Tourism

A friend recently mailed me an article from the Washington Post about tourism in South Africa and asked what I thought. It mainly talked about the big attractions that South Africa has to offer, "Big cats, Zulus and big cities make South African tourism boom," alluding to ample wildlife, culture and cities like Cape Town, Johannesburg and Durban.
It's true: there are plenty of opportunities to view wildlife. But at private game lodges or national parks because the big animals are fenced-in. An escaped elephant or hippopotamus is worthy of news coverage and many people in my village have never seen one of the big five (lion, leopard, water buffalo, elephant, and rhinoceros) although all of these animals are 20 km from the village.
It's also true that the Rainbow nation offers diverse and interesting cultural displays including a wide variety of food, dances, songs and clothing. But the opportunities to see these cultural displays are usually at 'cultural villages' like Lesedi Culture Village and Shakaland. Traditional culture is slowly fading out of the rural villages as villagers move away and adopt more and more Western culture into their own.
Cape Town is beautiful. Johannesburg is big and brash and offers a glimpse into the country's history. Durban offers a mile of beaches and tons of delicious Indian food.
Tourism is about to become the largest economic sector in South Africa and it will continue to grow as the 2010 soccer world cup approaches. But, the exceptions are large. Few South Africans are able to enjoy what their country offers or aware of its assets. Few tourists visit or know how the majority of South Africans live (in a township or former homeland with very little money). In tourism (like most of South African life) there are two South Africas, the one that the world sees that is dynamic and moving into the 21st century and every where else.

Ultimate Power

I, who flinch when a labrador retreiver runs to me for an ear scratch, have discovered the ultimate power. I can make any dog in my village stop in its tracks. How? Simple. Yell, "Fucek!" and the dog stops (sometimes it even puts its tail between its legs and sulks). Fucek is Afrikaans for piss off, or well, you know.

Children have this power too. Imagine: kids playing in the street. I run by and they yell, "Lethabo! Lethabo!" A dog starts barking and chasing me and they yell, "Fucek! Fucek!" and surround the dog. The bewildered dog tries to shrink back into the ground.

Ah, the power of swearing in a foreign language.

Zambia 'The Real Africa'

After forgetting/losing my credit card in my village, talking to many South African Airways representatives (much of it on hold and being told "thanks for your patience!"), I successfully boarded a plane with Alicia, Kelsey, Becca, and Becca's friend from home, Romaira. We flew from Johannesburg over our villages (you can see them from the plane, they're the reddish/brown patches that glitter surrounded by bush) to Livingstone, Zambia. Zambia calls itself 'The Real Africa' and it was much more like the Africa I imagined from the States then what I see in South Africa.
The airport had two gates: domestic and international. We decided that ANY airport in the US is bigger. Kelsey's sister-in-law met us at the airport and whisked us away to her lodge, Natural Mystic. Above is a view of the walk to our chalets.
From left, Romaira, Kelsey, me, Alicia, Becca in the Natural Mystic chariot.
The first day, we spent exploring the Zambian side of Victoria Falls. The mist/spray from the falls was so strong that it was raining all over the bridges and overlooks! It was really pretty and I kept thinking, "I could volunteer here! I'm sure they need my help!"
Outside of the official Falls park, is a market. The vendors really like to talk and would call you into their shop and wouldn't really let you go until you either bought something or promised to come back. I wasn't so good at not talking, and by the end of the day the vendors knew my name and would call to me! To the left is me (talking) and babboons cleaning each other on the roof.

After the market, we walked to the up-scale hotels. At the Zambezi Sun there are zebras and giraffe that walk around. Alicia got a bit too close for my comfort. . .
but I'm more than comfortable with the hippo!


The next day we went whitewater rafting on the Zambezi river. I don't have photographic evidence but it was a lot of fun. The Zambezi is ranked as one of the top ten rafting locals in the world, and it's always changing because of the differing water levels with the seasons. My favorite part was when we would be at the top of wave and looking straight across to another wave eight feet high! Becca was the only one that fell out of the raft. She took a 'short' swim, before Kelsey saved her. Kelsey, Becca, and I took the option of climing out of the raft, up a cliff, and then jumping off of it. They took the short one (5 m), and I took the high one (6 m). Really scary, and then really fun. You should try it.


Over the next couple of days, we split up. Kelsey and I did a two-day trip to Choebe National Park in Botswana. There were so many elephants!







We were lucky enough to see a pair of lionesses right before sunset. To the left are quilla. There were thousands of them and they would dart through the air forming clouds and following each other in schooling patterns. They were beautiful.

After the sunset, we had to hurry back to camp because night drives are prohibited within the park. On our way back, we saw several Land Cruisers (full of tourists) staring into the bushes and taking lots of pictures. The road was surrounded by a huge herd of water buffalo and a group of seven lions had killed a baby! We stopped to watch the lions feed, and a male buffalo charged the lions. After making sure the buffalo wouldn't kill them, the lions started eating again. We watched until the park rangers pulled up behind us in a massive army truck carrying AK47s and quickly returned to camp.
Kelsey showing off our lavish pit toilet at camp.
The next day we did another game drive in the morning, and saw another lioness. I saw a hyena (briefly) too. To the left are babboons. They were searching for elephant poop so they could look for bugs and seeds in it.

In the afternoon we went on a boat cruise in the park. We saw more elephants, and watched them swim across the river. They would walk/swim and then lift their trunks out of the water when they wanted air. The baby to the left is less than three weeks old. You can tell because the edges of its ears and trunk are still pink. It's feeding from its mom, the udder is in between the front legs.
After Choebe, we returned to the lodge for a couple of chill days. There's nothing quite like relaxing next to the Zambezi river, being seranaded by hippos, reading, and eating delicious food.
Our last morning at the lodge. From left, Alicia, Kelsey, and me in front of the Zambezi.