Gorillas in the mist

Gorilla tracking in Rwanda has been on our wish list for a while now and we were thrilled to finally have the opportunity to visit Volcanoes National Park. It was all that we had hoped for and more; a truly unforgettable experience.

More photos here.

Dorobucci

Upon googling this curious term, I was informed that "Singer, Dr Sid, has revealed that the song currently making waves on the airwaves “Dorobucci” means a person or an individual that is awesome, amazing, rich, swagged-out, sexy and buff. According to the dentist turned songwriter and singer, any word that qualifies greatness, that's Dorobucci."

The song is quite the earworm and I had the pleasure of being introduced to it live by none other than the bejeweled staff carrying Don Jazzy. Check it out.

Shosholoza

I've just discovered Shosholoza.

Although the original author of the song is unknown, Shosholoza is a traditional miner's song, originally sung by groups of men from the Ndebele ethnic group that travelled by steam train from their homes in Zimbabwe to work in South African's diamond and gold mines. The Ndebele live predominantly in Zimbabwe (formerly, Rhodesia) near its border with South Africa, and they can also be found in the northern border of South Africa.The song mixes Ndebele and Zulu words and is Zimbabwean in origin even though the two ethnic groups are very similar.Some people argue that the song describes the journey to the mines in South Africa, while others say it describes the return to Zimbabwe. It is also sometimes sung "stimela si phume Rhodesia". According to cultural researchers Booth and Nauright, Zulu workers later took up the song to generate rhythm during group tasks and to alleviate boredom and stress.The song was sung by working miners in time with the music beat as they were swinging their axes to dig. It was usually sung under hardship in 'call and response' style (one man singing a solo line and the rest of the group responding by copying him).It was also sung by prisoners in call and response style using alto, soprano part divided by row. Former South African President Nelson Mandela describes how he sang Shosholoza as he worked during his imprisonment on Robben Island. He describes it as "a song that compares the apartheid struggle to the motion of an oncoming train" and goes on to explain that "the singing made the work lighter".

In contemporary times, it is used in varied contexts in South Africa to show solidarity in sporting events and other national events to relay the message that the players are not alone and are part of a team.

This a-capella version is particularly fun. Enjoy!

Shosholoza | Kulezo ntaba | Stimela siphume South Africa

Wen' uyabaleka | Kulezo ntaba | Stimela siphume South Africa

A rough translation:

Go forward, on those mountains, train to South africa

You are running away, on those mountains, train to South Africa

Red Cappuccino

I've turned into a red cappuccino fan and have been ordering cup after cup with reckless abandon. I imagine Mma Ramotswe would fancy a cup herself, after a long day! Here is an excellent post about the drink along with a simple recipe.

The Elephant Whisperer

What's better than a book about a conservationist in Africa? A book about him adopting a rogue elephant herd, of course!

Lawrence Anthony devoted his life to animal conservation, protecting the world's endangered species. Then he was asked to accept a herd of "rogue" wild elephants on his Thula Thula game reserve in Zululand. His common sense told him to refuse, but he was the herd's last chance of survival: they would be killed if he wouldn't take them.

In order to save their lives, Anthony took them in. In the years that followed he became a part of their family. And as he battled to create a bond with the elephants, he came to realize that they had a great deal to teach him about life, loyalty, and freedom.

The Elephant Whisperer is a heartwarming, exciting, funny, and sometimes sad memoir of Anthony's experiences with these huge yet sympathetic creatures. Set against the background of life on an African game reserve, with unforgettable characters and exotic wildlife, Anthony's unrelenting efforts at animal protection and his remarkable connection with nature will inspire animal lovers and adventurous souls everywhere. 

Source: The Elephant Whisperer on Amazon.

ZA vs. SA

Ever wondered why the South African rand is represented by ZAR instead of SAR and why South African websites have a .co.za extension?

As expected, wikipedia provided me with za answer:

None of the official names for South Africa can be abbreviated to ZA, which is an abbreviation of the Dutch Zuid-Afrika. This is a legacy of when Dutch was an official language in South Africa, before being replaced by Afrikaans, in which the name of the country is Suid-Afrika. Afrikaans joined English and Dutch as an official language of South Africa in 1925 in a synonym-status with Dutch, and in the South African Constitution of 1961 Dutch was removed as an official language altogether and replaced by Afrikaans. In 1983 Dutch lost its synonym-status with Afrikaans. However, the .sa domain is used by Saudi Arabia and ZAR is the ISO 4217 currency code for the South African Rand. The international vehicle code for South Africa has been ZA since 1936.

NeighbourGoods Market

Located in Braamfontein, in the heart of the inner city, the NeighbourGoods Market is open every Saturday from 9AM to 3PM. The market covers 2 floors of an airy building and has multiple stalls setup by various food vendors including  local farmers, fine-food purveyors, organic merchants, bakers and distributors, grocers, mongers, butchers, artisan producers, celebrated local chefs, and micro enterprises. There were plenty of options to choose from: Pizza, Thai, Mexican, Paella and many more. The market was buzzing with activity and reminded us of Madrid's Mercado San Miguel.

We tried some interesting African vegetarian food, sampled all sorts of sauces, cheeses, and chocolate and ended up buying some delicious hummus and olives. The dessert stalls looked wonderful - crepes, cupcakes, Belgian waffles and more. There were also several options for drinks, wine, beer and among others, spiked tender coconut water (two shots of rum went straight into the coconut!). The open rooftop area was a great place to hang out.

An excellent local experience. There are also some nice art galleries and cafés in the area, in case you want to go on a leisurely post-prandial stroll.

Official Website.  Pictures. More pictures.

Africa is the Future

Two excellent websites to check out: Africa is the Future and Africa, The Good News.

Constitution Hill

 In South Africa, Human Rights Day is celebrated on 21 March, in remembrance of the Sharpeville massacre which took place on the same day in 1960. This massacre occurred as a result of protests against the Apartheid regime in South Africa. Human Rights Day seemed like the perfect day to visit Constitution Hill and learn more about South Africa's history.

Constitution Hill Precinct in Braamfontein Johannesburg has a very complex history going back to 1892 when the Old Fort was built under the Zuid Afrikaanse Republiek. Functioning as a prison, except for the brief period of the South African War (1899-1902) when it was a military defence post, new buildings were added to the site in the late 1900s and early 20th Century: the so-called Natives’ section and isolation cells known as Sections Four and Five where black male prisoners were held, a Women’s Prison (1907), and an Awaiting Trial building (1920s).

All these buildings together were known as the Fort, a place that was notorious for its harsh treatment of prisoners: who ranged from common criminals to hundreds of thousands of ordinary men and women who contravened colonial and apartheid legislation such as hut tax laws, beer brewing laws, pass laws and the Group Areas act. Many political prisoners were also incarcerated at the Fort. Boer military leaders were imprisoned during the South African war 1899-1902. In 1906 and 1913 Indian passive resisters (including Mahatma Gandhi) were incarcerated. Read more here.

                                     'The Accused': One of the sculptures displayed outside the Constitutional Court

Constitution Hill is now the seat of the Constitutional Court of South Africa. The first court session in the new building at this location was held in February 2004. Outside the court building is an enormous sign in 11 official languages. You enter through the impressive 9m wooden doors that feature plaques carved with words and sign-language symbols conveying the 27 rights enshrined in the Constitution. Upon entering you find yourself in a spacious hall with decorated pillars designed like trees (memories of Sagrada Familia!), honoring the age old African tradition of seeking justice under the trees.

We loved the simple design of the court which was so different from the more common ornate styles. The bricks you see towards the back are part of the old fort building and were used in the building to show history, solidarity, and the strength of old and damaged bricks when put together. The walls have glass sections to show that transparency is greatly valued. The beautiful beaded South African flag in the court was another highlight of the tour.

The Languages of South Africa

South Africa has 11 official languages (and scores of unofficial ones):

1. Afrikaans
2. English
3. isiNdebele
4. isiXhosa
5. isiZulu
6. Sesotho sa Leboa (Pedi/Sepedi)
7. Sesotho
8. Setswana
9. siSwati
10. Tshivenda
11. Xitsonga
12. Indigenous creoles and pidgins   

South Africa's linguistic diversity means all 11 languages have had a profound effect on each other. South African English, for example, is littered with words and phrases from Afrikaans, isiZulu, Nama, and other African languages. And African-language speakers often pepper their speech with English and Afrikaans.

Most South Africans are multilingual, able to speak more than one language. Most South Africans speak English, which is fairly ubiquitous in official and commercial public life. The country's other lingua franca is isiZulu.

 Constitutional Court Sign in 11 languages!

In terms of linguistic classification, the official languages include two West-Germanic languages (English and Afrikaans) and nine Bantu languages. Four of these are Nguni languages (Zulu, Xhosa, Swati and Ndebele) and have many similarities in syntax and grammar and three are Sotho–Tswana languages (Northern Sotho, Southern Sotho and Tswana). Tsonga is a Tswa–Ronga language.

Here are some great free online language courses offered by UNISA (University of South Africa). Salani kahle!

Notes from Wiki and South Africa.info

Hartbeespoort

This morning, we woke up very early and drove to Hartbeespoort, informally known as "Harties", a small resort town in the North West Province of South Africa, situated on the slopes of the Magaliesberg mountain range and the banks of the Hartbeespoort Dam. The name of the town means "pass of the hartbees" (a species of antelope) in Afrikaans. It was previously known as Schoemansville, named after General Hendrik Schoeman (1840 - 1901), a Boer General in the Anglo-Boer War who owned the farm that the dam was built on. The dam was originally designed for irrigation which is currently its primary use. It is fed by the waters of the Crocodile and Magalies rivers.

Picture from intotravel.co.za

So, why did we wake up so early? To make it in time for Om Die Dam ('Around the dam'), the annual 50k ultra marathon (they also have a half-marathon and a 5k). The sun hid behind the clouds and granted us some beautiful running weather. The 5k path led us through quiet, hilly residential streets with beautiful homes (most with barking dogs, who seemed ready for the annual onslaught of morning pedestrians).

After the run, we walked to the Hartbeespoort Aerial Cableway (apparently the longest monocableway in Africa) and took a ride to the top for a spectacular panorama of the town, the calm waters and the endless mountains.

Searching for Sugar Man

It was only fitting that the first film we watched South Africa was ‘Searching for Sugar Man’. The documentary is about an American singer, Rodriguez, whose two albums released in the 1970s failed miserably in the US. He gave up on his musical career and went back to his mundane life of construction work.

Somehow, unbeknownst to him, the albums made their way to South Africa and Rodriguez became immensely popular over the years. He was a household name; his albums treasured as much as Michael Jackson’s or the Beatles’. But nobody in South Africa knew anything about him, and presumed him dead. The movie is about a South African fan (later joined by others), who set out on a long journey looking for, and eventually finding Rodriguez.

The movie is very well-made, with some lovely shots of Cape Town, and is accompanied by the poignant music and lyrics of Rodriguez.

The Beauty of the Irrational

"The Beauty of the Irrational" follows Ryan Sandes, a South African Ultra-Runner, as he returns to the Fish River Canyon to run the 5 day, 84km, Fish River Canyon Hiking Trail in the fastest time possible. He completed the run, self-supported, in amazing time of 6h57min! Thanks for sharing, H.

The Beauty of the Irrational from The African Attachment on Vimeo.

African Folk Tales

At the library today, I came across a McCall Smith book with an interesting title, ‘The girl who married a lion’. The book is a collection of short African Folk Tales from Zimbabwe and Botswane. The stories feature people and animals (which talk, of course!). As McCall Smith puts it so nicely in the introduction, the stories draw us into “a fascinating world view in which the boundaries between the animal and human worlds are indistinct and fluid”. The idea is very much along the lines of Aesop’s fables and Panchatantra stories but the stories are completely different from the ones I grew up with, featuring a totally different landscape and culture.

Of course, I had already decided to read it once I realized it had a foreword by good old Mma Ramotswe! Now, who can resist her solid recommendations? ;)

Serengeti = Maasai Mara...

... just across the border!

The Serengeti ecosystem is a geographical region that is located in northern Tanzania and extends to south-western Kenya. The Kenyan part of the Serengeti is known as Maasai Mara!

The Serengeti hosts the largest terrestrial mammal migration in the world, which is one of the ten natural travel wonders of the world. The Serengeti is also renowned for its large lion population and is one of the best places to observe prides in their natural environment. Serengeti is derived from the Maasai language, Maa; specifically, "Serengit" meaning "Endless Plains". Much of the Serengeti was known to outsiders as Maasailand.

Serengeti's Official Website.

Sources: Wiki & Image from utalii.com