Monday, June 25, 2007

Zambian Adventures







http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=3023806

Look what I found! A Zambian safari in minutes! It's pretty cool actually because if you go on safari you don't get to see all the animals you want unless you take many trips out to keep watch. I had too many wildlife adventures...I think I can hack it on survivor:-) I remember the one time we went on a canoe with my now deceased cousin Stella, I had on these huge clogs and a mini skirt (yeah it was that long ago when i used to wear mini skirts...eeck!). So anyway, we're on the canoe on the Zambezi, and the guy rowing the canoe was using this long bamboo stick, which I mistakenly thought was a real paddle till he raised it up. By this time, we were half way down the river, the little canoe starts rocking and water is coming in, and he goes...'oh let's all keep very still because it might tip over and the crocodiles cross over to the other side at this hour'...lord have mercy! I was like dude...please row us back to shore stat!!!! My other cousin was shooting a video of the scene and we laughed so hard when we watched it later because you could see how we we're all happy and messing around till we got half way down the river and then nobody is laughing or moving...and then we quickly jumped off before the canoe even docked! We had also forgotten that the river had hippos too! City kids and wildlife just don't mix!
I also remember the day I saw my first two headed snake! Disgusting! When my family moved into the house that we now call home, the area was one of those with very few neighbors and lots of trees and bushes...we also have a lot of mango, guava, pawpaw, mulberry, and miscellaneous trees. So on one of my trips to get some fruit, I came face to face with a mummy 2 headed snake...I ran back to the house screaming like a baby! Now if I had known any better I would have stayed still... thank God it wasn't a spitting cobra or something!
The first time we went on a safari with the family though was very funny! I recall we were sooo bush we forgot to take camera's and binoculars and hats! the worst part was, we were a safari van full of blackson chifita's being taken around and shown animals by a muzungu...in zed! that was sooo hillarious! Talk about role reversal!
It's a pity that not all Zambian's living in the city get to see wildlife... funny enough people that I come in contact with in the U.S think we grew up in the wild or something and expect you to know all about the animals and stuff...they think wild animals roam around our backyards...well maybe in the villages that happens, but in the city...you have to go to Mundawanga zoo to see stuff! Well nowadays you can go to Chaminuka or the crocodile farm as well to see wild life around the Capital City. Before we either had to go to Livingstone, Siavonga, Kafue, Mfuwe...etc
My grandmother's place I think was the most fun I had ever had! She lived in Mufulira at a farm almost at Zambia's border with Congo... and may fun things happened there! we played 'tour of duty' and went 'skiing' on the huge anthills in the yard, we helped out with her chickens in the coup, drank fresh milk from the neighbors cows, ate all sorts of goodies-- pigeons, finkubala, intoyo, imyungu, viwawasha, masau, chikanda...etc..such fun days!
okay...i'm getting home sick! oh and i've developed an addiction to chocolate pudding and leibniz (German biscuits)...

3 comments:

Unknown said...

I loved this post and have pinched some of it on to today's blog. You can get a free night at Chanters as a reward next time you're in town!

Zurii said...

Dude row us back to shore? Hilarious! Umm you need to turn on your anonymous comment thing (Hisssssss)!

Manena said...

Rchard: asante sana!!! Zambians don't decline free offers of anything except GMO's!

Zurii: Negative on that:)