Phinda--Where the h is silent, but the rhino flatulence is not

[Atravelynn]

We decided to try to find the cheetah again on the afternoon drive and there she was, two cheetah lengths from where we left her, still relaxing. We spent about an hour and a half with her and a couple of giraffes spent about an hour with both of us. Part of the sky became dramatically dark and a few raindrops fell. The coucal had been right. We left the cheetah and headed back to the lodge, toward blue skies. Thulani stated he was certain the rain would not follow us.

 

No night drive tonight. Instead Thulani had arranged a combo catered dinner/cultural visit/family reunion at his mother’s homestead, where he spends time when he is not working. Thulani, his sister who works at Phinda, and I departed in Thulani’s personal car. It’s hard to know just how far away his home was because we detoured to pick up a cousin. My contribution to the festivities was a bottle of spirits, which is what Thulani suggested—vodka, from Phinda’s bar.

 

When we turned off the paved highway and proceeded on the dirt road to the homestead, Thulani remarked, “This is where it all began, when I was a little boy running around in the fields, learning the birds and the trees.” And now, next to me was a knowledgeable and respected ranger, who was trusted with a recent National Geographic crew who did a two-week shoot on rivers (the one we canoed). We joked that when Thulani appears in that documentary, he’ll be just like Brad Pitt.

 

He also had guided Reverend Desmond Tutu for several days. Apparently the respected Reverend was just as animated and enthusiastic about the wildlife as he is about everything else.

 

In between his time playing in the fields--that were now illuminated by our headlights--and guiding dignitaries such as Reverend Tutu, Thulani had worked as a waiter and in the kitchen at Phinda. He told me he would go out on drives with the rangers and get tears in his eyes, in awe of what he was seeing. After studying on his own with bird books and field guides, he attended the ranger training program and passed the course. That was six years ago.

 

We had arrived at our destination and it was obvious because the road was now lined with those beautiful luminaria candle bags. Thulani had driven out midday and arranged them on either side of the road leading to his mother’s homestead. Talk about tears in your eyes. I felt like I was arriving royalty.

[Atravelynn]

A healthy bonfire provided our only light as there was no electricity. We made our introductions using the special Zulu handshake and “Saw-u-bohn-a” responding with “Yebo.” The gathering consisted of about 30 family members. A special greeting and thank you was in order for Thulani’s mother, the owner of the home. The vodka spirits hostess gift brought applause.

 

Lovely upholstered furniture from Thulani’s room was positioned around the bonfire along with additional stools and mats. Those raindrops predicted by the coucal had also heeded Thulani’s prediction and had not tagged along with us. Our evening outside under the stars was rain free.

 

There was not much conversation since all I could say was hello, thank you, good bye, nyala, and give the Sangoma greeting. Thulani and his sister were of course fluent in English but they were busy grilling steak, chicken, sausages, and preparing salad and sgwamba. Sgwamba is the cornmeal staple similar to sadza or ugali. I offered to help, but they declined and they certainly had everything under control. I spent the first 20 minutes or so avoiding the bonfire smoke that was causing my eyes to water profusely, though no one else seemed to be affected.

 

Then I sat on the mat, away from the fire and smoke, with the women and babies. I asked, through Thulani, if I could hold a baby. Thulani had not even completed the translation of my request when a little guy was plopped into my lap. He was content for a while, then clearly wanted to crawl on to the next child holder. I sat with another baby or two. The babies enjoyed the rotation schedule and sat with other children, dads, sisters, uncles, then back to mom. The babies rarely cried and the older children never required any discipline.

 

The kids laughed or huddled together quietly, watching and listening. Thulani’s cute little dog was present and so were a few neighbor dogs, all well behaved. I was surprised how all this commotion at night did not disturb the chickens that remained asleep on top of their coop next to the hubbub. The goats that were penned up next to the chickens were equally content.

 

Thulani directed me to the upholstered love seat to eat the wonderful meal that had been prepared in front of me. I sat next to a young man holding a baby. The men sat on Thulani’s furniture and the women sat on the mats. I was the exception, as a guest.

 

After dinner, Thulani broke out the vodka. The men were served straight shots and I was given a mixed drink of Coke and vodka. Thulalni drank very little or nothing as he was the designated driver.

[Atravelynn]

When the eating was done the singing began and it was obvious everyone knew and loved the songs. Then the dancing started. One family member at a time would dance, accompanied by a singing, clapping audience. An element of the dance involved raising one leg very high and slapping it down on the ground. This activity would gain momentum, die down a bit, then build momentum again.

 

I had asked Thulani about taking pictures of everyone and mailing them. He thought that would be a good idea since none of the family had ever had their picture taken. As the party wound down, I took photos of various individuals, groups, mothers and babies, the entire family, somebody even grabbed Thulani’s dog and held him up for a shot. Thank goodness for an effective flash because there was no other source of light.

 

Eventually it was time to leave so I said my “See-ya-bohn-ga’s” which is the plural form of thanks and then “Sah-lah-knee Kah-hlay” which is good bye to everyone. We piled back into the vehicle. Mbali, Thulani’s wife to be, was also with us for the ride back.

 

I told Thulani what a wonderful evening it had been and I said that I hoped everyone else who had attended enjoyed themselves. Thulani said he knew they had or they would not have danced.

 

On the way back we passed a fenced reserve, Bonamanzi. Our headlights shone for just a moment on a cheetah trotting along the fence. I immediately called out the sighting. Then I asked Thulani if he thought it was my imagination because you don’t often see cheetahs trotting around at night. He replied that there are no major predators, except leopards, in that reserve, so the cheetah are comfortable being mobile at night. Then he added that the cheetah was likely near the fence because leopards would not go near the fence because it is next to the road. So the facts fight the sighting and I gave myself credit for yet another cheetah. As we pulled into Forest Lodge it was raining. How could I have doubted the coucal?

 

It was about midnight before I got to bed. I felt very privileged to have attended the event that evening and I checked my camera to ensure the various family photos had come out well. With so many people in so many photos, Thulani would be receiving quite a large package of pictures from me.

[madaboutcheetah]

Lynn,

 

Sorry if you already mentioned the information elsewhere in the report - but, do they know how many cheetahs the whole area of Phinda can effectively support?

[Atravelynn]

Right now I think it is around 20. Someday when they acquire the large parcel of national park that they are hoping to, I was told it could support 50 of them.

[Atravelynn]

Day 8

My bags were mostly packed and I paid my bills this morning so I would be ready for departure after lunch. Our last game drive started an hour later than usual at my request, given our previous late night, and we joked about sending out the other rangers to locate the animals for us. That’s exactly what happened and we had our final cheetah, a big male resting along a slightly elevated ridge in the savanna. There are no termite mounds in Phinda, which often serve as lookout spots for cheetah elsewhere.

 

We left the cheetah only for some morning cookies and a pit stop and then returned. It was getting to be about 9:50 am and I knew checkout was 11:00. I reluctantly suggested that whenever they wanted to head back, it was ok with me. Thulani responded, “With my two weeks leave coming up, we can stay a bit longer. This is my last cheetah too.”

 

Now there’s a ranger who loves what he does and what’s out there. Though it took the whole trip to get it, that poignant comment became my Quote of the Trip. Together we watched our last cheetah for a few more precious moments.