Unfortunately, the chief was vacationing at his home in Cape Town during our visit, so we were only able to approach the gates of his compound. Even this much access required twenty minutes of negotiation between the chief’s underlings and our guides, Dr. Dima and Solly. After many bows, gesticulations, niceties, and donations, we were able to wander briefly around the compound. 

The Sacred Forest

Traditionally, the Venda people were buried at home. However, after ten to fifteen years, their remains would be uncovered by family members and brought here, to the Sacred Forest. The family members would spend the night in the forest, using snuff to help them communicate with the ancestors, and leave the remains deep in the forest so that their loved one can join the ancestors there. 

Now, the Sacred Forest, a fertile area of wetland and rainforest, is surrounded on all sides by towering, slim pine trees that have been planted for paper production. It is certain that these pines are straining the land and draining it of its water (pine trees require huge amounts of water to thrive), but for now, the rainforest remains, its very existence among the pines a reason to consider it sacred. 

Lake Fundudzi

The ghosts of the ancestors of the Venda people swirl beneath the surface of Lake Fundudzi. When you visit the lake you must greet them through ritual, without looking at the lake directly. Turn around, keeping your back to the lake, and then bend over so that your head hangs between your legs. Now, open your eyes. The lake is before you, swimming upside down. Call “Fundudzi!” and raise yourself out of your pose. Now, you may gaze at the blue waters, home to many sacred fish and snakes, and of course, the powerful ancestors.

“Go to the banks of the great grey-green, greasy Limpopo River, all set about with fever-trees,” 

-Rudyard Kipling, “The Elephant’s Child: Just So Stories”

Bietbridge is the border post between South Africa and Zimbabwe. It was nearing five o’clock in the evening when we approached and the border seemed to be closing soon. The queue of vehicles snaked for at least three kilometers and was completely stopped. Well-dressed men and women, looking as if they’d just left work, walked casually past our car on their way home. The group of men who filled the van in front of us began to climb out, gather their packages, and walk the rest of the way to the border. People and goods were passing through South Africa and into Zimbabwe, and everywhere was the push to get across the border before the sun went down.

How are you? : Kunjani?
I am fine and how are you? : Ngisaphila wena unjani?

Also, listen for different ways to answer “how are you?” such as: “I am a little bit fine,” or “I’m in a bad mood.”

The Zulu people form part of the Nguni group consisting of the Zulu, Xhosa, Ndebele and Swazi. Although the speakers of these languages understand each other when they speak, the written languages are somewhat different.

The Zulu people are found mainly in KwaZulu Natal. Zulu people have a Zulu King (presently King Goodwill Zwelithini). The Zulu nation is popular with its rhythmic music and Zulu dance (indlamu). IsiZulu is a very idiomatic language and proverbs are often dominant in language usage. An example is the proverb Ubone mina nje, bayoze bakubone nawe abanamehlo summarised as Amabona bonane (You see me, those with eyes will also see you.) Gcugcwa, a well known thief who had stolen even the untouchable King Shaka’s cattle, said these words to King Shaka before he was murdered on King Shaka’s instructions. The proverb in generally regarded as Gcugcwa’s prediction that King Shaka would also eventually be murdered.

from “South Africa ‘Phrased’: A Quick Reference Guide to South Africa’s Eleven Official Languages”

Lesotho: Le-su-tu (meaning country of mountains, an independent country inside the country of South Africa); Basotho: Ba-su-tu (the term used to refer to the people who live in Lesotho, the word actually means high); Sesotho: Se-su-tu (the language spoken by the Basotho people)

We ducked through the low door of the hut and nestled our way into the cramped and dark inner circle lined with benches. The Basotho elders inched toward the front of the hut to make room for us, moving closer to the bucket of brew for which we’d come. A shebeen is a traditional African pub, and this beer had been brewed by hand. The five or six people who sat around the brew all had the look of having passed beyond the counting of years and marking of age. Their faces were deeply lined, their teeth were few, and their smiles wide. They wore the traditional hats and blankets customary in Lesotho and welcomed us by immediately filling a large plastic cup with brown, grainy liquid. As we passed the cup around the circle each of us took a sip. Grains of maize clung to the sides of the white plastic as the liquid sloshed around the cup, and felt as though they’d get stuck in my teeth as I swallowed the lumpy mix. The beer was musky, smelling of corn and fermented fruit, and warm. The cup was passed around twice, as the rolling, quick-paced consonants of Sesotho pushed against the thatched roof and walls of the little hut.

Sesotho is amongst the first African languages to be written and has an extensive and growing literature which covers a wide field of human experience. Throughout the years the language has undergone a constant uniform writing method called disjunctive writing. The writing convention in Lesotho differs from that of South Africa although the language is the same.

Sesotho is the only language in the Sotho group which, unlike Setswana and Sepedi, borrows click sounds from the Nguni languages. Sesotho is intelligible to the Batswana and Bapedi. Therefore it may be spoken over a large area in South Africa.

from “South Africa ‘Phrased’: A Quick Reference Guide to South Africa’s Eleven Official Languages

From the verandah of the very last house before, as the crow flies, reaching the Mozambique border, you will find an Africa unrecognizable to the thorns and sands of the bush. I had thought the African winter was brown, dry, cracked; a place where water makes itself known subtly, through the shade of a lone green tree over a riverbed of sand. But in St. Lucia, Africa is water.

The Greater St. Lucia Wetlands, recently renamed iSimangaliso Wetland Park (although locals dismiss the name change as a marketing move), is one of South Africa’s five World Heritage Sites. It is home to five eco-systems, with such varied topography as wetlands, oceans, rare vegetated sand dunes, forests, and rivers. It hosts myriad residents, including amphibians, fish, birds, and mammals, perhaps the most famous of which is the hippopotamus. Hippo are responsible for more deaths in Africa than any other animal, despite the fact that they reach their great size by munching on grass alone.  This rounded purple beast with its rose-colored underbelly is indeed massive, as you can see if you are lucky to catch sight of one rising from the water, or if you are even more fortunate, watch him trekking through the tall grass at what can only be described as a heaving, jiggling gallop.

Ironically, the hippo’s best mate is the crocodile, and you’ll often find them sunbathing together on the St. Lucia beaches. Crocodile lie in the sun mostly immobile, with their intimidating jaws stretched open. In fact, they are not trying to frighten you or mark their territory with their terror. Crocs use the fresh air as it wafts through the saliva inside their mouths to regulate their body heat, and it is that cool air that keeps them from overheating from the hot sun on their scaly skin.