We left this morning for the 450 km drive to Victoria Falls. It was chilly, but bright and sunny, a perfect day for a drive. Along the way there is a lot of land that used to be farms, and is now either lying fallow or in smallholdings. I asked about that, and the explanation sort of makes sense. In 1980 at independence, land was taken away from white landowners and given to indigenous people. Unfortunately there was no particular plan for doing this, and the people who got the land were not necessarily ones who were familiar with farming practice. The workers from the large farms did not get land as they had been tainted by their long association with white people. The people who got the land had been subsistence farmers who had been driven off the land by Cecil Rhodes. Therefore, their dream was to go back to smallholding, which they have done. The problem with this is that they don’t produce any extra food to sell to people living in the city and there have been serious food shortages here. The other people who got farms during the reallocation of land were friends of the government who lived in the city and had no interest in, or capability for, farming. The government is trying to solve this now by taking over land ownership, and leasing to people.
In many ways driving across the countryside reminded me of driving across parts of Canada. Miles and miles with no people, and then small settlements. We stopped for a picnic beside the road and only one bus and three cars passed while we were there. Much of the road runs alongside a nature reserve. It was set up by Cecil Rhodes, and many of the poor farmers have regarded it as a white thing…therefore they steal the wire from the fences to fence their own kraals. It’s quite odd to drive along and see the stiles climbing up and over nothing. The problem is that the wire kept the animals in, and now it’s gone, they wander about and eat people’s cattle, and occasionally their children.
We are staying at a wonderful lodge overlooking the Zambezi River just above Victoria Falls. There are warthogs grazing on the lawn below and keeping it neatly cut. There is a hippo named Sebastian who apparently appears some nights and wanders about. We sat out on our balcony watching the river go by and eating the remains of our picnic because we were just too lazy to walk over to the restaurant.
Best new expression I learned today, “I went to your office and I met your absence”.
Physical absence or mental?
I think it’s traditionally used for physical absence, but in my life, mental absence is just as common, so I think we can extend it to suit the environment.
After I turned the lights out last night, we could hear the music from the lounge playing. Not quite what I expected on the banks of the Zambezi River: a marimba band playing such old favourites as Yellow Bird and Guantanamera.