While in Vic Falls, Court did a 111 m bungee, bridge swing, and zipline from the Zambian side of a canyon to the Zimbabwean side. Pretty rad - we'll post pics when we can. While Court was preparing for his bungee, he had to wait out a massive group...from Michigan. (Say it with me - boooo!) But, just as they were getting going, this guy in an Ohio State t-shirt rocks up and says "It's time for Ohio to show you how it's done."
Welin - does your alumni association just send people out to the four corners of the earth just in case someone from Michigan shows up? I mean, shit...on the bridge between Zambia and Zimbabwe?!?!
That night we also "upgraded" to an amazing safari tent with a real open-air bathroom attached to the back. It was so cool - about 3 m tall in the centre with a REAL bed and hot shower. Totally worth the extra cash, and still, technically, camping. :)
After leaving Vic Falls we headed to Hwange National Park where we did THREE open-air Jeep game drives in 24 hours. (Correction - Court did three. Ali did the all afternoon and early morning drives, but skipped the uber-cold night drive in favour of sleeping in the nice warm tent.) We saw many of the same animals we had seen elsewhere, but we did get to spend some time watching a cheetah up close - really cool. Our guide for the day - Andy - was pretty incredible. He's lived in Zimbabwe his whole life and is incredibly passionate about animals. He was able to tell us all kinds of new facts about a variety of species (which we may be able to update here as time permits). It was a very informative experience, and so great to be around someone who is so passionate about his work.
From Hwange we travelled to Matopos National Park where we spent two nights. In the early morning we were collected by Andy's good mate Ian, equally as passionate, but moreso about the people of Zimbabwe/Africa and their history. What an incredible day. Ian is an absolute font of information, and every single person was hanging on his every word. He is a 13th generation white Zimbabwean, with roots in England. He grew up exploring the land and learning about the flora and fauna, as well as the animals. He also has an incredible relationship with the San (bushmen) we've mentioned earlier.
Can I just say how much we wish we had done our day with Ian prior to our trip to the living museum? Talk about context that was much needed and missing from that experience!!
Ian took us to see some rock paintings which were created by the San. Interestingly, he told us that the Human Genome Project has determined that their tribe is the one we all originate from. Think about that - all of us, from all over the world, beginning from this group of people. It makes sense when you look at them, really - you can see distinct features of many different races/ethnicities/regions when you look at them. Their beautiful hair is very African; their lovely almond-shaped eyes are Asian; their gorgeous skin very Arab; and their fantastic cheekbones are shared by many indigenous groups.Amazing, eh? Ian also told us that some of their paintings have been discovered at Kakdu National Park (one of my favourite places on earth) in Australia's Northern Territory. He said that when the paintings were found, the indigenous people of the area were like, "Uhh...those aren't ours. They don't look like anything in our history." So, it seems that the San may have made their way to Australia some 100, 000 years ago!! Amazing.
After the rock paintings, we visited a traditional village where we were greeted by their chief, Pondu (spelling may be incorrect - need to check). He was a sprightly character born in 1931 who survived a vicious attack by a leopard in the 1950s (whose pelt he now wears as a traditional costume). When he was attacked, his saving grace came in the form of a European scientist who heard his screams, shot the culprit, then raced him along dirt roads in the back of his truck until medical aid could be found. He subsequently lost the sight in his right eye and showed us the huge scars where the teeth and paws got him. Scary stuff. Pondu had 10 children, but sadly, 5 of them have died of AIDS related illnesses. As a result, he is now raising 13 of his grandchildren. We got to meet some of them - they preformed some traditional songs and dances for us which were really fun and spirited. It was an awesome experience.
On the subject of AIDS, the one positive thing we heard about "Uncle Bob" while were in Zimbabwe - though note that we didn't hear anything negative, as people are afraid they will "disappear" if they speak out about the regime - was that back in the early 1980s when the rest of the world was dumbstruck by the AIDS crisis, he was actually advocating for education and assistance to prevent the spread. Back in the early 1980s! Too bad he hasn't used any of his immense personal wealth - we're told he's the fourth wealthiest person in the world - to help his fledgling country. Zimbabwe has close to 96% unemployment, and corruption - including police using fake speed cameras to collect cash from motorists - is rampant.
Zimbabwe was different from other places we've been because we didn't see many traditional villages. We saw a lot of houses which look like the ones you'd see in the Western world, though smaller. The cities we visited were very run down, but with some money and attention, they could be very functional. Considering how rich Zimbabwe is in terms of natural resources - gold, platinum, copper, diamonds and emeralds - it's shocking to see how many people are out of work and trying to make ends meet.
To tie the immense wealth of resource back to the San people, Ian told us that years ago a young American university student came and studied them for several months when she had finished university. Upon completion of her studies she recommended that they be removed from traditional lands and basically forced to conform to capitalist ideals. (Hmmmm....why does that concept sound familiar?) Amazingly - though not so much when you find out what was on the land they had been inhabiting - the government went along with it and thousands of them died. Thousands. But, wouldn't you know it, the land they had to give us was just crawling with the aforementioned natural resources. Long story short - it appears the young American was a puppet in a game much larger than she understood, though really, she should have known better. Anyone with a BASIC understanding of what has happened to indigenous societies around the world would have thought "No way in hell should we attempt to interfere with them - they've survived for 100, 000 years and are incredibly healthy and happy." It makes me furious.
OK, much more to say about the San, but have to go get on the truck. Hope to post more about this soon! xoxo
P.S. Please excuse any spelling/grammatical errors - no time to proof and typing as though my life depends on it.
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