Report from Kruger (11/19/00)

Whenever I get a bit down, I email my old buddy Bobby Wallace and he sends me an uplifting message along with some lyrics from a Soca tune from Trinidad and I brighten right up.

So what's been happening?

I'm writing this on Monday morning, Nov. 20.

I spent last week on "safari" in Kruger National Park on the northeast coast of South Africa.

I travelled with a Peruvian-Canadian woman who works for the UN in the Congo, an Australian girl who just finished high school, a German man who just finished his degree in music and will be heading to a choir competition in Cape Town, and our guide, Len Bushman, a white man born and raised in southern Africa who has never been off the contient--and boy does this guy know the wilderness!

So, we were a rather unlikely group, not your usual bunch of twenty-something backpackers. But we got along brilliantly and the mix made for some interesting perspectives and discussions.

Our first night we spent at a native village called "Nyani Village". At first I though it was going to be a bit hokey. But it turned out to be really excellent.

It was an authentic African village preserving how people had lived for a long time. We learned how to make incredibly strong rope from plants, about milling corn, how they trapped birds, and some African games of skill.

And there was my favorite activity, dancing. They had a group perform for us and taught us some of the steps.

We slept in huts with floors made of cow dung--I put a mat between me and the floor :-)

We also learned some interesting facts about the culture. For example, each husband would have many wives--this was because, due to war, there were more women than men in a village. So the men would have more than one wife. But no wife was shared, and here is the interesting part, the number one wife gets to choose the other wives--so as to avoid any jealousies and conflicts.

Our meal was a delicious mix of corn meal, pumpkin, spinach, chicken, and tomato sauce, which we ate with our hands. Then, it was time to sit around the fire singing, telling stories, dancing, drumming, and playing some goofy riddle-type games that had me laughing hysterically. (I just can't explain it).

The next morning, after giving my newfound friends some frisbee lessons, we headed down the road for Kruger park.

We made a couple of scenic stops along the way. One was "God's Window" which overlooked a beautiful tree-lined valley. Another was "Potholes" which was a river flowing into some very stange rock formations that looked like, well, giant potholes.

Then we reached Kruger.

Kruger is a game reserve that is larger than Israel! It is open space where the animals can roam freely with a smattering of fenced-off camps where people can sleep overnight--either in tent or in little bungalows.

Motorcycles are not allowed--literally, lions will chase you down and eat you. And we saw a few of the awesome beasts.

As soon as we entered the park we saw all sorts of animals roaming about: impala, tree squirrels, giraffe, hippos, baboons, zebra, turtle, wildebeast, wart hogs.

Now I should tell you that we were, like everyone else, in search of what is known as the "Big Five" -- the five most dangerous animals to man:

1. Lion

2. Buffalo (not what North Americans thing of, but a giant beast which has horns that look like they are formed with a giant part in their foreheads.)

3. Elephant

4. Rhino

5. Leopard

They say of the five, the leopard is the shyest and the hardest to spot (no pun intended).

Interestingly, the South African paper money has five denominations, each of which has one of the big five on them, and the hardest one to spot is the biggest bill, the 200 rand note, which features, you guessed it, the leopard.

Our guide told us that it should really be known as the big 6 and include Hippos since they kill more humans than all the rest--mostly because people won't leave them alone.

Well, on our trip we spotted all but the Buffalo. But they tell us, 4 out of 5 is pretty good. I tried to find a computer where I could hook up my camera and upload some pictures, but had no luck.

We went on a night drive because, contrary to the song, the lion does not sleep at night (nor in the jungle for that matter). The lion hunts at night, and we saw several out and about. Didn't actually see them bring down a zebra though -- oh well, I'll have to satisfy my bloodlust watching violent American movies.

By the time we returned to Pretoria on Friday, I was feeling pretty run down.

So, the timing was good, because while I rested this weekend, it rained and rained. And it got cold. The weather here is as unpredicatable as it is in San Francisco.

But, as I type this it is sunny and I am about to head out to the Drakensburg, an area of South Africa in the mountains where the worldest 2nd highest waterfall exists.

I'll keep you all posted.

Thanks for all the emails of encouragement.

Steph should be sending me something soon about her adventures during her return to Cape Town which we'll get posted as soon as we can.

I may not be back online before Thangsgiving. Hopefully, I will find some North Americans with whom I can share our wonderful tradition.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving and know that my thoughts and love are with all of my family and friends who are so far away.

God Bless,

Jim