If the cacophony of bird calls didn’t wake you, the guard did at 7 AM....” Wakey, wakey”. We had showered the night before and had 30 minutes before breakfast to prepare for the day. Robyn and I had slept through the hyenas and elephants calling during the night, but baboons were barking this morning and playing in the valley.
After breakfast, back to the trail vehicles to catch the “chicken bus” and a visit to a local farmers market, grocery, and village. The chicken bus is the traditional transportation for southern Africans where people, produce, and livestock are loaded in and on top. Luckily, our guide was only teasing, and we will have to save the chicken bus for another time!
OAT believes in “discovery and learning “ during their trips along with us spending a “Day in the Life” of people in the community. Several members of our group were given money and a list of African items to purchase in the farmer’s market. They interacted with the vendors while the rest of us wandered among the stalls. Robyn and I helped No’s at our next stop - the local grocery where we purchased items for the village we would be visiting today and the school tomorrow. Our group donated money and with $120 we purchased 10 25 lb bags of flour, 10 bags sugar, 10 bottles oil, 10 loaves bread, 10 pkgs of kapenta fish- small dried fish, and jars of peanut butter and jam.
As our van turned into the homestead we would be visiting, the family and their invited friends greeted us with dancing and singing. Women, men, and children were all there to give us a tour of the homestead which encompassed 1 extended family....huts with earthen walls and thatched roofs...bedrooms, kitchen, meeting room. The walls were painted and decorated with natural dyes and the kitchen shelves were made from the same earthen material. The only toilet was a long-drop...a pit in the floor of a building which you straddled. Just like every culture, the children were adorable!
After our tour, we gathered in the meeting room where water was poured over our hands in the traditional way to clean them. We each introduced ourselves...OAT visitors first and then the natives. Most spoke some English and 2 of the women spoke excellent English. One of our translators was named Judy! We had a lively question and answer session about chores, marriage, divorce, children, education, etc.
In traditional African cultures, a man must pay a “bride’s price” to marry her. After negotiations, instead of cash, usually 3-6+ cows each worth about $500 are paid to the woman’s family. This is in payment for the expenses the family has incurred in raising the bride. It is also a way for a family to increase their wealth by increasing their livestock herds. After the marriage, the new bride leaves to live with her husband’s family and help take care of them. Divorce is uncommon since the bride’s family would have to return the cows. However, polygamy is practiced in many African countries.
We were served traditional African staple food as refreshments...polenta, spinach, kapente fish, and mopane worms! I rolled the polenta into a ball, flattened it, and add spinach and the kapenta fish. I’ve never even eaten anchovies, but when in Rome....or Africa! The worms are an excellent source of protein and are dug from the ground under the mopane tree. The guts are removed and the worms are sun dried. Our host boiled them and mixed them with spices and oil to create this “delicacy”. They weren’t bad, but they did not taste like chicken!
Men hunt, take care of the animals primarily cows, build structures, and cut firewood. They are considered the “king” of the household and women, including the wife, and children do not look him in the eye and kneel before him to offer food which he always eats first. This is based on past traditions when the man was also the defender and had to be strong and ready to fight and protect his family and possessions at all times.
Women do many chores, and we tried our hands...or heads...at carrying a bucket of water on our heads and grinding grain with a large mortar and pedestal which is a 2 person job. It’s amazing how difficult their life was to us, but they seemed completely happy and glad to share their lives and culture. I passed around dum-dum lollipops to the children, and we left our purchased groceries and gifts we had brought from home...and all the leftover mopane worms!
As we headed out for an afternoon game drive, impalas are everywhere! They have an “M” marking on their butt and are called the “McDonald’s of the bush”! Of coarse, they taste like chicken! Predators are leopards, hyenas, and pythons while baboons may kill the young. Male antlers are permanent and may break in battle damaging the skull and possibly killing the animal. They mate and calf throughout the year rather than seasonally resulting in a plethora of impalas. One person joked, “What do you call a group of impalas? A Chevy dealership!”
Elephants concluded our afternoon game drive, but they are still in the distance. Here is some elephant info: a group of elephants is called a herd or a memory or memorial when they are standing around. It’s a parade when they are walking usually following the female matriarch who may be 40-50 years old. Their front feet leave round prints and the hind prints are oval.
They have weak eyesight but long eyelashes to protect their eyes. They have long memories and are known to mourn a family member who dies. Their ears flap for ventilation and cooling. Both males and females have tusks which poachers collect for the ivory. When bull elephants fight for dominance it’s called tasking.
They are know as mixed feeders since they not only eat grass but also break off tree and shrub branches to strip the leaves along with breaking off parts of the baobab tree for the inner fiber. They only digest 40% of their food so they poop a lot! They have 6 sets of teeth that grind not bite. Elephant dung has a myriad of uses in the African culture including as a mosquito repellent and dry dung is mixed with water to help pregnant women in labor. Don’t know what effect it has, but glad not to try it!
As we head to camp, a long-eared rabbit jumps in front of the truck and sits in the path. I didn’t know they had rabbits in Africa. We are excited about our sightings until we return to camp to hear that the other group’s encountered a young male elephant that mock charged them several times. We only have a “pesky wabbit” to offer in comparison.
More adventures in Africa tomorrow!
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