Victoria Falls

August 24 - This afternoon we walked about two kilometers along Victoria Falls. 

Even a photographer with wide angle lens couldn't capture the whole Falls in one

photograph from the ground. We stopped at all fifteen view points to take photos.

A gorgeous rainbow greeted us – just breathtaking!  Two college girls from 

Namibia stopped me so that their friends could take their picture with me! 

I should have asked them to take a picture with my camera for proof that 

although I may be older, I still have what it takes!




August 25 – After breakfast at the hotel, we stopped at a grocery store so that

our guide, Thompson, could buy groceries for a subsistence farm family that we 

would soon visit.  The Overseas Adventure Tour Company gives their travelers 

the experience of meeting the locals in their homes.  Our guide told us that over

60% of the people still live on their farms.  They barter for their goods and grow

their own crops.  Having cows is essential to their existence for the milk they 

bring - and the cows are also insurance because when times are hard, they

can sell a cow for its meat.  Most have a vegetarian diet with white corn pollenta 

(corn meal) as the staple.  We also stopped a Farmer's Market.  Everyone in our

group purchased a food item as a gift for the family. Joanne and I bought 

Chambula (kale) for a dollar. At the farm, we learned:

 

An extended family of fourteen live on not more than a few acres in huts. 

One hut houses a kitchen, another sleeping quarters for the husband and wife

and small children, another sleeping quarters for the girls of the family, and yet

another hut for the family's boys.


Due to a drought, the last five years have been hard.


They do not have running water or electricity.


The women walk two kilometers to a well and carry the water back in jugs

balanced on the top of their heads.


They build their huts themselves. The walls are clay and the roofs thatch.


The huts are round because a snake will not stay in a round hut. It just follows 

the wall around looking for a corner  - and finding none, goes back out. 


The prevailing wind blows from the West, therefore, doors are open on the East so

that wind won't blow cinders from the fire up into the roof.

Elephants are a big problem; they come at night to eat their crops. Their dogs

bark when the elephants come. They drive the elephants away by lighting fires

and making at a lot of noise. They don't have guns.

Lions are also a problem;they eat their cows. Again they light fires to scare off

the lions. 


Children go to the primary school for free but high school requires uniforms, 

books and transportation that they cannot afford.  Consequently, not many

continue their education.  They stay on the farms. 

Non-Government Organizations have built an outhouse for them and provided technical advice for farming.

The families take the name of an animal as the family name. Our family's name is Baboon in English. They are forbidden to eat an animal of their family name. Therefore, if man has a family name of Chicken marries a girl with a family name of Cow, the family cannot eat chickens or beef. They say that is their way of preserving nature.

Next, we visited Jabulani Primary School. Emmaculabe, a Grade 7 student escorted me around the school. Nomsa, age 13, escorted Joanne. The founder principal talked about the origins of the school and how much the Grand Circle Foundation (Overseas Adventure Tours) have helped them. Each of us also brought school supplies for the students.

Rondavel

Preparing Polenta on a Wood Fire 

Family Name - Baboon

School Girls

Joanne with Nomsa