The Bush!

While the last two months have allowed me to feel as though I am a true resident of South Africa due to a variety of experiences that have compelled me to develop an awareness of where I am and who I am surrounded by, I think that my safari experience this past week certainly offered the simple luxuries attached to being a tourist, to being a foreigner present to appreciate the aesthetic qualities of South Africa. I, along with the six friends from my program, spent four days detached from the rest of the world, left to enjoy our natural surroundings, the company of amazing animals (kind of like in The Lion King) and the illusion that we were roughing it in the African bush that one would expect to find on this continent. It was wonderful to take a break from the constant social analysis that I am forced to apply to my environment (while I clearly love that aspect of this experience so much it can get quite exhausting) and instead direct it toward a completely different one with different subjects to study.

Safaris are extremely beneficial experiences to have when trying to understand the world in which animals live. While one could see elephants and lions at a zoo nearby, observing animals in their natural habitat is a truly enlightening glimpse into their routines, relationships and general experiences. The majority of our trip was spent passively looking out into the same savannah scenery in an amazingly cool safari truck. We were responsible for finding the game on our own which were spread throughout the park often creating long time intervals between each sighting. Essentially we were forced to cater to the lives of these animals instead of being in a location where their natural practices are sacrificed for the entertainment of human beings. We were witnessing these animals in their most natural form and environment. As humans, we seemed to come second to these amazing creatures; searching for them became our focus, our goal. In adopting this as our mission we successfully found baboons, giraffes, ostriches, impalas, elephants, lions, warthogs (my new favorite animals in the whole wide word), terrapins (UMD!), wildabeasts, water buffalo, badgers, hyenas, jackels (I feel really cool that I can say I have seen a jackel), cool birds whose name I can’t remember, hippos and probably more. Watching most of these animals and simultaneously learning about so many of their characteristics from our amazing guide Dan was fascinating. Their mating patterns, physical build, herd structure, security systems, excretion practices, food intake etc. collectively constructed images of beings who are not as distant from humans as we think. All of these animals lead such complex lives which is something I don’t think I realized before.

To observe all of this in such an untouched environment added an immense amount to the experience. The surroundings were very redundant, grassy, tree-y plains. It seemed as though that was the way this area always looked, that no person had come to interrupt the natural course of things. It was so simple. While it was not aesthetically the most pleasing environment, its purity made it gorgeous. As the sun would set each day, rousing various color shifts in the sky, I felt as though this is the way the world looked when it was created and many of whom it was created for were these animals that continue to thrive in this area set aside not for humans, but for them.

In no experience was this all more clear than we went on a walk through the same surroundings we had only driven through up until that point and were sort of charged by a lion. Walking through the bush that is Kruger national park, we were face to face with a female lioness marking her territory. FYI: we were with two armed guides trained to deal with situations but who after our survival was confirmed admitted to only having experienced that once before…so don’t worry bubby. She did not run at us but walked towards us as if it was on her mind. Thankfully our guide communicated successfully with the lion and we survived one of the cooler things that has happened to me in my time. It was clear that she was simply protecting herself and the other lions with her. As humans, we had no ownership of where we were but completely submitted to the world of these incredible animals.

While the lioness was able to firmly stand her ground, many other animals seemed quite frightened of us, of human. Amidst all the wonder, it was clear that many of these animals live in fear of those who sit atop them in the food chain. It was extremely said to think that their first reaction to any interruption is to run away. The smaller animals such as zebras, impalas and kudu (cool word for antelope with awesome beards) are constantly being hunted by lions and as a result they must always be alert. It must be really sad to live ones life in fear. But while it is easy to be angry at the lions for causing it, they entered a world that automatically offered them protection yet forces them to be the enemy. While I doubt they possess the emotional capacity to understand their actions (hunting and killing all of the other animals) and the consequences, I recognized that it is not their fault; they have to survive as well. But it was quite interesting to observe a world in which hierarchy is inevitable and arguably necessary. Yet what i found most interesting and heartwarming was that there were so many moments when herds of zebras would interact with herds of impalas and wildabeasts in perfect harmony. Our guide told us that these communities are created among different types of animals as a means of protection since they all have common enemies and pose no threat to one another. It was incredible to see both the positive and negative characteristics so reminiscent of those of humans within these beings. While I could probably forge some connection to South African social and political history I am attempting to remain within the simple mindset I refuse to escape.

As we saw each animal our guide showed us different ways which they use the take full advantage of all the physical things the area around them has to offer. He would pick leaves of plants and tell us how these are used by the animals as toilet paper, he would bite the stalk of a different plant and reveal the soft bristles that could be used to clean the teeth of the animals, he pointed out a specific spot used by impalas to “drop their blessings” so as to provide nutrients for the plants from which they ate that rested in the same area. It was quite clear that the natural world in its untouched form provides its habitants with all of its necessities, that it simply works. I found this to be quite a spiritual realization.

I apologize for not providing scheduled details of our activities but for the most part we would travel around Kruger looking for animals during the day and at night we would head to our camp sites that were completely set up for us, tents fully equipped with bed frames and mattresses, with a gourmet cooked dinner waiting for us and bathrooms nearby…while the difficulties of “roughing it” were rather hard to handle, we survived.. just barely (um…I hope you all realize that I am kidding since it is clear that we were very far from roughing it). After a few nights of such filth, we were unexpectedly rewarded by a beautiful night cruise along the Drackensburg mountains (insert cliche mountain/sky/river/spirituality/god comments here) and accommodations at an incredible game lodge where we slept in triangular, bamboo huts with comfy beds and mosquito bedding that actually contributed to the elegance of the place. We again enjoyed a wonderfully tasty dinner and joked about the horrendous conditions of our “camping adventure.” After dinner, Dan, told us traditional African stories offering a very creative explanation of various physical characteristics of certain animals (such as the reason why hyenas hind legs are shorter than their front legs and why a certain African animal which I forget has a white tush). In African tradition, it seems that everything requires an explanation that allow each strange aberration to be significant. I was so fascinated by this; it elevated so many small seemingly insignificant things to the level of sacred and intertwined within culture and ritual.

The whole experience was a really amazing change of pace. I had a great time with the group of people I was with, I was able to fully separate myself from the emotional and physical exhaustion (though both good things) of my life in Cape Town and I developed a new appreciation for the complexity of a world in which I did not know it was present. One of the cooks from one of our camp sites, Godsave (that is his real name) would constantly say after each meal presentation: “Kill yourself…but don’t die.” While the statement seemed quite odd at the time I think I may have figured it out. While he was saying it in reference to eating as much food as possible without passing the threshold of death I suppose, I think what he was really saying was that you should consume as much as possible, challenge yourself as much as possible, live to the fullest..literally, but not to the point where you cannot gain from all of the consumption anymore. I feel like all of the experiences I have had so far in South Africa have definitely allowed me to capitalize on so much of what the world has to offer. But while being a tourist was quite nice and an identity that allowed me to continue to gain from the wonders of this world, I am quite excited to get back to being a Cape Townian and unraveling all of the layers that come along with that.

I think i may refrain from South African Ulpan because of all of the pictures that i believe will prvide you with a cool glimpse into Africa.

Cheers...Kill yourselves, but don't die!