoor  
Image 45 - Discerning Kudu from Waterbuck spoor  
Image 46 - The Students & our Instructor  
Image 47 - The Catena  
Image 48 - Legend of Orion & the Scorpion Constellations  
Image 49 - Climate of South Africa - Effects from currents & trade winds  
Mark 50 - Typical meals at the Ecotraining camp  
Image 51 - List of Animals: seen, heard & tracked  
Image 52 - Wading in the Karongwe River  
Mark 53 - Some foods in South Africa  
Image 54 - Baobab Tree  
Image 55 - Scorpion  
Image 56 - Millipede - the Scorpion's favorite meal  
Image 57 - Bateleur Eagle - The tight-rope walker  
Image 58 - List of Birds: seen & heard  
Image 59 - List of Insects & Arachnids  
Image 60 - A group of White Helmet Shrike  
Image 61 - Cooperative Hunting Techniques across species  
Image 62 - Crepuscular Rays - "Bible Light"  
Image 63 - The Tracker's seat (check numbers)  
Image 65 - Hanging out on the Rock Kopje (check the numbers)  
Image 66 - Eyes in the darkness  
Image 67 - Lion spoor in the track mark of the Landie  
Image 68 - Hippos in the water  
Image 69 - List of Plants/Trees that I can identify  
Image 70 - The Dangerous Eight, The Big 5 & the Little Big 5  
Image 71 - Warning signals from Dangerous Game  
Image 72 - Approaching Dangerous Game  
Image 73 - The legend of the Hippopotamus & its spoor  
Image 74 - Hippo Dung  
Image 75 - Bull Elephant with a sneaky move  
Image 76 - Apple Leaf Tree  
Image 77 - Southern Cross  
Image 78 - Orion & Betelgeuse  
Image 79 - Wildlife screen  
Image 80 - The Eta Aquarid Meteor Showers  
Mark 81 - Tracking - using dung to track animals  
Image 82 - The trails left behind by Ant Lion Larvae  
Image 83 - Dung Beetles use only fresh dung  
Image 84 - Broad Bordered Grass Yellows indicate an animal has been nearby recently  
Image 85 - Using Insect Activity around dung to track animals  
Image 86 - The Trophic Pyramid  
Image 87 - Using the stars to find the South Celestial Pole  
Image 88 - Hyena  
Image 89 - The nightly migration of the bush babies from the house to the Marula tree  
Image 90 - Charlie Bravo cloud formation  
Image 91 - Matabele Ants  
Image 92 - Edeni - Karongwe map  
Image 93 - The Honey Badger - the fiercest animal - will rip the balls off a lion!  
Image 94 - One of the most reckless thing I've ever done!  
Image 95 - Chameleon

Image 96 - Leaves & Leaf Structure  
Image 97 - The Sycamore Fig - my favorite tree & the baboon's favorite too!  
Image 98 - The Weit Rhino  
Image 99 - Cheetah!  
Image 100 - Beacon Rock Kopje  
Image 101 - The Jewel Box Constellation  
Image 102 - Rob can spot a chameleon from 10 meters away!  
Image 103 - A reminder to watch the eclipse  
Image 104 - Ethnicities of my friends  
Image 105 - In just one day, you can experience all four seasons!  
Image 106 - Drawing of Cape town to Cape Point  
Image 107 - Santos Bed & Breakfast on a converted train - Mosselbaai  
Image 108 - The Garden Route  
Image 109 - Fellow travelers on the Bok Bus  
Image 110 - Electrical wires tell the state of a township  
Image 111 - Rob has malaria  
Image 112 - Nomad Adventure Tour - Daily Agenda  
Image 113 - Path of the Nomad Truck (in blue)  
Image 114 - The Orange River  
Image 115 - The Deadvlei  
Image 116 - The Caprivi Strip  
Image 117 - Sundowners on the Nomad truck  
Image 118 - Jun wrote my name in three versions of Kanji, katakana, and hiragana  
Image 119 - Etosha National Park  
Image 120 - List of Wildlife spotted during the Nomad Travels  
Image 121 - Springbok Toast  
Image 122 - Okavanga Delta  
Image 123 - Elephant  
Image 124 - Zimbabwe & Zambia map of Victoria Falls  
Image 125 - The Baz Bus - Hop-on, Hop-off bus service for backpackers  
Image 126 - Swaziland map  
Image 127 - The $100 House design by Peter Duby  
Image 128 - Sinnet Knot for Jewelry making  
Image 129 - Independence Day

