Monday, June 14, 2010

Zimbabwe and Botswana

VICTORIA FALLS
- a wonderfall: majesty and mist, rainbows and rain, thundering water. We had come to the other side of the world to see one of nature's wonders - just as legendary explorers, Stanley and Livingston, had come more than 150 years ago. Thinking about their lengthy, exhausting expeditions reminds us to be grateful for our "mere" 24 four hours plus journey from home to here.
Do you know the story behind the famous greeting, "Dr. Livingston, I presume?" No? Well---

After discovering Victoria Falls in 1855, Dr. David Livingston returned to Africa in 1864 to search for the source of the Nile River. He wasn't heard from for seven years, and the world wondered what had happened. Had he been abducted? Did he die? In 1871 the editor of the New York Herald had the idea of sending one of its journalists, Henry Morton Stanley, to find the great explorer. During his eight months there Stanley began to hear stories about a white man with a long grey beard and finally, on November 10, 1871 he found him on the shores of Lake Tanganyika. It's a great story, and you can read a description of this epic moment in history in Mr. Stanley's words by going to
http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/stanley.htm

We always enjoy visits to schools and watching the students perform. Our mutual curiousity and eagerness to know one another better is always a highlight of these trips. This is the Chinotimba Government School where the children's dancing, singing, energy and enthusiasm wowed us.
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"A Walk with the Lions" Gone Awry
During our time at Victoria Falls our group of twenty looked forward to a day in the bush that included a night drive safari and bush dinner, preceded by riding elephants and walking with lions. So that afternoon our group was divided in half, and ten of us were driven to the "elephant boarding area" while the others went for their lion walk. We climbed aboard a 36-year-old bull elephant named Tusker with his handler Tom and off we padded quietly and peacefully into the veld (the bush and scrub of Zimbabwe). It was lovely. Really.


Thinking nothing could top that experience, we were driven back to where we were to meet the lions - young females who had been orphaned and raised in protected quarters and who were used to humans. The fact that we had been asked to sign release forms before our two adventures with basically wild animals never raised too much concern. We felt well-protected----animals handlers for each animal and a guide with a rifle to shoot in the air in case something unexpected occurred (such as other wild animals spooking our new friends). The other group told us how much we were going to love our walk, and we were excited. We received more instructions -- no loud noises, nothing dangling from our necks (these were cats, after all, who liked to play), no fast movements--and above all, don't act scared. As we walked off, Jerry asked if he could have the camera so he could take pictures of ME petting the lions. I couldn't believe it. He was afraid? I reminded him how much he loved cats, and off we went.
We met four young, beautiful, verylarge female lions.. We all took turns petting them (we had been told how to do it correctly), and it was amazing. They were soft and sweet. We couldn't believe what we were doing. Finally, we were told it was time to walk with them. So off we went down a path through the bush --- ten of us, four lions, four handlers and Manuel, our guide with the rifle. It was truly exhilarating, and I said to one of the women, "This is even better than riding an elephant." About thirty seconds later, something large and powerful rushed by me, and we all watched in disbelief as one of the lions jumped on Judy, knocking her down and staying on top of her until the handler started hitting the lion with his stick, and she ran off. Judy was screaming, her husband yelling for help, and the rest of us stood there horrified. Jerry and Manuel tended to Judy who calmed down immediately but was probably in shock.

The end of the story is that Jerry went with Judy and Karl to the hospital in Victoria Falls, a clinic with only one light bulb hanging over the table where a doctor sewed up three claw wounds on Judy's head, a total of 30 stitches! It was a somber group that gathered for our bush dinner that night. Judy was going to be fine, but the reality of engaging in close encounters with wild animals on their own turf was sobering to say the least.

It could have been any of us; it could have been disastrous. It's made quite a story for all of us to tell, but especially, of course, for Judy and Karl whose grandchildren will be telling this story to their own families someday: "You'll never believe what happened to your great-grandmother."

BOTSWANA
Crossing the border into Botswana is eye-opening. It's immediately obvious that the infrastructure here is better - better roads and facilities - a higher quality of life. Only minutes after we drove into Chobe National Park we encountered one of the most industrious creatures we'd ever seen, the inspiration perhaps for Botswana's hard-earned achievements. It was a scarab beetle, better known as a dung beetle because it rolls dung into balls that can then be used for food storage or brooding (a place to lay their eggs.) Dung beetles can roll up to fifty times their weight, so it's no surprise that these little fellows move so fast.




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