Phezulu Safari

April 4, Durban, South Africa

Today we decided to make the most of a disappointing situation.  It seems last night when we were told our trip was cancelled, they only cancelled the morning tour while they cleaned up the roads in the Reserve.  Unfortunately, the afternoon was the tour they added from a waiting list and rather than take the people who signed up first they took the easy way to reschedule.  Needless to say there were a lot of unhappy passengers.  Well, after deciding to not wait to see if we could fit on the afternoon tour, we decided to hire a taxi with our friend Lynn.

I spoke with a local policeman outside the port and he helped arrange a taxi for us to take.  The man drove us out to the Phezulu park and waited for us.  We did all this plus the park for 75 per person.  So the ship saved us money.

a Zulu hut

At Phezulu, we saw a Zulu village with some sample huts like they traditionally lived in.  We found out yesterday that they mainly build square houses today because it is easier to fit everyone in beds in it.  In the old days, when they slept on mats, the round buildings worked well but today with the beds, our style of rectangular houses work better.  They still build a round house for gatherings and to meet with their ancestors.  Even though many are Christian, they still practice old Zulu beliefs such as talking to their ancestors and consulting with sangomas (seers) and medicine men. 

wedding festivities dance

They also hold onto the tradition of paying sebola (dowry) for their brides.  A zulu man can have as many wives as they can afford to pay sebola for.   Sebola is a minimum of 11 cows even still today.  Now, if your family lives in the city and doesn’t have cows you can arrange for the payment.  Given this payment method and how expensive cows are, the cow is held very special in the Zulu culture.  They don’t eat beef very frequently in the Zululand since many areas don’t have refrigeration still so you must eat an animal at the time it is slaughtered.  Cows are saved for feasts when many people are there to eat at one time.  On a daily basis, they tend to eat chicken more frequently along with their grains. 

reading bones about the prospective bride

The Zulu performed a dance demonstrating the courtship and engagement process in the culture.  There were some magnificent drumming and dancing. The level of flexibility they demonstrated was amazing.  The traditional costumes where beautiful as were the shields the men carried. 

The other area they had to offer was a reptile land.  They had 27 crocodiles in pens as well as some babies.  They also had examples of the African snakes, including the green and black mambas.  The black mamba is the deadliest snake in Africa and the fastest snake in the world.  It will go after humans and can move at speeds up to 15km/hr.  I am glad there was glass between me and the snake.  We did get to touch the brown garden snake they have and the python.  Dad & I each held the python named Cleopatra.  She was very heavy.

The highlight of our day was the game drive they took us on.  It was just the 5 of us in the safari vehicle (Timone) that was designed to carry 10.  Our driver, Suhilo, was the head driver and was wonderful.  We saw the animals so close up it was amazing.  The dirt track we travelled on was like a roller coaster ride and truly required a 4 wheel vehicle.  We travelled from the hilltop down into the valley and back.  The views were magnificient.

see how close we were

We first saw one of the antelope that are rare.  The next group of animals we saw were 5 giraffes.  It was a family including the mother, father, a baby 15 days old and a 17 month old young one.  They were so close to us it was unbelievable.  My zoom lens couldn’t even take the photos because they were too close.  After spending a long time observing them, we drove onward. 

15 day old giraffe

Here we came upon a field full of zebras and wildebeests.  Our driver explained wildebeests can be quite aggressive but they allowed us to get up close to them, including a 2 week old baby and several babies that were only a few months old. 

plain zebra and wildebeest

 

"spring bach"

The zebras where beautiful and there were several young among them as well.  They were right next to the vehicle as well.  There was also a lone  boch type animal mixed in with this herd.  He lost his mate and the reserve is trying to get enough money to buy another but they cost about 25,000 rand- close to $30k US.  Further along on our drive we came across 2 wildebeests that had been forced out of the herd by the alpha male.  Around this same area we saw a lone gazelle.

gazelle

All in all this was a wonderful experience and it was a fortunate change of events.  We couldn’t have asked for a  better experience.

 

view of the valley of 1000 hills