2004 Africa Safari

FIRSTTHOUGHTS

When the six of us announced to friends and family that we were going to Africa on safari, many of them asked us, "Why not just go to your local zoo to see the animals? You may actually be able to see them better and more easily there!" The question deserved an answer, even if just in our own minds. Why indeed did we want to go to Africa? How was it going to be any different from a day at the Zoo? Why pay a good sum of money, endure lots of pre-trip inoculations, survive taxingly long flights over and back, take certain risks in visiting unstable countries, just to see the animals who live there? At first we thought, "If you have to ask that question, there's no way I'm going to be able to explain it to you." But after having been on safari, I do think I can answer the question to my own satisfaction as well as to other folks'. Our safari was a transformational encounter, a college course of education, a magical time in an almost mystical place, a rewarding opportunity to meet the people in Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe and South Africa, an animal watcher/photographer "peak experience," and a tremendous amount of fun!

After the various shots necessary for the trip, we had actually to get to Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, via Miami to London and from London to Johannesburg, and finally to the little city of Victoria Falls-about 23 hours flying time, interrupted by a 6+hour stay in London, and then about another 2 hours at the Jo'burg airport. British Airways transatlantic and transcontinental planes are painfully ungenerous in their seating arrangement. The seats were incredibly cramped, broken to the point of being incapable of adjustments, and so beaten down there was no padding at all! An interesting aside regarding the airplanes themselves is the fact that the British Airways flights we took in Africa were equipped with comfortable and spacious seating configurations-for 2-3 hour flights. What an irony Comfy for a couple of hours, in real discomfort for the long, long, long flights. But we did survive the flights and once we touched down in Vic Falls and met one another and our leader, Edward Namitondo, all that wretchedness was completely erased from our minds if not our muscles, joints and backsides.

From the small unremarkable airport, we were transported by minivans to Africa. I mean to the Ilala Lodge. It was a facility any of us would have accepted as typical (or stereotypical) of what we expected in an African country.

Simple but beautiful thatched roofs over the buildings, animal statuary and artwork decorations, woven furniture in the lobbies and rooms, smiling African faces with blindingly white and perfect teeth and bodies clad in colorful shirts for the men and vibrant dresses and improbable but attractive headdress for many of the ladies. Our rooms were comfortable with mosquito netting and duvets for the bedcovers, everything sparkling and inviting. Were we tired? You bet! But were we ready to pack it in and jump into one of those cool beds? No indeed-instead we raced off for our first adventure-a sunset cruise on the Zambezi River! What could be more African than that?

And how is this different from taking a little boat ride in Disney's Animal Kingdom? Well, first of all, it took us about 15 minutes of driving through Vic Falls and its cultural surprises to reach the banks of the Zambezi. The town is an amazing and dismaying mixture of "westernized" buildings and shops and the little townships (neighborhoods) inhabited by most of the people. These were filled with tiny concrete and tin houses, miniature shops for hardware items, or foodstuffs, or repairs of various kinds. The roads in the little communities were unpaved and very dusty under the hot evening skies.

Troops of wild baboons wandered in and out of the scrubby brush along the two-lane paved road we took to the river. Cape Buffalo stood around and gazed a bit malevolently in our general direction. These were not caged animals; any of them could have darted out into the road at any time.

The sky darkened as we reached the little makeshift dock where we boarded the pontoon boat, which would take us out on the fabled river.

There were 4 little tables with 4 chairs each arranged on the covered deck and, to our surprise, there was even a tiny "water closet" on board the small vessel. Our captain and steward got us seated and then served up drinks of our choice, both alcoholic and soft, and then laid out a spread of intriguing canapes. However, food and drink were far from our minds as the little boat pulled away and rushed over to the opposite shore where three elephants (remember, these are wild) were munching away on tall grasses which obscured their enormous shapes. Over and over again on this trip, we were all just amazed at the way the animals blended into and disappeared in their own surroundings: what camouflage, what natural protective colorations and designs! You can't see that phenomenon at a zoo even one that has their animals in "natural spaces"-the plants aren't the same ones in which these animals have evolved.

The elephants were very aware of our little group of explorers, but they weren't at all disturbed by us. Actually, they never acknowledged our presence by making eye contact. Obviously, these fellows were inured to the fleet of tour boats on this part of the river. But, remember, it was by choice that they were at the shoreline and they wandered away when they were ready. No one was feeding them or molesting them in any way. We who live in cities with leash laws are surprised and disturbed when we see dogs running loose! What a different feeling it is to see elephants "roaming and grazing" free! We were starting to get an inkling of how this trip was different from a visit to the zoo.

And then, and then!?

Little round ears twitching busily around right in front of our small pontoon boat. Bulgy, piggy eyes right at the surface of the water and closed nostrils too! Hippos! Lots of them! Watching us with suspicion and some apparent animosity. It didn't help much when John (our guide) told us that hippos are responsible for more human deaths in Africa than any of the so-called big predators, like lions, leopards, & crocodiles. They can easily overturn boats and often attack small vessels and take lethal bites out of them, causing them to sink, exposing the human passengers to "hippo rage".

It is nothing short of eerie to see a small herd of zebra in the open when you drive up and then watch them take a few unhurried steps into the grasses and behind the trees and absolutely disappear! Even though you were just looking at them a second ago, they are suddenly no longer there. That doesn't happen at the zoo, does it?

The other critters are blessed with the same "talent" for disappearance. Even the humongous elephants can perform the same magic act. Their habit of giving themselves dust and mud baths is helpful in this regard, of course, because their skin takes on the color of the ground and sand they walk upon. Elephants could be standing a few l00 yards away behind the line of trees and bushes and we would not see them. Of course, elephants may not be the best example because they really have no natural enemies and therefore nothing to hide from.

We were delighted one evening to observe a young elephant by himself chance upon a small pride of lions-2 females and 2 young males.

It appeared that the elephant really was not convinced that he need not worry about the lions because he was pretty skittish.

He wanted to pass by the pride in an open area down which we had just driven but he kept moving forward to pass them and then feinting back. The lions were ignoring him very

disrespectfully. Soon after he arrived on the scene, the females got up and started moving with purpose towards a swampy area where some red lechwes had been feeding.

Obviously, it was time for some hunting and the young elephant did not register on their radar screen at all. Now the young fellow was faced only with the two languorous male lions who were yawning and looking idly in the direction where the females had disappeared. They were waiting for supper to be presented to them on the proverbial silver platter. Though hungry, they did not spare a glance for the elephant.

He, however, was still a bit nervous over the whole situation. So he decided that perhaps a good offence was his best defense. He sidled up to the male closest to him and flapped his ears, trumpeted and made a mock charge at the big cat. Still no reaction from the felines. Now he decided that his best course was just to move quickly by and forget the whole thing. Elephants can move with surprising speed and this young fellow made tracks. Though lions were certainly aware of him, they really couldn't have been less impressed by his presence.

Some of the "protective" coloration we found pretty amusing. For instance the water bucks sport a large white oval ring around their rear ends. The guides called them "toilet seats" and they were pretty much "stand outs." We thought that the peculiar marking might call more attention to the beasts than they needed. However, the guides told us that the markings were actually useful in reassembling the herds when they were scattered by predators, being spooked about nothing, or just generally wandering about. The "toilet seat" marking surely looked like targets to us though.

Similarly with the impala. They sport an "M" formation on their backsides, in a deep brown color contrasting with the lighter tan of most of their hides. Even though the guides joked that the M sign meant McDonalds to the lions, its real purpose seemed to be the same as the white oval on the waterbuck hindquarters

pontoon boat, we all were absolutely sure we were not in a zoo. These were beyond doubt NOT Disney audio animatronics! And John's comments on hippo attack mode were definitely not very comforting. There was the slightly thrilling, yet deeply unsettling, feeling of danger all around us. Wasn't this sensation one of the things we came to Africa for?

john told us that hippos never attack from the land (they lumber out of the water at night to forage on the grasses and vegetation on shore often for up to 5 miles) but are very dangerous in the water!

Better to meet a hippo on shore than in a small boat, or worse yet, swimming. Looking at the 10-15 hippos ranged around our ever-tinier feeling

This supposedly ordinary Zambezi River sunset cruise also introduced us to the amazing variety of birdlife we would experience in Southern Africa. So many and so colorful- all sizes from enormous ground hornbills to tiny little sunbirds (they inhabit the niche which hummingbirds fill in the Western Hemisphere). On this marvelous evening, we saw birds familiar, like cattle egrets, common white egrets, anhinga and cormorants, turkey vultures, and strange, like hadeda ibis (glossy green back and wings but bills like our ibis species), pied kingfishers (starkly beautiful in black and white patterning), open- billed storks, whitecrowned plovers, and wire-tailed swallows.

Now we were sure that we were on an Audubon Club member's dream trip! These birds did not have clipped wings and were in their own native habitat on the Zambezi River. Did ever a river have a more euphonious name?

The Zambezi is filled with wild and wonderful rapids and it ultimately spills over the magnificent Victoria Falls. We learned this night that the Zambezi is the 4th longest river in Africa at 2700 km. (The three longer ones are the Nile, the Niger, and the Congo.) The Zambezi arises in Zambia and forms the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe (formerly Rhodesia and Southern Rhodesia) and finally enters the Indian Ocean at Mozambique. We had not yet even glimpsed mighty Victoria Falls, but this introduction to a calm but quite wide place on the Zambezi really whetted our appetites for that experience. The river was lined with plants that looked very like Florida mangroves, as well as with very tall reeds and grasses. We were also surprised to see palm trees all along the banks-the Ilala palm. A very interesting tree whose seed must either pass through the gut of an elephant or be burned in fire in order to germinate! This is a very tall and straight tree with the usual drooping fronds at the top. But what a life story it has.

We were introduced to another wonderful tradition on the little boat-appreciating and toasting the superb South African sunsets! The sky caught fire as the sun began its rapid descent and the colors that burst from that flame were spectacular, as they would be all during our safari. Red orange might have been the predominant color, but other

unexpected ones appeared in the sky all the time: jade greens, aquas, pinks, pale and dark blues-a whole palette of hues. No wonder we were always ready to salute the sun's great show with a hearty toast and sighs of wonder.

So what has happened to us already-on our first night in Africa? We have caught a hint of that wonderful feeling of wildness! We can feel in our galloping hearts that we are not in a Zoo, but in a place that feels like a vision of the earth newly shaped and populated by the Creator's own hand We are sensing a world beyond human control or even influence. Humans can destroy this miraculous world but they cannot create it or take any credit for its existence. We have seen wild creatures behaving as the Creator willed through their instincts, their perceptions of the earth and other creatures, and their wandering free among the designs of man.

In most zoos, the food for humans is acceptable at best-usually overcooked hamburgers, dry hotdogs, limp French fries, and soft drinks sans straws. Here's yet another difference between a Zoo and an African safari. Our supper that first night after arriving home from the Zambezi River was a "gourmet delight." We were served our meal on an open-air veranda overlooking the town of Vic Falls, where Cape Buffalo strolled down the street along with a few cars and pedestrians. The Ilala Lodge had the services of a very good cook whose concoctions augmented the beauty of the night. We dined on tasty cauliflower soup, delicious curried vegetables (carrots, zucchini, onions and others we did not recognize), grilled local fish, rice, and warm apple pastry with vanilla ice cream for dessert, all accompanied by the drinks of our choice, including wines, beer, soft drinks, coffee and tea Really excellent fare and it became very familiar to us as we made our way along the safari route. All the lodges served meals that were just too good for our waistlines!

As our safari continued, we would experience more and more indications and proofs that a trip to Africa is not just a trip to a zoo, no matter how wonderful that facility might be! So now that I have proposed a few answers to those initial questions about our trip, I'm going to get into some specifics and divide this diary into more manageable sections.

ANIMALS,UNTAMED,ANDNATURAL

Many of the creatures we studied through our binoculars, camera lenses, and amazed eyes may have looked just like their brothers in zoos but they certainly did not act them. An African elephant in your local zoo looks just like the many we saw on safari, but none of us had ever been "charged" by one who was not caged or chained or otherwise restrained. We had never before felt the hair on the backs of our necks stand up because an aggressive and protective female elephant was trumpeting at us, warning us away from her baby! It's a

whole different feeling to see those huge ears flap and that trunk go up as she lunged at the land rover and screamed at us with comet blasts.

This actually happened to us on several occasions and none of us ever got inured to it. We flinched every time.

More surprisingly, we saw many animals none of us had ever seen or even heard of before.

Among the creatures new to us were red lechwes, a reddish antelope who lives with its feet wet most of the time since it inhabits swampy areas and also tsessebe, another reddishbrown antelope much rarer than the lechwes and somewhat larger. We viewed many birds we had never known about before as well. On any given day, even in the same area, we were never sure of just what we would see. Again, a big difference from the zoo where the same creatures are always on display. Africa's animals are free and have the most excellent camouflage as well. It was amazing how they could disappear in plain view because their coloration blended so well with their surroundings. A zebra standing in its corral at the zoo cannot perform this Siegfried & Roy magic act and vanish before your eyes. He has to be in his home terrain, among the right grasses, and standing in the Kalahari sands.

Wildness in the animals isn't always frightening either. Sometimes it's downright comical. At our first camp in Namibia, the Lianshulu Lodge, we were awakened the first morning by the Chacma baboons trampolining on our tent tops. What a sound and what an experience! Rudely roused from slumber, we could feel the whole tent shaking and hear the screaming baboons, apparently laughing and playing with fruits and flowers from the trees overhanging our temporary quarters. Sleepily emerging onto the wooden porch, we could see that it was adults and youngsters having a marvelous time jumping up and down and springing all about.

Of course, as Lisa and Sharon learned at that same Lianshulu Lodge, wildness doesn't always stay outside the tent. They were dive-bombed inside their tent by bats swooping low over the mosquito netting and making bedtime reading impossible

Food caches they had hoped would last the trip were raided and consumed by wild squirrels who made very free with their possessions. The following morning, our camp host went inside their tent with modem animal traps and great courage-he emerged with the bat in a Cuisinart

bowl and the baby squirrel who had wreaked such destruction cradled in his hand. You have to admit that you've probably never seen a bat in a mixing bowl before-not even in a zoo.

At our second campsite, Vundumtiki Lodge in Botswana, we experienced a very primal fear of wild animals on our second night there. But you need a little preparation first- the tents we stayed in were made of canvas and usually had walls of more sturdy materials (wood mostly) about 1/3 of the way up

Basically however you are sleeping in a tent-a large and luxurious one to be sure, but still a tent-with all the protection that implies. We had been told that the predators did not view the tents as sandwiches with something delicious between the canvas bread slices. But at 4:45 a.m. when we heard a lion cough and roar so close that he could have been in the tent with us, that reassurance about lion perceptions was not very helpful at all. We wondered then if we might have preferred to see Leo in the zoo instead of in our tent with us where we alternately sweated with dread and froze withfear!

Having already been told that hippos are the most dangerous animals in Southern Africa, we worried a bit when we heard them sloshing through the swamp right outside our tent at Vundumtiki. At least we knew that they are vegetarians so maybe a cold meat sandwich didn't sound appetizing to them, we hoped. And yet dread was not the only emotion we felt when we heard the wild beasts outside our thin and unprotective walls. We felt exhilaration and joy because we were the guests in their world and we were seeing and hearing them carrying on with their own lives as Nature intended.

TENTCABINSINTHEBUSH–NOTAZOOTHING

The four wonderful campsites we visited are clearly designed to enhance the tourist's experience of wild Africa. Not only are they situated in the wilderness areas in each country, but the order in which we visited them was also strategic in helping us grasp the meaning of wildness in a gradual way. We salute the trip planners for OAT and the way they use the camps to open our eyes to what is around us and make us more and more able to understand.

Lianshulu in the Caprivi Strip of Namibia is the first of the wilderness lodges we visited. Caprivi itself is an interesting area of the harsh and dry majority of Namibia's landmass. It is a strip cut from the top of the square shape of Botswana leading to an inland port for Namibia on the Zambezi. This was the result of a trade between Britain which "protected" Becbuanaland as Botswana was then known and Germany which held sway in German Southwest Africa.

The Germans wanted an inland port and the British wanted uncontested sway in their part of Africa and so the trade was made. Now Namibia has this one area of green, wellwatered land with its abundant wildlife and pristine landscape. The wily Brits knew that the Class V and VI rapids on the Zambezi River would insure that the Germans found little use for their inland port during those early years Therefore, the Caprivi Strip is not really developed at all.

The lodge here is in a jungle-like setting, with trees and shrubbery closely ringing the cabins. The tourist is told that there is a string of electric fencing completely surrounding the campsite to prevent the elephants from destroying the wilderness post and its property. All the other animals can slip under the wire without encountering a shock, except for the elephants. No giraffe live in this area obviously. Of course, this information was reassuring to us novice animal watchers. The actual setting of Lianshulu also conspired to give us all a feeling of being enclosed in a little island of safety with no vistas into the wider world of Africa. We could see clearly all the creatures on the "island" with us, but we got very little sense of wildness here.

All the game drives left the little compound and took us out into the wider world where we could hope to see the animals who lived in Caprivi and see them we did: baboons, elephants solitary and elephants in herds with young ones, hippos and amazing varieties of birds. Lianshulu Lodge also introduced us to the typical traditions of how to go on safari. The big range rovers (regardless of their actual brand names) were rugged vehicles offering a minimum of comfort but plenty of opportunity to see out in all directions. Some were provided with tent like covers and others were open to the bruising and brilliant Southern African sun. All required giant steps and big climbs to get up into the back rows but all were totally reliable in the deep Kalahari sands and ploughing through the muddy waters of the Okavanga Delta. There was no protection from the dust since the vehicles are open but that was fine too. All the lodges offered excellent shower facilities as well as provided free laundry service for our clothes. So who cared how dirty and caked with dust we became on the rides. Another part of the game drive tradition involved being "seen off' by the lodge's staff and welcomed back with cold drinks, wet cool washcloths to refresh yourself, and friendly smiles from everyone with much interest in what creatures we had been able to spot that time.

At lovely Lianshulu, we also felt that we were returning to a "safe haven" after an adventure into the bush. But even here, we were not allowed to go from the dining area back to our individual bungalows without being accompanied by guides armed with flashlights once the sun went down. In some camps, the guide who walked us back to our tents was carrying a big rifle as well. We were warned to keep our eyes peeled even when we walked within the compound during the day and not to go off the trails between the various buildings. Again, a Little frisson of fear, which was not sufficient to disturb our basic sense of security.

In Botswana, at Vundumtiki Lodge, the views were a Little more open and there was no electric wire fence around the lodge compound. The Okavanga Delta where Vundumtiki sits is an even greener and more watery area than Caprivi. However, we were not visiting in the rainy season so Botswana looked like Caprivi in most ways. Our lodge was in a swampy area and there were more flowering trees and shrubs around us. We were always aware of a shallow river flowing around our campsites and, indeed, we had to cross a culvert to Leave the area on game drives. Here too we were always escorted back to the tent cabins at night. Lion roars, baboon chattering, and hippos sloshing so close by also made us feel more a part of the wilderness here. Watching red lechwes standing in the swampy grasses right outside our tent windows also added to thesense of being in the wilds.

The next lodge, The Baobab, was situated on an escarpment overlooking a huge riverine plain in the Chobe National Park in Botswana. It was difficult but not impossible to imagine

the whole scene stretched out below us covered in at least a foot or more of water, but that is the situation in the rainy season. Now the huge grassy plain was exposed except where the slender silvery river formed the border between Namibia to the north and Botswana. All that green background was broken up by larger and smaller herds of impala, hippos, eland, Cape buffalo, waterbuck, warthogs, kudu, and elephants. The breathtaking tableau of animals on view was overwhelming. Here were the first large vistas we had experienced and we were delighted. A stair step below our lodge and above the emerald plain was a dry and blighted level pocked here and there with evaporating waterholes and tortured nearly leafless trees. But even this view was expansive and animals did come to the waterhole on their way to and from the broad plain below. Many of the animals preferred to sleep high rather than at the river's edges.

So there was a constant parade of creatures plodding through the thick Kalahari sand down to the meadowlands. Baobab housed us in little tents shaped like Swiss Chalets, rather incongruous here, but quite comfortable. However, as always, we were not allowed to wander between our tents and the main lodge once the sun went down These tentchalets were spread out along the line of the hill and were clearly visible from the main lodge and also were in plain view of each other. There was not the semblance of isolation we could enjoy in the previous two campsites where the tents were hidden by foliage from each other and from the main dining areas.

Our last lodge, this one in Zimbabwe, was Linkwasha in Hwange National Park. It is a huge park which actually met my preconceived notion of the Africa terrain better than any of the rest. The land was flat, dry, studded with Ilala palms, punctuated with natural waterholes and even some bore holes dug by the park service to provide more water to the animals in dry season. In a radial-formation around a central axle, the combination dining hall and lodge, ran the long raised wooden pathways to the best tent cabins of all. These were so situated that you did not see another cabin when inside your own. Instead you looked out on the veldt without seeing any evidence of humans. Rather, you viewed baboons capering and strutting by, the elephants squealing and plodding along, waterbuck showing their "toilet seat" oval white patch on their rumps, the impala "pronking" in that stiff-legged gait that says to predators, "I'm healthy, strong and really fast, so don't bother chasing me." The dark M-shape on their rumps is said to read "McDonalds" to the lions!

It's really not possible to say which lodge was best because each had its own special charms and comforts as well as its own chances to view various kinds of birds and wildlife However, I am able to say that I believe that the order in which we visited the four different lodges was the best way possible because the constant expansion of the views and the opening out of the terrain gave us the feeling that we really were seeing more and more of

the real Africa. One of the groups traveling the opposite direction from ours seemed to be moving in a smaller and smaller version of our trip. We were glad to be on the trip we had lucked into simply by chance.

The luxuries and amenities of each lodge were well thought out, from the inventive and comfortable decor to the thoughtful placing of porches, outdoor and indoor showers, bar and dining areas, daily laundry service, way too much food all day and into the night, to the wonderful sundowner sessions each one provided, and to the "entertainment" the staff provided in the form of dancing and singing, special meals and barbecues (called "brys" in Botswana), and presentation of local arts and crafts. Each lodge was its own very distinctive adventure.

Spending the night in the countryside far removed from human settlements other than our own was a distinction that no Zoo can offer. In no Zoo that I know of do you sleep in tents where wild animals wander through and around your temporary home and even brush the sides or land on the billowing rooftop. A lion outside the tent is a unique and marvelous experience!

THEREALHABITATS

While there is no question that modem zoos are "on to something good" when they attempt to place the animals in natural surroundings with no obvious barriers, there is also no disputing the fact that they cannot reproduce the animals' true habitat. The plants are different, the whole ecosystem of other animals, birds and reptiles is not the same, weather patterns are dissimilar and the very earth upon which the creatures live and walk is not their native ground. In Southern Africa, the Kalahari desert sands form the basal terrain for the ecosystem. This is sand which has blown in from the east and covered the area up to 300-500 meters in depth over the centuries. Today the winds blow in another direction, but the sands are not being shifted to any appreciable degree. These sands are reddish in color, dry and very granular, deep and slippery for walking or riding in land rovers. Actually, the paths on which we traveled were very rough but slick, often causing the vehicles to slew about or become stuck. It took tough trucks and skillful drivers to explore the areas we visited. During the brief and rare rainy periods in these desert countries, the paths are usually impassable as the Kalahari desert sands tum to deep and adhesive muds.

The kinds of plants and trees that can survive in these harsh conditions of poor nutrient sand, little rainfall, low humidity, and scorching sunshine are very different from the plants which most zoos can provide During the dry season in which we were visiting, the plant life looks quite battered and almost lifeless. The leaves are sere and papery, appearing almost burned. Their colors are oranges, browns and yellow mostly. There are some plants which still sport green growth, but these are like our evergreens in winter- surrounded by the majority in their autumnal shades.

Many of the plants contain medicines that can be utilized by native medicine men as well as by practitioners of western medicine. We were introduced to two different plants whose bark and sap produce effects similar to digitalis. Muwal wood and bark can be boiled and the liquid taken to slow heart rhythms and suppress premature ventricular contractions. One of our guides, Matthew, was very interested in this wood since he had lately been experiencing runs of “racing heartbeats." He asked the shaman when we visited the village in Namibia if he could have a piece. It was readily produced; Matthew did not need a prescription or pharmacy. The" ordeal tree" in Zimbabwe was once used as a truth serum.

Leaves were boiled and a person accused of a crime was required to drink the "tea." If he survived the "ordeal," he was judged innocent. If he perished, then it was assumed that he had been guilty. Today, scientists have demonstrated that the beverage affected the heart rate to varying degrees. In some unfortunates, the heartbeat slowed to a rate inconsistent with life and those folks died. Others could withstand the slowed rhythm and survived. Of course, it is also true that there was no way of calibrating an accurate dose; therefore the folks who died might just have been given a much stronger medicine! It is ironic indeed that the ordeal tree is quite a lovely shade of yellow and glows when backlit by the searing African sun.

So you can see that the animals in the zoo are not only standing on very dissimilar ground, but they are trying to blend in with plants and trees among which they did not evolve. Their protective coloration is not very effective or impressive in the zoo-made "natural habitats." Therefore, their normal behaviors must be altered in the new and alien environments. When they look around at their surroundings, no matter how comfortable these may be, the animals do not see and hear the animals and birds they live among in Africa. The dangers their instincts protect them against are not usually present in the zoo: predators, insects and diseases, competition for food, and the battles for breeding rights.

If animals are the product of evolution in their native surroundings with certain hard- wired instincts, then howcan they be "natural" when removed from those influences?

A visit to the most faithfully recreated habitat humanly possible cannot duplicate a trip to see the animals in their native lands. A trip to the zoo is NOT the same as a visit to Botswana or Namibia or Zimbabwe!

HOWTHEANIMALS AFFECT ECOSYSTEMS

Among the most obvious of these is the ubiquitous termite mound. The "concrete" looking structures erupt all over the landscape in shapes as fanciful as a medieval castle to such pedestrian forms as a blocky modern skyscraper. Their colors reprise the color the sands of which they are formed. Their importance to the animals and birds around them is every bit as significant as a beaver's dam is to his ecosystem. Many of them are short and squat as they encircle the lower part of a tree and others tall, slender and freestanding without any supporting structure around them. On all sides of the range rovers, we explorers saw these structures everywhere from the foreground of our view to the far off distant horizon line.

Termites come in two forms in this part of Africa: beneficial and harmful. We here at home are only too aware of the harmful type, but finding a version that is not only helpful but even vital in its ecology is a big surprise. The people in Southern Africa are appreciative of the humble termite and so are the many animals and birds that depend on the creature for food, housing, shelter.

Human beings use the material forming the mound like stucco to cover the wooden portions of their houses. This substance consists of sand, termite saliva, digested matter from the termite's own diet, but nothing that would attract a wood-eating termite to the house because there is nothing in that "stucco" that hasn't already lost any nutritive properties it might have contained Therefore the homeowner is protected from insect destruction of his house and furniture. The "good" termite provides the protection against the "bad" variety. He also provides a smooth finish for the house, keeping out rain, letting potentially damaging winds just slip by, and adding some esthetic properties as well.

For the animals, the "beneficent termite" is more important still. His own body is food for birds, anteaters and pangolins (another form of anteater), other insects, and small meateating creatures like mongoose, foxes, and jackals. His wonderfully enduring mound is home to reptiles such as snakes and lizards, small mammals, and other insects. The holes made in the resistant mound by anteaters also provide temporary shelters for animals in hiding from predators.

Far from being destructive to the trees and shrubs they surround, the termite mounds actually provide the "potting soil" and moisture that young plants require to grow. In most cases, the mound precedes the tree we see surrounded by it. The Kalahari desert terrain is so harsh and unforgiving to plants and animals that the termite mounds are extremely important in preventing the total desertification of the desert landscape.

Water is such a scarcity in this area that anything which contributes to its conservation, its presentation at ground level, and its availability to many species is absolutely essential.

Elephants and wart hogs are important in this function. Elephants, though they drink immense amounts of water, also help in keeping it available to other species by enlarging the water holes and keeping the water seeping upwards. Their heavy-bodied wallowing is rather like "prop-dredging" to keep the holes deeper. Wart hogs like to muddle in puddles as well and though they are smaller, they also help in keeping the waterholes open and available.

Dry holes in the landscape which are created by anteaters, wart hogs, and even elephants are also important to other animals and reptiles. Many creatures forage in the ground for grubs, for minerals, for insects, and the holes the burrowing and digging animals create provide shelter and protection as well as food. The wart hog uses the holes in an interesting fashion: he backs into them so that if a cheetah or other predator find his refuge, he can bolt out quickly and in startling fashion to escape his enemy. Snakes and even some birds like the ground hornbills also can use these excavations as nests and nurseries in addition to shelter.

There is controversy about "elephant pressure" on trees in the Kalahari environs. There is no question that elephants push these trees over to get at the tender roots where is more food value and even more moisture. Actually, the deeper the drought of the dry season becomes, the more the elephants "vandalize" the hard-bitten and sere trees. The more elephants in an area, the more obvious destruction can be seen.

All the Southern African countries are experiencing population explosions in their elephant herds. Indeed, we tourists were pleased and amused to see so many young elephants everywhere we visited. But the rangers and guides see a more negative aspect to this phenomenon. In Hwange National Park biologists are pretty much agreed that the area

can adequately support about 15,000 elephants-at present about 35,000 inhabit the park. More water use, more tree pushovers.

However, some wildlife experts see "elephant pressure" as habitat creation and reformation and are not worried about what looks like "destruction" to the others. They see the plants constantly recovering and renewing themselves, thus providing fresh and tender growth for other animals that cannot get at the roots of the plants. They believe that this is an age-old occurrence in nature and that the plants, including the mighty baobab, have evolved to meet the challenge of the elephants. lt is pretty dramatic to view the injuries inflicted on the bulbous bole of the baobab however.

This is the tree called the upside-down tree because it has a bigger root system under the ground than it has a leaf canopy at the top. It also looks rather like an enlarged carrot with the greenery still attached. The elephants use their tusks to abrade and furrow the spongy bark and cambium of the baobab because it contains both nutrients and moisture. Like any other tree, if it is girdled completely around, it will definitely die.

The cambium must remain intact somewhere along its circumference so that moisture can move up and down the internal "elevator system" to keep water flowing to all parts of the tree. We saw one tree in Chobe National Park that had been nearly encircled by elephant damage but it was still hanging on to life. Again, the elephant damage can open up portions of the baobab to other creatures and birds that could not get at that source of moisture and food without the elephant action.

One plant which biologists do agree is imperiled by "elephant pressure" is the tall, slim, native Ilala palm. This plant is dependent for regeneration on its seed passing through the elephant's intestine or on fire to remove its impenetrable skin so that the generative part of the seed can sprout. It sounds like more elephants would mean more Ilala palms but that is not the end of the story, unfortunately. Surveys have shown that there are very few young palms growing in their native areas and that the existing palms are all of a "certain age."

Research has demonstrated that the problem is that the elephants are not only consuming the fruit (seed) of the Ilala palms, they are also eating the young tender shoots of the newly sprouted palms and killing them before they can grow tall enough to get their fronds out of range of the elephants. So too many elephants may spell the extinction of the feathery and improbable Ilala palm in the not so far distant future.

HOWECOSYSTEMSAFFECTTHEANIMALS

The wonderful game drives we took in all four of the countries we visited gave us several clues about how the animals are affected by their environment. You certainly can't pick up this information now matter how observant you are when you go to the zoo because the creatures aren't in their own natural homes.

Probably the most dramatic effect that we non-biologists could see is the almost magical camouflage each beast wears. When you see a zebra in the zoo, you wonder why any can be left in the wild since they sport those vivid black and white stripes that would seem to make them standouts on the plains where they wander, sleep, mate, give birth, and feed all year long. Since lions have a real taste for zebra, you would think they could indulge themselves freely. However, the stark coloration of the zebra when seen in his own country blends perfectly with the golden grasses and autumnal leaves on the bitten trees

Kudu are a large antelope species with a grayish coat adorned with long darker stripes on their shoulder girdles. As big as these animals are, they too can disappear behind shrubs and grasses because the striping creates a pattern to fool the eye. Often in photographs where we know that a kudu should appear, his camouflage works so well we have to work and study the picture to find him. We have seen as many as three of these animals at the same time take a couple of steps away from us and completely vanish to our eyes. Presumably other animals with sharper senses than ours are also fooled into thinking the kudu are no longer there.

Giraffes are the tallest animals in the world but their dappled coats allow them to disappear among the acacia they are munching. Oftentimes the guides would point out a giraffe to us and we couldn't "see" him because he was standing in a spot of mottled sunshine and just wasn't there, even with binoculars. The clearsighted African guides got lots of laughs at our expense as we squealed in eager anticipation of a sighting, "where, where, where is he?" It usually took most of us more than a couple of minutes to find the spot where we should be looking and then to spot the creature "hiding in plain sight."

Some animals only come out at night and therefore their "trick" to fool predators is to be even harder to see. They use the darkness to cover their activities and they are usually "decorated" in ways that allow them to avoid hungry eyes in the nighttime Spring hares, bush babies, and the desert foxes we never saw except at night and then only when our "trackers" used light to produce "eye shine" so we could locate the little animals. When our spotlights connected with the retina of the animals, their eyes produced a shiny gold glow that did make them visible to us. However, most lions, leopards, jackals, and cheetah do not carry spotlights with them on their hunts.

Even large animals like the hippos could occasionally fool us for a short minute when we would spot them piled up on shore during the day for all the world like scattered rocks on the banks of the rivers and lakes and water holes. They are a dark gray color too which is also accentuated when they emerge from the water with mud speckles and patches on their sun-sensitive but thick skin. Probably no predator would attack an adult hippo, on land or water, but the babies are vulnerable to predation. The huge "boulders" formed by the adults would encircle the littler rocks of the babies.

All this camouflage must have evolved in conjunction with the territory in which the animals lived and thrived Therefore, it works only where they are native. One effect of the environment on the animals is clear when you observe this defense mechanism in action. No zoo can demonstrate this as well as a safari adventure.

Of course, the ecosystem also affects the animals in determining what they eat because they must eat what is available. Water and drought make profound effects on the animals. They can live healthily when there is plenty of water but they must have adaptations that allow them to endure when water is scarce. When food and water are both in short supply, the successful reproductive rate is low. This protects those animals already on the scene by insuring that there is not burgeoning population pressure on the precious resources.

Darwin's "survival of the fittest" also operates in the wild because it is true that only the strong survive and reproduce. Therefore, if the gene pool is large and diverse enough as it usually is in the wild, the species remains healthy and able to outlast harsh conditions. In a zoo, even the weaker animals can stay alive and replicate themselves because they are fed, watered and protected. Therefore, weaker genetic traits can be observed in zoo populations that might not ever surface in the wild.

COUNTRIES

Zimbabwe

This last in the alphabet country was actually our first experience of Africa. Though we had touched down in Johannesburg, South Africa, we really had only sat in the airport waiting for our flight to Victoria Falls. Zimbabwe was once the breadbasket of Africa-a prosperous but not really peaceful country In its former life, Zimbabwe was Rhodesia and the white emigres from Europe controlled everything there. When black Africans began to assert their right to their own lands and to selfgovernment, the majority of all Zimbabweans joined the fight for independence from Great Britain beginning in 1965.

Great Britain refused to recognize the first self-declared independent state of Rhodesia because the whites had so formed the constitution that the black majority had very few rights. Further fighting continued until the black majority under Robert Mugabe won a free election and were granted independence in 1980 as the new state of Zimbabwe.

Zimbabwe continued to move ahead slowly until 2000 when Mugabe (now a head of government with virtually unlimited powers who rules using terror tactics and corruption of elections and all parts of the government) moved towards land redistribution by displacing the whites, forcing them from their lands without hearing or compensation.

This ill-considered move has resulted in widespread starvation and unemployment. Even with this change in social structure, Mugabe did not work in the interests of his black majority poor. Instead, he has given the former white-owned farms to his henchmen, family and loyalists. Most of these folks are not interested in farming and do not know how to do it anyway.

Because of this policy, many white Zimbabweans have left the country, most black Zimbabweans are hungry and unemployed, and the country's economy has gone to hell. At present, unemployment stands at 70% and not surprisingly 70% of the population lives below the poverty line. HIV/AIDS also has had a devastating effect on the population with nearly 34% of the population infected. Life expectancy is only 38 years and the median population age is 19. From these figures, it is easy to see that a whole generation is dying out because of AIDS. English is the official language of Zimbabwe and the literacy rate is 97%, a fact that reflects the country’s earlier prosperity and efforts at education. The current population of the country is 12,671,860 people.

Many of the young Zimbabweans we talked with, both black and white, feel intimidated because Mugabe's ears are everywhere and neighbors and friends do turn each over to the authorities for anti-government and particularly anti-Mugabe sentiments. Most of the men seemed to feel hopeless about any changes for the better until Mugabe dies. Until that day, all felt they are living in a police-state environment.

There was an unsurprising difference of opinion between whites and blacks regarding the land redistribution policy. The blacks thought it more fair and not as ill conceived in its implementation as the whites believed. The whites did acknowledge that there needed to be some changes in land ownership but that it should be done equitably and with reparations paid. They also believed that whole farms should not be taken from the whites, especially since the blacks are mostly subsistence farmers without the skills or experience to do the large-scale farming necessary to feed the country and still have products left over for export as they previously were able to do.

Of the many challenges facing Zimbabwean farmers, a salient one is the fact that only 8% of the country's land is arable, this in a landlocked country slightly larger than Montana. Not

only is the scarcity of land a problem, the type of terrain is difficult. Zimbabwe is mostly high plateau with an even higher central section and mountains in the east.

Though it has a definite rainy season, it is nonetheless subject to severe and lasting droughts. Because of poor mining practices, there is widespread water pollution and deforestation is rampant due to the mines and to the need of the people for fuel and shelter. Wind and drought also cause considerable soil erosion further degrading the land available for agriculture.

Though Zimbabwe is nominally a parliamentary democracy, it certainly has not been governed that way over the last years. Mugabe has become increasingly despotic as he ages and is behaving irrationally and under paranoid delusions according to the people with whom we spoke, both black and white. Because of this, of course, foreign investments have dried up and even the little airline that carried us between camps and countries has had to pull its larger planes out of Zimbabwe because conditions are so unstable.

Because the government is deep in debt, foreign and domestic, there is little support for its once wonderful tourist facilities and the marvelous and large national parks. The people and the government are desperate for the tourist dollars to keep the government afloat and yet the central government under Mugabe seems unconcerned. Edward, our Zimbabwean trip leader, told us that now the government tourist agency is aiming more at the big game hunters because they are charged more than the sightseeing tourist and therefore provide more money for running the parks and actually provide some of the culling that is necessary on some of the national parklands. Courteney, a white Zimbabwean, who ran the Hwange National Park Linkwasha Camp where we stayed, agreed with Edward and told us that of 80 borehole wells in Hwange originally dug to provide extra water for the animals during drought time, only 6 are currently working and the park officials cannot secure sufficient funds to work on the others.

This country is in desperate straits due to the corruption of its government. It has sufficient natural resources, like coal, chromium ore, asbestos, gold, nickel, cooper, iron, vanadium, lithium, tin and platinum, and it has the conditions for successful agriculture. Not only that, the wildlife areas that have been preserved over the years are wonderful and would no doubt attract hard currency but the government is letting that precious resource degrade as well. Both Edward and Courteney told us that the tourist facilities all over the country are really marvelous but are being allowed to fall into disrepair and disuse. Fewer foreign tourists visit Zimbabwe because they are fearful based on the publicity of antiwhite violence and lawlessness. The country is indeed spiraling downwards and it appears nothing can stop the process until Mugabe dies and then only if he is replaced by someone

more democratic, more interested in the health his countrymen and his nation, and able to disband the Mugabe henchmen who are doing well under his regime and won't disappear willingly.

Be all that political and economic unrest as it may, our visit to this beautiful country of friendly folk and wonderful wildlife was still a splendid one. Tourists still want to come to Zimbabwe, despite its troubles, to see the stunning Victoria Falls, the longest and fullest curtain of water in the world during the rainy season when all the rivers, creeks, tributaries that feed into the Zambezi River are at full spate. Our visit which occurred during September, the end of the dry season, did not afford that view, but it was dramatic enough all the same.

The falls are divided into 5 sections, which can be identified during the dry season though this separation is completely drowned during the rainy times: Devil's Cataract, Main, Horseshoe, Rainbow, and Right Falls. During our visit the Devil's Cataract was definitely the most impressive. Its flow was enormous and there is a permanent rainbow to be seen in its spirited spray. Though we were yards away on the other side of the falls, that spray cooled us as we walked along the mile and a quarter from Devil's Cataract to Right Falls.

The chasm before the falls is about 1000 ft. deep and quite steep. The roar of the waters is also extraordinary. Some of us took a helicopter ride over the Falls and that was really very thrilling and revealing. When aloft, we could see that the Zambezi is continually enlarging the falls and eroding the uplifted land over which it flows creating many empty gorges as it recedes. And despite all that water cascading, the surrounding terrain was very dry and wasted in appearance.

We were treated to two unique "people" experiences in the town of Victoria Falls. First we were invited to a lunch meal at the home of a couple of ladies from the township (we divided our group of 12 in 2 so the ladies were not overwhelmed.

Our hostess was Flater (pronounced by her as "Flaata") and she first took us to the local market where we could see where she had shopped for the foods for our upcoming meal and what else was available there. Flater's supermarket was an open air agglomeration of small merchants, mostly women, sitting under tarps or umbrellas to shade themselves from the piercing African sunshine, with their wares spread out before them.

Other than fish, there was no meat for sale here. For that commodity, it was necessary to visit the "butcher shop" which was separate from this al fresco market. It was a couple of blocks away in a tiny building and we did not visit there.

Also available were things we did not recognize like rape (a green leafy vegetable), mopani worms (the caterpillars which are steamed and sautéed and considered a great delicacy among the peoples of this part of Africa), bryling (tiny freshwater fish, smaller even than sardines, from local lakes) which are sold in a dried form, and many soy products in various forms (brick, crumbled, powdered, and tofu- like. We were served these at lunch!

The market experience was quite fascinating and we all enjoyed seeing that we recognized most of the vegetables on sale: tomatoes, greens, squash, white and sweet potatoes, onions, beans and peas of several varieties (though not English peas) and cabbages.

Folks milled around the market area gossiping, shopping, walking babies, tending children, and hawking their wares. There was a festive atmosphere and both men and women seemed happy to be there, sharing much camaraderie.

Victoria Falls contains several smaller townships or town centers and the one where we went to lunch is called Chinotimda. Housing there was jarringly different from the tourist areas where the Ilala Lodge and the modern shopping center stood. No zoning of any kind was in evidence in the township and the housing consisted of everything from shanties of

tin and cardboard to concrete block homes with an array of electrical appliances and nice furniture.

Flater lives with her sister and brother-in-law because her husband is deceased (since he died young and other members of the family have as well, it is safe to assume that her family has been devastated by AIDs) and there are a total of 15 people, children and adults, living in the very small two bedroom house with a living room, separate kitchen, and bathroom facilities. Inside, the walls are bare concrete block gray. There is running water in the house, as well as electricity. The concrete blockhouse sits on a small lot and the front yard is full of fruit trees: mangoes and citrus trees chiefly.

The kitchen is compact but clean and neat. Our meal was served in the living room since it is the largest room in the house. We were seated on a sofa and some chairs around a low table on which the food was served. A community water bowl was passed to us first in which to wash our hands. Then the dishes comprising the meal appeared.

We had already seen some of the food since Flater had demonstrated how some things were prepared and cooked. The family gathered around us, children of all ages from toddlers to teens, to watch us enjoy the meal. Since Flater has offered this encounter for several years, it was clear that the family knew what to expect from American tourists and they waited for the anticipated reactions with big smiles.

The wilted rape with beef and the boiled spinach with peanut butter were not bad at alljust very bland, but we had to learn how to eat since no silverware was forthcoming. On our plates was the "fork" though we did not recognize it without instruction from Flater That utensil turned out to be "stiff'' grits in a mound which was to be broken off and used the scoop up the other items in the meal which could not be eaten with fingers on their own! Another pile of dense material which could be used as a spoon or fork appeared a little purplish and tasted a little bit sweet-sorghum.

Actually, neither the grits nor the sorghum had a very pronounced flavor but they did seem to grow in the mouth, getting ever thicker. Other recognizable things (to any USA southerner) were hominy, com and black-eyed peas. These were also rather tasteless but not inedible.

However, the delicacies which were offered to us with pride and wider smiles were the sautéed bryling fish and the mopani worms. The fish were rather sweetish and not really bad at all. Actually, they had more real flavor than any other part of the meal. Like canned sardines, the little fish were eaten whole. The mopane worms looked like black shriveled licorice sticks to me and indeed they had been pan fried after being rehydrated through boiling (remember, they were purchased in a dried state at the market).

Sharon and Joe said they tasted rather burnt and were not mushy at all but were crispier than expected. Needless to say, the family members were chuckling at our dismay and urging us to taste the worms since they all think the dish is delicious.

The final course of the meal (or what we thought was the final course-more about that later) was a "refreshing" corn meal mush drink. We all tried a little taste of this thick and gritty drink with trepidation since we had been warned about drinking the local water.

We did not wish to appear ungrateful and rude, so everyone accepted a glass with some of the beverage and brought it to our lips. It too had a vaguely sweetish taste though Flater assured us that no sugar or sweetener had been added-it is just corn meal mush and water.

The teenagers in the house and the younger ladies modeled some materials for us that could be used as wraps, skirts, and sarongs, but though they were colorful and pretty, no one bought anything. Grace had brought some postcards from New York City where she resides to share with the family and there was much ooohing and aaahing over those. She left the pictures for them.

The walls of the house were decorated with pictures admired by family members anyway, so the postcards probably ended up on the walls. One surprising picture from a magazine was of Mt Everest. Flater allowed that she enjoyed that one because it looked so cool there. After having spent a day and a half in the broiling African sun, we could surely understand the picture's appeal.

Following the meal, we were given a tour of the fruit tree orchard and the backyard. The mango trees were full of blossoms and there were some hard green fruits on the citrus trees-lemons and oranges chiefly. It appeared that the family would get a good fruit harvest later in the year.

We were invited to take pictures of Flater and her family on the front porch and everyone did. Her whole family was gracious, friendly and apparently quite happy. Sadness has obviously struck this household since deceased family members were

mentioned, but they have maintained good spirits and optimism. Several had jobs like teaching, teacher's aids, and work in the tourist industry.

Besides comfortable furniture, the family had a television set and many CDs were spread on the table with children's movies that we recognized like "The Lion King." Flater told us that the family was working towards enlarging the house and saving extra money towards this end.

Their property is large enough to accept a good-sized addition, but no one begins to build here until they have at least half the expected cost. The one man in the family is Flater's brother-in-law (also employed) who has willing taken in the widows and children who are his wife's family members. All family members old enough are working in some way. Flater herself earns money through her dinners for tourists.

These are family-oriented, industrious and positive folks.

Any reader can certainJy see that this experience could not be gotten at a local zoo and it was moving, enjoyable and very enlightening. We westerners tend to think that people can't be happy if they are not surrounded by every kind of material objects, constant opportunities for entertainment, big shopping centers, and the like. These people taught us a humbling lesson-family is more important than possessions, safety is more important than luxury, and hope is more important than "having."

In case we were getting the idea that there is economic equality in Zimbabwe, we also were invited to Edward's home. He and his wife and daughter live in the same township as Flater and her family, but what a difference. His position with an American tourist company has definitely afforded him a much loftier lifestyle. For one thing, their much larger home houses only the three of them. The furniture is much fancier, the rooms are all painted (the house is concrete block however) and there is much electronic equipment in every room.

The kitchen has modem appliances and there is a satellite dish bringing in television from South Africa. In Edward's garage is his BMW whereas it appears that Flater's family walks. However, the downside of living richer than your neighbors is also evident-Edward's yard is surrounded by a high electric fence and there is an automatic gate that must be activated in order to enter. There is no zoning in the township and Edward's little oasis is surrounded by shacks and much simpler dwellings. The streets are not paved and there are few trees other than the cultivated fruit trees most people have planted.

A further testament to the impoverished conditions in which most Zimbabweans live was a conversation that Sharon had with a lady who worked at the counter of a lunch spot in the Vic Falls airport.

This lady who appeared to be in her early 40s reported that she trying to raise two nephews, her sister having perished of AIDS, on her meager salary - - $30.00 per month! We could only imagine how this responsible woman could manage to feed and house her three-person family

Even further away from Flater's simple dwelling and the airport worker's life was the 100 year old Victoria Falls Hotel, a legacy from the British colonial days. The elegant Edwardian "pile" has a restaurant that is rated among the world's top ten by "National Geographic Traveler" magazine. We saw none of the hotel rooms, but the lobby, bar, restaurant, and terrace were quite tony and comfortable. It was hard to believe that this place is in the same city as Chinotimda township. Several of us were self-indulgent enough to take high tea on the picturesque terrace where the view included the graceful

Victoria Falls Bridge over the Zambezi River. Did we feel like rotten imperialist colonizers? Maybe a little bit, but we did enjoy the excellent teas, watercress sandwiches, scones, clotted cream and strawberry preserves, and the dainty pastries. Delicious! "Waiter, more tea please and have the chap come over and fan us!"

Now-how do we get from Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, to the Capri vi Strip in Namibia and Muduma National Park? Simple, really. We take a bus ride to Kasane, Botswana, where we board a 14-seater plane and fly to an airstrip only about a half-mile walk to the Kwando River, which separates Botswana from Namibia.

Luckily, there are some willing workers to carry our luggage across the deep and hot sands down to our next form of transportation-a covered pontoon boat. Then it's a 2-3 hour boat ride to a spot on the bank where there is a customs "office" through which to enter Namibia. That very official sounding place turned out to be a tent manned by soldiers who carefully checked and stamped all our passports. And then we reboarded the boat and traveled a little further to the "dock" for the Lianshulu Lodge

Namibia has been an independent republic since 1990 and it is faring somewhat better than Zimbabwe. Instead of a British heritage from colonial days, Namibia was the German colony of South-West Africa. South Africa occupied it during World War I and then ran it as a mandate until World War [I after which it annexed the territory. In 1966, the Marxist South-West Africa People's Organization (SWAPO) began a guerilla war for independence that was finally won under a UN mandate in 1990.

At that time, free elections were held and a constitution established.

The country is slightly more than half the size of Alaska but only 1% of its land is arable. Its terrain is mostly high plateau with the Namib Desert along the Atlantic coast and the Kalahari Desert in the east. A tiny panhandle strip of land (the Caprivi Strip) across the top of Botswana gives Namibia a port on the Zambezi and some territory that is much better watered than the majority of the country. The Capri vi Strip is a politically interesting and volatile situation in Namibia. This panhandle section of the country was carved out of Botswanan territory in 1890 in an exchange of land between Germany and Great Britain.

The Germans wanted a port on the Zambezi so they could transport goods to the Indian Ocean through another German colony (Mozambique). The British agreed and got Zanzibar in trade. No thought was given to the fact that much of this area had been ruled for centuries by tribal kings (the Lozi people) and the people wanted to be independent of Germany, Britain and Botswana. The SWAPO uprising co-opted the Caprivian rebel group during the war for independence that ended in 1990 and still today the very small CANO movement is working towards an independent Caprivi Strip.

Angolans slip across the borders to help in the struggle as do Botswanans. But at present, the little finger of land called Caprivi seems firmly attached to the rest of Namibia.

Namibia is rich in diamonds, copper, uranium, gold, lead, tin, lithium, cadmium, zinc, vanadium and natural gas. Unemployment in this country stands at 35%, certainly much

better than Zimbabwe's. Its life expectancy is 40 years with the HIV/AIDS infection rate at 21%; again these are better stats than Zimbabwe's. However, the median age is only 18 so it is clear that AIDS has taken a deadly toll on the middle generation. English is the official language of Namibia and the literacy rate is 84%. Its current population is 1,954,033.

Besides the disease challenge to Namibia's long- term health, the country also faces some severe environmental problems: very limited natural fresh water, increasing desertification, wildlife poaching (even though Namibia was the first country in the world to incorporate the protection of the environment into its constitution) and land degradation. Though 14% of the country is protected, these challenges are not currently being faced and overcome.

Courteney Johnson, our camp director at Linkwasha in Hwange National Park in Zimbabwe is almost as pessimistic about Namibia's future as he is about his own country's fate. He feels that the still Marxist government is not able or willing to face the changes necessary to achieve good economic growth and land management. He is also fearful that as conditions worsen, the government will become more despotic. Even our very positive Namibian guides admitted that democracy is not fully implemented in their country and freedom of speech is not always permitted.

The Kwando River ride to Lianshulu was a marvel of animal viewing. We saw so many creatures and birds that we were all totally elated. Among the many animals we viewed were wart hogs, 150+ elephants, hippos, Cape buffalos, and enough birds with vivid and different colors to fill a kaleidoscope screen Even folks who are not particularly interested in birds had to admit that they became converted to bird watching because the number and variety of birds is so enormous here.

Every color of the rainbow is on the wing, every pattern of colors you can imagine is perched in the sausage trees and the other lovely shrubs and reeds along the riverbanks

Our guides were such experts that they seemed to spot everything and insure that we all had a good chance to see and photograph the creatures.

In addition to our game drives and lectures on Namibian history and politics, we had another opportunity here to meet the local people as we had done in Zimbabwe. We were driven one morning along an unpaved but quite good road from the Lodge past some actual villages to a demonstration village built and manned by the local people for the tourists. We learned during our drive that our definition of a village does not coincide with that of African peoples. They use the term to mean a family compound.

Many of these can be quite large since Africans tend to live in extended family groups. In Namibian "villages," married couples live in a hut with a fence around it. Their unmarried family members live in various out-structures beyond the fencing. If there is more than one married couple in the extended family, each will have its own hut with a fence around it. Children live in huts with others of like ages. Unmarried or widowed adults live in huts of their own without a fence. So it is always obvious who is living in the fenced areas Other structures in the compound may be corrals for livestock, pens for chickens, and privies.

The demonstration village we visited had been built by local people to show tourists how they live without having to allow strangers to wander through their actual homes. We thought it an excellent idea and we enjoyed being able to visit this place without feeling like we were intruding or invading people's privacy.

The local people, including their very talented Shaman, were present in the village to show us how grain is milled, how grains are stored and vermin kept out of the storage areas, how sick people are treated, how food is prepared, how community activities are organized: singing, dancing, playing musical instruments which the people make themselves.

The conclusion of the visit was a chance to purchase handicrafts made by the people of the area: baskets, trays, musical instruments, hats, jewelry, clever little things like keychains, carved wood figurines of animals, and bookmarks. So the local folk had a double way of making some money from the tourists: the tour companies pay a fee per visitor to enter the village and see the demonstrations (that money goes to the whole group) and then sales of handicrafts in which the money goes to the artisan who created the piece

Particularly interesting in this visit was the Shaman's blessing for us travelers. He chose Sharon and Lois out of our group to dance with him while he invoked blessings on all our heads The rhythms were insistent and the dance steps fairly simple, but I wouldn't say that either Lois or Sharon was promoted to assistant Shaman based on their performances. More interesting yet was the discussion that cardiologist Kay had with the Shaman about treatment of diseases (accomplished through an interpreter). To all our surprise, we learned that the Shaman works regularly with Western trained physicians, even to the point of "rounding" with them in the hospital on the people of his district.

When folks are seriously ill, they go to the Western trained physicians and get diagnosed, treated and stabilized.

When they are ready to return home, the Shaman and the physicians discuss the further outpatient care the patient will be receiving from the Shaman including what medicines and herbs he will use. Many of the plants known to the Shaman have properties found in the pharmacy-produced medications, so he can continue to treat heart ailments, pain, infections, gastrointestinal complaints and the like with his own armarnentarium of plant products.

He can even help with some mental problems like postpartum depression which Kay queried him about and learned that he was quite familiar with that problem. The Shaman uses group support, singing, chanting, and dancing in his treatments of people as well. It was obvious to all of us that this person is a very respected and valuable member of any community.

As we were leaving the village, one of our guides, the warm and always smiling Matthew, consulted the Shaman about a problem he was having-palpitations when he lies down to sleep. He was given a piece of wood with the bark intact and told to boil it and drink the ''tea" everyday. If the treatment proved effective, he was to get more of the wood from the Shaman and take it regularly. Unfortunately, we did not stay long enough at Lianshulu to see the results of the medication program.

Another fascinating interaction with the local people occurred when Lois and Vitalis Chipunza discovered that both had been literature teachers. Lois was retired but Vitalis had had to leave teaching to work in the tourist industry because a teacher's salary is too low and too often unpaid to support a family. Many of the guides we met in all the countries were working in tourist service companies because they afford a much better standard of living.

Vital was very sorry that he could not teach any longer because he greatly enjoyed working with young people and sharing his love of the literature and poetry of his country with them. He and Lois excitedly shared stories about teaching techniques as well as discussing various authors and poets, both in English and in tribal languages.

Lois came home with a list of Shona writers and Zimbabwean authors to explore. And guess what? Amazon.com can supply many of the books named by Vitalis in English translations!

Just when we thought that we had really enjoyed some "quality time" with the people of this region, we were treated to yet another really enjoyable interaction: this time with the children and teachers of the Lizauli Community School. Our charming guide was the school secretary, Emeldo Sizela. She introduced us to a second grade class and to a fourth grade class later. We were allowed to wander among the desks and talk to the children who were eager to speak English with us, especially the younger ones.

The older children at first showed the typical shyness of any schoolchildren confronted with strange adults. And we were definitely a "strange" group. However, the timidity vanished as we began to talk with the kids asking about their studies, their books, their families and what they liked to do. We were all surprised at the school texts and workbooks because

they seemed pretty advanced to us. The children were being instructed in English and their own languages and had homework and studies in both. Though tattered and much used, the books covered some amazing subjects to us.

For instance, the history book one young fellow showed us (he was in the 4th grade) covered world history, not just the history of Namibia or Africa. He was reading about the American Civil War, about Chinese history with the complicated dynasties, and even Roman history. There were math problems on the blackboards so the kids are definitely learning their numbers as well. Hygiene and health classes were also obvious in this school. Though the buildings were basic concrete block with no facilities for heat or cooling, the rooms were neat and the students had desks and chairs.

There were separate rooms for the different grades as well. The sanitary facilities were outdoor privies, which though not wonderful were no worse than the others in the little towns and villages. The teachers had their housing in separate huts around the periphery of the classroom buildings and they had separate privies from those of the students The grounds were mostly sand with some attempts at gardening and tree planting.

Like kids anywhere, these children were friendly and outgoing, posing in kung fu positions and dance moves for their pictures to be taken. All wanted their photos taken but they also wanted to get a copy. Unfortunately, no one was shooting Polaroid so we had to promise the kidswewould make themcopiesandsend them backwhen we returned home.

Kay did make a copy for each child she "shot" and sent them to Emeldo who, after a very long time-a couple of months, did finally return the stamped and self- addressed postcard we sent her along with the pictures. So we know that those kids got their portraits.

OnJy later we learned that OAT helps support this school through contributions based on the trip prices ($10.00 per passenger) everyone pays to visit here. So considering that they run many trips through this area, the school must receive a fairly good amount of money from OAT. It was a satisfying feeling to know that there is an organized program for supporting these educational efforts for Namibian children in the area near Lianshulu Lodge.

And who can forget our own language lessons held on the veranda at Lianshulu Edward struggled valiantly to teach us all some basic Setswana so that we could appropriately greet people during our visits as described above. He began with how to address men (Rra) and women (Mma) in a polite fashion. Then he taught us a sort of exchange to use when meeting folks

Remember "Durnela Rra" and "Dumela Mma?" Then we learned how to say the equivalent of "How are you and Fine Thank You." "Le kru" and "kiten." Still sounding familiar? Then how about "thank you." Tumetsi, Rra or Mma. Even if all that has evaporated from your memory, surely you will remember the hilarious conclusion to our lesson and practice session when Lois asked Edward if when she got to know him better it would be polite to greet him as "Michael." By the time this magical safari was over, I think a lot of us felt that we had gotten to know many people well enough to call them "Michael."

Another kind of language lesson we got from Edward had to do more with pronunciation than new words When we first met him, during the orientation talk, he stated we should all feel comfortable about asking questions anytime. He stressed that we could give him a "shot" and he would respond as quickly as possible. He also said he would give us a "shot" whenever he needed our attention. Because we had taken lots of shots before corning to Africa, we wondered why we might need more or why he would need even one.

It finally dawned us that he was saying "shout." Edward, on more than one occasion, would warn us about "snacks" and of course we knew that we should be careful about eating too much because of all the food offered to us It took us a while to realize that he was referring to the kind of "snacks" that slithered on the ground and had venomous ways.

Finally we had a running contest about the correct way to pronounce the lovely horse-like animal with the black and white stripes. We Americans pronounced this fellow's name as though it was written "zeeeebra." Edward constantly corrected us, telling us that the

correct way was "zehbra" We finally told him that we would say "zehbra" when he said "snake" for the reptiles.

Once again, we all discovered that what we had anticipated with the least enthusiasm (the people to people interactions) turned out to be wonderful and heartwarming experiences in every way. We all felt that we understood much more about Africa than we would have known if our experiences had included only game drives and animal sightings. We were all grateful for the opportunity to meet these folks on their own grounds and learn something about their lives and values. But all too soon it was time to leave the friendly folks at Lianshulu Lodge in the Caprivi Strip and move on to Botswana and the Okavanga Delta. We reversed our trip to Namibia-return by boat to the customs tent and the field airstrip (populated this time by ostriches who had to be shooed away) and then a short flight to Vururnba airport in Botswana.

Botswana

This is a happy country to contemplate! Botswana has one of the most vibrant economies in Africa. Its self-adopted symbol is the zebra because the people believe that this creature's coloration embodies their highest ideal of racial unity-black and white together on the same skin working to protect the vital parts of the whole entity. The racial make-up of the country is 7% white, 1% Indian, and 92% black people from several different tribes including the Setswana, Bushmen, and others. The total population stands at 1,561,973. The quite stable government is a parliamentary republic that has worked very well since independence in 1966. The capital of this wonderful country is Gaborone.

Formerly the British protectorate of Bechuanaland, the country has enjoyed 4 decades of enlightened civilian leadership, progressive social policies and significant capital investment. Because the people of this land requested British protection from German

expansionism during the era before World War II, they never felt that they had been "colonized" or exploited. Their independence was granted upon their request, thus they never experienced war or guerilla uprisings. Their governmental model and practices are based on British experience but were not imposed on them. English is the official language and literacy stands at 80%.

Botswana is a landlocked country slightly smaller than Texas and it is rich in diamonds and other minerals. Less than l% of its land is arable because the Kalahari Desert occupies a considerable portion of its area Even that area not directly in the Kalahari is covered in the sands of the desert up to 300 feet thick. It is a predominantly flat country with some gentle tablelands. Its richest environmental treasure is the magnificent Okavanga Delta-a hugely important wetland area that sustains wonderful numbers and varieties of birds and animals as well as human beings. The river comes down from Angola through Namibia and creates the enormous delta in the territory of Botswana. This has proven to be a major source of hard currency for the government and people because it promotes considerable tourism that the country probably would notattract without it.

Problems that Botswana faces, along with the rest of Southern Africa, are a high HIV/AIDs infection rate of 37% and a life expectancy of only 30 years. The median age in Botswana is only 19. Economic problems include an unemployment rate of 40% and 47% of people living below the poverty line. Environmental problems include further desertification, overgrazing, & very limited fresh water supplies. The most pressing political/environmental issue is a proposed hydroelectric dam on the Okavanga River in Namibia that would probably destroy the Delta and rob Botswana of much of its water supply for the whole country and its wildlife.

This crisis is currently ongoing and it is hoped that the issue can be resolved fairly. The pity is that the proposed dam would supply only enough electricity for between 10 and 15 thousand Namibian inhabitants, hardly a sufficient number to risk ruining Botswana's economy and destroying its major water supply, its wildlife heritage and the lives of its people.

Our drive from Vurumba International airport, an open field airstrip where the trees along the southern end provide the only "passenger lounge," was a wonder! We were in open range rovers under a very intense sun but the scenes that spread out before us as soon as we left the airstrip caused any sense of discomfort to immediately evaporate. Our first view of sweeping rangelands around a waterhole occurred here. The magnificence of the Okavanga Delta was right in front of us.

Thousands of Cape Buffalo, as many blue gnus (or wildebeest), zebras, baboons, impala, red lechwes, greater kudu, sable antelope, giraffe, tsessebe antelope, warthogs, waterbucks, 12 species of very large birds and ducks like Egyptian geese, wattle cranes, egrets, whistling ducks, and countless more unnamable smaller birds. All of us were truly awed by the splendor of the scene. It looked like the first morning of the creation of the animal kingdom!

After this thrilling and camera-smoking drive into the Delta country, we arrived at Vundumtiki Lodge, crowded along the banks of a swampy area where we would enjoy many closer views of lots of the creatures we had come to "visit."

This lodge, like the Namibian Lianshulu, was quite comfortable and staffed with friendly people who are mostly natives of this area. This campsite was more open than the first and we had the pleasure of several views from our tent cabins as well as the walkways to and from the main dining/lounge area.

We had two interesting human-to-human experiences in this setting. The first was getting to know the people who lived in the Delta area as had their ancestors for centuries. We took a "mokoro" boat ride with these men who knew the watery trails out into the swamps and rivers of the delta as well as we know our own city streets. These expert polers took us out for water level views of the riverine environment. It was fascinating to see the world through grasses and reeds taller than even the man standing in the canoe.

These craft have been made by these peoples over the years and are like dugout canoes in other parts of the world. They are made by burning a log (on the inside until the proper depth for seating is reached and then shaping the craft on its exterior for stability and maneuverability). These logs were usually of ebony, sausage trees, or amarula trees

We saw tiny painted frogs and mighty hippos guarding a deep pool area in a very aggressive manner. We saw the amazing Quelea birds who fly in such close formations that you can hear the buzz of their wings beating and see the pattern they create against the sky, for all the world like a cellophane package shaping and reshaping itself flawlessly and smoothly. We floated through grasses that looked like faded and tatty peacock feathers. The blue sky smoldered over our heads but the cool of the water beneath the mokoros kept us comfortable.

The other experience proved to be quite emotionally moving in a happy way rather than in a sobering or humbling way as they had been in Vic Falls and Namibia. On our last day of game drives, animal watching and photography, the hosts and guides had advised us to bring jackets because we were going to be out into the night as the trackers tried to show us some of the animals in the darkness. In fact, that part of the plan did not work out very well since we did not see much in the red lights shining in front and on the sides of the rovers.

However, as it seemed that we would give up and head home, we began to pick out firelight in the distance and that seemed peculiar. We had never seen that much light around Vundumtiki campsite before this. However, it wasn't long until we realized that all the African staff was awaiting us within the encircling fires singing a welcoming song.

The scene was just beautiful-starlit skies, a magnificent baobab tree under which the chairs were arranged, the beautiful clear voices of the Africans. We were told that this was a typical "picnic" for welcoming guests here. The food was prepared and eaten al fresco. There was much drumming, dancing and singing which we were strongly encouraged to join and we all did. Kathy McClain even joined the African ladies in their bamboo-link skirts to show she could rattle along with the best of them.

Our meal was typical as well including the ever-present delicacy of mopane worms. Now those of us who had been too timid to try them in Victoria Falls had to bite the bullet (or the worm) and give them a try. Certainly they are not a favorite, but also they are not nearly as awful as they sound. We also had pumpkin, spinach, peanut butter, grits, sorghum, pulled beef and chicken. For dessert we were offered "jackal berries" which turned out to be marshmallows for toasting over the open fire pit at the center of our picnic area. They were delicious and much preferred to the mopane worms.

Food was not the most memorable part of the evening however. It was the warmth and friendliness of the Botswanans sharing their traditions with us that made for an unforgettable experience. Of course, the glory of the setting under the baobab tree with the stars glittering among its gnarled and slender branches was pretty special too! And on the drive back to Vundumtiki we got another surprise-a night view of an African porcupine swimming! Even our guides Shadrack and Ernest said they had never seen a porcupine take a swim!

Then it was time to drive back to Vurumba airport under a blazing sun and really searing temperatures. Most of us either shaded ourselves under our shirt-jackets and dipped ourselves in sunscreen or we were pretty scorched by the time we got to the plane. We flew back to Kasane Airport for about an hour. And then we boarded a bus for the ride to Chobe National Park and the Baobab Lodge.

Such a beautiful setting too! The dining hall, bar, & lounge combination sat on a bluff overlooking the Chobe Plains about 300 feet below and stretching far off into the horizon back to Namibia.

The Chobe River (the Kwando after a sharp bend-so really the same river) banks were green and covered on both sides with large herds of animals like impala, Cape buffalo, zebras, and hippos in the river. We were told that were we here in rainy season the whole scene before us would be underwater to about 3-4 feet. The animals then must seek higher ground but that period of flood is what sustains the life in this area.

The lodge host and hostess here were a married couple who were on their last two weeks in Africa. After having spent the last 15 years working here, they had decided to go home to England and try their luck there.

One afternoon they arranged to have some ladies from the villages around the Lodge visit with us and teach us some of their handicraft skills-chiefly basket making. The three ladies told us how they used various things to dye the straw in various colors everything from plant leaves to tin cans boiled in water. Then they demonstrated basic patterns in the baskets themselves.

Afterwards, they asked us to try. What a lesson in how difficult something so simple looking can actually be. Lisa tried her hand and so did John as did Grace and Jill, but none of their baskets turned out to look anything like those of the ladies. One of them had also brought some small figurines of local animals carved by her uncle. So the wares were plentiful and we all bought something to thank the ladies for their time and their patience.

During our game drives in Chobe we were all stunned by its beauty and the variety of its animals, but then we were horrified to learn that anthrax had broken out in the park. This terrible disease may have a devastating impact on the wildlife here and then of course it will take a human toll as well since tourists may be shunted away from the park because of fears of infection and because the animals will have been decimated. We ourselves were very dismayed to see a dead lion, a dead elephant and many dead birds.

Though we were becoming inured to the "circle of life" concept of predator and prey, we were not prepared to see carcasses of animals that had died from disease. Of course, if other animals feed on these carcasses, the disease will continue to spread. Park resources are slim as well so even though we saw some rangers and veterinarians working in the park, we wondered how that disease could be stemmed in such a widespread area. This part of our safari demonstrated a very sad and sobering fact of African life among the animals.

At the bar/dining room/lounge building we had a nightly experience that was very special. Each evening one or two genet cats came to the lights shining up from the ground level against the wall where we all eagerly looked down to see their cat-like faces looking up at us expectantly waiting. Our hostess did confess to feeding them leftovers on most evenings. Genet cats are not felines at all though they look very like ocelots, with spotted fur and lithe bodies. They are an unrelated species with no near relatives.

The staff at Chobe were also eager to impart some of their customs to us too. So we had an interesting final party there. First they served us a wonderful picnic under the stars and then they shared songs and dances of "greeting" and "good bye." By now, we were all losing our initial reluctance to participate in dancing and singing and so we needed no prodding at all when we were invited to join the smiling staff for a last dance together.

Even though we knew that this part of our stay with them was also part of their employment obligations, these happy people always seemed to enjoy these dances and songfests. And I am sure that our awkward, but good natured, attempts to follow the rhythms and the steps afforded them some amusement as well.

And then it was back to Zimbabwe for our last safari experience at Hwange National Park. We left Baobab Lodge in a bus and drove to Victoria Falls Airport again where we now boarded three small planes for the flight to the Park. The flights lasted about 50 minutes and everyone was a little tense because these were tiny planes indeed (5 passengers). We landed again at an open field airstrip in the middle of nowhere but this time there was a passenger terminal at the foot of the strip and a privy to one side.

The passenger terminal consisted of 4 poles supporting a corrugated tin roof to provide shade while folks awaited the planes or the range rovers. We saw new animals as we were driven to Linkwasha Lodge, such as the wonderful Kori bustard bird with the "furry" neck which he expands to attract the females.

He struts about and shows off that wonderful wrap of thick gray feathers. However, the "ladies" were ostentatiously ignoring him that day.

Linkwasha was run a little differently from the other camps in that the staff was all white and the guides and trackers were black. The host and hostesses at the other three lodges were white, but the rest of the staff was black. We do not know what the reason for this ethnic difference might have been, but it was noticeable. However, we remembered also that the man in training to replace our hosts at Chobe was a black Botswanan. So maybe the company (Wilderness Safaris) that provides staff for these camps is training anyone who wants to work with them in the tourist industry.

Hwange certainly provided us with terrific animal viewing as had the other places and we enjoyed seeing elephants who behaved differently-more aggressive here and suspicious of humans whenever there were young ones in the herds. We also saw jackals and steenboks (smallest antelope in the park) and even a cheetah in the nighttime. We never did see a rhino here even though that is supposed to be one of the big five that tourists can see.

On one of our walks with Courteney, a modern white hunter who leads photographers and tourists as well as little men with big guns who want to kill something for sport, we were reminded once again that we were not in a zoo. He carried his rifle with bullets that could stop an elephant and he told us the story of a friend of his who died earlier in the year. He too was a guide and was leading a small group of hunters when he made a fatal mistake. He led his group up a ravine and only at the end realized that there was a herd of elephants at the top of the v-shaped formation.

The elephants obviously did not appreciate feeling trapped and charged the group. Courtenay’s friend was able to haul his hunters up the sides of the ravine to safety before he was gored fatally. Now the "brave" group of hunters were on their own in the bush with no idea where they were or how to survive! They did manage to stay alive but spent two miserable frightening nights alone before they stumbled onto a railroad track and followed it to safety. Now Courteney says he tells all his groups including ones like ours what to do if something happens to him during a walk. It was a bit off-putting, but in reality we were out in the wilds where the animals are not tame or even used to humans. The basic rule is to stay put at night and to head east towards the railroad in this park during the day.

So much for that kind of animal-human interaction. Another type we saw in Hwange was the anti-poaching activity. Because Zimbabwe is in such economic chaos and because so many people are hungry, there is considerable poaching in the park. While we were there,

poachers who had killed a giraffe were caught and we happened to see them in custody as we were riding by to visit the school in this area. There were four rather bedraggledlooking, handcuffed fellows sitting with their backs against a corrugated tin wall of the shelter for the "anti-poaching squad." We were told that the giraffe meat would be distributed in the nearby village (no point in wasting the meat when the creature was already dead) and that the captured men would be turned over to the local authorities for trial and punishment which usually entailed jail sentences of several months. It was hard to feel condemnation for the men since we knew that they were probably hungry and had hungry families besides. Mugabe's policies are not just anti-white! They are anti- human beings!

Before visiting the Ngamo School, we stopped at the water pumping station for the village as well as the school. We were shown how the water is pumped into 5 gallon plastic buckets by the women and then carried on their heads back to their homes.

Then we were all invited to try our hands at pumping. The long pipe which had to be pushed down and then pulled back up in an arc of about 4 feet was about 4 inches in diameter and difficult to grasp effectively. Even worse was the amount of resistance to the pulling and pushing motions necessary to draw the water. None of us women was very successful at this process and probably would have to go thirsty until we built up more muscles. The African ladies laughed at our pitiful efforts. Then when the full buckets were placed on our heads and we tried to walk, they really enjoyed the scene. We were not better at hauling the water than we had been at pumping it. These African ladies are not only clever at handicrafts, they are really quite strong physically.

The Ngamo School was on the elementary level with grades 1 through 7 for about 215 students. There were 5 young teachers and an assistant principal who gave us our guided tour and introduced us into the classrooms. The experience was very similar to

that we had had in Namibia except that the older of these children were encouraged to ask us questions as well as answering ours about their studies.

The most painful question they asked was about the HIV/AIDS infection rate in the USA. They were astounded at the low figure we gave them. They also asked questions about black people in the USA and were much surprised about those answers as wellthey almost seemed to doubt that black Americans can be mayors, senators, athletes, judges and businessmen in the USA. So we don't know what they are being taught about democracy and social equality in America. They were clearly stunned that the black American population is such a large percentage of our total too.

OAT also supports this school but the parents still must pay something for their children to attend. The children are supposed to wear uniforms to school as well but many are not able to afford them. So they are permitted to attend as long as their clothes are neat and clean. We were all dismayed to learn that the children eat no lunch at school even though their school day is long. They have a breakfast and then return home in the afternoon after all school activities are finished before they get to eat again. Needless to say, we saw no obese children in this school. The physical layout of the school was similar to the one in Namibia except that the teacher housing looked a little better than was available to Namibian teachers. These children did not seem as eager to have their photos taken as the Namibian kids had been.

After we left the school, we were taken to the little township where these children lived. We visited one village compound which was obviously a cut above most. This family home was fenced around the periphery rather than only the married couple housing being fenced. There were several building for different functions- cooking, dining, visiting, sleeping, hygiene and privies, storage houses for grains and other foodstuffs, corrals for livestock during the night hours, and even a little graveyard just beyond the fence. The place was neat with the yard swept clean. Men were working on the thatching for the living room/dining room combination building and it looked comfortable-for the men. We learned that the bench seating built into the walls of the mud hut were only for the men. The women must spread grass mats on the floor for their seating. It didn't look comfortable at all.

But then we had already learned that women are definitely second-class citizens in Africa and particularly in Zimbabwe. Men make the decisions for the women all their lives- they move from fathers and brothers to their husbands. If they are widowed, then the husband's brother takes them in and is their guide. Early in the trip, somehow Kay and Lois got into a conversation/discussion with Edward about abortion and learned quickly that African men in general do not believe that women have the right to terminate a pregnancy regardless of its circumstance or the woman's own economic or health situation. The discussion lasted the whole of the trip and I do not think that Edward budged in his beliefs nor did we. We also learned from Edward that though he seems to care for his wife very much, he definitely does not consider her his equal. He makes the family decisions and he feels free to travel without her on his free time and was surprised when we suggested that she might like to go along. He thinks her place is at home with their 1ittle girl.

One of the most valuable things about travel in different cultures is learning that our own worldviews are not the only ones, nor are they accepted by everyone else. Africans have very different values from ours and though we do not accept them all, we could learn from them about responsibilities for family members that we often seem to have forgotten. We could also learn how not to be so wasteful-it was humbling to see that the Africans do not throw things away but recycle and reuse them in many innovative ways. Of course, necessity is the mother of conservation as well as invention. Their sunny smiles bespeak a basic optimism in outlook and they definitely demonstrate good senses of humor. The folks we met seemed to be concerned for other people and to be eager to help when they can. None of these things could we have learned from a visit to our local zoos!

SouthAfrica

Since we were not "on safari" while in breathtakingly beautiful Cape Town, it does not seem appropriate to write about our experiences there only as part of the "not just a visit to the zoo" situation. So it is being given its own separate part of this chronicle. The history of South Africa, both remote and modem, is pretty well known to most people, particularly its emergence from the apartheid repression of the past.

The Dutch were the first European colonizers of the end of the African continent but their traditional rival, Great Britain, constantly harried the colony and actually seized the Cape of Good Hope area in 1806. After much skirmishing, emigration by the Boers into more northern parts of what is now South Africa, more subjection of the African tribes, resistance to the British encroachments by the Boers, and finally victory by the British in the Boer War of 1899-1902, the Union of South Africa was formed. The Union was originally part of the British Commonwealth of Nations, but its stubborn refusal to end apartheid resulted in its withdrawal/expulsion from the Commonwealth.

At last, that wretched policy was ended through black nationalist uprisings and the miracle of Nelson Mandela's enlightened and forgiving leadership in the 1990s. The country now operates under black majority rule as a republic with its capital in Pretoria.

Foreign investment has returned with this change inpolitical philosophy and reality and there is considerable hope that the economy can grow to sustain both the black and white citizens at a good standard of living. The country as a whole is slightly more than twice the size of Texas and it has a population of 42,718,530 with a median age of 25 and a life expectancy of 44 years. HIV/AIDs is a desperate problem here as it is all over Southern Africa with an infection rate of 22%. The official languages are English and Afrikaans reflecting the dual influences of the Dutch and the British in this area of the world.

Literacy is 86% and both languages are taught in all schools. However, there are also nine tribal languages which are considered "official" including Ndebele, Pedi, Sotho, Swazi, and Tsonga.

The ethnic breakdown in South Africa is 75.2% black, 13.6% white, 8.6% colored, and 2.6% Indian. Over 68% of the total population declares itself to be Christian while 2% are Muslim and 2% are Hindus. This is clearly a diverse country which has finally acknowledged that fact and is trying to insure a good and free life for all its citizens regardless of ethnic and religious backgrounds. The hideous injustices to the black majority under apartheid form an ever-present background in this area, but everywhere in Cape Town we could see a Mandelan optimism and fervor for reform and a determination to make things right for all the citizens. We hope that this Mandela sunshine permeates the whole of South Africa.

In truth, we had no particular expectations about Cape Town and so we were tremendously wowed at its great beauty. Table Mountain and the dazzling coast were among the most beautiful places any of us had ever seen. It was reminiscent of Sydney and its dazzling harbor in many ways. So, the post trip visit here was not a let down from the highs of safari at all. It was an awesome experience of its own.

We actually suffered a little "culture shock" when we reached Cape Town. After having been in the bush and visited with Africans who live very different lives from our own, it was a little surprising to find ourselves in very civilized and "European" Cape Town.

While our tents on safari had been quite comfy and not a bit like "roughing it," to find ourselves in a 4-star hotel right across a lovely park from the crashing waves of the Atlantic Ocean was a bit startling.

The Winchester Mansions Hotel really does have an excellent location and it was very comfortable indeed! Everyone enjoyed staying there very much though it did seem strange to be able to come and go from room to room and downstairs at night without being accompanied by a guide with a shotgun!

Rob Byram was our OAT guide for this portion of the trip and he was an agreeable and informative fellow indeed. He was of Huguenot/English background and seemed the very best kind of example of a new South African outlook. He was ashamed of his country's apartheid past and is hopeful that things will continually progress economically and socially for all the citizens of his country. He is making every attempt to raise his daughter to be colorblind and he is joining her in her studies of Afrikaans so that he can speak both of the major official languages.

Of our group of 12 persons on safari, 9 of us had signed up for the post-trip so we usually went about in two vans-one for 4 and the other for 5. Sometimes we went to the same places at the same times and at other times we were taken at different times. But it all worked out very well and we all managed to stay in touch.

Cape Town has a population of 4 million people (Johannesburg has 9 million) but somehow it does not have a big, crowded city atmosphere. The national park that stretches for miles along the Atlantic coast with many wild inhabitants, from baboons to bontebok and ostriches and seabirds reinforces this feeling. There is so much uninhabited and pristine land with trees and shrubs, etc., that it is hard to believe that you are among 4 million folks. The city is spread out which also helps it feel less like a big population center

Cape Town has been an important place for 400 years as the halfway point between Europe and the Spice Islands where ships could restock and refill their fresh water supplies on the long voyages to and from the East. No wonder the British and the Dutch fought over

it so often as their respective East India Companies kept vying for trade supremacy. This dual influence has left its imprint on the town even up to the present- in architecture styles, languages, religions, ethnic heritage of the white population, traditions and history. But the glorious setting of the city overwhelms all that history as the visitor gasps at the Atlantic Coastline and the beautiful sweeps of scenery. It is just an uncommonly lovely place.

It is quite a thrill to stand at the Cape of Good Hope, but a little disappointing when you learn that the cape is not the southernmost tip of the continent of Africa However, when you think about the fabled stories of the sailors who had to get round the Cape on their long voyages between Europe and Asia, you can understand their relief when this milestone was passed. It is a place of very rough seas as the three Oceans begin to join here: the Atlantic, Pacific and Southern. Those were hardy and brave fellows It was chilly when we were there and it must have been really frightful during winter passages.

Another wonderful sight at the seashore was the Jackass Penguin Colony that is native to this part of Africa. The creatures are protected here but they live right under the lights of the streets for human habitation on the bluffs above their beaches. This next to the smallest penguin in the world (only the Fairy Penguins of New Zealand are smaller) has been renamed (better for his sense of dignity for sure) the African penguin He was originally given the previous name because his "conversation" sounds just like donkey braying. About 4000 breeding pairs call this spot home and we were able to see some of the young ones in their downy, unseaworthy, coats. These penguins, like the Magallanic at the end of the South American continents, dig holes in the sand for their nests and the babies stay in those holes for a good length of time. This protects them from skuas and other predatory birds and animals.

Like all penguins, these fellows wear their tuxedos with an air and waddle with gravity between sea and nests. They bray pretty constantly so the colony is very noisy. So much guano around also creates a rather "high" odor. But the grave little chaps are such fun to watch.

The calving and cavorting right whales at the coast were also a wonderful sight the Cape Towners and visitors alike enjoy. Many of the enormous mammals congregate in the Atlantic waters here in September and it is very easy to watch them from shore. No need to go out in boats unless a closer view is wanted because they and their activities are very clear from the beach. Rob assured us that we had watched at least one calving though we never saw the baby whale. We did however see the strange movements, thrashing and rolling, that the mother indulged in while giving birth. We also viewed whales who seemed to romancing a bit as they swam to and fro in plain sight.

The same baboons we had watched on safari with such pleasure also live in Cape Town-the Chacma baboons. Here, they are more inured to people and sit along the roadways through the national park with their hands out for food treats. Of course, visitors are asked not to feed them since they can become quite aggressive and they do have formidable incisors! It is also not good for them to eat human food, but it is pretty clear that people ignore the advice because the baboons sit there patiently waiting. There are ostriches in the park too as well as a small antelope we had not seen on safari-the bontebok.

The most interesting creature we saw was the rock hyrax that looks very like a marmot or woodchuck. However, he is totally unrelated to these creatures-he is instead the closest (and indeed only near) relative of the elephant! That's really hard to believe when you are looking at this furry, rodent-like creature snuffling along the ground eating roots and berries.

Rob also told us we were quite lucky to see a pair of African oystercatchers because they have become quite rare. He himself was absolutely delighted to find them on the shore. We also took a boat ride to a "seal island" where we saw a huge colony of all male fur sea lions. It was the most quiet seal colony any of us had ever seen-there was no honking or barking at all. The fellows just lay about and jockeyed for better positions on the rocks, but never really "talked" to one another. We learned that the overpopulation of fur sea lions is a problem here too as it is in Antarctica and Sub-Antarctica.

Too few whales translates to too much food for other creatures like the seals and sea lions and that means too many births and too many survivors of infancy. Whales are making a comeback, albeit slowly, so perhaps these populations of seals and fur sea lions will finally begin to decline to more appropriate numbers. The females are all out at sea at this time of year, so the fellows really have no reason to honk and fight.

Some of the historical places we visited were Government House where the South African President lives, the Company Gardens which are at least 350 years old since they were

started by the Dutch East India Company, the Cecil Rhodes Memorial, the Lion Battery where the big guns that used to protect the harbor are located, Chapman's Scenic Drive, Signal Hill and Cape Town University. We could see the two prisons where Nelson Mandela was held for all those years-Robbens Island and Paulsmore Prison.

We visited a high-end shopping center with fancy shops and restaurants and we even had a delicious lamb supper with Moreg, a retired white nurse anesthetist, who invited us into her home She and her family are obviously upper middle class and her home was quite comfortable and in a lovely neighborhood. A friend of hers served as her host and we had a wonderful evening in her home. Disturbingly, she told us that she had retired from nursing because of the ever-present threat of HIV/AIDs and she had just burned out.

Perhaps all this was in preparation for our visit to "New Rest"-an "informal" settlement of black people which was really quite shockingly different from what we had seen in other portions of the city. Rob and our guide, a late 30s resident of the township, both assured us that "New Rest" was one of the most progressive of these shanty towns where so many blacks are forced to live because they cannot afford the prices in the city. These townships are way out on the outskirts and getting into the city for jobs is a big, big problem for these people who want to work. There is no reliable city transportation that goes out as far as the settlements to pick folks up to bring them to the jobs. No wonder the unemployment rate is 40% with 80% of that figure being among black folks.

Though New Rest is truly a shanty town (meaning that the housing is made of cardboard, tin, bits and pieces of wood, abandoned railway cars, containers like those loaded onto ships, derelict buses and even cotton tents), it was incredibly neat and clean. The streets are mostly paved, there are sanitary facilities at the end of each block (these are emptied daily), people have electricity and amazing appliances in these shacks, there are little businesses operating in the settlement-hair salons, repair shops, soup kitchens, day care

centers. Seven thousand people reside in New Rest and the inhabitants themselves have voted to close the area to any further migrants.

Our optimistic yet clear-eyed guide explained how the improvements are coming into settlements like this one. A twelve person council is elected, with 6 of the representatives coming from the township and six appointed by the city of Cape Town. These people decide on schedules for changes like paving the roads, placing pipes of running water to the shanties, helping with HIV/AIDs education, establishing local clinics and everything that is required for a little town to operate. Our guide has served on New Rest's council for three years so she is very familiar with how things go. Of course, the limiting factor is money and improvements can only be made when there is sufficient funding. The goal for such townships as these is to insure that there is electricity and water available to the shanties but that eventually the shacks will be replaced by concrete block houses paid for partially by the government and partially by the folks themselves.

At present, the project that is currently underway is laying the water pipes and paving all the settlement's streets. When a block is to be improved, the shanties are taken down piece by piece and put aside. The inhabitants move temporarily into tents provided by the township while the roadwork is ongoing. When it is finished, the shacks are reassembled right they were and the folks move back in Then another block of shacks is taken down and the same process goes on. Our guide told us that this project is about one-third complete. In the meantime, efforts are underway to help each household get its money towards building the concrete block homes. Completion of that project is several years away however

The shanties receive electricity by their owners purchasing cards which are inserted into outlets in the shacks and then the power flows. Each household gets 60 watts free from the government and this is enough to cook and keep one light on for a month. However,

most folks are able to purchase cards with greater than 60 watts on them. We visited a couple of shacks which had TVs running, stereos on the shelves, refrigerators, and other appliances.

One of the businesses that some entrepreneurs have begun is providing jitney services to their fellow townsfolk who need rides to get into town for jobs there. They pay a fare to the taxi-man and are then able to get to their jobs. The entrepreneur who somehow got enough money to buy the minivan then makes a living as well. Some ladies in the town run the day care center so that other ladies can leave their children in safe hands while they go to work. The daycare center ladies are paid small salaries though many of them actually volunteer when the paying positions are already taken.

The people we met in the township were generally friendly and the children were eager to be with us. They walked alongside us, with the little ones grasping our hands and asking to be "swung about" & "lifted high." The kids in the daycare center were also outgoing for the most part and eager to show off some of their projects. We found it rather humbling and amazing to find these people friendly rather than resentful and hostile to our white skins.

In addition to its fabulous scenery, coastline, mountains, gardens, national parks, rustic buildings and fascinating cultural life, Cape Town itself has another inconceivable claim to the world's attention-all by itself Cape Town and its immediate environs constitute the 6th Floral Kingdom. Not sure what that means? Neither were we until we got there.

The other 5 floral kingdoms are as follows: 1) the Boreal, 2) the Neotropical, 3) the Paleo tropical, 4) the Patagonian, and 5) the Australian. All these other kingdoms are comprised of huge sections of the world's landmasses; for instance, it's clear that the Australian covers the whole island continent, the Patagonian covers the whole of South America below the level of Buenos Aires, the Boreal is comprised of the upper parts of the Northern Hemisphere, Europe and Asia. You get the idea-the plant life in each of these areas is present in very large parts of the world. This means that the flora in each kingdom is similar to itself but totally distinct from that in the other kingdoms. Now consider again what I said in the previous paragraph: Cape Town and its immediate environs constitute a whole separate kingdom with native plant life completely dissimilar to the flora in any of the other 5 kingdoms! Wow!

The Dutch applied the name Fainboss to the flora of this area and it is composed of 4 plant types: reeds, protea, bulbs, and heath. Atop Table Mountain alone, there are over 2000 species of different plants, all in one of these categories. That distinctive landmark is 1088 meters rough and very dry on top, yet it can support all these plants! Undoubtedly the most impressive and amazing of these four categories is the protea; its name is derived from the Greek god Proteus who could change his appearance at will. These plants can look startlingly different from one another, but their commonality is found in enormous flowers, many as big as dinner plates, of dazzling flamboyance and complexity.

When we first saw an arrangement of protea flowers, all of us thought we were looking at artificial flowers of wild imagination. How shocked we were to find that they were indeed real and oh so beautiful and showy. These flowers grow nowhere else in the world naturally. Besides being of such impressive size, the protea flowers were incredibly intricate and different. Color variety was enormous from pale pastel pinks and yellows to vivid reds and oranges. There were also smaller versions of these amazing blossoms, with equally complex patterns.

We also discovered that flowers we are familiar with, such as geraniums and bird of paradise, are actually natives of the 6th Floral Kingdom rather than Europe and Hawaii respectively as we had mistakenly believed before. Actually, we even saw bird of paradise plants that were predominantly blue rather than the red-orange we know. Of course, the red ones are also here in plenty as well. It is true that many flowers from Europe and Asia will also thrive here so we did see many familiar varieties.

What an incredible thing this 6th Floral Kingdom is-such a tiny part of the world to have produced native flora unlike anything else on the entire earth. How strange and miraculous Mother Nature and our wonderful Earth are!

Vineyards are also thriving in South Africa in general and Cape Town in particular. We had a wine tasting in the Boschendal section of the city area and visited Stellenbosch, a wonderful little Dutch-flavored town where we also saw great vineyards and enjoyed a meal at a wonderful little restaurant where lamb cooked 14-18 hours was the specialty- La Petit Ferme. We stayed a couple of nights in a B & B called the Dorphuis which had been a collection of farm houses and buildings, now brought together as the hotel. It was quite comfortable and also had good food for us. By now we are all really wishing that we had been more careful about the "snacks."

We explored the little town of Stellenbosch on our last day and were happy to find that one of the world's most famous Indian restaurants, the Bukhara, was represented here. We quickly made the decision to have our lunch there and Rob joined us. The food was delicious and not at all over-rated. We enjoyed some different appetizers from those we know and thought we might even get jelebies for dessert, but no such luck. However, the meal was wonderful.

Our final activity in Cape Town before beginning the dreaded flights back home was the visit to the Cheetah Outreach Facility. Even though cheetahs are the fastest land animal, they are shy, relatively unaggressive and easily chased off their kills by other larger, more violent predators such as lion, leopard and hyena. Therefore, cheetahs are growing more and more endangered. Of course habitat destruction and human pressure does not help either. Because this storied and beautiful cat is being threatened, several groups in all of Africa have started trying to save it. This particular place rescues orphaned kittens and takes them to raise. If they have the potential, they are reintroduced into wild places with the hope they can make it on their own. If they are not rehabilitation material, they are sent to zoos and other breeding programs in the hope that the gene pool can be enlarged and some of the offspring can eventually be brought back to their natural habitats.

The other facet of this particular program is the training of Anatolian Shepherd dogs to work with the farmers to chase cheetahs away from human areas and livestock so that they do not feel compelled to destroy the cats. Though the program has had only limited application thus far, it is showing sufficient promise to encourage the Cheetah Rescue Group to continue it. More puppies are being purchased and will go through the training.

As part of its fund raising, the Group allows visitors to have a "close encounter of the feline kind" with the babies on campus at a pretty stiff fee. But needless to say, we all thought it was well worth the price $50.00 per person.

OATWAYS

The five kittens we saw were 4 and 5 months old. Two were destined for zoos in the USA, two for European zoos, and one for a breeding program in the area. The cuddly-looking kittens were not interested in our strokes or cooing sounds. They totally ignored us. But they were so lovely to touch with their wiry guard hairs and soft undercoat. Their little "tear-stained" faces are so beautiful and they look just like the adults with those distinctive black lines in their faces. We were instructed exactly how to approach the kittens, where to touch them (back & sides) and where not to touch (anywhere else), asked to wash our hands with a sterilizing solution, dip our shoes in an antiseptic footbath, and then we were shown the open door to go inside the enclosure. They let four people in at a time. It was a super experience and the perfect end for our truly incredible African safari and trip.

Though many of us had traveled with Overseas Adventure Travel before this safari, the organization, carefully thought out extras, comfortable lodges, friendly and knowledgeable personnel and just sheer fun of this trip exceeded all our expectations and made us "completely satisfied" (to steal an advertising slogan from Saturn Cars)! All four of the wilderness lodges we stayed in cater only to OAT tours. They are leased from Wilderness Safari company based in South Africa but have been built to OAT's own specifications.

Therefore, they appeal strongly to American tastes and provide comfort and amenities that Americans appreciate and expect, even in wilderness settings. The beds are comfortable, there are writing desks & chairs, the bathrooms are completely outfitted with American style facilities and all but one of the lodges provided both indoor and outdoor showers.

Meals were sumptuous and there were frequent snacks as well. The meals were different at each lodge and each provided something a little exotic along with fare that was generally palatable to American tastes. Sometimes the exotic item or dish would include local fruits and vegetables and sometimes it would be something completely alien-like the mopane worms. Always,though, there were foods that anyone, no matter how picky, could enjoy.

OAT provides an open bar at each lodge with a good variety of beverages including soft and alcoholic drinks. And as mentioned before, we all learned quickly to anticipate and delight in the sundowner tradition-driving to some lovely and remote spot to have a beverage of choice, some snacks, and plenty of toasts to the dying sun which offered spectacular views in the dust-laden African skies. Of course there were birds and animals offering their own homages to the dwindling daylight and we would watch them as well. It is a lovely tradition and no one wanted to miss them.

The very civilized greetings we received after torrid day game drives at each lodge were also much enjoyed on exiting the range rover, a friendly staffer would hand each person a cold wet cloth for wiping the face and neck clean of the ever-present dust. At night, we would be met with an aperitif or other cool drink. With all this food and drink, it is no wonderful we all felt spoiled and stuffed. There was never really a time to feel hungry and yet we did manage to put away almost everything offered to us. I guess climbing in and out of range rovers and bumping along on the hillocky roads required a lot of our energies. We simply weren't paying enough attention the "snack" warnings.

The ease of travel for us was also a terrific benefit. Though Edward maintained a look of calm and control at all times, we know that he was working constantly, making sure that everything went as planned and smoothly. So we were never aware of any glitches, such as late arriving transportation or mix-ups in any arrangements. Boarding airplanes required nothing of us other than getting on when ask to do so. Edward handled all the ticketing and luggage without ever getting us involved. No safari with 100 bearers could have run any more efficiently. Yet he never seemed flustered or worried. He always had time for us and our many questions.

We used many forms of transportation on the trip which also added to the variety and adventure. While in Victoria Falls the first time, we even had the opportunity to ride elephants through old farm acreage. The ride lasted about an hour which was plenty since we were sitting astride the very broad-backed creatures. But it was wonderful sitting so high, watching birds fly around us and seeing the terrain unfold around us in such stately fashion. Getting on and off the beasts was facilitated by a high platform we climbed so that we were at the same level as the elephant's back. Even so, it was hard to be graceful

or to look experienced in mounting and dismounting our elephants. We rode two tourists behind the induna (mahout in African parlance) and learned a considerable amount about elephants as we rode. The induna's sharp eyes also picked out and identified all the many birds and creatures we saw during the adventure. It was a fun ride and one we would not have wanted to miss.

Another amenity which cannot be ignored because it was so much appreciated by all of us was the free and daily laundry service offered by OAT at all the camps and in Cape Town too. That benefit cannot be over-praised! When we would come from our twice- daily game drives with dusty and sweaty clothes, it was so wonderful to know that we would have clean clothes awaiting us everyday. Other OAT trips we have taken did not offer this particular help, but it was particularly appreciated on this kind of trip.

OAT also makes sure that you have opportunities to learn formally as well as informally on the game drives and walks. At every camp we had at least one formal lecture on some aspect of the country we were visiting. Even at the Ilala Lodge in Victoria Falls, we had a talk from a very articulate young man named Washington on David Livingstone's impact on Africa and his adventures there. In Namibia Matthew talked to us about the history and culture of his country. Wehby and our camp host discussed with us the geology and geography of Botswana and the Okavanga Delta. An amazing thing we learned in that lecture was that the famous Rift Valley actually extends from Kenya and Tanzania down into Botswana and Zimbabwe. And in Zimbabwe at the Linkwasha Camp, Honest gave us the history of the park system past and present.

The Botswana guides were eager to teach us how to interpret the call of the "go away bird", the gray louri. During the day, he calls out "Work harder, Botswana" and during the evening, he urges, "Drink lager, drink lager!" Sure enough, when we listened to the ubiquitous fellow, his call definitely sounded like those phrases. During the trip, we made up other translations as well (not to be repeated here).

Our wonderful guides and lecturers even gave us recipes we could use when we returned home, if we could find the ingredients. They were especially anxious that we know how to cook the "guinea fowl" we saw everywhere. The locals used to call these birds "bush chickens" because they could hunt them for their meals. When the land was given over to the park system, they began calling them "government chickens" because it is now illegal to hunt them. However, in the interest of furthering our educations, they insisted on providing this recipe.

Guinea Fowl Soup

Clean the chicken of all feathers and remove the innards

Put the cleaned chicken to a large pot of boiling water

Add a tire

Boil for five hours

Throw away the chicken and eat the tire!

Apparently those bush chickens are pretty tough customers!

No "great white hunter" or oil-rich emir could have had more pleasure in his adventures than we did on our OAT safari We were pampered, educated, entertained, wined and dined, guarded from our own inexperience and foolishness, and yet introduced to the marvelous South African environment. What a way to travel and what a place to visit!! It was impossible to think of anything OAT could have done to make the trip any better and our trip evaluations certainly reflect that belief (except for the awful transatlantic travel on British Airways).

EVENTSTHATDON’THAPPENATAZOO

Several things did happen on this trip that never (or very rarely) happen during a zoo visit. Some of them were definitely negatives and others were quite interesting and unforgettable. The first one happened right at the beginning of the trip in Victoria Falls. During the first night of our stay, two of our number ended up at the local hospital because of food poisoning or a lightning quick case of Mugabe's Revenge. Most of the rest of us did know that Edward had to get Grace and Ben to the doctor because of intractable vomiting and diarrhea.

Several others of us had suffered with the symptoms but not so severely that they required the doctor visit. Kathy and Lisa were quite sick and unable to go on the helicopter ride the next morning. Only a couple of us felt no symptoms at all. Of course, it is never possible to pinpoint the exact cause of the "epidemic" but many of us believed that it was the water they served at the Ilala Lodge.

Since two of us did not drink the water at all even though it was supposedly bottled and we were the two who did not become ill, we tend to believe that it was the table water. Kathy and John asked at one point at the bar as we had all been instructed to do for bottled water and they were given unsealed bottles like the ones provided at the supper table. Ben and Grace and the other sick folks recovered rapidly and there was no more sickness during the trip. Perhaps the Ilala Lodge personnel didn't see the sense in paying for bottled water and just served the guests the same water they drank. At any rate, none of us blamed the mopane worms or the food we had eaten during the family visit in Chinotimda.

It is unusual to stargaze at a local zoo because usually there is too much light pollution and most zoos are not open at night anyway. The animals are finally given their privacy at night. However, in these wonderfully remote campsites where there is absolutely no ambient light, we had an amazing morning of stargazing at Vundumtiki Lodge. We arose quite early in the morning (about 4:30 a.m.) and joined Edward on his front porch and stared awestruck into the southern skies. There's no question that the skies below the equator look different from the heavens in the northern hemisphere. Different constellations, another angle on the Milky Way which is quite vivid in the Africa skies, different stars and excellent clarity. We were pleased to see one old friend in the sky, however, there was Orion the Hunter on the western horizon at about 30 degrees.

Finally, we were able to see the "circle of life" demonstrated much more clearly than you can see it in a Zoo. Since most animals are predator or prey or both, depending on the circumstances, there are plenty of opportunities to see carcasses and carrion eaters on the wing. But we also learned that some forms of life depend on death on the plains even though they themselves do not eat the flesh of other animals. On our walk with Courteney, he showed us a zebra skull with the teeth intact. He could not say just how long the zebra had been dead but certainly the bones were bleached and dry.

However, there is a horsefly (aptly enough, the Zebra Horsefly) which depends on finding zebra skulls so that the female can lay her eggs on the teeth in the skull. Apparently the creatures then feed on the teeth until they can hatch out. Other insects depend on old bones to nurture their young. It is clear that nothing is wasted-when an animal dies all its parts are utilized by something else to continue its life. Even the final decomposition of the bones enriches the sandy soil so that plants can grow to nourish other life.

Kay and I were fascinated to actually see a "kill" while at Vundumtiki. We were walking along one of the paths between the tent-cabins (in the daylight) when we spotted a chartreuse spider, no bigger than a nickel, moving down the pathway. He stood out against the bark-color of the path very vividly and that was definitely to his disadvantage. Suddenly

out of nowhere came a sphecid wasp who ambushed the spider by jumping on his back and there ensued a titanic battle. At one point it appeared that the spider had chased the wasp off, but immediately thereafter the wasp attacked again and within a nanosecond paralyzed the spider and wrapped him up in a cocoon-like shroud and carried him triumphantly down the pathway, no doubt to feed its children. Kay, always with her camera on ready, caught the whole struggle digitally.

Of course, many of the things described above before we reached this section also do not usually occur on visits to the zoo. But I wanted to include this material because I am still on a quest to show how different an actual African safari is from a zoo trip. And if all the foregoing topics have not convinced everyone yet, perhaps the fact that our safari was followed by a post-trip visit to South Africa will persuade them that Africa is well worth a visit whether you go on safari or not!

CONCLUSION

If you have read all the foregoing and I have done a decent job of describing our adventures, you now know why a safari in Africa is NOT "just a visit to a zoo" no matter how natural and extensive the zoo might be. There are so many experiences, sights, learning opportunities, pleasures, and just sheer fun that cannot be duplicated at a zoo but that are enjoyed every minute of every day in Africa. If you love animals, enjoy biology and ecology, treasure the environment and the whole of creation, nothing will substitute for a trip to Africa!

There is much detail that I have omitted because this diary is already too long, but the broad outlines of the trip should serve to convince anyone to get themselves to their travel agent and book a trip as soon as possible. I strongly recommend contacting Overseas Adventure Travel because they provide a quality trip at a reasonable price. Just don't think about the long flights between here and there-go anyway! You'11 forget all about the flight discomforts as soon as you see the first wild animal whose path you cross.

Africa is a marvelous place and it's no wonder that scientists believe that humankind began its evolution here. What an Eden it is. However, as we all are too well aware, the serpent has been in the Garden and done his mischief: HIV/AIDs, dictatorships, famine, apartheid, exploitation and colonialism, and lasting poverty. Despite all that grimness,