#6 Journey Through Africa – A Break from All the Driving

It’s been a while since the last time I wrote (and especially since the last time that I had a chance to post something), and I must admit that things have improved... at least a bit. We’ve finally had a bit of a break from driving and sitting on the truck so that’s a huge improvement. Not per se that we’re interacting more with “Africa” and the people here, but at least we get to enjoy a bit of sunshine from outside of the big tin box we call our Tokolosh.

We relaxed at Antelope Park for a day an a half and aside for the amazing lion walks it was just great to lie around all day basking in the sun and doing nothing. The only downfall was that the nights were freezing cold. (Apologies if this is a repeat of what I last wrote – but I can no longer remember.) The last night that we were there the temperature dropped to -2C. I was ecstatic because Julita decided to upgrade to a dorm room so I scored her sleeping-bag which was fantastic since I think I would have turned into an icicle in my +15C sleeping-bag.
The only downfall was that Tokolosh was out of order. The drive shaft was broken and if not for Eeyore being there as well, we would have been stuck at Antelope Park for a while. Fortunately Eeyore gave us a lift to Bulowaya. We left bright and early in the morning and arrived at our next hostel prior to 8am. However the ride was freezing cold. Eeyore, unlike Tokolosh has tarps on the side for windows. That means that it’s not as insulated and in the sub-freezing temperatures the ride was awfully cold.
After checking into our night’s accommodations we were met by Ian Harmon and his African Mumbo trucks. He would be our guide for the Rhino Walk which turned into one of the highlights so far. We were all expecting just a trip out to a park, a short walk with some rhinos and that’s it. However, thanks to Ian, or Stretch as we called him (since he was super tall), the day became amazing. He truly is one of the best guides that you can ever hope for. For those of you still in Uni, or even for those who are now done with it, you’ll know how much of a difference it makes if the prof is passionate about what he/she teaches. Even a subject that one doesn’t like can become fantastic if taught by a good prof. Well, Ian was definitively one of the most passionate people I’ve ever met. He truly loves his work and you know it immediately.

Ian is fight generation Zimbabwean (white) and 13th generation in Africa. He first took us to some caves with bushman paintings dating 25,000 years back. He said that there are only about 3000 true bushman left in the world. They are a race that is awfully close to extinction. These little men/people (most of them only about 4 feet tall) live in the African bush. They have no concept of possessions or ownership. They live day to day, harvesting only what they can eat in one day and hunting in the same manner. Whatever they kill has to be eaten that day and a bushman is known to eat up to 20kg of meat in one sitting... (eat, eat, eat, eat, sleep and eat some more). They store the excess fat in their backside enabling them to go longer without food.

From the bushman area we headed to the Rhinos. There are about 15,000 white rhinos in Africa and only under 600 black rhinos. In the Rhodes Metopas National Park (only about 106 sq km) they capture or kill 23 poachers a month. All of Africa has laws passed that allow you to shoot to kill any poacher on sight. Over the last 4 years only one rhino has been killed by the poachers, yet the risk they take is worth to them. A rhino horn goes for about $30,000-$50,000 US per kilogram and an average horn weighs somewhere between 5-7 kg. Considering that minimum wage in Zimbabwe is $10 US a month, even the $1000-$2000 that the poacher gets for his horn will make him set for a lifetime.
The largest horn every found on a rhino was 196cm long. The horns are generally exported to Asia where they are seen as an aphrodisiac. They are supposed to pass on the same capabilities as those possessed by a rhino and considering a rhinos equipment weighs 15kg and the copulation is never shorter than 30 minutes, the desire to duplicate this is understandable, although slightly unrealistic. Ian was great. He was filled with information. He’d be able to tell us which of the 86 white rhinos and 32 black rhinos crossed the road based on an examination of the dung that they left behind. We would pull over, he would hop out, look at the dung, say that it’s Swaziland III and that he walked by here two hours ago. Talk about knowing ones endangered faeces, I mean species. Knowing rhinos by name is nothing unusual especially when you take into consideration that out of the thousands of hippos in the Zambezi river, Ian talked to us about Mad Max, Psycho Pill and a couple other ones - all of which have unique personalities that differentiate them from all the other hippos.

But yeah... being two meters away from a 3 tone beast that can charge at you at 55km per hour definitively makes your heart race a bit faster. But it was phenomenal and loved every minute of it.

Some other miscelaneous animal facts:

• Ian got chased in water by a hippo at 23km per hour for over 20 km and on land at 45km pe hour.
• Rhinos and turn on a dime and reach their full speed within 3 seconds.
• Crocodiles only need to eat once in 1.5 years. They'll eat more often if they can get food, but don't have to.
• Crocs can also slow down their heartrate to 1 beat per minute.

From the Rhino walk we headed to the Zimbabwean and Zambian border, crossed over and headed to Lake Kariba for a couple days of houseboating. So as I said, it was great to be off the truck, but we were still secluded away from Africa eating, sleeping, drinking and sun-bathing. Sort of like the houseboats on Lake Sushwap in BC but a bit bigger. Two full days of relaxation and sunshine. Can't complain.

We came back to Livingstone last night. Today heading for a "Booze Cruise" - sunset cruise on the Zambezi where all the drinks are included. Tomorrow mornign most of us are heading white water rafting on the most difficult commercially rafter river in the world (Grade 5). The day afterwards I'm going sky diving and then on the 13th taking a micro-light flight over Victoria Falls. So hopefully I'll have some really exitiing stuff to write about next time.

Kasia