Dispatch 15 - KwaZulu, Place of Heaven
Below KwaBulawayo, the site of King Shaka's great military kraal, Vikanduku, sitting on a cow dung floor in the grandmother's great hut at Shakaland, dressed in ostrich plumes and traditional loin cloth and isinene skin apron, wets his hands from a clay beer pot. Much like milking a cow, he pulls on the reed stick of the single velum ingungu vibrating drum - it makes the sound of a wild pig. We are here for the start of the Zulu chapter of our Boundless expedition to link culture, nature and community across Africa.
Tonight's the farewell for Mike Nixon and his mountain bike team who have bravely escorted us across the Maluti mountain of Lesotho, now they sit on grass mats to judge a Zulu dance competition, then there's a feast of the first fruits and we're off to sleep in our conical crass huts. Up early next morning, the cycling team escorts the Landies into the grounds of Ncemaneni School where we hand over a cheque for R20 000 to the library committee - it's to buy books and improve literacy - there's singing and dancing, the judging of an art competition with the delightful theme of - the importance of Zulu culture and then a Boundless Soccer Challenge. So much is happening that we can hardly keep track of the days. Now the expedition must split, each of us reverently bends down and picks up a small stone, 'You must spit on it,' (mmm a few dry mouths - far too much to drink last night) - "It's to propitiate the spirits," says Mahlembehlembe, an old friend who in full Zulu regalia is going to accompany the expedition for the next couple of weeks.
Led by Digs Pascoe from the Space for Elephants Foundation, half the team head North West for the Valley of the Zulu Kings and the Umfolozi and Hluhluwe Game Reserves. I lead the rest of the team down to the coast to explore the iSimangaliso Wetland Park. The word iSimangaliso has a rich historical context. uJeqe was King uShaka's insila (aide who keeps all the King s secrets and is buried with the King when he dies). In order to avoid the customary burial with this master, uJeqe fled when uShaka died. He wandered into Thongaland, present-day Maputaland, and came back, saying: 'I saw wonders and miracles in the flat land and the lakes of Thonga.' From that follows an isiZulu saying that if you have seen miracles, you have seen what uJeqe saw: 'Ubone isimanga esabonwa wuJeze kwelama Thonga. uJeqe might well be considered one of the earliest tourists to visit what is now the iSimangaliso Wetland Park.
We meet Debbie Cooper and the delightful iSimangaliso officials at the St Lucia Estuary, where they sign the Scroll of peace and Goodwill for Conservation that we are carrying across Africa. We overnight at Bhangazi Lodge, a secretive forested place overlooking a jewel of a lake and the high forested sand dunes of Cape Vidal. (The Maphelane dune to the South, at 183m, is iSimangaliso's highest vegetated dune.) A pod of hippos snort and grunt. "Be careful, there's also a lot of crocs around" warns Dave Cooper, the well-known KZN Wildlife vet, as barefoot in the lake he and I add a little Bhangazi Lake water to the symbolic traditional calabash we are carrying from the Indian Ocean to the Atlantic. I replace the stopper and shake it around a little to mix the water that we've taken from the Indian Ocean, from the Bushmans River, the Senque, from the lip of the Tugela at the top of the falls high up on the Drakensberg, from the Sani River, and more recently from the uMhlatuze and the Mlalazi. We back-track to the Lake St Lucia Estuary, it's Africa's largest estuarine system, 80 kms long and 23 kms wide at its widest point. Home to over 800 hippos and 1200 crocodiles, this dynamic system hosts large flocks of pelicans, flamingos, ducks, waders and a variety of fish and other aquatic species. Once again we dip the Zulu calabash - the rest of the expedition team will bring us water from the Black and White Umfolozi and the Hluhluwe Rivers.
Landies, one behind the other, we say cheers to Debbie and Dave Cooper and take off to follow the road up the Western Shores in the hope of seeing elephant, buffalo, rhino and leopard, as well as giraffe, tsesebe and other antelope species found in this miraculous piece of iSimangaliso paradise. Still more than a hundred days to go - We'll keep you posted.
