Giraffes, monkeys and hippos

Saturday morning I had breakfast with Abraham, the other guest who is giving a course in Project Mgmt at NUST. He talked a lot and gave me the rundown of the country since independence.
It's hard to believe the country has made such strides since 2009. Previously people were murdered for their political beliefs and there was a huge cholera outbreak in 2008 due to the collapse of the water system. He talked about the inflation. People got paid, one hour later went to the store to buy food for their family and could only afford the bus ride home. He has a car and will bring me to the other side of town so I see another face of this city.

Anele's sister, Lindile, picked me up at 9. She got a young man from her work to drive us for the day in a tiny Honda. We dropped her daughter off at the library so she could study for her exams and picked up her friend.  We headed to Matobo National Park, famous for sand rock paintings and rock "architecture." We spotted giraffes in the game reserve adjacent to the park.

There were quite a few road blocks along the way. In the first one, the friend got a $5 ticket for not wearing her seat belt.

First stop was Cecil Rhodes', founder of Rhodesia, grave. It is on top of a hill with massive boulders.

He selected a beautiful site for himself. Lindile and friend stayed behind because it was an extra fee to enter, so I was wondering around with Romeo. Also on this spot is a huge monument to Captain Wilson and his men, massacred in 1893 as they chased the king of the Ndbele people off their land. Romeo is Ndebele as are most in the Bulawayo area. Rhodes chose this spot which is sacred ground to the Ndebele. Romeo is in 4th grade, they had not learned yet about this part of their history so I gave him a brief overview of how some people take other people's land, etc. If it wasn't for Romeo, I would still be wandering around these boulders, but he found our way down.

Next stop Pomongwe Cave - the cave entrance is cordoned off, but we saw one painting on the wall. The ranger encouraged us to climb to the summit. The arrows were pointing in the opposite direction, but off we went up these steep boulders. As you see

the friend had quite a time maneuvering. It was challenging but this hike made the whole day worth it. Lindile decided it was too challenging going down the other side, so Romeo and I continued. It was well marked with arrows, they drove around the mountain and met us at the bottom. As we waited, Romeo told me that they study Ndbele in school. He speaks it at home, but is learning to read and write. He also plays rugby, hockey and swims.

We saw women along the road cutting hay for the thatched roofs that are using in villages.

Lindile jumped out to chat with them, they were from her home village. As she explained to me, everyone has a home in their village. She has one with chickens and cows. Someone lives there during the week and she goes there on week-ends.

We stopped at the cultural village just outside the park. It is a representation of an African village. Luckily we had a good guide to explain everything. The women opened their workshops for basket weaving and pottery making. Then there was a structure where he explained grinding the millet and straining the beer. Everything was familiar to Lindile because that is what she does in her village. Beautiful murals decorated the entrance to the village.

Instead of deer skipping across the road, like in VT, here the monkeys scamper across the road. Final stop was the game preserve. The ranger said we'd see zebras, but no luck. We got to the dam and saw 2 black rhinos sunning themselves.

Then we observed these guys joining their 2 friends in the dam- quite a site.
Thanks to Anele I had a great day with his family and friends.