by Gail Meyer
The elephant was covered with the red mud of Africa and walked with dignity into the clearing. Fortunately we weren’t aware that he was an alpha male who sometimes had a strong streak of independence and had been known to charge. Pomelo, his handler, coaxed him into a kneeling position and Edmundo and I climbed onto his back with me in the middle and Pomelo up front. Once we were comfortably seated, the beast ascended to his full height and suddenly we were on the move.
This elephant africana felt graceful to me rather than lumbering and we were riding high above the scrub where we could watch giraffe graze in the distance. A family of common warthog, with long canine teeth curled over their snouts and tails held strictly vertical, scrambled out of the way. Edmundo and I were on a day safari in Zimbabwe because I needed a holiday before embarking on a volunteer teaching position in Namibia. We had ventured to the town of Victoria Falls and being a person “who rides,” I had to ride an elephant even before visiting the largest waterfall in the world.
The giraffes’ heads were above elephant height and I noticed their mouths turned crooked when they chewed on leaves ripped from lofty branches. They stood with an elegant giraffe aloofness, large ears and straight short horns positioned on proud heads; gold and milk chocolate geometric patterns glistening as the sun illuminated their bodies. We passed by the ugly scavenger marabou storks: black wings, unfeathered heads and necks, pink fleshy pouches under long clappering beaks and a two meter wingspan. Plains zebra babies nuzzled their mums and their bodies radiated black stripes alternating with black shadow stripes on a white background. Greater kudu, a timid antelope with curly horns on the male and prominent ears on the female, gave us a quick look. At the end of the afternoon, our rogue elephant meekly knelt down and we dismounted. Edmundo, who contrary to me is crazy about hugging animals, sat on his knee, fed him maize and molasses tidbits and then embraced his trunk in a gesture of farewell.
Pamusha Lodge had a friendly staff, a manager named Wisdom and a sweet flowery aroma in the tropical garden. A small hotel with simple rooms, I found it casual and welcoming and preferred it to the large hotels that tend to dominate well known tourist sites like Victoria Falls.
“Do you know what kind of tree that is?” I queried Edmundo, as we sipped dark brewed coffee and admired a 50 foot trunk growing through the thatched roof of the restaurant.
“Yes, he replied, it’s a teak tree. Edmundo walked over to take a closer look and came back with a one inch fat frog sitting on his hand. As I admired it from a safe distance, fat frog urinated through his fingers and we both burst out laughing.
“That frog lives in the grass roof,” our waiter Edwin remarked as he cleared away the coffee cups.
“Very cute,” responded Edmundo, gently putting frog back on a low part of the restaurant’s roof. I’ll wash my hands and we’ll swim before dinner.”
The pool felt deliciously cool in the late afternoon heat. A Southern yellow billed hornbill flew overhead. Teak tree blossoms, smelling like honey suckle, floated down from above and Edmundo tucked one into my auburn hair. A short siesta seemed appropriate.
For dinner the waiter brought a delicious grilled Zambezi River bream served with stir fried peppers, onions and carrots plus steamed rice and a spicy mango salsa. While savouring a South African pinot gris, we chatted with a guest from Australia who worked as a nurse for Doctors Without Borders. Kelly had been working in a malnutrition clinic in Nigeria where women give birth to as many as 15 offspring and there is insufficient food. Parents eat first, then the oldest children and starvation is not abnormal for the youngest. Babies were near death when their mother’s brought them to the clinic. Kelly was in Victoria Falls for a few days to de-stress from the tragedy of dying babies in Nigeria before flying home to Australia. Talking to Kelly put into perspective a harsh aspect of African life that most tourists never see. Victoria Falls itself is prosperous because of tourism, but Zimbabwe also has food shortages and extreme poverty, problems made worse under the dictatorship of Robert Mugabe. The Chinese harvest diamonds in Zimbabwe and consequently refused to vote against him at the United Nations. For those of us who love Africa, it’s essential to come to terms with the dichotomy of economics. Some black Africans live a comfortable life but most are always struggling to have a job, to feed their children, to earn enough money for school fees and basic necessities.
Victoria Falls is 108m high and 1708m wide. We rented green plastic rain capes at the entrance and carried them in the rising morning heat as we walked along stone pathways to get our first glimpse. The Zambezi River, golden with silt and flowing fast because of the rainy season, plunged into the depths of a narrow gorge creating billows of misty spray. Edmundo pulled the rain cape over my head and we shared a moment of euphoria gazing at a golden waterfall descending into wild rapids. As we continued along the walkway the clouds of mist intensified and a magic rainbow appeared. Each viewpoint demanded photos and I removed the zip lock camera protector from under the rain cape and quickly snapped for memories. After completing the circular walk we sat by a shady tree to digest the extraordinary experience. Vervet monkeys frolicked around us and their babies crawled along branches and were groomed by their mothers. As the monkey families leapt from branch to branch, we observed their alert black faces, long tails with a dark-brown tip, and blue male scrotums which provided a bright splash of colour.
Edmundo, as my soul mate, had also become “a person who rides” and now it was a helicopter to experience an aerial view of the Falls. He sat under the glass nose-dome beside Spanda, the South African trained pilot. The gorge was surprisingly narrow and long and looked mystical with its glistening puffs of spray. Spanda beamed when complimented for giving us exceptional vistas. An alluring ultra-light flew lower and closer and I quietly mentioned to Edmundo that we should consider it. The powerful rain-engorged Zambezi River, which divided the countries of Zambia and Zimbabwe, dropped the 108m to the rapids below. Edmundo and I agreed that our aerial view of the Zambezi River flowing over Victoria Falls, had created twelve minutes of bliss and an absolute adrenaline rush!
“High tea” at Victoria Falls Hotel permitted us to gaze across expansive lawns to the bridge, which was surrounded by mist and another brilliant rainbow. A full teapot arrived, then a three-tiered china plate piled high with delectables: dainty sandwiches, scones, strawberry jam, cream, and cakes made with banana, chocolate and vanilla cake filled with custard.
“Jolly nice,” Edmundo said in his Argentinian accent.
“Yes, indeed,” I replied in my Canadian as we laughed in appreciation.
There was one table of black Africans in a sea of white faces. Fortunately our black waiter knew them and gave them good service. The black faces look uncomfortably nervous but were determined to enjoy the occasion. Most of the white faces pretended the black table was invisible.
In the evening Bob Selinger, a Rotarian from the U.S., joined our table. In his retirement, Bob spends about half the year in Africa doing good works. He was raising money to build 600 bush wheelchairs which would go to four African countries and these would be built by disadvantaged youth in the U.S. He talked about the Rotarians funding a residence for abused women in Zambia; a playground where a USAID merry-go-round could pump water; and a science lab for a Zimbabwean secondary school.
The difference between tourism dollars and what filters down to the man on the street is substantial. We paid $50 each to go to a Boma restaurant where we dined on crocodile tail, warthog, Cape buffalo and stir fried ostrich. Barefoot tribal dancers entertained us with animal themed costumes and the men’s bare torsos gleamed in the spotlight. Women danced opposite the men, sometimes confrontational, sometimes making fun, always seductive. The audience were each given a tall African drum decorated with geometric designs. We could feel the beat and participate. I stood drumming with my hands on the tonal skin and felt extraordinarily joyful.
Edmundo remarked, “You’re dancing with your drum.”
I responded, “Would you like to fly over the Falls in that ultralight tomorrow?”
If You Go:
Majestic Victoria Falls 3 Day Package
Half-Day Local Village Tour from Victoria Falls
About the author:
Gail Meyer’s outdoor, travel writing and photos have been published in Canadian newspapers including the Times Colonist, Calgary Herald, Edmonton Journal, and the Gulf Islands Driftwood. She worked for many years as an educational video script writer and professional photographer. Her travel experience, often with a purpose, have been extensive. She taught English in Nicaragua, Galapagos, Malta, Buenos Aires, Tunisia, and Barcelona. Sub-Sahara Africa is a passion and she volunteered in Kenya for an education non-profit, in Uganda for an HIV project and spent three months in Namibia teaching grades 4,5,6,7 and 8 Life Skills. Gail is an inquisitive traveller who strives to gain more understanding of our complex world. To keep the memories alive, she writes about her travels and enjoys sharing her adventures with others.
Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe #1 by Bernard Gagnon under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International, 3.0 Unported, 2.5 Generic, 2.0 Generic and 1.0 Generic license.
Photos #2 – 5 by Gail Meyer
Doe-eyed and powder-faced, the girls march in single file through a wooden hula-hoop, flourishing their Muromachi-style kimonos as camera shots fill the air like a multitudinous flutter of pigeons. Sitting down to perform the rice dance, Reiko peers back at the throng of camera-toting tourists in a wizened look of innocence, as if disapproving the vain Instagram and twitter paparazzos.
No doubt the melodious effect of this quirky ensemble is blessing for a propitious harvest, one marked by youthful vitality and elderly wisdom.
Peace-fingering me in a yellow-flowered kimono, I meet Reiko as one of the dance performers, a high-school student from the Kansai area of Japan. “It’s fun to dance in summer with friends and family.” She says, fanning a plastic-Mickey Mouse fan over the runnels of sweat trickling down her powder-caked face.
Touted as one of the greatest summer festivals in Osaka city, Sumiyoshi festival is held over four days and congregates at the Sumiyoshi Grand Shrine or (Sumiyoshi Taisha). The Shinto temple garners an ancient reputation for being one of the oldest in Japan, only third to the Ise and Izumo shrines.
Ostensibly, the purpose isn’t just to create a full-monty like spectacle but to divine answers from a symbolic deity; a giant pole standing in the field, representing Sumiyoshi Sanjin, falls down at a certain side of the rice field (maybe due to the pool’s build-up of testosterone or from an all-together masculine pull) which answers fortune-telling questions for local villagers.
Not only a destination for the history buffs, Castle of Good Hope is a top historical site to explore when visiting Cape Town. This is the oldest surviving building in South Africa and after its restoration in the ‘80s it is considered one of the best preserved examples of DEIC (Dutch East India Company) architecture in the world. Not only the Castle of Good Hope provides an insight on the country’s colonial past, it also hosts numerous art and photography exhibitions for the tourists and locals, being an active cultural site.
5. Houses of Parliament
This impressive historic building has been the seat of the National Parliament since 1910 and it opens its gates for tourists each year when the Parliament is in session (first part of the year). Be sure to book a visit in advance if you’re traveling from another country and get informed about any closed doors events. You can admire over 4,000 artworks collected by the gallery of the House of Parliament and enjoy a walk around the premises. The guided tours are free of charge and you can also book tours for groups of up to 25 people.
We were staying in a riad, and this one turned out to be a destination in itself. A “riad” is a traditional Moroccan house, located within the ancient medina and designed around a central courtyard, pool or fountain, and garden. The owners had purchased several adjoining houses and combined them so that there are two courtyards and 26 guest rooms, several sitting rooms, two restaurants, a jazz bar, and a spa. The hotelier gave us a tour and showed us to a lovely room which faced the pool and inner courtyard. As I stood on the balcony, I looked out over rooftops of the old city and a minaret a short distance away. Down below was a pool, trees, potted plants, tables covered with white tablecloths, pierced pendant lanterns, and lovely tile work. Each morning at dawn, we were awakened to the “call to prayer” from the mosque. A traditional afternoon tea is offered in the courtyard each day, and we enjoyed typically Moroccan mint tea served with an assortment of tiny cookies. It felt like something out of “Arabian Nights”.
Within walking distance of the riad is the Majorelle Garden, a botanical and landscape garden that was created in the 1920’s by French painter Jacques Majorelle. It is a fantastical delight and beautiful to behold. Special shades of bold cobalt blue are used in the gardens and on the buildings, walkways and pergolas, and are a stunning accent to the greens of the cacti, palm trees, bamboo, bougainvilleas, and ferns. Neglected after the painter’s death in 1962, the property was later restored by fashion designer Yves Saint-Laurent who bought the garden and used it as his residence. After he died in 2008, his ashes were scattered in the garden and a memorial was built in his honor.
The “souk” is the commercial quarter of the medina and we went there to experience the activity and to bargain for some souvenirs. Colorful stalls line the alleyways, selling everything from carpets to clothing, scarves, jewelry, leather products, olives and housewares. We were on a quest to find a decorative tagine like the ones used on our riad’s breakfast buffet for fruits, nuts and pastries. Mohammed patiently took us from stall to stall until my sister finally found one to bring back home with her. There are no set prices in the souk so she had to use her bargaining skills. It can get rather tense as the seller dramatically tells the buyer that she is “killing” him with the low price she is offering. But in the end, she prevailed and took home a beautiful tagine to use for entertaining in the Moroccan style.
There also was an interesting specialty shop in the souk where three Berber women were laboriously extracting oil from the nuts of the argan tree to make food products and cosmetics. Argan trees are endemic to Morocco and the oil that is extracted is very precious and has many health benefits. A salesman let us sample some of their special products, and we filled our baskets with gifts for people back home. There was no bargaining here because supposedly this is the only place where the skin products are pure and the oils used for cooking are not diluted.
The Koutoubia Mosque with its 254 foot high minaret is a landmark and symbol of the city. We were just outside the mosque when the “call to prayer” came from the loudspeakers above. Not far away is the Bahia Palace, a masterpiece of Moroccan architecture with its brilliant mosaics, carved woodwork and gorgeous marbles. Like most Arab palaces, it contains charming and tranquil gardens, beautiful patios and rooms richly decorated with tiles. And we visited the tombs of the Saâdi rulers which date back to the 16th century but were only discovered and restored around 1917. These tombs shelter the bodies of about 60 Saadian sultans and their families and are an outstanding example of Moorish tilework and art.
Leaving Marrakech two days later, we transferred to a four-wheel drive vehicle for our trip over the High Atlas Mountains via the Tizin Tichka Pass. Our destination was Ouarzazate, five hours away. Mohammed expertly navigated the vehicle around hairpin turns and over narrow roads that came within inches of steep drop-offs into canyons below. Besides the scenery, the sights we saw along the way are memorable. Donkeys loaded with meat, produce and wheat were led by jellabiya-clad men to village markets high in these mountains. We passed caves used by the Bedouins, nomadic tribes who live mainly in the desert but use the caves when crossing the mountains on their camels. We caught a glimpse of a road worker pausing for prayer on an outcrop of the mountain. And we saw stork nests, shepherds tending their flocks, and tiny villages made out of sandstone and hay that blend into the color of the hillsides on which they are built. No matter how small the village, there’s always a mosque with its minaret towering above everything.
Ouarzazate, nicknamed “the door of the (Sahara) Desert”, was built as a garrison and administrative center by the French, but today it serves as the Hollywood of the Kingdom. This is where “Lawrence of Arabia”, “Jesus of Nazareth”, “Gladiator”, “Indiana Jones” and many other films were made. While it is in a lovely setting, the town itself is somewhat tacky. There are several movie studios that you can tour and new housing developments are springing up in the otherwise beautiful landscape.
Leaving casbah Ait Benhaddou, we drove for miles through the foothills of the mountains and the rolling sand hills of the desert and started to wonder where we could possibly be staying for the night. Hopefully not in a Bedouin tent! But when we finally came upon our riad, we drove through a large sandstone arch and entered a typical Moroccan courtyard, set in an oasis with palm trees and beautiful plantings around a central pool and fountain. You’d never expect to find a place like this here in such a remote location. But it does make sense—a Frenchman opened it to cater to the movie industry.
As you fly into Johannesburg you would expect to see the wild game from the runway. Close to the tarmac is a beautiful view of elephant grass (tall grasses) and native trees that bring memories of photos depicting Africa or the Lion King. I travelled there in August which would be the southern hemisphere winter. Well, if that is winter, it sure does not resemble the Canadian winters. Each day, whether in Johannesburg, Pretoria, Durban, or Capetown all provided an average temperature between 26 to 29C each day and sunshine over my three week adventure. South Africa winter certainly is quite manageable.
My first experience in SA was a 1.5 hr drive to Sun City. If you have watched the movie Blended you will have seen one of the hotels as the movie was filmed at Sun City Palace and the complex. There are four hotels on the premises ranging up to $8000 per night. Something for everyone, Players golf course, a children’s arcade, spa, casino, and high tea at 3 pm is highly recommended to see the Sun Palace hotel as that is the only access to this posh hotel.
Food is also a bargain either at the grocery store or at the restaurants. Kentucky Fried Chicken appeared to be the most popular fast food to be found in SA with Macdonald’s a close second. KFC signage is atop the illuminated street names and almost on every street corner similar to Starbucks can be found in Canada. Both KFC and MacDonald’s offer free scooter delivery service for orders. Other restaurants offer bountiful breakfasts that can be found for around $3. Restaurants are also inexpensive offering lunch specials ranging from R57 ($5.70 CDN) which includes a salad and portions that are monstrous. Bottles of wine can start at R110 and up in a restaurant and beer at R25. Evening dinner options can be a full chicken and salad for R90. That would be a feast for a big appetite or a feast and a take home feast for the lighter appetites. Don’t worry if you don’t finish that bottle of wine. You can take it home. Most places appear to be children friendly with play areas and some even have child attendants. Some restaurants offer a complete experience for children to order their own pizza and help the chef make their pizza. Children put on their own toppings while the parents can enjoy a leisurely lunch or dinner.
Driving is an experience. Although sidewalks are a rare finding, the large dirt sections next to the road offer opportunities for vendors to set up business and cars can pull off the road to shop; SA people are very enterprising. On most traffic lighted city street corners, men can be found wandering between the lanes selling most anything: Newspapers, toys, pens, crafts, computer gadgets, but I did not see a kitchen sink. Companies and businesses also hire people to advertise at the street light corners to hand out pamphlets. It is always recommended, no matter where you may be in the world, to travel and drive with your doors locked. As anywhere, there are places that you should not venture for safety reasons. Having said that, I did not experience any adverse experiences. In SA taxi services are communal for the locals. Specific hand gestures indicate where you want to travel as the taxi vans travel the streets. People are packed 4 across and 5 deep holding over 20 people per taxi van.
A safari or multiple safaris are a must when traveling to SA. The “Big Five” are the dream citing for anyone visiting SA. The Big Five are the Rhinoceros, Buffalo, Lion, Elephant, and the Leopard that is interchanged with the Cheetah by some. I recommend going with experienced drivers or rangers. There are rules that must be followed for your safety. If you are out with a ranger and follow the rules you will have the most surreal experience of your life! To calm my nervousness, after all these are wild animals and no wild animal should be disrespected or challenged, I heeded the rules. The animals view the jeep as one unit and do not see the numerous people sitting in the open. Do not leave the jeep, no sudden movements, no loud noises, no leaning or extending outside the jeep. The rangers are well trained and know the area well and know the animals. The rhino, buffalo and elephant are not predators but herbivories but can get upset if you enter their space or separate their herd. Once winter sets in on the game reserves, there is no fresh food or greenery to feed the animals and the reserves feed the animals large bails of grasses to sustain them through the winter. At one reserve they were feeding the animals since April. One can only imagine how much an elephant or rhino can eat every day!
Mabalingwe was my first experience in a wild game reserve. This is under two hours from Pretoria. Your first view of a kudu, impala or warthog is exhilarating and you can’t get your camera poised fast enough. After a while the appetite for photographing new wild game gets more and more intriguing. The first 24 hours I had sited and photographed 14 different wild African animals in their natural environment. This included the ostrich, impala, kudu, baboon, warthog, bandit mongoose, giraffe, zebra, hippopotamus, crocodile, hyrax, duiker, hyala, and jackal. Patience is a virtue and wild animals do not pose or come out from behind the brushes. They do, however, need water and that is a good place to see many different animals. The best time of the day to find animals is the early morning and closer to the end of the day. Even in winter, midday is too warm for the animals and they siesta until closer to the end of day. Our morning safari were as early as 6 am and the sunset safari started at 3 pm as it becomes dark around 6 pm.
I am returning to Canada with the most amazing memories, spectacular photographs to capture those memories and treasures to share of my experiences that will last me a lifetime. I had been warned and arrived with uncertainty about the safety of South Africa. My experiences can only say that there are unsettling and unsafe places in any town or city and travelers always need to exercise caution. My travels to SA has been an experience of a lifetime.
