Final Day

Our last day in Victoria Falls was dedicated to what we wanted to do. Most of the group took the helicopter flight over Victoria Falls and some of those who hadn't been to Thornybush took a trip to find rhinos in a sanctuary. We had done the helicopter trip last time, so I went to the market place (where most everyone ended up). I bought a stone sculpture as our souvenir for this trip.

In the evening, we took a sunset dinner cruise on the Zambezi River. We saw elephants and hippos. We were on the cruise with a Gate 1 tour, who were on their first day. It was neat to see their excitement at spotting their first African animals. And, of course, the sunset was spectacular.

Dr. Livingstone at Victoria Falls

The next morning, we had a fascinating lecture on David Livingstone. When he first came to Africa, maps only the coast lines of Africa were mapped. He explored the interior of Africa from South Africa up to the lakes region. He is still well-respected by the African population because he was largely responsible for ending the African slave trade.

Summary

This will be known as the Leopard/Lion/Painted Dog trip. Thornybush camp was amazing, in one morning safari we saw the Big 5. On our previous Safari’s we saw a total of 3 Leopards, on this trip we saw eight, including a family with 2 cubs. We had the most active Lions ever, even the guides were taking pictures. We had never seen Painted (wild) Dogs before, and here we observed two packs with puppies, one of which was barking to keep the lions from their puppies.

There are more videos and pictures (especially of birds) on my narrated video on youtube. 

We also had quite a few interactions with the people of Africa, learning their customs, and the struggle for women to escape from male dominance. Everyone we encountered seemed especially friendly, strangers would greet us, many shared their stories with us. Finally, we had a great trip leader in Sanction, and a group that really got along well. We thoroughly enjoyed this trip. 

Sanction with us on the Zambezi River

Victoria Falls

Hwange's Catholic Church

We left for Victoria Falls, but made several stops. First we saw Rock Hyrax and Rock Mongoose. Then in Hwange we strolled down through ‘church street’ with churches from several Christian denominations. Many were in their Sunday best and greeted us as we passed. Some even asked to have their picture taken. Near the airport we watched one family pump water at the central pump to cart home on their oxen cart. Nearby was the restaurant that Sanction frequents while waiting for tour groups.

Sanction's Favorite Restaurant

We discussed poaching in Africa and what to do about it. In 1960, there were five million elephants in Africa, now there are only 500,000 with half the elephants in Botswana, Zimbabwe, and Tanzania. Another 20,000 die every year. Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and South Africa now shoot to kill any poachers they find, yet it hasn’t helped, too many folks resort to poaching because of the high unemployment rate. The demand for ivory and rhino horn in China, Vietnam, and elsewhere makes it a lucrative business. The number of poached rhinos in South Africa continues to increase even with the current penalties. 

In the afternoon, we visited Victoria Falls, walking the Zimbabwe side for two hours. We could see almost the entire falls, dropping 108 meters into a box canyon, just spectacular. While it is not the highest or widest waterfalls, it has the largest sheet of falling water (width x height).  The end of the trail near the falls provides a view of the bridge over the Zambezi river with bungee jumpers dangling from the bridge.

All day drive in Hwange

Baby elephant climbing our of a waterhole

Courtesy of Bob Brian

We had a quiet morning only spotting elephants descending the ridge into the valley, a colony of baboons and some Hyrax, the closest relative to an elephant. Along the way we exchanged jeeps because the starter wasn’t always starting. But after our tea break, we had a report of a lion nearby. We kept hearing lion sounds, but couldn’t spot the lion. We circled around to another road and then proceeded into the bush across some open areas. Sure enough, we came upon three lionesses. The other jeep had better success finding a herd of Cape Buffalo and elephants drinking from a water hole. They especially enjoyed watching the baby elephants struggle up the side of the water hole.

 

Our Lunch Waterhole

We continued for quite a way until we reached our lunch spot. We overlooked a large watering hole with hippos, crocodiles, impala, wart hogs, waterbucks and a troop of baboons. One of the baboons gave us a scare when it climbed up the wall and grabbed Bob’s lunch. We really enjoyed lunch here – it fulfilled the way you expect a waterhole to be: animals interacting as they came down to drink. On the way back we saw giraffe, a Giant Eagle Owl, and more elephants. We especially enjoyed two young males challenging each other, and a small herd of Cape Buffalo. We got back to camp at about 4:30 PM. Quite a day!

Before dinner, we go to try the traditional brew of the region, a corn beer, now sold commercially as Chibuku meaning “that book” referring to the book with the recipe. Our treat with the beer was Mopani worm, the larva of the mopani caterpillar, definitely an acquired taste. After dinner, we had our final Boma. The camp team did drumming, singing, and dancing, and we reciprocated with “Take me out to the Ballgame” and “She’ll be coming ‘round the mountain”. 

Lakosi Village

We’re going to visit a village of about 520 homesteads (5000 people), part of the Ndwandwe tribe. Before going, we stop to buy groceries for the village at the store in Hwange. This will be our gift to the people for letting us spend the morning with them.

 

Buying groceries for the village

We spent most of our time at the homestead of the headman of the village. While only six people live here, they hosted many of their neighbors for our visit. In this village, each of the homesteads has a water tap, courtesy of the European Union. First thing, they gave a tour of the homestead: the water tap, their water bucket shower, grainery, girl’s bedroom, kitchen, headman’s home, chicken coops and cattle corral. The bedroom and kitchen were made by the women using termite mound bricks. The bricks are the cylindrical form of a bucket, hand cemented together and then the surface is smoothed. The men build the roof with branches and straw. The straw needs replacement every five years. In the bedroom, was mosquito netting to reduce malaria, furnished by UNESCO. Shalom, the headman’s son was born in this room, and acted as our host. He was vaccinated at the local clinic for free. Most simple health problems are handled at the local clinic for no cost. But they must pay for doctor visits or going to the hospital in the town of Hwange.

 

The Kitchen

We asked what had changed the most in their lifetimes: Clean tap water has removed the threat of cholera, and there is bus transportation to the nearby towns. But a problem which persists in Zimbabwe is that the banks have no money. While general stores will accept a bank debit care, the open markets (which are cheaper) require cash. Sanction said “don’t be surprised if someone offers to pay your bill with their debit card, if you’ll pay them with cash”. Today the unemployment rate is high, even when you are highly educated, jobs are scarce. Many people go to South Africa for jobs, but there, Zimbabwe people are considered a threat (to the local jobs) because they are more educated than South Africans. The village has a shared irrigated field for growing fruits and vegetables. Built by the government in 1929, when the villagers were moved out of Hwange National Park. We ended our visit by presenting them with the groceries we had bought.

 

The villagers accept our groceries

After our home visit, we went to St. Mary’s school built in 1935. The school has 800 students and 24 teachers. School starts at 7:30 AM and ends at 4:10 PM for 9 months of the year. Subjects include the local language, English, math, science, home economics, social studies, art, and music. OAT has helped with the library, computer lab, furnishings, water pump, and paying for 4 additional teachers. The children walk from as far away as six kilometers. We visited the computer lab and then spent time with the sixth graders, conversing to them in English. I talked to two students: the girl had a good command of English and great penmanship, the boy was herder to understand, but he was studying agriculture in his class (and wanted to be an airplane pilot). Both had visited Hwange National Park on a school trip. We came away with the impression that education is deeply valued here in Zimbabwe, but the country is still struggling to build an economy that will provide jobs to these students.

Sixth Grade Students

Hwange National Park has over 45,000 elephants. We could see elephant damage to the mopane trees near our camp. Most of the trees are browsed down to waist high. The elephants prefer the leaves of the mopane over other vegetation. But the trees have a natural defense: after 15-20 minutes of browsing the leaves produce a bitter taste. The mopane tree is the first to leaf in November, but the young leaves are highly toxic until they have a chance to mature.

In the evening, we drove to Sinamatello Camp with a viewpoint of the valley. From here, we watched a lioness cross the valley and elephants browse through the bushes. We headed down into the valley and had an obstructed view of the lioness, but did get a good look at the elephants.

Sally’s Story

Sally, the 24 year old assistant manager told us her story. Sally’s mother had moved to another village and married her father, but later found that she was his second wife. She divorced her father and raised Sally as a single parent. Sally got pregnant before she had completed high school. The expectation of Zimbabwe society was that she quit school and marry the boy. This is exactly what her father recommended. Could it be because he would get the 10-cow bride price? She moved to the boy’s village for two months, but discovered that being a traditional wife was not for her. Her mother, meanwhile, encouraged her to leave the boy and complete high school. Her boyfriend’s family did not want her to leave their village. Her mother offered to take care of her child and pay for her education. Sally says “I put on ear plugs to ignore society’s wishes”. She graduated second in her class, then went on to the University. She fell into tourism as a major quite by accident. While in school, she had an internship with Wilderness Safari in Victoria Falls and had a supervisor who was an excellent mentor. She also had a four-month internship at a camp. After graduation, Wilderness Safari offered her a job and trained her in camp management – so she could support her daughter. She became a manager in November, 2013, but still faces the challenge of a male-dominated society. (For example, she is only one of two females at this camp.) Men sometimes ignore her orders or decisions. She’s learned have her facts in hand and use the employee’s surname (totem) to show respect for the men. But occasionally warning letters have been required in the man’s personnel file to ensure compliance. Of course, as a woman, she can’t hang out with the guys at camp. She’s often lonely, but decided to fill her time by studying for an MBA. She’s hoping to do marketing or accounting for Wilderness when she completes her degree. This would allow her to work in Victoria Falls, and live with her daughter.

Zambia to Zimbabwe

Our transportation between camps

This was our travel day from Zambia to Hwange National Park in Zimbabwe. Our 12 passenger plane landed in Livingston to find that the 5 passenger plane had engine problems and they were sending another plane to fetch the rest of the group (including Sanction). With 2 ½ hours on our hands, our bus driver gave us a short tour of the town, paid for admission to the local museum, and bought lunch for us. The museum was so-so, excellent for grade schoolers providing the archelogy and history of the area. The one exception was the section on the life of Livingstone himself, which provided a lot of good background material and artifacts on his life. After lunch, we went back to the airport, picked up the rest of the ground then headed for the border. We walked the bridge between Zambia and Zimbabwe which provided a partial view of Victoria Falls, and a view deep into the chasm of the Zambezi river.

Victoria Falls from the bridge

It was another 2 hour drive to the entrance of the park, where we transferred to jeeps for the 45 minute trip to the camp. Here we were again greeted with singing at the camp and a delicious dinner. 

Our tent at Hwange

Lufupa and Kufue Rivers

Malochite Kingfisher

This morning we took a boat to spot wildlife along the Lufupa River. Right after we started, the camp team reported that a leopard had been seen nearby. Would we rather see the leopard or go on our river trip? They were shocked when we said we'd rather see the river animals. We saw a large variety of birds. Our highlights were a Giant Kingfisher who was tossing his speared fish to swallow him headfirst and an African Darter eating his fish. Other birds we spotted include: the beautiful Half-Collared Kingfisher, fruit bats, Green-backed Heron, African Pied Wagtail, African Fish Eagle, African Openbill,  Red-eyed Dove, White-Fronted Bee Eater near their river bank nest, the Jacana also called the Jesus bird since it walks on water, Reed Cormorant, and the spectacular Malachite Kingfisher. Of course, we also saw a lot of hippos in the water. They would periodically dive around us and then reappear with a snort, but none of them obliged us with a hippo yawn. As the weather got warmer and the river cooler, the hippos would leave the water using the hippo trails along the shore. We also spotted several crocodiles and a Serrated Hinged Terrapin (turtle). As we were returning to camp, one of the staff insisted we come see the dead hippo they had found that morning away from the camp. Instead of a dead hippo, we found lunch served under the trees. A great morning!

In the afternoon, the women were taught about the uses of the Kitenge, the colorful cloth we see women using everywhere. They were taught how to carry a baby, use it as a headscarf, or a cushion for carrying loads balanced on their head. It also can be used as a diaper, skirt, table cloth, curtains, or a bedspread. Then we had a lesson on how to pound peanuts into peanut butter.

 

Sanction with the ladies in their Kitenge skirts

We went out in the boats along the Kufue river for a little wildlife spotting. We found Hamerkops, a Giant Kingfisher, Brown-hooded Kingfisher, Water Thick-knees, Dark-Capped Bulbul,  and a few crocodiles. We drifted along the river while the sun set. As we were drifting our guides tested our knowledge of animals and told us stories. A thoroughly pleasant evening.

Marriage in Zambia

Lydia, the camp manager, gave us a talk about Zambian culture, particularly life in the villages. In a village, everyone is from the same tribe and is considered family. Thus, a child has many brothers, sisters, aunts and uncles from within the village. Each village is led by a headman. A boy in the village will be taught how to hunt and fish from an ‘uncle’, chosen by the father. At the age of 10-12 he will be taken into the bush for 2-3 months. During this period he is to talk to no one, and is taught all that a man needs to know (except for sex). In fact, he is told that girls have a long tunnel between their legs, that he might fall into. Later in life, when he finds a girl, he asks an uncle to help arrange a marriage. Uncles discuss the bride price with the girl’s family (usually cattle or money). The engagement occurs when the uncle offers two white plates with money stuffed between them.

Girls are expected to be keepers of the house. Their mother will choose an ‘aunt’ to learn the skills of a woman. They are taught how to take care of her husband, her children and other relatives. Women are taught to be submissive, when addressing a man, they should kneel or keep their eyes down. At puberty, they are taught about feminine hygiene and how to be friendly to a man in order to get a marriage offer, but there is no ‘dating’.  Women should never approach a man.  They are taught that men have long snakes between their legs and you don’t want to be bitten. If a man approaches a woman in secret, the relation will usually last less than a month before marriage occurs.

Marriage is not just between a man and woman, but between the two families. The bride price and the union of the families, make divorce near impossible. Before marriage the boy and girl are taught about their obligations, sex, and family life. The marriage ceremony is usually a party for the entire village. (In the cities – a western style marriage might occur, and the marriage is registered with the local government.) A child is expected within the first year. If not, the man may search for a second wife, polygamy is fairly common (30% have more than one wife). If there still is no child, the man may be given a potion to have him fall asleep and a brother or uncle will impregnate the woman.

We noticed when we came to this camp, that there were only 2 women here and about 10 men. Our camps in Botswana were 50-50 men and women. This is largely because women seldom work in Zambia (also true in Zimbabwe). In fact men consider a woman who works as rebellious against society. There may also be a fear of being overpowered by women. Lydia is actually divorced and has three children.

As mentioned earlier, divorce is very rare. If there are problems, the headman will work with the villagers to help with the problem. Continued violence between the man and woman is one of the few times a headman will grant a divorce. In Lydia’s case, her family kept the original bride price.

Lydia

Lufupa Game Drive

The country is much more open than Botswana. We could alternate between treed areas, including palm trees, open grasslands, and swamp or river areas. Instead of Kalahari sand, the soil is clay which makes for deep pot-hole driving where the elephants or hippos had crossed the road during the wet season. The soil change also changes the shape of the termite mounds, instead of tall structures, they are huge mounds with trees or bushes growing on the top. Then there are the tombstone-like mounds of the snouted termite.

Puku

We were introduced to a new antelope, the puku, which looks like an impala, but without the M marking on the tail, and bright white stomach. This area also has a lot of hippos. We saw a large variety of birds: Brown-hooded Kingfisher, Goliath Heron, Grey-headed Parrot, African Fish Eagles, the White-fronted Bee Eater, Yellow Canary, Ashy Flycatcher, Grey-crowned Cranes, Egyptian Geese, and the Wattled Crane. We also spotted a lone Wildebeest who hadn’t migrated with the herd. He joined an impala herd for their mutual protection (watching for predators). We came upon a water hole where we could count over twenty crocodiles. Our game drive ended with the spotting of a Defassa Waterbuck, one of the subspecies of waterbuck. The Defassa Waterbuck doesn’t have the circular target on its butt like those we saw in Botswana.  

Fast moving Hippos

Picture courtesy of Bob Brian 

The other vehicle had a more exciting drive. They observed how fast hippos can move out of the water. Then they surprised an elephant herd which crossed the road in front of them. One of the females was ready to charge to protect her calf, so Brian their guide backed the jeep away quickly until the elephants passed.

Protective Mother Elephant

Picture courtesy of Bob Brian

In the evening, we headed about five miles south of our camp (an hour trip) because lions had been spotted. No lion when we got there, so we slowly searched the area. As the sun set, we stopped for our break. And then we heard a lion to the west of us. As it was getting dark we started searching with our spot light. We weren’t having any luck until we heard a loud lion grunt that seemed right next to us. But we couldn’t see anything in the tall grass. We called the other jeep over to search since there was a ravine between us and the grass mound. Sure enough they spotted him, an old lion with a problem with one eye. We crossed over the ravine and could watch him ourselves. It now very dark as we started the trip back to camp. On the way, we spotted two small-spotted Genets, a mongoose-like creature that climbs trees and two Lesser Bushbabies, the smallest primate, which were leaping from tree to tree (they can leap over two meters). 

Zimbabwe Story

In the afternoon, we got to try Baobob fruit – the fruit is a white sour tasting paste around a seed. It reminded me of Cacao fruit (from which we get chocolate). Sanction told us the story of Zimbabwe here, because it might not be safe to talk about it in Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe means big house of stone, named for the 12-15^th century architecture used by the kings of this land.

In the 19^th century, the British offered protection for the Shona people against the invading Zulu from the south. Little did they know that they were signing away their land and minerals to the British. The British called this country, Southern Rhodesia, honoring Cecil Rhodes who was instrumental in developing the country. Ian Smith became Prime Minister of Malawi, Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia), and Southern Rhodesia. In 1964 Britain gave independence to all three countries, but Smith refused to let there be majority rule in Southern Rhodesia and issued his own Unilateral Declaration of Independence. Britain petitioned the U.N. for sanctions against Southern Rhodesia. Black leaders like Joshua Nkomo and Robert Mugabe started a guerilla war to oust Smith. In 1980 Zimbabwe gained independence and Mugabe became its first Prime Minister. But Nkomo objected to a Shona takeover of the country and wanted the Southwestern part of Zimbabwe, the home of the Matabele tribe to have its own independence. Mugabe slaughtered many of the Matabele tribe until conflicts ended in 1987 with a unity government between Mugabe and Nkomo. A new constitution was written and Mugabe was elected President.

Mugabe was considered to be a good leader (if you forget the genocide) for the country. Zimbabwe was the bread basket of Africa. Zimbabwe’s GNP was second to South Africa. Mugabe built schools and hospitals, even sending adults to school. Today Zimbabwe has a 93% literacy rate. Most of the white farmers stayed after independence. The constitution promised a “willing-buyer-willing seller” arrangement for land reform. But by 2000, only 30,000 blacks had resettled on the land. People demanded their land back, since the 2% white population controlled 70% of the land. In 2000, Mugabe promised that the war veterans and tenant farmers could get their land back from the whites. Most of the white farmers left, and blacks fought among themselves for the land. Sanction’s mother got the land for the farm she had worked her entire life. Most people got 6 hectares of land, but government officials ended up with large plots of land. This redistribution of land to uneconomical plots, drought, and lack of external financing, led to a sharp drop in the agricultural economy.

In 2008, when we were last here, the opposition party, Tsvangirai, took 73% of the vote. But the results were delayed and the election commission declared that neither Mugabe nor Tsvangirai had gained a majority. Mugabe sent his militia into the countryside to intimidate the people. The opposition candidate pulled out of the run-off election to stop the slaughter. 2008 was a disastrous year. Inflation was rampant (30% in the 3 weeks we visited), the Zimbabwe dollar bills had expiration dates – in the end a Zimbabwe $100 Trillion note was worth US$20. In 2009, Zimbabwe formed a unity government and went to the US$ as their currency. But most people lost their life savings because you could only convert a fixed amount of Zimbabwe dollars to US dollars. In 2015, the government allowed you to again convert money based on the size of your bank account in 2009. 0-$175 Quadrillion Zimbabwe dollars were converted to US$5 and you got another US$1 for every 35 Quadrillion above that. Food did reappear in the stores, but people could barely afford food. Today, Zimbabwe still has 80% official unemployment (but entrepreneurs are counted as unemployed). If you are employed, your US dollars of salary are given to you as $2 and $5 Zimbabwe bond notes, only good in Zimbabwe. Foreign investment is minimal. Partly because Zimbabwe citizens must have control of any company. Life is still very difficult for most Zimbabweans.

One Hundred Trillion Zimbabwe Dollar Note