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 |
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| A Nxai Pan National Park Ranger. He prevents animals from being poached. |
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| First Elephant Sighting |
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| South Camp |
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| Mama Edna, our Transport Specialist, reading the painted map of the park. |
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| Tuck Shop at South Camp |
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| 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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