Safari 2014 Journal: A Reflection
Epilogue Part I
They say there’s nothing like Safari and once you get that
first taste, your appetite grows. In
just six days in the Bush, we experienced sights, sounds, smells and sensations
unlike anything previous. And while we
were far from roughing it during our stays at Singita Ebony and Camp Jabulani,
once you’re in the Rover on and off the trails, you know intellectually and
feel emotionally you are somewhere special.
The fascination of watching your ranger and tracker pursue a
leopard or cheetah using skill, guile and intuition. Masters of their craft that you watch in awe
as they pursue, double back, and turnabout and voila: there’s the Leopard. And then you realize they are as excited as
much as you even thought they have done it hundreds of times. But they’re more than tracker and guide, they
are Thimba and Coleman. One lives in the
nearby village with his son, mother, aunt & sister while the other’s home
is 2 hours away and his mother looks after his 7 children while his wife works
next door at the sister lodge. You get
to know them and you want to see them again.
As for the animals, it is something to be among the in
their habitat and their world. And while
the ubiquitous impala and wildebeest are seemingly around every corner, you
realize you’re in their domain and you conclude that you’ll never visit a zoo
again to see an animal in captivity.
You've changed. You’ll flick away
a fly bothering your picnic or the ants at your barbecue when you’re hoe, but laugh
at the industrious monkeys who attack the Continental Breakfast table when the
staff is not paying attention.
Yes, we have acquired the taste and not just the loin of the
impala, kudu and eland. The taste that
is a craving, an obsession really, and you neither hope nor want it to
disappear.
Thimba Coleman Diggaduh
"..an obsession really."
Barbecued Warthog
Grilled Kudu Loin
Epilogue Part II
When you think of Africa, many think of Safaris and The Big
Five. But our recent trip to South
Africa highlighted a bigger story and a more personal story. Whether it was the adorable waitress, Pinky,
at The One & Only Hotel in Cape Town who became Cindy’s new friend, or
Thomas our guide in Cape Town, you realize there is something special and
unique about South Africa. It’s checkered
past is well known and the remnants of Apartheid still can be seen and felt,
but there is something else in the air: Hope.
The nation of 12+ million still has a number of issues
including high unemployment, economic stagnation and a public health crisis
regarding HIV and AIDS. But to think
that it was just 20 years ago Nelson Mandela was elected President in the first
open election is a remarkable story.
When you visit places like the District Six Museum and the Apartheid
Museum you feel sickened, angry, amazed and hopeful. The magnanimous personality, honor, courage
and vision of Mandela is front and center.
A man who suffered personally and politically and yet realized that for
South Africa to move forward, it must forgive, but not forget.
The courage he displayed in not giving in to the calls from
his party to punish the white minority and dismantle its hundreds of years of
history was inspirational. Likewise, the
courage in the 1980’s for President F.W. deKlerk to end Apartheid and establish
the one man/one vote system knowing it would end white rule was equally
courageous.
When you see the image of Mbuyisa Makbubo carrying the
lifeless body of Hector Pieterson, killed in the student riots in Soweto in
1976, you feel the anguish clearly visible on Makhubo’s face. When you read the stories of Stephen Biko and
hundreds of others tortured and murdered in police custody and the causes of
death doctored, you feel angry.
When you learn about the Dompas (Dumb Pass), a segregation
ID pass used to limit free unhindered travel of Blacks and coloreds in South
Africa, you think of the Yellow Stars worn by the Jews in Europe in the
1940’s. To be caught by police without
your pass meant an automatic 90-day jail term, even if you were on your way to
get your pass from the government. You
realize we take for granted the freedoms we possess.
When the government relocates entire black neighborhoods to
make room for white people, you recall the Warsaw Ghetto. When the government can arbitrarily flatten
shantytowns and the corrugated homes of blacks, you ask how can one man treat
another with such malice.
When you see the story from 1985 where 702 colored people
became white, 19 whites became colored, one Indian became white, three Chinese
became white, 249 blacks became colored and so forth you realize the corruption
and tyranny that was prevalent during the Apartheid Era. Oh and by the way, zero blacks became whites
and zero whites became black.
You can understand why the African National Congress (ANC) had
to employ violent and nonviolent methods to bring the white government to the
negotiation table. I guess in the case
of Mandela and others, one man’s freedom fighter is another man’s terrorist.
So now there is hope that government corruption will be curtailed,
hope miners will earn a fair and decent wage, hope public health will improve
and hope that Mandela’s vision will be achieved.
In the meantime, seeing a smiling Pinky give Cindy a big hug
in the restaurant in front of a crown and knowing 25 years ago that would not
be possible is heartwarming and hopeful.
An otherwise small moment with a big heart.
Cindy Thomas Diggaduh
Pinky and Cindy
A Message of Love and Hope
Comments
Post a Comment