Journey to the Centre of Africa
Trip Start
May 25, 2005
1
61
283
Trip End
Ongoing
Africa Centre, Mtubatuba,
South Africa
Tuesday, December 13, 2005
There are two routes to Mtubatuba from the park. The first is to leave by the closest gate (Memorial), drive to the N2 and take the highway south. The other, more exciting route winds its way through the park, exiting at the Nyalazi gate, leaving a short drive to the heart of the town.
Now considering I'm a bit of a wildlife buff there was little option in my mind. I had plenty of time, and the more of it I spent inside this animal wonderland, the better!
Questions were racing through my mind. This meeting would be an important step for the project. It would lay the foundations of further talks, and hopefully inspire greater collaboration and initiatives with other stakeholders too. I really wasn't thinking too much as I automatically stopped to watch a bull elephant pick his way through the vegetation.
Hang on - that's a real live elephant Claire. Wake up girl!
Such a large heavy beast, expertly selecting food the size of half a car is quite some show. He waved his ears a few time in disgruntlement as one acacia branch finally snapped as he pushed his way through. There was a tasty morsel on the next tree he just had to get to.
I left him to it.
Mtubatuba is quite a hub. A bustling town full of minibus taxis and stalls selling mangoes, biscuits and plastic-toothed combs.
And so to bed
People mill around, roaming from one thing to the next. Cars line up for the petrol attendants attention, wanting a quick wash and brush up to set them on their way back to the other end of the town.As before, I hit market day. There were so many people on the field next to the centre that I missed the place, thinking I was in another town. I reversed, taking care not to hit any of the children who were now released from academic prison for the year. Slowly, slowly I drove through the animals and people. I passed the football field where an impromptu game was in full swing. Flashy coloured shirts were racing around after the scuffed ball. Goal! All the grannies clapped and laughed from their ground-seat positions behind their cloth-topped stalls.
'Good morning Madam.'
"Hi there. I'm here to visit the centre."
'Sign here please. Now to park you have to drive ALLLL the way around the side. We are building!'
The last sentence was said with such immense pride by the security guard, that a big smile oozed from his ear to ear. They were building. No Kidding!
So once again I eased my way through the people, turned through the piles of bricks and sand, past the construction workers in their blue uniforms who were soldering and making metal parts over hot fires and eventually parked up under a nice low tree. A few roof scrapes never hurt anyone!
Once in the centre I found my hosts easily. It was just how I remembered - a bubbling frothy atmosphere with people everywhere.
Burning Sunset
The kitchen was busy making fish and chips, and office and field workers met at tables to talk about their latest days. Laughter erupted from one corner, and there I was, back in the real world.The meeting went well, although as with so many aspects to a new project, it opened up a web of further intricacies. 'So who should I contact about that?' 'Where are they based?' 'How do you usually go about starting something like that?' 'When is the next meeting of that group happening?' 'Do you think this plan is feasible?' 'How can I ensure this project will benefit you the most?' 'Will this be useful?'
Exhausted and with my mind going at two-to-the-dozen I back my way out for the drive back 'home'. I needed some time to process everything I had learnt, and an evening spent at the top of a mountain may just be the break I was looking for. I went back the same way I had come, via Nyalazi.
Good choice. It wasn't too long before I was driving with the windows down, surrounded by beasts last seen heading south on the ark. Or so it felt!
A troop of baboons raced past my car, cavorting through the air, turning cartwheels, on patrol. They were obviously on the lookout for something to entertain them. I watched as the young males threw themselves between the trees. How do they do that with so much confidence and ease? It was a lovely, yet violent scene.
Enter the Rhino. Oblivious to the fuss just a little way up ahead, today's rhino ignored the gravity-defying antics of those foolish beasts and attended to more important business.
Easy
Eating! After all, the light was beginning to fade. Goodness knows how many pounds of vegetation a rhino has to consume every day, but it must be a tiring job!
As I crossed the river, I stopped to watch the weaver birds dance between the swinging branches of their bird city. Hanging precariously over the water, each nest is built on the very brink of disaster, ready to fall into the liquid hell below. Why do they do that? HOW do they do that?
Hanging upside down, the females returned to feed the young within the nest. Apparently, this stupefying design is actually rather nifty. No predator can make it down to the tips of these narrow branches without falling in. And no snake can slither to the upside-down hole and steal the eggs and chicks without being seen and suffering at the beaks of the owners.
As the wind increased, the branches swung to and fro with increasing speed. The little yellow birds began a chorus of anecdotes so that it became too deafening to sit and watch any longer. Perhaps that was the idea.
As I followed the giraffe and zebra home I stopped to chat to a baby warthog who came running up to the car with such urgency you would imagine the world was on fire;
'Whaaaaa, Whaaaa, Whaaaaa'
"Well thanks for mentioning it - I'll be sure to keep my eyes open little fella"
What a great life this is.
I felt so connected to the many species roaming around the park after sharing even the briefest moments with them on the way home. I felt connected to the mountains I was starting to navigate by sight, rather than by map. I felt connected to my passion for the wider world and inspired to do my part to ensure its security.
'How was your day?' asked one of the researchers as I arrived back at camp.
"Great thanks. You?"
'Great. Hey, I don't know if anyone has mentioned it, but there is a leopard that has been patrolling camp recently, so just be careful if you are up and about at night OK!'
"OK! Thanks for the heads up! Night!"
A leopard! There's nothing more to say!
