17th August 2006
What first people?
Went to Tsodilo Hills and then on to Lekhubu Island both very important sites, archeologically and spiritually for the Bushmen. And true to form they really left an impression on me. Apart from the fact that it was just before the full moon and it was so bright it was like someone had left a halogen light on and were shining straight in my face all night. Apart from that, Tsodilo was all it promised to be. Very enlightening, and I don't mean the moon.
There was one panel with paintings of some very tall men with long heads and very elongated penises. Now normally this would be hilarious but actually they are supposed to be depictions of the shaman when he is in a trance and healing the members of the clan. So I took all the photos my digital camera could hold and when I returned to giraffe pan I showed them to my grandma.
Well, it wasn't the reaction I expected. She said most of these paintings were from a time when man and animals were the same, part bird, etc. Was this a verbal record passed down through the millennia of a knowledge of evolution? But it doesn't stop there, when we mentioned that anthropologists had suggested it was an image of shaman in trance and the penis was supposed to represent the power emanating from his sacral or primal chakra, she then went on to say that as far as she can remember for our clan the trance dance is fairly new. In what way new I asked. Well, she says when she was a little girl our people did not dance the trance dance; the songs for healing were the eland song.
This was beginning to sound like a good story. She carried on to say that we don't sing the same songs either, in fact the songs we sing are from the macoco to the north, when Dabe came through here the other day, he taught them the new dove song. Wait says I, how can we have a new dove song surely these songs are and always will be the same. Apparently not. The songs and the tunes are fluid, they evolve, and what is more they appear to come from the north. Received and then passed on to the next tribe, clan or language group. So what does this mean grandma? Well she says, Tsodilo hills isn't just a place of rock paintings, they are where all our songs come from. They were composed in the foothills. This is why you have such strange dreams there; they are the ancients trying to communicate with you to tell you the new songs.
So the actual first people are actually the people who painted the rock paintings a long time ago. Yes she says but they moved away when my grandma's grandma was a little girl. They don't live there any more. Moved away. But they are still composed in the dreams and passed on to us. And another thing, and this goes back to the time when we lived amongst the animals, all the songs are based on animals. From the way they move, the way they forage, their individual personalities, even the gathering song played on the humble mouth bow is named after a bird.
So then, who are these first people of the Kalahari? This fragmented group of people who seem to have very little in common, in some cases the different dialects are so different that they cannot understand each other because the language is different. It seems they are all united by songs from the north, passed on by travellers to dialects to the south.
I don't know but it seems to me that if they really did speak with one voice, as was the original intention of the First People Of The Kalahari, they would get what they want. Through sheer volume. Singing the same 'song' as it were. But as things stand right now they are being fragmented by Survival International, The FPK has become just for the few who live in CKGR, which whether they win or lose this test case will not affect the rest at all. It will have been a waste of resources, but hey, when you have spent this much you can't back down now can you Survival International?
Kahn/a.
23rd July 2006
My Family and other animals…...
My brother came for visit the other day, one of those important visits. The last time I saw him I didn't know who he was any more, and it scared me. We have always been close but with us both needing to get educated, we drifted apart, geographically and spiritually you may say. We had not "hung out" for nigh on ten years, without the interference of spouses or various other family and friends.
This time it was just us. And this got me thinking, oddly about steenbok, but also other things you may see while driving around Africa.
You know of course that Steenbok pair off for life. You will always see two of them together. Leopards make it a lifetime commitment as well. But and it is a big but what about the poor old ugly Hyena. Having a face no-one could love, not even tree hugging conservationists. Which follows quite neatly I think to the Aardwolf. Not to be confused with the aardvark, as someone did the other day, like the baobab you never see a young one, maybe they do just fall down from heaven when they get too heavy and that is why they get planted upside down, or so the bushmen claim. But back to that aardwolf. A hyena in all but name, and all it eats is insects, an oddly designed and beautifully coloured, it is yellow(ish) with black wavy vertical stripes, and even here in paradise you hardly ever see them, not often enough because it really is quite special. Like cape foxes, I didn't even know they came this far north.
Baboons are another one. Saw them about a year ago, in a place where sure I had heard rumours but you don't have to believe the stories, I mean they are after all just stories to delight tourists and children. Likewise, I don't think people believe us about our winter visiting Elephants or Giraffe.
Kahn/a.
25th June 2006
We should do this more often...
These weekends are a drag. Nothing to do. Not really. There are no clubs around here, no favourite bar where all the cool and beautiful people hang out, but here we are on what we are trying to sell to holiday go-ers as the premier holiday destination in Southern Africa, and I can't find anything to do? It just cannot be. And yet it is. Until last weekend that is.
For two weeks previous a mate had been trying to convince me to go on a camping trip to Okwa Valley. Why I kept asking myself? It's just beyond my own valley; there is nothing there but cattle posts and cattle thieves. And a mere fifty years ago my grandfather owned it. He ended up swapping it for two better farms, because there is nothing of any interest out there except may be to the last of the bushmen still living the traditional lifestyle. (I believe it is one family who although they do live in the settlement nearby they are still very much in touch with the bush.) So why would I want to go there and leave behind a fridge with cold drinks in it, a warm bed and a comfy mattress.
Well in the three days I was there we saw gemsbok, steenbok, guinea fowl, a dead scorpion ( which did not bode well, I mean if a scorpion can die out there, and they do not need to eat for a year sometimes, then really, what chance did we have in a double cab hilux with a penchant for boiling over when the sand got too soft. But it was worth it.
On the final morning we saw a young Cheetah with three cubs, are they called cubs or kittens. Very touristy. And the two biologists I was with got very excited. Even me and my fellow Ghanzi farmer, who have lived here our whole lives and see cheetahs as pests inside the farm block, very impressed. So after that Kodak moment we were very happy, if a little hung over, when around the next bend, a leopard also young, juvenile in fact so his mother could not be far behind, but he was completely taken by surprise. We had the wind on our side the sun in his eyes, so he really wasn't sure what to do. He just stood there in mid pose like something from a glossy mag. Then after he thought enough photos had been taken he disappeared with a flick of his tail. Gone, vanished as if by magic.
We drove the hour back home very satisfied and all swearing we should do this again. We will. After all people who live in Guildford have to pay good money to get here, stay in very expensive hotels go out on game drives every morning for ten days to see what we saw. In what is really my back garden. Oh yeah the food was good too.
Kahn/a.
26th April 2006
And the cat came back,
Well, caracal anyway. They used to be much more common when I was younger, but then our nearest neighbour used to be some 30 km's away. Now our neighbours are only 7 km's away and there are many more cattle posts in between. Much higher density of people must have an adverse effect on the wildlife, so you can imagine my surprise, and delight, when the caracal comes visiting.
Other visitors this past week have been puff adders. Lots of them. Had to take one out of the house, Steve Irwin style. I think, as he gets more popular, more people are going to get bitten, he makes it look too easy.
Because we had such a mild wet summer very few snakes were seen, now summer's almost over. No mambas though. Thank Gawd. Still it does seem to be much warmer, chameleons are out in force, they have been a bit conspicuous in their absence, but not now. Monitor lizards are having a good year, there is even one living in my house, between the top of the wall and the roof, he seems to like the bathroom at night but during the day he can be found sunning himself on the roof of the kitchen.
Oh by the way remember the camera trap I mentioned well, we looked at the memory card the other day. Great pictures of Brown Hyena and Jackals. We actually caught the hyena as it was scent marking the meat. Not the most attractive thing to see but from a research point of view it must be fascinating. Road kill guy seemed excited anyway. Not much else though. Interesting to see what goes on at night around this place.
Gotta go, they are out collecting veldt foods and we'll have to prepare them for lunch.
Kahn/a.
4th April 2006
A visitor or two
Late last night an egg-eating snake came round the huts. Normally this is nothing to worry about but as we had guests in camp it becomes a concern, you see the egg eater does an excellent impression of a baby Puff Adder. If you don't know this and come across it in the dark, well, it could give you a nasty, err, surprise.
We caught it and let it go outside of the camp, then a bit later on a wildcat came a callin'. It went into all the showers, then just as all the excitement was dying down, two kudu bulls started fighting, the thunk of their horns was heard all the way to Jason's house.
It's the moon you see, all animals follow the cycle of the moon, they are active as long as the moon is up. Day or night. Morning brought sunshine and the chatter of the people from their camp 20 metres away, the smell of tea and fresh bread.
The brown hyena was moving about as well, but he stays away from people. Very wise. Much prefers the lamb pens.
Must go now there is lunch to prepare, and then have to set up for supper this evening, spare ribs maybe.
Kahn/a.
March - Snakes are out today
Followed a mamba today probably the biggest I have ever seen, lost the tracks a few times but they turned up near Jason's house.
We all need to be vigilant what with all the long grass and all. Kudu's were just outside the camp last night, when they coughed it sounded just like a lion as it brings down its prey. The night can really make you imagine some wild things. Had to assure the clients that no-one was about to be eaten alive in the middle of the night. In the morning when we went for our walk I was then able to show the client the tracks of all the kudu's that had been drinking at the pan that night. Maybe I should just get a big spotlight and light up the pan so all can see, but what happens if I really do get a lion coming down to drink!
We have had really good rains this year, and the season is not yet over, grivia flava berries were what you might call a bumper harvest, and sweet, yep I feasted every morning and evening on those little raisin berries. Now is the time for the truffles, and the French will weep when they see how many we will eat. Not for us to carefully grate a few pieces on to a pizza, or whatever they eat in France, oh no. We will fry them one kg at a time
