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A glimpse at an ancient culture, up-close visits with a multitude of wildlife, seeing the genuine hope and smiles of a people and an encounter with one cranky elephant named Miss Ellie are among the many memories Nancy Michaelis brings back from her August trip to southern Africa.
Michaelis, a retired teacher and former Howard College English professor, has always had a respect for that part of the world, she says. The 17-day tour provided by Elderhostel — Ancient Voices of Africa — focuses on the natural history, culture and wildlife in the countries of Botswana, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
“The whole thing is Ancient Voices so we’re really looking at the indigenous peoples, the geography and the animals and the birds,” Michaelis said.
The San People
To reach her destination, Michaelis would have to travel nearly 24-hours before arriving in Johannesburg, South Africa for a one night stay. Then it was off again, on a flight to Maun, Botswana, with the 11 other women of the tour. Following the flight, they headed straight to a five-hour van trip into the bush to reach the Coach to Dqae Qare Game Reserve.
At the reserve, they spent the next few days living and visiting with the San People, bushmen, who are considered to be one of if not the oldest people on earth. The San People speak Khoisan languages famous for using clicking noises.
“That was very interesting because these people were originally hunters and gathers and what they were trying to do is to keep some of those skills going,” she said.
The San People were very eager to share their culture, Michaelis added, showing off their arts and crafts, how to track animals in the bush and finding medicinal plants.
“They built a trap right before us cutting everything as they went because they had nothing,” she said. “They had a knife that was all. And here we all were just trailing along, but they really want us to know. Tourism is big there. There are not a lot of other resources for them. They were just kind and gentle people.”
And some time was set aside for the women to be schooled in the native language.
“They know they are being marginalized and there’s not a whole like they can do about it because it’s almost impossible anymore to be a complete nomadic people,” she said. “They are really interested in keeping their language going. We spent one afternoon learning a little bit about their language and when to do the clicking.”
On the last night, the San People performed a dance.
“It went on and on and on and on,” Michaelis said. “I found out that it was really a healing dance and that they really did dance into they were in actual trances.”
Bayei People, Moremi Game Reserve
and a rare glimpse at the African Wild Dog
After a few days with the San people, the group headed back to Maun and then for an afternoon the Bayei “river bushmen,” who showed the women their ways of making crafts, musical interments and hunting tools.
Next came a two-hour drive on the highway followed by a five-hour trip in open game trucks into the bush to reach their next destination.
“We went into the Moremi which is part of the delta and then we were on the reserve of the Kwai people,” she said. “We stayed in tents — It was called a luxury mobile tent. Basically it was just a wall tent with a floor. Attached to the back is the bathroom. They dug a hole and put a potty on it and they had a shower there too. It was a bucket. They would fill with hot water if we wanted to take a shower.”
Delicious meals were made by the chief over hot coals in the ground, Michaelis said, but even though the “rustic atmosphere” was pleasurable, the women also knew to be cautious.
“Once it gets dark you do not go to your tent without a guide and you do not leave your tent without a guide,” she said. “It’s very dangerous because that is when all the animals are out and it is right smack dab in the delta. We could hear the hippopotami come out of the water at night and you could also hear the hyenas. Leopards were around. We could hear them, but they didn’t come into camp. We did know the hyenas came into the camp.”
That lesson was driven home on the first day there, she said.
“We had gotten up early that morning to go on a game drive,” she recalled. “We’d gone not too far from our own campsite in our van and these three men came running out from their tents. This one man is just dripping blood. He had slept outside at night and was attacked by a hyena. It got him right in the face. We’re five hours out to get to anything one way. If you go the other way, you’re more like 15 hours. It really is dangerous. “
Yet the risk was worth taking, Michaelis said, as the women saw a multitude of wild animals and rare birds courtesy of their guides.
“One of the most exciting things I saw was at sunset and the elephants were crossing the river,” she said. “We thought ‘oh here comes a few elephants.’ No. They came and they came and they came from all directions and they were all going to one place. It was just really a sight to see them.“
Another time the group found a leopard lounging for an afternoon rest, satiated after a kill.
“It was just lying there under this tree just watching us,” she said. “It was actually protecting its kill. It had dragged the kill behind it in the bushes. We’d drive around and see the kill and then see the leopard, We’d drive around again and see the kill, then the leopard. It was just watching probably thinking ‘okay ya’ll can leave. I’m full. I’m satisfied right now. We heard later that the hyenas came later and stole the kill.”
On the last day of the reserve, the group came across a pack of endangered African Wild Dogs.
“Our guides went nuts. He was so excited,” she said. “We sat back and watched them. They were organizing for a kill. There were a herd of impala just over in what we call pastures, fields. They were arranged around this tree then suddenly one gets up and another one knows exactly what to do for flanking. It was like watching a military maneuver. These are beautiful dogs."
Feeling Zimbabwe’s Pain
After a flight in a light airplane to Kasane and a stay on the Chobe River, the group headed to Victoria Falls which is located on the boarder of Zimbabwe and Zambia and is considered the widest waterfall system in world.
“To me it was like the Palo Duro Canyon had water coming over it,” she said. “It’s a constant waterfall ... for about three miles. It was a really neat experience.”
The two-day stay in Zimbabwe was also bitter-sweet as the women saw first hand the impact of how the country’s political and economic strife are affecting the population.
“While I was there the dollar in Zimbabwe was worth 50 billion of their currency,” she said. “We’d been told that there wouldn’t be a lot of opportunity to shop but when you’re 11 women — they found plenty of opportunity.“
“I think I had 14 dollars,” she continued “Now Zimbabweans are the true craftsmen. I went to the market and my $14 went pretty fast for just a few like bowls and things easy to pack.”
But the pressure from the crowd eager to trade for goods became enormous, she said.
“I bartered all of my clothes. I had enough clothes to come back on the airplane and what I had on. Those people, they don’t want money, they wanted things like ball-point pens. As I was leaving, this one guy had followed me every place. He had this wooden, hand-carved elephant and he said ‘I’ll trade it for your socks.’ So I traded my socks for this hand-carved elephant.”
“It was the most frightening thing ever to go into the open market because these people were desperate and you were just swamped with people trying to sell you their things. You knew what dire circumstances they were in because they’d already told us in Botswana how bad it was."
According to an Associated Press story, Zimbabwe has the highest inflation rate in the world with an official rate at 11 million percent a year. Private financial institutions estimate it is far higher, the story related.
“We heard that day that (President Robert) Mugabe knocked off nine zeros to put the currency back to something they could use. And the next day it had gone to a trillion,” she said. “It’s just unbelievable, frighting, frighting, frighting. There is just nothing there. And it's sad because that’s the bread basket of Africa.”
An encounter
with Miss Ellie
On their last game drive, the women rode into the bush courtesy of the Zimbabwe elephants. Michaelis soon learned that elephants do have a mind of their own.
“These are African elephants that were orphaned,” she said. “We’re placed two to an elephant. There’s a handler and he sits behind the ears. You sit on a canvas saddle with straps and there is this pretty substantial handle in front of you.”
Enter Miss Ellie.
“We get the biggest elephant,” she recalled. “This elephant decides she doesn’t want us on her. I didn’t think elephants could buck. Well this elephant — we never know when she’s going to stop — she shakes all over.
Just shakes trying to get us off. And I’m hanging on for dear life. I’m looking at everybody else. They’re all waving at each other. Taking pictures. And our knuckles and knees are just white from hanging on. She can’t get us off that way she’ll walk into a tree and knock us off. “
“The handler is really working with her to get her to behave. ‘Tell me to stop and I’ll stop so you can take pictures’ he says – ya right. She bit off a tree — a little sapling — and start whipping us with it. The whole time I’m thinking I’m going to be impaled on one of these sapling. I’m going to be imbedded on one of these rocks.
The trip lasted for an hour and half.
“They took a video of everybody on the elephants and all that kind of stuff,” she said. “And at the end of the video as people were getting off the elephants, they were asking us to tell us about our trip. Everybody was saying ‘oh it was wonderful. It was lovely.’ It was a good thing they didn’t ask me because I would have been kissing the earth right there in front of them.”
A Surprise Lesson in Zambia
“The very last night ... we were with Songwe people. They have a village of about 2,000 people,” she said. Their queen came and spent the evening with us. We had to be trained in protocol and because we were Americans, we weren’t expected to bow and clap three times before we talked to her.”
“She talked to us for a long time about their government and their people,” Michaelis continued. “They have a king and a queen and they rule equally. She has her area of authority and the king who is not her husband had his area of authority. And she says we’re equal. We ruled together. It’s always been that way.”
Michaelis said during her time spent with the bush people, she also came away with that same feeling of equality between genders.
A Place of Hope
Among her travels Michaelis said hope for a better future was constant among the many different people she met.
“There are good things that are going on,” she said. “In Zimbabwe and the people I would talk to ... they were all very positive. They were like if I learn English and I get an education I can do something. This isn’t going to last forever. We kept running into the hope everyplace we went. We know there is so much to do, so many problems, but I came away with so much respect.”
For those interested in hearing more about her trip, Michaelis will give a presentation of her program at 6:30 p.m. Oct. 13 in the fellowship hall of St. Paul Lutheran Church, 810 Scurry.
— Story by Lyndel Moody
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