The Spiders Keep to Themselves... The Monkeys Do Not.

This blog is a tribute to all of the wonderful, and not so wonderful animals I have seen and experienced while in the KwaZulu Natal province here in South Africa.

Spiders are a common thing around here. They range from small enough to build a web between the hairs on your arm to being as big as your palm. They are so common that people don't even flinch anymore when they look above them and see a hand-sized spider chilling next to a cluster of eggs. The staff usually takes care of it the next morning... usually. Spiders are also commonly found in the bathrooms and showers. I don't recall having a single shower without at least five spiders in the corners, and I think we have moved it up to about a dozen now. But everyone leaves them where they are, because then they can eat all the moths. In fact, on several occasions, we have actually captured ants and small bugs to feed the bigger spiders. In the end though, if you don't go looking for the spiders, they won't go looking for you.

These little monkeys are a menace. They may look cute and soft and innocent, but believe me when I tell you they're not. We have had these monkeys around campus from day one, and they have been stealing food since then too. If you leave your window open and leave the room, you are sure to have at least four monkeys come in, steal all your food, leave muddy paw prints and maybe a little urine on your bed. The monkeys are usually afraid of the males around campus, but they will often lunge at the females just for sport. Once, when I was keeping two monkeys out of our Chalet, I made a kicking motion at one of the terrors. He backed maybe a step away, and then lunged for me, but not fully. We did this back and forth until I finally grabbed a chair and he took off. 

One of the monkeys, who is missing a tail and was therefore named "No Tail" or "Nubs" is the worst. He is incredibly smart, and will be so daring to come up behind you and try to take the fruit right out of your hand! He is so silent too that you don't even notice he is in the kitchen until several sugar packets or yogurt tubs are taken. Many of the students bought or made sling shots to try and hit the monkeys with... but most have been unsuccessful. Either way, the monkeys are not the cute cuddlies they look like. Trust me.

 These are the zebra that live in the game reserve right by campus. Many times they come out when people go on runs in the early morning or late evening. They are beautiful animals.

These were the first monkeys we saw on our safari. They used their tails to balance on the telephone wires!

You lookin' at me? 

Leopards are extremely rare and very sneaky animals, so this was an amazing find.

A leopard...? Where?

This guy was injured and was running all across the road right in front of our cars.

The elephants were in mating season... so naturally this guy was a bit grumpy. He charged several of the vehicles, and one of the braver guides eventually had to drive toward the elephant to scare him off the road. I unfortunately wasn't in that car.

All the animals found in the reserve.

Ugliest creature... seriously. Sorry Pumba.

One of the many mother and baby pairs we saw. This baby giraffe was adorable.

Trivia: Only three animals walk with the same foreleg and hind leg. The giraffe is one and the camel is the other... anyone know the third?

A mom and maybe a six week old baby white rhino. This was extremely lucky especially in the heavy rain. The baby didn't even have a horn gowing yet.

Crickey! Look'a that beauty!

Angry, wet, male buffalo who likely had just been overthrown in his herd.

Some of the 14,054 impala.

Wildebeest aren't the brightest of animals. These are more young ones with a mom or dad or older cousin I suppose.

This lion cub completed my Big 5 viewing experience. Thank you Karissa Thomas for spotting it! He was one of maybe three to five 6-month-old lion cubs hanging out right by the perimeter of the reserve.

These birds were grounded because of all the rain. "Wha'do you wanna do?" "I dunno... wha'do you wanna do?"

Baby zebra and mum.

Wild Dog.

Do you think this guy is resting or dead...? I'm going with the former.

Overall, it has been a very fun experience getting to see al these animals, and I am going to miss the entertainment the monkeys brought to campus life. One thing is for sure... they certainly kept you on your toes!



Ecabazini

Yesterday began our week of safari and a Zulu experience. However, since the group is so large we have to divide into two and take turns at each. My group yesterday and today got to go to Ecabazini, which was an area that was set up like a traditional Zulu homestead, and live like thousands of Zulus still live today.
Upon our arrival, we were given the run down of what each hut was for, and who in the family lived in each. We learned about the importance and ranking of each hut, starting with the granny's at the top, then the first wife's  down and to the left, the second wife's to the right, and so on down the hill for however many wives one had. I stayed in the hut where the first wife and her children would have stayed. So I guess you could say I was feeling pretty important. Our hut, however, had a hobbit door that in Zulu literally translated into 'to pray', since you had to practically kneel in order to enter. So, I'm not so sure I chose the right hut by the end of the trip. It also had no windows, so it was very dark inside. Overall it was a surprisingly cozy place to sleep.
Our Zulu experience continued further down the hill where they had built an activities area for tourist groups like ours. There, we got to see how Zulu women make straw mats and how they "cleaned" the floors with cow dung after many muddy feet trampled through. After one girl showed us all how, our guide asked the group who would like to give this cleaning method a try. I figured, who wouldn't want to get poop all over their hand in an act of cleaning? So, naturally, I volunteered first. It was an extremely awkward sensation, but was surprisingly odorless. 50 Rand was on the line if I was able to beat her in the clearing process, which involved sliding one's hand up in a straight line and then cupping it so you clear the excess dung on top, leaving a nice smooth surface at the end. I didn't win. However, the process was still worth it, and I don't regret getting the excrement on my hands, bracelets, and under my nails. And, in the end it cleaned the floors quite well! So mom, whenever you need the floors cleaned at home, I have a new technique for you that I think will work nicely.
After exploring for a while, we had dinner back on the dung floor, where I sat with a small group on the straw mats on the floor. Our meal started with delicious steak and Zulu bread, which was the best meat I've had since being here, and ended with some more traditional foods (like Poto and Samp and beans) which I had already learned to love from service sites. We ate by oil lamplight, and then watched the traditionally dressed Zulus perform various traditional dances. Of course, when we were given the opportunity to dance as well, I took it.
This morning was a little less filled with new experiences, although when watching the early morning scenery, I saw two of the cows trying to mate. The scenery elsewhere suddenly became very interesting. I also got to milk one of the cows, which was a stranger sensation than its excrement the day before. Needless to say, it was an interesting couple of days, and I was not too upset about getting back to AE and getting in a long nap and shower before our three days of safari in the wild starting tomorrow!

Eyes

     Well, service sites are over already. Fourteen days have past faster than I can process, and we now only have one week left in the beautiful KwaZulu Natal province before heading off to Cape Town. I hope that I never forget the things I have seen and experienced this past month.

     For some reason I fell inclined to journal about this one girl, Sane, who is thirteen and came to the Drop-in Centre daily. I don’t exactly know what it is, but she had an odd draw to her that made me want to get to know her better. However, because of the language barrier, I was too shy to start up conversations with her before this week. I really only started to talk to her two days ago, and it was clear that there was a lot going on in her life, and her mind. It seems strange because a lot of our interaction just consisted of us looking at each other, trying to read the other’s expression. Because of this, I feel like I learned more about her from just her eyes than from anything else.

     Eyes. The windows to the soul. Sane’s eyes would laugh with her, or become nonchalant when her cocky tom-boy attitude kicked in. She would look at you with the most intense gaze of trying to read you through your eyes, and suddenly we were the same age. With a blink, they were gone, and she was just a thirteen-year-old kid dancing to some music again. Her eyes were slightly yellowed, which made me wonder if she were on ARV medication, which is so so common in this area. Parents with HIV won’t take the proper precautions when they end up getting pregnant, so the baby is born HIV positive too. Maybe that is the reason for the underlying sadness and pain and obvious burden just behind the surface of those deep brown eyes.

     The biggest regret I have is not asking the questions to find out why her eyes looked at me the way they did. I was too reserved to ask her who she was, and for that I am very sorry… though sorry doesn’t seem to make up for the fact that I could have made a friend, that I could have shared my story, that I might have been able to make a difference and share some hope in this clearly troubled youth’s life.

     I walked away yesterday, and for some reason she and I just kept silent eye contact. It was as if we both knew everything and nothing about the other at the same time. A chill ran over me despite the record heat, as I acknowledged the truth we both likely understood: I may never look into those beautiful, deep eyes again. I only pray that God protects them.