Ingonyama Nengw’ Enamabala

We are in the heart of Africa – Zimbabwe, Zambia, and South Africa. The people are some of the kindest we’ve ever met. Along with our driver, this was how we were greeted at the Victoria Falls airport.

We began this past week in a city that is Oakland times two for crime, Johannesburg, an average of 52 murders per day. It’s more likely you will be murdered than killed in a car crash. Here are some other statistics.

Other than that, it’s a great city.

For three days we didn’t venture far out of our compound except for a full day in Pilansburg Reserve to see the other wild animals.

The nests hanging from the tree are from a yellow weaver bird. Ben, our guide, said the male builds the nest for the female as she watches the building. After it is complete, if she doesn’t like the nest, she will tear it up and make the male build a better one before she lays the eggs. Hmmm….So, men with building projects going on for your ladies and we change our minds while its in progress, remember, it could be worse, right?

The next few days were spent in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe. To see the falls we decided a helicopter was the best way. This is a very low flow time and everyone is praying for the rains to begin in November. It reminded us of home, when we were having our years of drought except they have these amazing falls and we don’t. If you can, please pray for good rains to come soon for these people…and animals.

Another great way to see the falls is to swim at the edge.

The people in Zimbabwe seem to be happy people. They are excited and want to work to feed their families. The government is horrible. The corruption on a scale of 1 to 10 is a 13, as one person described. And many do not have time or want to take the time to get into the politics. Their currency is really monopoly money. It’s not worth anything. The entrepreneurs are selling it to the tourists as souvenirs. We like to think of it as helping a family to buy food. Jay’s extreme kindness really comes out when talking to the locals. Hey, George, what investments can we do with this?

Except a one inch stack of these bills won’t even buy a loaf of bread. Many of the locals barter with their goods instead of using currency, or they use US dollars.

When we are visiting, the men seem to chat more than the women. They love to tell us their names to see if, first, we can say it back, and two, if we can remember. I am trying really hard knowing how important it is for them to here you say their names. Some will tell us their tribal name, then how it is translated in English. Some of the names are: one of our drivers name was Quiet. He didn’t know why except he was very quiet as a child, however he loves to talk to everyone now. We have met two named Happy and Happiness. Another is named Newone (pronounced New One) He was the first son after five daughters. There was a young man selling art pieces named Tomatoes. Our servers at dinner one night were Darlington and Precious. Precious said he was named that because his parents thought that of him when he was born. And another named Innocent.

We took a walk across the Zimbabwe-Zambia bridge in 100 degrees (it’s a dry heat) one late morning. A couple of Zimbabwe young men began walking with us and having wonderful conversations. They stayed with us about twenty minutes sharing about their children, how the Chinese government is stripping the country of their natural resources, and how corrupt the Zimbabwe government is. A wonderful visit. We kept wondering why us? I thought maybe they liked talking to an old woman from America. And then it happened. They pulled out their jewelry they were wanting us to buy. One was trying to convince Jay, another trying to convince me. The guy talking to me finally left, then the one with Jay was hitting us hard with the stories. So, difficult, however when you buy from one, five more, at least, come follow you with their goods and stories. That part is hard. These guys could give lessons to those who sell timeshares. We fed five families that day because of their stories as they sold us stuff we don’t even need. Some are quite good artists in their medium of work as well. They all appear to just be trying to survive.

The Zimbabwe sunsets are gorgeous, especially cruising along the Zimbeze river seeing the hippos peek out a bit in the water and giraffes and elephants come for an evening drink.

These guys were our greeters when we were walking to the boat.

One day we had a safari on the Chobe River. This is a point like four corners in the US. Four countries meet, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Botswana, and Namibia. We stayed on the Botswana side and saw more animals than you could imagine. Our guide, Leroy, said lucky days like that are rare. Lions mating fifteen yards from us (Not showing that picture) and elephants playing in the water were the highlights.

Our next few days were actually staying in the bush, Hwange Reserve. Hwange is the park where Cecil, the lion, was shot illegally using a bow by an American dentist, and received so much media attention in 2015. (We won’t share the full details of the story on this blog, however ask us one of these days when we get home, we’ll share a bit with you.)

For those three days and nights I would like to call it camping in the bush since we didn’t have air conditioning or internet, and there were big spiders however Jay just stares at me when I say that.

Our guide, Jullian Brookstein, is a guide’s guide. He is fourth generation Zimbabwe and loves the bush, I think, more than anyone could. His reputation in Victoria Falls is one who’s knowledge is enormous. He told us he knew from a small boy that this was what he wanted to do and kept that as his goal in life. Jullian shared what is required to have the guide license he has. His license number is 156. Very few finish, what I imagine as a Navy Seal regiment, to acquire this particular license.

Here’s our small world story – Jullian is the best friend, since childhood, of the brother-in-law of our friend, Susan, who I had the privilege of presiding over her marriage to Ed this past June.

Jullian’s wife, Ashley, put our wonderful itinerary together while in this area.

Every animal from birds in the air to crocodiles and anything else in the water, Jullian can give so many details of their way of living. Also, he could name every bush and tree as well. Just a small piece to that “Bootcamp/Navy Seal” Zimbabwe guide training. If any of you are entertaining an idea of safari, this is your guide, Jullian Brookstein Safaris. We have his contact information to share or you can find him on the internet as well.

Not only were we on drives, he let us go on foot during our safari. Believe me, I was right behind him with that great big gun he carried for a “just in case” situation. Jay had a good laugh watching me step in the exact same place he stepped. My goal was to not see a snake since he described cobra, boas, and yes, an occasional black mambo had been seen. We met that goal too….no snakes.

Here are a few things saw: An elephant around five years old had survived an attack from the hyenas. They had taken its trunk and tail. As Jullian described in detail, this is the hyenas normal way of trying to take a little one down.

Prior to our last hour out on safari, we saw more male lions than female which is very unusual. Nine different males, two of those, we saw twice, and six female. The three males in the next picture, Jullian described as a coalition. They are three and four years old and if everything goes well for them in life, they will stay together and manage a pride or two together. Handsome fellows for sure and very loving toward each other.

Here is another gorgeous guy we spotted on the side of the road.

This pond, fed by a solar pump, had animals coming and going all morning. This is also where we saw the elephant without its trunk.

Thank goodness we don’t get termites like this. These termite hills are everywhere. Quite amazing, I think. They all point to the west.

A couple pictures captured while on foot.

This week’s title is from the Lion King song and means “lions and tigers” in Zulu, a South African language. There aren’t tigers in our area, however we saw and learned so much more we can’t begin to put it all in the blog. Thankfully, we have stories to share for when we get home.

This past ten days have felt like a paraphrasing of the Genesis one story beginning with verse three, “Then God said, ‘Let there be light’, and there was light. God saw the light was good. God called the light, day, and the dark, night.”

….”Then God said, ‘Let the earth produce vegetation: seed bearing plants and fruit trees according to its kind’. And so it was and God saw it was good.”

….”Then God said, ‘Let the water swarm with living creatures, and let the birds fly above the earth across the expanse sky’. And God saw it was good. So God blessed them and said be fruitful and multiply…It was the fifth day. Then God said, ‘Let the earth produce living creatures according to its kind: livestock, creatures that crawl, and the wildlife of the earth according to their kind’. So God made the wildlife of the earth according to its kind, the creatures that crawl on the ground, and saw that it was good…..God saw all that he had made and it was good.”

Amen!

Blessings, Jay and Kelly