Sunday, March 19, 2017

Life Lessons from the Animals of Nxai Pan National Park: A Botswana Cultural Escapade - Day 5 (Thurs. March 16, 2017)



Maun is a ‘safari town.’ This is the place where tourists come to journey into the Okavango Delta to see Southern Africa’s animals. The ‘Big Five’ they call them – Lions, Elephants, Cape Buffalo, Leopards and Rhinos. On our way to the Nhabe Museum in Maun, store front tourist companies offering safari adventures lined the streets. Most tourists are from the West. Westerners, aka Europeans, have had a fascination with African animals since the days of Rome. In amphitheaters, gladiators, convicted criminals and early born-again Christians were pitted against African lions and other animals for the perverse pleasure of the audience. ‘The Games’ is what they called them. Roman traders made fortunes importing sand from Egypt to cover the ground of coliseums where the games took place. Sand was used to absorb the blood that was shed in these places. To many Africans, including the Okavango Delta weavers, these animals are not exotic fauna to be admired from armored, easily accelerating four by fours, but dangerous and often deadly creatures that should be avoided. Or they are hunted by skilled and armed warriors in connection with the coronation of a paramount chief.

Staff housing at Nxai Pan National Park
A Nxai Pan National Park Ranger. He prevents animals from being poached.
We arrived at Nhabe Museum. It featured artifacts specific to the cultures like the Hambakusha, Bayei and Herero of the Okavango delta region, which are very different from the southeast. We then set off for a Game Reserve. It was called Nxai Pan National Park and it was remote. Remote was a theme for this trip. Its location is so remote that the staff lives there on the grounds. A commute back and forth is impossible.
First Elephant Sighting
South Camp
Mama Edna, our Transport Specialist, reading the painted map of the park.
Nxai Pan National Park offers a game drive. Travelers drive through the park to see and take photos of the animals. Only four wheel drives are permitted. We drove for a disappointing hour without seeing any of the animals (Except for a small little dear which is the totem of the Bangwato and figured into our travels at the end.) I even drifted off to sleep. Finally, we saw not one, but three elephants, one of God’s magnificent creatures. One was off to the left, one to the right and the biggest one was lumbering on the road coming directly towards our truck (please see my photo above.) Mama Edna was terrified (Remember what I just said about the African perspective on wild animals.) When I asked to stop to take a photo she exclaimed “No we cannot stop!” He began to flap his ears, a sign that an elephant is irritated by your presence and might attack. I was cautioned long ago not to play with wild animals. I have heard at least three stories of Botswanans being killed and attacked while foolishly trying to take a picture with an elephant.  We drove a little longer and stopped at ‘south camp’ for the bathroom.
Tuck Shop at South Camp
Inventory at the Tuck Shop

I knew enough to take a roll of bathroom tissue on the trip from home. It came in handy at south camp. In rural Botswana, a bathroom visit should be a brief affair during which one must be wary of spiders. Also – bring a full sized hand sanitizer, a utilitarian bottle of non-drinking water, liquid soap and a roll of paper towels for washing hands. By the end of the trip, I had all four. Finally we entered into the best part of the journey. We saw hundreds of zebras, about seventy Giraffes and almost forty elephants. They all live in harmony together. There is a song in the Disney version of Alice and Wonderland called “Golden Afternoon," with a lyric that says, We Can Learn A Lot of Things from the Flowers. Yes. And we can learn a lot of things from the animals. Here are a few lessons that I learned on our game drive through Nxai Pan National Park. 

Zebras, Family and the Power of Touch
Zebra’s live in families. They look like little stripped donkeys with the head of a horse. The Setswana word for them literally translates as “Wild Horse.” As we passed by a few would stare straight at us and bob their heads. The head nodding really looked like a greeting, but I am not sure. They also do a funny thing with their lips. Zebras stand around in small groups, eat grasses and rest their heads gently on each other sides. It looks very loving. Touch is very powerful and important for a family to be close knit. That is a lesson to be learned from the Zebras.
  

Relationship Lessons from the Giraffe Courtship Dance
Giraffes are beautiful and when they run it looks like slow motion. They are obviously a part of the same family as camels. They are also powerful. They can kill a lion with one kick. Ladies, there is a lesson about men and courtship that we can learn from them. Male giraffes have darker spots and females lighter. Towards the end of the drive, I saw a handsome couple standing off to the side. The male stuck so close to the female. If she took a step to the left or the right, he followed her.  I recognized right away, with one glance in fact, that they were engaged in the courtship dance common to all males and females. Here is the lesson. He was following her. And she wasn’t giving in easily. One website said that they can engage in this dance for hours or days. If the male tries to move forward and she is not ready, then she will just casually walk away. If he wanted her, and he did, then he had to work for her. And he was following her everywhere. Also, the rest of their family was standing far off, keeping their distance. The lesson? Ladies, if he wants you, he will work for you. The ‘family’’ I saw standing far off included male giraffes keeping their distance. If they got too close, he would fight them to keep them away from her. A man who truly loves a woman wants her for himself alone. That kind of commitment requires marriage. And, he will follow you. If you find yourself following him (calling him, making all of the arrangements, desiring to be married and he doesn't, and you generally doing all of the work) then the relationship is out of order, and he doesn’t want you. He might be with you because you are convenient. But if he wants you, he will work for you. Or, as the Bible says in the Proverbs 18:22 He who finds a wife, finds a good things and will receive a blessing from the Lord. If you are in this situation, be warned. Leave him or withdraw yourself from him (i.e. stop calling him and being available) to turn the tables, because the moment he finds a women who gives him the challenge that all men like, then he will be gone. Have you ever heard of stories when a man who is supposedly with one woman and then all of the sudden marries someone else? In most cases, the abandoned woman gave too much too soon - her time, attention, creativity, love, emotions and/or devotion (her body.) And the woman he married knew exactly how to play him (probably calculating and conniving.) Please read between the lines! Let’s learn the lesson from these Giraffes!
 
Wildebeests - A hope for the lonely
Wildebeests are not that beautiful, but I always saw them in male/female pairs. Lesson - Even the unattractive can find someone to love. There is someone for everyone.

Elephants and Animal Feelings
Animals have feelings. I know this because I have a deep connection with our dog and cat back home. They have a pure love and their feelings can be hurt. In the early days when I first got my dog, Perpetua, she was always so excited when I came home from work (or from anywhere  - even if it was a ten minute run to take out the trash.) Once when I got home, I did not pick her up and cuddle her right away. After a few moments of following me she inhaled and then let out a whiny little ‘whooo’ sound that broke my heart. A whisper in my heart said ‘pick her up Maya,’ just as she expressed her sadness. Of course I picked her up, cuddled her and apologized. When I was leaving for Botswana, I told her I was leaving and for how long. I also reassured her that I was coming back. I forgot to tell our cat Shelby the same, and shortly after I left, she began to wet herself in her cage. Something she has not done in years. When she learned that I was coming back, she stopped. And so it is with Elephants. The elephant population has been traumatized here in Botswana and all over Southern Africa. They have long been hunted for their ivory tusks. Whites were doing this and the Batswana. According to the documentary The Ivory Game, the elephant population was so traumatized that they have learned to hide their tusks with their trunks somehow. Mama Edna told a story about a time in Chobe Park (in the north east) when she was almost attacked. The two men she was driving had been drinking and decided to get out of the car and take a picture with the elephants. Suddenly the elephants barreled towards them, and the two men leaped back into the truck, terrified. The entire herd surrounded the vehicle. Mama Edna said that she was cowering behind the right seat with her hand covering her head. The tourists just saw the gathered herd as a rare photo opportunity and kept talking about how beautiful it once was. Meanwhile, the three Batswana were in the middle of it, and very close to losing their lives. With one forceful push, those elephants could have overturned their vehicle and trampled them. Finally the matron elephant of the herd came over to see what was going on. Elephant families are led by the oldest female. When she saw that her sons and nephews (and maybe younger brothers) were not in danger, she slowly guided each one of them away with her trunk, until they all disappeared. The lesson? Sometimes victims of trauma believe that there is danger when there is none. They become very protective of themselves. After hundreds of years of seeing their family members shot and killed, with their corpses decomposing for months, their ivory tusks extracted, it is no wonder that Mama Edna’s elephants (and the ones we saw on Thursday) were ready to attack unarmed people with no bad intentions. Animals have feelings.
 
The Bible says that in the New Heaven and New Earth (Revelations 21) , that The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them Isaiah 11:6. 
Isaiah 11:7-9 says 7 The cow will feed with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox. 8 The infant will play near the cobra’s den, and the young child will put its hand into the viper’s nest. 9 They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.
Wow! Apparently the order of the earth that was instituted by Adam’s sin will be changed. Remember, when God first created the earth, he gave Man and Women seed bearing plants to eat, and to the animals, plants to eat, not each other. Genesis 1:30 And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move along the ground – everything that has the breath of life in it – I give every plant for food. And it was so.  If wolves, leopards, goats, lambs, calves and lions will live and cuddle each other, with a little child being in no danger around any of them, then we know that animals will not hunt each other or be a dangerous threat to people. And people will not hunt animals. In a documentary I saw about Memphis barbecue one African – American man held a pork rib high and exclaimed “I hope there are ribs in heaven!” before taking a big, saucy bite. While I have no idea if there will or will not be meats to eat in heaven, Isaiah 11:6 clearly states that the so – called food chain in the animal kingdom will be no more. I have also heard accounts of heaven of people being able to talk with animals, specifically pets that they had on earth, pets pestering God about when their former human family will come to heaven, and cuddly pets being all around to hug and love. (Reference Glimpses of God Volume 1 and Glimpses of God Volume 2) by Rebecca Brown MD (HarvestWarriors.com) The elephants will live freely and interact with people like the gentle beasts that they were created to be. And their trauma will be no more.

A Secure King is a Lion
Although I did not see a lion in the park, I saw one at the beginning of our journey in Ghanzi. The male is secure. As I shared before, the Setswana word for president is the word for the male Lion who is the leader of the pack. Toutana. The male lion I saw was calm as could be. He had nothing to prove. He was powerful and in charge. He was a father of strong children, who are also lions. He gives them his identity. A good male leader should be like a lion. Dominant, calm and secure. He knows his worth and has nothing to prove.
PS. His counterpart, the female toutana, is also just as calm and secure.
I love reflecting on these animals and there is a lot more to learn. By the way, Jackels are just small dogs. Not the wild predators that I thought they were. And they are small. Smaller than my little Pomeranian. Lesson? Just because something or someone has a reputation for being 'big and bad' doesn't mean we should assume it to be true or fear them. Could be just a small ant making a lot of noise!

One Last Adventure

After the game reserve, our day was not without one more adventure. Our itinerary had changed. We were supposed to go to Serowe but the game drive took about three hours and it was too late.  Our new destination was Francistown, the second largest city in Botswana. We were warned that the road to the city was flooded. This brings us to another difference between the US and Botswana. In the US, and in many places, there are multiple roads that can lead to one destination. Here in Botswana there are only a few very long major roads for driving around the country. In certain sections, there is no cutting through because large swaths of land are game reserves and national parks. We had two choices. Take the chance to drive through the flooded road to Francistown, a three hour drive, or back track in the opposite direction – a seven to ten hour drive. We took the road to Francistown. It seemed fine to me, just a little water on the road side, so I relaxed and drifted off into a hazy slumber. I woke up with a start when the car stopped. Before us was a huge flood plain where the road stopped and was no more. The lights of a large truck were submerged in water far off into the distance. It was too late to turn back now, but what could we do? If we tried to drive through it, I was sure the engine of our truck would be water logged. After about ten minutes of pondering, two large trucks came along, so our guide decided to follow the first one. The water rose to just under the car doors. This was about two and half feet of water that we drove through for about half an hour. When I first arrived, I wondered why so many people here drive big, burly sports utility vehicles. Now, I understand. On a road trip in Botswana, be sure to have a high standing four wheel drive. We arrived at the hotel in Francistown exhausted. When I got to my room I enjoyed a long hot bath and fell into a deep sleep.

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