Darwin, Australia

Australia’s “Top End”

“Farewell Australia! You are a rising child, and doubtless some day will reign a great princess in the South; but you are too great an ambition for affection, yet not great enough for respect. I leave your shores without sorrow or regret.”

Our dear friend Charles Darwin wrote these stinging remarks in his Journal during the voyage of H.M.S. Beagle, 1832 to 1836. He was sailing the local waters known as the Timor Sea. Perhaps our celebrated evolutionist was having an off day—not discovering any new species he could go on and on about. Even so, the affable Aussies would have said, “No worries mate! We’ll just name a whole bloomin’ town after you.” And so they did. And now you know. And now you’re here. So there you are.

For the record, the naming of the town Darwin is in fact attributed to two different Captains of the Beagle, a John Lort Stokes and a J. C. Wickham. Whatever. The year was 1839 and each fellow had sailed previously aboard the Beagle with Darwin.

Northern Territory

Now this is the perfect place to test the philosophical question, “if a tree falls in the forest and there’s no one around, would there be a sound?” There is almost no one around. In the NT, as it is called, approximately 1% (200,000) of Australia’s entire population lives on 20% (1.35 million square kilometers) of the nation’s land. And, technically speaking, this land is not a state like Queensland or Victoria. In days gone by, this region was administered by New South Wales, then South Wales, and finally the federal government beginning in 1911. Though Canberra still administers to some business, for the last quarter century the territory has been declared self-governing.

The NT has two distinct areas—the tropical (think Crocodile Dundee) northern Top End and the parched (think Road Warrior) deserts of the Red Center. Between them is something that has been described as Mother Nature’s attempt at a barbed-wire fence where you’ll find Uluru (Ayers Rock) and Alice Springs. Connecting them is a ribbon of highway that beckons backpackers, cattle trucks, kangaroos, and wayward adventurers out for a bumpy ride.

Early Explorers

With sea days ahead, you should pick up a book detailing the history of the region’s early exploration by white settlers. You’ll discover the first European to lay eyes on this coastline was Jan Carstenzoon, a Dutch fellow sailing on the Arnheim in 1623. The whole area remained uncharted and unexplored by Europeans for generations. Anthropologists believe, however, that the Larrakis Aboriginal people have lived in this region for many thousands of years. In fact, some scientists propose the tribes in the Top End are among the world’s most ancient races. Today, these people represent one-fourth of the Territory’s 200,000 inhabitants.

The Aborigines’ story in the NT is much like it was elsewhere across the land. One hundred years ago, the majority of the Aboriginal people were housed in Christian missions or restricted to reserves set up by the government. Those who did find work lived on cattle stations or in town. Today, the Aboriginal Land Rights (NT) Act is in effect. In 1976, this measure was passed returning the land to the original owners and they now own approximately 50% of the NT.

Back to the explorers. There was a good German fellow named Ludwig Leichhardt who reached Port Essington (just north of Darwin) by traveling overland from Brisbane in 1845—think no room service! There were other adventurers with names like Eyre, Sturt, Gregory, Mitchell and Howitt poking about the continent around this same time. It is Burke and Wills who remain Australia’s most famous explorers for it was they who traveled from Melbourne to something called Camp 119, south to north across the vast island continent, to within a stone’s throw of the Gulf of Carpentaria. Their exhausting tale is well worth reading in the days ahead.

We also can’t forget John McDouall Stuart who blazed the trail south to north in 1862 linking Port August to Darwin, which was then linked by underwater cable to Java and all the nations beyond ten years later. That was a great day for Australia and set the stage for the city’s modern day history.

In the cool evening air, why not stroll along the Esplanade or sit under the Tree of Knowledge, a sweeping banyan revered by Buddhists worldwide, so old it could tell many tales. If it fell and no one was around to hear, it may well still report a powerful sound.

Cairns, Australia

Reefs and Rainforests

Right. It’s “CANS” like beans, not CAIRRRNS. Armed with this information you can saunter with a purpose once ashore. With a jaunty “G’day”, you’ll greet locals accustomed to welcoming those who come by sea. It started long ago when Captain Cook sailed these waters aboard H.M.S. Endeavor on Trinity Sunday, 1770, hence the name Trinity Bay.

And speaking of coming by sea, the Coral Sea to be exact, do you know you’re now closer to Papua New Guinea than to much of the rest of Australia? And, isolated. A somewhat inhospitable terrain forms a natural boundary to this region what with the Tablelands and all. But, more on that later.

A Sleepy Little Backwater Town

Cairns is the capital of the “Far North” or the “Deep North” or the “FNQ--Far North Queensland” with 65,000 year-round residents. It’s a jolly town, blending older stilt houses (built to catch cooling breezes) and holiday bungalows with respectable hotels and eateries. Surrounding the city are rainforests, cattle ranches, sugarcane and pineapple plantations as well as macadamia groves.

Cairns was just a blip on the horizon for eons. Then, someone discovered gold and tin further inland and it grew into a city that serviced these industries. Cane fields were planted, then coffee, and these crops were trained to Cairns for shipment abroad. A community grew though this spot was too far from Australia’s bright lights and biggish cities to be much of a lure. That was until 1980 when an enterprising tourist board identified Cairns as not only a destination in and of itself but more popularly as a jumping off point to the Great Barrier Reef that stretches 1200 miles from Papua New Guinea to the Tropic of Cancer.

Cairns is without great local beaches, so visitors usually pass the day meandering about. Its famous Esplanade lies directly opposite the waterfront from Trinity Bay. Locals recite stories about Wharf Street, at the southern end of the Esplanade, when it was known as the Barbary Coast due to its cast of shady characters and disreputable ruffians. That was in 1876. Today, this promenade is benign, perfect for bird watching (brightly-colored tropical birds perch overhead) or picnicking. But don’t forget that CAN of beans!

The Reef Beckons

Most visitors catamaran to the reef for the day--to snorkel or dive, or do some deep-sea fishing. These waters are labeled “the black marlin capital of the world.” From August to November anglers catch these 1,000-pounders that are buggers to land. Tuna, sailfish and barracuda ply these waters, as well.

The Great Barrier Reef is the “world’s largest living structure” and is bright with color, alive with rainbows of fish, and a visual treat like no other. Don mask and fins for you won’t want to let this rare opportunity pass you by. Not wanting to get wet? You can still enjoy the view aboard a semi-submersible or watch “Finding Nemo” if you’re truly a landlubber.

Butterflies Flutter By

The Atherton Tablelands, a 3,000-foot-high plateau of the Great Dividing Range, are named for John Atherton who built his farm here in 1877. High above the steamy mangrove flats surrounding Cairns, this mountainous area is noted for waterfalls and deep gorges. Toward the end of the 1800s, sugar cane was introduced to these mountains. As mentioned, growers needed to transport their crop to market. So powerful men with picks and shovels cleared rain forests, bridged gorges, penetrated jungles and skirted waterfalls to construct a railway line from the cane fields to the port of Cairns. This project, completed in 1888, took four years.

Ultimately, the line was abandoned when more efficient transportation was available. Today, the former sugarcane train chugs that same 20-mile run through 15 tunnels, across 40 bridges, past waterfalls, a climb of 1,076 feet en route to the town of Kuranda, “Gateway to the Atherton Tablelands.” Some 600 residents, mostly farmers, live there. It’s also home to the Butterfly Sanctuary with more than 1,500 tropical butterflies including the nation’s biggest, the Ulysses Butterfly. The Kuranda Station itself is quite lovely--decorated with tropical plants and hanging ferns.

Docs and Ducks

Other options for visitors to Cairns include the Royal Flying Doctors Service, a service that provides medical care to the remote regions of Australia by visiting homesteads and communities in need. You can stop by their Cairns’ facility, even climb aboard a Queenair aircraft once used by the flying docs.

Or, you can hop aboard a “duck”, an amphibious WWII Army boat that motors along while you search for goannas, turtles, fish and eels. Just don’t say, “quack quack” if you want to keep your dignity in tact.

Brisbane, Australia

Bugs and Beaches

Brisbane’s famous for a host of reasons but two curiosities seem to leap off the page. First, bugs. There’s something called a Moreton Bay bug that resembles a crayfish and the locals love it. So, too, their Southbank Parklands that feature Australia’s only inner city beach. This keeps her 1.7 million residents particularly happy on those steamy sub-tropical days where a whisper of wind just can’t be found.

Brisbane is vibrant and historic, draped lovingly along the banks of the Brisbane River upstream from Moreton Bay. Her grid-pattern streets are ideal for out-of-towners as the east/west streets are named for kings, and north/south streets for queens. You just gotta know your royalty.

King Of The Explorers

Our beloved Captain James Cook first sighted nearby Moreton Bay while charting these waters aboard H.M.S. Endeavor during his first "voyage of discovery." Cook searched but failed to find the mouth of this freshwater river, known today as the Brisbane River. Two decades later Matthew Flinders retraced Cook's route but also failed to locate the outlet to the bay. Eventually, in 1823, it was discovered by John Oxley. He was the surveyor sent by the Governor of New South Wales to locate a suitable site for a penal colony to house incorrigible convicts who committed crimes after being banished to Australia for earlier convictions. One year later, those prisoners arrived to build a settlement at a spot known as Redcliffe Peninsula. Unfortunately, the combination of hostile Aborigines and little fresh water forced many convicts from Redcliffe to present-day Brisbane, 14 miles upriver from Moreton Bay. Anthropologists report that Jagera, Ngundadnbi and Turrbal Aboriginal clans had lived in the Brisbane River area for a considerable time prior to these Europeans.

By 1839 Patrick Logan, the Garrison Commander, completed plans for this new town called Brisbane. Logan ordered the Redcliffe penal settlement abandoned in 1842 then opened up the area to settlers. Brisbane prospered, then declared her independence from New South Wales in 1859. Statehood was granted in 1901.

The city was named after the Scottish soldier and astronomer Sir Thomas Makdougall Brisbane, Governor of New South Wales from 1821 to 1825. Today, Brisbane is the capital of Queensland and is Australia's third largest city.

Squares and Obelisks

Sadly, a disastrous fire destroyed most historic buildings constructed before 1864. Later, dozers made short shrift of rundown buildings making way for gleaming highrises. Even so, there’s plenty to admire. Visitors must make their way to ANZAC Square, (between Ann and Adelaide Streets) dedicated to the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps. The Shrine of Remembrance, Eternal Flame and WWII Shrine of Memories are worthy of a pause. The John Oxley Memorial obelisk (between Victoria and William Jolly Bridges) marks the spot where Oxley landed in 1823. A “must-see” is the collection of Corinthian columns at City Hall. Built of Queensland sandstone, this is Brisbane's showplace. Parliament House, (George Street) with its sandstone French Renaissance-style from 1865, is also worth a stop. It’s still used today by the Queensland Parliament.

The Old Windmill, the city's oldest structure, was built on Wickham Terrace in 1828 by a gang of convicts. It was originally designed to crush corn but never worked properly so Captain Logan ordered it turned into a treadmill. Then, in the 1920s, the treadmill was removed and the base became a meteorological post and signal tower. Newstead Park features the city’s oldest house (1846) as well as a memorial to Lyndon B. Johnson.

Along The Waterfront

Brisbane is actually built along a peninsula with the sea on one side, the lazy Brisbane River on the other. It’s ideal for an endless parade of rowing sculls and kayaks, yachts and sailboats, tugboats and ferries, cruise ships and paddle wheelers. Lining the riverbank is a rainbow of flame trees, jacarandas, tulip trees, frangipani, and bougainvillea--all nurtured by the subtropical climate.

Local people, and visitors alike, take time for a cool respite in the Botanic Gardens that front the riverbank next to the Parliament House. During the days of the penal colony, this was officially a 50-acre government garden. In 1865, it was converted to a Botanic Garden, Queensland’s cradle of horticulture. The government built new botanic gardens at Mount Coot-tha following eight floods between 1870 and 1974 that washed away important plant specimens. From there, you can see the surrounding seven national parks plus everything between the Great Dividing Range and Moreton Bay.

Another important sight along the river is The Queensland Cultural Center -- the new, slick complex housing the Queensland Art Gallery, Concert Hall, Lyric Theatre and Queensland Museum. Residents are aptly proud of this impressive salute to the arts.

Those venturing outside Brisbane often visit the Australia Zoo, home to the nation’s famous “crocodile hunter”, the late Steve Irwin. This 60-acre facility features over 1,000 native and exotic animals. But before you go, don’t forget a plate of “bugs”, an order of Queensland mudcrab, and a chilled Australian wine to wash it all down.

Australia's Railroads

“Alllll Ah-BOARD!”

So booms the stationmaster’s baritone voice. Along the platform jostle ticket holders eager to cross the Australian hinterland by rail. Ahead is a chapter of this nation’s history and thousands of kilometers of rails. A puff of diesel smoke wafts on the tropical air, the whistle blows, and powerful locomotives lurch forward. In tow, gleaming carriages filled with train buffs and veteran travelers alike. Their adventure is about to begin.

Indian Pacific Railway, Sydney To Perth

Guests will travel 4352 kilometers aboard the world’s first transcontinental railway. They’ll slip from one time zone to the next, crossing three in total, as they clickity-clack along for the next two and a half days. It’s like hopping aboard a Pullman in Istanbul and stepping down in London!

En route is a trained staff aided by scores more along the way. This silver city of wheels costing millions is thought to be the most comfortable of the world’s long-distance rail journeys. Surely the air-conditioned cars are a huge bonus for the rumble through the parched Outback.

What Lies Ahead

First the Blue Mountains, 40 miles from Sydney, that once were a formidable barrier for early settlers. Powerful locomotives chug mightily for the gradient is 1 to 33 making it the country’s greatest rail incline. Once over this hurdle, the train slips toward the horizon with heaps of sheep in view. To the left and right are settlements like Molong, Manildra, and a spot called Cookamidgera.

Guests settle into cozy compartments where space is a luxury and wise design crucial. Beds are comfy and the night sky entertaining. The Southern Cross serves as their guide as the train’s rhythm rocks devoted insomniacs to sleep.

A New Day Dawns

Travelers awaken to a scrubbier, horizonless, red landscape. Kangaroos hop about. Wayward camels amble by. Soon, they’re in Broken Hill. Though unassuming, it’s a vital link between the payloads of lead, silver, and zinc and the outside world. We’re not talking trinkets, but over $50 billion in precious metals. Once visitors step down to the platform they understand the sacrifice made by local miners—the heat is historic.

Adelaide And Beyond

Adelaide’s the stopover city for the Indian-Pacific route as well as the departure point or terminus for the Ghan Train (more on the Ghan later). With good reason, it’s Australia’s “most livable community.” It was settled in 1836 by religious people called “free settlers”, much like American Puritans, who wished to live away from the convict settlements. The countryside and southern seas provided a bountiful life and Adelaide flourished.

Leaving Adelaide behind, Indian-Pacific travelers soon spot the Flinders Ranges. Burly men known as fettlers walk the line ensuring everything is in order. They are reminiscent of early settlers who built this railway when everything was packed in by camel—grub, water, even sleepers to shore up steel rails. They placed 1000 miles of tracks in only five years. The last spike was driven in 1917 to much celebration.

Next, the uninviting landscape of the Nullarbor, a vast swath of “no trees” six times the size of Belgium. Ahead is 300 miles of the world’s longest railway without a single turn, straight as an arrow.

Meanwhile, cooks announce they’ll serve 1300 pounds of fish and meat, 2000 eggs, 900 sausage links, and enough bread to feed an army during this run.

Another starry night hypnotizes. At daybreak, reality descends that the crossing of this mighty continent is drawing to a close 65 hours since stepping aboard in Sydney. Perth appears on the horizon. Behind them, one of the most dramatic chapters in Australia’s early history of rail travel.

Back to The Ghan

A shortened name for the line’s previous nickname “The Afghan Express”, The Ghan travels 3,000 kilometers south to north from Adelaide and Darwin. It’s so named for the line traces the route carved by Afghan camel caravans that, before the railroad, trekked this barren landscape. Afghani camel drivers had been brought here with their animals to open up the nation’s uncharted interior.

This all began in 1878 when a short stretch of rail line was laid from Port August to Oodnadatta. Fifty years later, it reached Alice Springs. Before that, travelers were forced to journey the last leg by camelback.

The original Ghan was retired 30 years ago, replaced by newer trains. In 2001, the last stretch from Alice Springs to Darwin was begun with the first traveler reaching Darwin February 4, 2004. This rail line now links the Great North with the rest of the country opening up opportunities for commerce, tourism and travel by train buffs bent on riding all the world’s rails. And, as a nod to one of the country’s most celebrated personalities, a locomotive was named for the late “crocodile hunter” Steve Irwin, a native son.

Australia's Animals

Kookaburas, Brumbies, and Wombats

Forget the koala, forget the kangaroo. We all know their celebrated stories. Let’s look at the other freaks, oddities, weirdos, and dopey-looking animals calling Australia home including those who found their way here by ship. Let’s begin with the kookaburra because he’s rather famous in this neck of the woods.

Give Us A Laugh Then, Mate!

Australia’s kookaburra is lovingly referred to as a “laughing jackass.” Not to his face, of course, ‘cause he’s got a nasty habit of pecking interlopers on their heads when they’re least suspecting. Just know he’s the biggest of the kingfisher family. But rather than spend his days fishing, he hunts for bugs, snakes, rodents, even lizards. He greets the crack of dawn with raucous laughter, a melody that’s the music of the bush. In fact, his tune fills the soundtracks of many Australian movies. The kookaburra is so famous, this “bushman’s clock”, that he’s even got a song about him. Written in 1934 by Girl Guide leader Marion Sinclair, it goes like this…

Kookaburra sits in an old gum tree,

Merry merry king of the bush is he,

Laugh, kookaburra, laugh, kookaburra,

Gay your life must be.

Let’s leave it at that!

We’ve also got little budgies (budgerigars) that, to the untrained eye, are parakeets. Australia’s most common parrot, they’ve been shipped all over the world since being discovered by John Gould in 1794. On the other end of the scale, literally, are the flightless emu and cassowary. The emu is second in size only to the ostrich and can run 50 kilometers per hour. The cassowary has a helmety thing called a casque atop his head and is considered unattractive to everyone except his Mum. But, enough about the birds. Let’s move on.

Some Of The Others

You’ve got your echidna, which resembles a mobile hairbrush. Like the platypus, it feeds its young milk yet lays eggs and represents the elite class of animals known as monotremes. The platypus, if you haven’t seen one, looks just like a flat-tailed, web-footed, broad-billed, furry hot water bottle. Sorry, it’s true.

Then there’s the frill-necked lizard that resembles Diana Ross singing in Central Park wearing orange tulle during a lightning storm. Remember the event? This lizard is Australia’s reptile emblem and his frill is the size of a dinner plate. Add to that his flopping tail, gaping mouth, nasty hissing, crazy hopping, and you gotta walk away. If not, you’ll get a painful bite.

And, finally, the wombat. He’s been compared to a hairy, black bulldozer. His not-so-little underground burrow-home can be 30 meters long with cozy sleeping rooms. Hence, the wombat is the largest burrowing herbivore and wreaks havoc on any landscape.

Hitching A Ride

Europeans brought animals with them, some good for Australia (sheep and cattle), others not. The story of some of these feral animals that’ve changed the face of Australia follows.

Camels. Hundreds of thousands of camels. Well, not originally. They multiplied, as they are wont to do ‘cause they don’t have TV. Historians record that Afghan cameleers brought the first batch to Australia 160 years ago, give or take. They served explorers and pioneers well. Camels work eight to ten hours daily, gallumping along up to 25 miles with 600 pounds on their bumpy backs. Given their freedom when mechanized transportation was introduced, they took to the bush.

Cane toads, on the other hand, are a huge menace. In 1935, they were brought to Queensland to combat the cane beetle. The beetles perished, the toads thrived, and the rest is the ecological nightmare that helps Australia defend its strong stance regarding non-native animals.  

Twenty-four wild rabbits, introduced as game in 1859, turned into 300 million! They’re like teenagers. It became a monumental horror. Then, the myxomatosis virus was introduced 50 plus years ago and effectively killed over 90%. Survivors still destroy the landscape.

Water buffalos are a very large disaster. Mean suckers, these. They flourished in the tropical north where cattle couldn’t. Brought from Indonesia in the early 19th century, they supplied meat, milk, and hides for the settlers. They damage the environment to feed themselves because they weigh 1700 pounds and stand nine feet tall. Do give them a wide berth if you see any!

And we’ll close our little nature lesson with the brumby. Named by the Aborigines, he’s a wild horse descended from the stock brought by settlers in the 1780s. A “waler” is one that dates back to when the whole country was called New South Wales. They’ve been around a long time. Brumbies are now being culled, sadly, but they “destroy habitat and cause erosion”. In the meantime, it’s wonderful to see them run free. And let’s leave it at that.

Aboriginal Food

And On Today’s Menu…

Imagine your handsome waiter exclaiming in mouth-watering detail that evening’s chef’s special featuring what we imagine Australia’s Aboriginal food to be. “We’ll be offering for your dining pleasure this evening an unrecognizable insect, lightly seared then served in a fusion of its own bodily fluids followed by a medley of hand-gathered bark shards dusted with crushed boulderbits.”

It’s extraordinary how wrong one can be.

Having said that, just know that many celebrated Australian chefs are acknowledging that certain foods, once only traditional Aboriginal fare, have star market value. Australians are recognizing not only the importance of these offerings to people who literally live off the land but to cityfolk as well. Scientists, too, are analyzing the nutritional value these foods provide those who gather and serve up what Mother Nature supplies.

But is this all that appetizing for the Western palate, you ask? It might be just about as tough a sell a bush tomato as are brussels sprouts to any five-year old worth his bubble gum. 

Some Bush Tucker, Mate?

A look at Australia’s history reminds us that the Aboriginal people lived off the land long before England dumped her “undesirables” on this vast continent. And who said their cooking was so great anyway? Bubble and squeak, for goodness sake! Nonetheless, the Aborigines eventually traded in their digging sticks for Teflon cookware and turned their backs on Mother Nature’s bounty. That was until recently when there was a renewed interest in native foods. For the record, the early settlers learned from the Aborigines and shared in the bounty. But that all changed.

To acquaint the novice to native Australian delicacies, we need to learn about a few of the many options available to the keen bushtracker who has learned to read the land. These are the true gatherers we learned about in school. They do little cultivating and merely search for or stumble across berries and fruits, edible grasses and unsuspecting animals.

More Than Just Witchetty Grubs, Bub!

Currently there are a number of specialists chronicling Aboriginal foods. A fellow named Les Hiddings, considered one of the country’s foremost authorities on edible plants, hails from Townsville’s Land Command Battle School. He has formally documented more than six hundred edible plants. Thankfully, we’ll highlight only a few.

Bush bananas resemble crisp cucumbers that are quite moist. Billygoat plums are there for the picking across a sweep of northern Australia. They’re so rich in Vitamin C that lab tests show they provide the same amount as a dozen oranges. Think propagation for export! So, too, the quandong, the screw palm nut, and something lovingly referred to as the bush monkey nut. The screw palm nut has a high fat content supplying the diner with lots of energy. On the other end of the spectrum, the bush monkey nut is low in fat and seems promising for health freaks and dieters. And the wattle seeds deserve a mention. They serve as a spice.

Croc, ‘Roo, and Carpet Snake

Can’t forget our protein. Native fare includes tender morsels brought to you by the neighborhood crocodile, emu, kangaroo, wombat, bogong moth, mangrove worm, carpet snake, and echidna, which is said to closely resemble pork. Goanna, on the other hand, is compared to, yes… chicken. Everything seems tastier if cooked with yarlka bush onions.

And dessert is a rare treat, indeed. If you’ve eaten all your veggies, you get to bite down on the engorged abdomen of a two-centimeter-long honey ant savoring the nectar stored within. For the vegetarian (and who wouldn’t be at this point), there’s the sweet taste of the Grevillea flower. Wash this all down with alcohol-laced fermented eucalyptus sap brew and you’ve got yourself some darn good grub.

Oh, and speaking of grub… the witchetty. In truth, this is a rather generic term given to a host of larvae of several beetles and moths lurking around the trunks, roots, and stems of certain trees and shrubs. Aborigines and starred chefs panfry them to a golden glow. It is said they remind the diner of a browned sausage filled with, yet again, chicken, egg yolk, and ground almond.

Chef, your work is cut out for you.

Australian Rules Football

What Rules?

Maybe you’ve seen this already on ESPN or some other starved-for-programming 24-hour sports network.  The game is called Australian Rules Football, or colloquially “Aussie Rules”, or even more colloquially “Footy”, or is it “Footie?” (I’ve never seen it written.) 

Anyway, the version I remember involved guys wearing short pants that looked like they were left over from the ‘60s hurtling toward each other at closing speeds approximating runaway locomotives then leaping high in the air and crashing together as a ball the size and shape of a healthy Casaba melon bounced harmlessly along the turf.  This collision seemed to be the point of the match as it encouraged far more lusty shouting from the fans than when someone actually picked up the melon and ran with it.

A Footy Pilgrimage

Armed with this indelible impression, we could not pass up the opportunity to witness footy (my preference) in the flesh (literally) whilst (British affectation) in Melbourne recently.  So off we hiked to the Melbourne Cricket Ground, that venerable temple of Australian sport, for the two o’clock kickoff.  Once there, we quickly discovered the kickoff was scheduled for six o’clock.  And if that wasn’t bad enough, the game was being held at the far more modern (and by definition less venerable) Telstra Dome.  Oh, blast!

We arrived really early at the T.D., so early in fact that the beer wasn’t even cold yet and they hadn’t even put the teakettle on the boil!  The good news was we were able to witness what footy players consider “warm-ups”.  This consisted of the entire team jogging together—and by this I mean TOGETHER…shoulder to shoulder, hip to hip, belly to backside—at an impossibly slow pace using little baby steps.  This was an eye-opener if there ever was one.  It was probably some sordid vestige of their early days as a prison colony.

While the now clearly exhausted players rested up for the start of the game we were treated to The Team Songs.  These were broadcast over the stadium PA, which someone had left on the volume setting selected for an earlier Bruce Springsteen concert.  The songs themselves sounded as if they’d both been recorded by the State of Victoria Senior Men’s Chorus backed by the winner of the All-Australia Marching Band Competition and had lyrics that went, “men, men, men, men, manly men, manly men, pulverizing girly men…” or words to that effect.

Footy Fans

About this time we made friends with the family sitting in front of us who were turned out in colors clearly indicating their support for the Collingwood Magpies.  Their team featured black and white vertical stripes resembling prison uniforms, which in the end seemed somehow appropriate.  Father, mother, and two daughters—who both looked like they played the sport—each wore the uniform number of their favorite Magpie set against a palette of solid black.  Since the other team, the Hawthorne Hawks, sported uniforms of brown and yellow that looked like something from the original McDonalds franchise, this was a canny fashion choice.  After some quiet condemnation of our ignorance, they took pity on us and attempted to explain the rudiments of what we were about to watch.  It didn’t help. 

They also introduced us to the meat pie, which did.

But before I describe the actual game, perhaps a bit of history will lend perspective.  We are led to believe that Footy began as a sport designed to keep cricketers in shape during the winter off-season.  Now, if you’ve ever watched cricket, which involves about nineteen guys standing around while one player does all the running and throwing, you’ll be forgiven if this seems an unlikely origin.  Nevertheless it is needed factoid to explain the field which, it seems, used to be approximately the size of Utah, but has since been reduced to something on the order of a Home Depot parking lot in order to fit inside a domed stadium.  The field is neither geometrically round, nor aerodynamically oval.  Like the ball they play with, it’s just sort of…fat.

Footy Stats

The size of the field turned out to be important after all as there is an almost incomprehensible number of people on it… throughout the entire game!  To start with, each team seems to have about forty players.  They are nearly all have thighs the size of municipal sewer pipes, and are all exactly five foot ten except for one player on each team who is seven foot six.  Also on the field are about ten referees.  They look exactly like the players, so they probably were once, but they can now be distinguished by uniforms of a color no team would ever willingly choose.  Four of the referees wear white hats like Greg Norman and stand between the goalposts.  When points are scored, they point with a pistol motion toward the center of the field.  Sometimes they wave a white flag in a particularly provocative way.

Then, since the game clock never stops so there are no opportunities for those important strategic huddles with the coaches, each team has a couple of “runners.”  These guys wear neon green outfits to separate them from the teams and the referees and are allowed to run out on the field at any time during the game to carry messages from the coach to the players.  You can see them running alongside a guy who is being dragged down by six other guys probably saying something like, “coach says if you don’t suck it up, you’ll be on the first train to Adelaide.”  But wait!  There’s more.  No time-outs means no Gatorade, so some other guys wait in pairs, spaced more or less evenly around the edge of the field holding water bottles.  Whenever there’s a free kick, which everyone uses as a breather while the clock runs, the Gatorade guys run out to replenish precious bodily fluids.  Given the size of the field, I think they actually cover more ground than anyone.

Footy, The Game Itself

Shockingly, the game doesn’t start with a kickoff after all.  It starts with a bounce-off.  I kid you not. One of the referees lifts the ball high over his head then slams it into the ground so that it bounces about twelve feet in the air.  At this point the two seven-foot-six guys, in what looks like the ritual mating dance of flamingoes, run into each other and try to tip the ball to a teammate.  What follows is pretty much what you’d expect.

A guy picks up the ball and starts running.  If he doesn’t bounce it on the ground once in a while, it’s a foul and the other team gets a free kick.  If he’s tackled he has to give up the ball or it’s a free kick.  So instead he can punch, not pass, the ball to a teammate, or he can kick the ball to a teammate who, if he catches it, gets a free kick.  Eventually someone gets a free kick from somewhere close enough to the goal to score either one, six, or nine points depending on who the referee in the hat is pointing at.  After about five minutes, all the players are exhausted from having to run around such a large field and the ball begins to spend a lot of time on the ground.  All of this ultimately results in two guys hurtling toward each other at closing speeds approximating runaway locomotives, leaping high in the air and crashing together.

So we weren’t disappointed after all.

Albany, Australia

Whaling and War Time

“In no other port of the Commonwealth were the ships seen together… in the full magnificence of their numerical strength.”  --The Advertiser, 21 November 1914

Such was the memorable yet cryptic report announcing that, on November 1, 1914, Australian and New Zealand troops had set sail in a convoy from the sheltered anchorage of Albany’s King George Sound. The deckhands had cast off the lines, the captains had set their course, and locals had tearfully waved farewell till the last ship slipped behind the horizon. They’d wished the lads “God speed!” and “Safe return!”, fearing that for many this was a futile wish. The convoys carried fledgling soldiers toward Europe to answer the call to bear arms and go war, which Britain declared August 4th, 1914 following Germany’s invasion of Belgium. In total, between the two troop convoys that departed a mere two months apart, were 40,000 soldiers and nearly 17,000 horses. This represented approximately 10% of all the Australian soldiers who had signed on to go to battle. There and then, they and their New Zealand comrades had sealed the brave bond of brothers in arms.  

Remembering Their Story

Following months of training in Europe as well as the Middle East, these farm boys, many too young to even enlist, faced the grotesque brutality of war front on as they slogged ashore on the bloody beaches of Gallipoli, Turkey. A barrage of machinegun fire was their only welcome. While troops from other nations stormed ashore on the Gallipoli Peninsula as well, and paid a hellish price for it, this was the ANZACs first significant battle.

The date… April 25th, 1915. Over the next eight months these lads fought hand-to-hand, trench-to-trench with Turkish men no older than they. This horrific bloodshed lasted until the “eleventh hour of the eleventh day of November, 1918 for on that fateful day peace was declared. Sadly, the toll was high for everyone, something we know too well.

For, five years from call-up till the guns were silenced, nearly 250 Australian and New Zealand ships, both troop and hospital, sailed into and out of Albany. Some returnees recuperated and recounted their stories within the pristine walls of Albany Hospital. Other combat tales were never told, for those soldiers paid the ultimate sacrifice and were buried at Memorial Park Cemetery.

Memories linger, lo one hundred long years have come and gone. One century on, the 25th of April, 2015 marks the 100th anniversary of the landing of ANZAC troops on the distant shores of Gallipoli as World War I grabbed the throats of young men and women who fought for their nations’ honor as well as their lives. Pause to remember those ANZAC troops, many of whom saw their homeland for the very last time from the exact spot where you now stand.

Long before WWI, Albany was a rag-tag rumble of houses as early as 1627. And before that, the Noongar people were here, trading with extended family members as far away as Perth. Their journey sometimes required them to traverse the inhospitable countryside for hundreds of miles, on foot.

In the 1820s, ships called here while in the Southern Ocean hunting for whales and seals. It’s claimed by some that whaling is the country’s oldest industry. Following the discovery of petroleum oil in the mid-1800s, whaling went into a decline. All this history is detailed in the Whale World displays. Located at the former Cheynes Beach Whaling Station, some 45 minutes from Albany, you’ll hear tell of the time when some 850 whales were taken annually. The station closed in 1978.

Explorers and settlers also came, and some went. In addition, the authorities eyed this region as an alternative to the penal colony already in existence in New South Wales. It came to be when Major Edmund Lockyear sailed in with a fleet of soldiers, convicts, and a surgeon aboard the Brig Amity, arriving in 1826, on Christmas Day. A replica of the Amity was begun in 1975 using local shipwright Mr. Pieter van de Brugge and Mr. Stan Austin as the project supervisor. Restoration work was also done on the Old Gaol (Jail) that dates back to 1852. It’s now possible to feel what the conditions were like for prisoners serving time here.

While in Albany, you can also discover other chapters of its history as Western Australia’s oldest permanent settlement, a military outpost built to thwart France’s attempt to increase their interests in this part of the world, plus once serving as the entry point to Australia’s Eastern goldfields.

Try to leave time for a meal. Western Australia offers up fresh-daily seafood, locally-sourced produce, and divine desserts. Time is precious but maybe sample a Geraldton rock lobster, South West marron, yabby, trout, barramundi, Exmouth prawn, Rottnest scallop or Mandurah crab. They all pair well with award-winning wines from the Margaret River and Swan River regions. For the record, prisoners were offered a simpler menu.

The Zulu

Once Were Warriors

Zulu. The mere mention of this word conjures up a freeze of danger, a grip of terror, a worn-with-time photograph of muscled mighty warriors who could drop a man in his tracks with only his icy stare.

It begs the question, then, what makes Zulu such an attractive word for a whole host of things having little or nothing to do with its actual origins? Like “Zulu Time”, for example, which is the Department of the Navy’s designation for the precise time at the prime meridian. Or “Zulu Nation”, founded 40 years ago in the South Bronx, that subsequently became the birthplace of hip-hop. And what about that spiffy London restaurant named for the Zulu warrior king, “Shaka Zulu”?

So, for curiosity’s sake, let’s examine the origin of this exotic name… Zulu.

Bantu

Originally, these people arrived in this part of the world as members of the centuries-long Bantu migration beginning in Sub-Equatorial Africa approximately 1000 BC. The Bantu were primarily farmers and herders. The populations they encountered during their inexorable move south were, on the other hand, hunter-gatherers and those tribes were pushed ahead of the migration ultimately into isolated areas considered unsuited for farming and grazing. Today, their descendants are the Pygmy and San people in places like Northern Namibia.

The Zulu clan eventually settled a small area in South Africa at the close of the 18th century. Their chief had a liaison with the daughter of a neighboring chief, and from that union came Shaka Zulu who was to become chief and one of the most feared warriors among the many tribes in South Africa.

Shaka

Rejected as a bastard child, Shaka was predisposed toward aggressive behavior sharpened by a ruthless streak. He trained as a warrior in his mother’s clan and became adept at close combat, a rarity at that time. When his father died in 1816, Shaka became king of the Zulu clan, which had grown to 1500 people. His ascension was aided significantly by the death in combat of his half-brother.

The clan’s usual relationship with neighboring groups had amounted to skirmishes brought on by stealing each other’s livestock. These conflicts resulted mostly in taunting and spear hurling and rarely resulted in fatalities. But within ten years, Shaka had built a force of fifty thousand warriors by defeating, then incorporating smaller clans into his powerbase. He also developed the shorter assegai stabbing spear as well as a military formation called the “bull horn” that’s designed to surround then annihilate opponents. At its peak, Shaka’s Zulu tribe controlled most of the eastern coast of South Africa and his Zulu people had developed the warrior mindset that defines them to this day.

Shaka’s brutality led to his eventual demise at the hands of his other half-brothers in 1828. His prophetic dying words predicted white colonialists would eventually defeat the Zulu nation.

Blood River

And so it came to pass.

The Zulu’s first significant defeat came at the Battle of Blood River in 1838. The tribe had been harassing Dutch settlers, called Voortrekkers, for many years. These people had already been driven north from the Cape Colony by the British, into Zulu territory. After a particularly brutal series of raids that resulted in several small communities being overwhelmed and wiped out by Zulu armies, a group of Voortrekkers led by Andries Pretorius made a stand against 10,000 to 15,000 Zulu attackers at the Ncome River. Three thousand Zulu were killed. Only three Dutchmen were wounded. The Ncome River ran red and was then given the tragic name Blood River.

Anglo-Zulu War

By 1879, the Zulu Kingdom was being challenged by the expansion of the British presence in South Africa. Spurred on by the discovery of diamonds and other precious resources, the British were anxious to bring the tribes of South Africa under some degree of control. Identifying the Zulu as the most vexing opponent, the British sent a demand to the Zulu king that they knew he could not accept.

This rejection provided the pretext for war, so the British invaded with an inadequate force and were soundly defeated in the Battle of Isandlwana. Soon after, a smaller Zulu force attacked the British garrison at Rorke’s Drift but were driven off with heavy casualties. That battle is depicted in the 1964 film Zulu starring a handsome young Michael Caine.

The British retreated, reinforced their army, and reinvaded six months later. This time, the Zulu could not repel the attack and their independence was lost forever.

 

The Zulu Empire was divided into 13 smaller kingdoms each with its own king. Competition between kings kept the Zulu at each other’s throats for the next several decades. During apartheid the “KwaZulu” homeland was created as one of the Bantustans, created in the name of “consolidation. As a result all members of the Zulu tribe lost their South African citizenship. In 1994, KwaZulu was combined with the province of Natal and is known today as KwaZulu-Natal.

For the record, the Zulu tribe is still today the largest ethnic group in South Africa. Most of them live in what’s called the KwaZulu-Natal province, where Durban is located. They remain a people proud of their ancestry, their heritage, their history and will puff up when telling the Zulu tale.

Walvis Bay, Namibia

The _____est Place On Earth

Welcome to the second least densely populated sovereign nation on earth — 2.1 million people dribbled into 318,696 square miles. Mongolia has 2.7 million people in 603,909 square miles. You do the math (OK, OK … it’s 5.03 per square mile versus 6.6 per square mile). Which means you’d better get along with your Namibian neighbors if you want to have any friends.

The Oldest Desert On Earth

The rugged shoreline of Namibia’s Atlantic Coast is bordered by a long swath of blowing dunes that covers an immense portion of this country’s land. The Namib (meaning “place of no people”) Desert measures 800 miles in length, 60 miles in width, and runs the entire span of the country from Namibia’s northern frontier to her southern border with the Republic of South Africa.

This place of no people is, however, home to a curious collection of animals, insects, and birds that adapted to this harsh environment and actually survives despite the sometimes-brutal conditions.            With rainfall so infrequent and unpredictable, those living in the Namib Desert have learned to rely on the life-giving fog that spreads inland from the Atlantic every three days thanks to the cool waters of the Benguela Current that washes past Namibia.

The Thirstiest Creatures On Earth

An odd assortment of desert reptiles actually drinks the moisture they collect from their bodies. Others, such as the fat and furry golden mole, have a whitish coat that acts as a sun reflector; therefore little of the harsh heat is absorbed into his tiny body. Also strange is the darkling beetle, which resembles something we know as a stinkbug. This fellow routinely sticks his head in the sand and his bottom toward the sky. While in this unfortunate and unflattering position, the morning fog collects on his shiny black wing covers. Gravity then forces this dew to trickle downward, right into his thirsty little mouth. Clever little guy, this beetle. And the spotted brown male sandgrouse may be the cleverest of them all. He (or she as the case may be) soaks up fresh water in his unique belly feathers. Once these feathers are saturated, our soggy friend can fly up to 60 miles to his nest where the baby sandgrouse drink from his dripping feathers. To his offspring, he is rather like a flying water bottle.

The Driest City On Earth?

There are a few who might claim this one. Suffice to say Walvis Bay averages less than 10mm of rainfall per year. Some years it gets no rainfall at all. Zip. Zilch. Nada. Landscaping your yard can be a challenge. But all of this accounts for Walvis Bay’s proximity to the highest sand dunes in the world. Dune 7 (they number them here) is a favorite tourist destination and the area is home to the extreme sport of sandboarding. If you’re considering it, contemplate a thirty mile an hour fall onto a giant emery board.

Walvis Bay is the first deepwater harbor for vessels rounding the Cape of Good Hope on their way to Europe, and the only one for hundreds of kilometers in either direction. As the most desirable stretch of the southwest African coast, it had a political history and chronology somewhat different from the rest of Namibia.

In the late 19th century, the UK annexed the area around Walvis Bay and combined it with the Cape Colony in South Africa in order to head off German interest in the region. The Germans got control of it for a while anyway during World War I, but it was retaken by South African forces before the end of the war. South Africa was given administrative control of all Southwest Africa after the war until 1990 when Southwest Africa became Namibia, that is except for Walvis Bay which wasn’t transferred to Namibia until 1994.

Humans weren’t the only ones who found Walvis Bay to be a handy comfort station while traversing the Southern African coastline. Just offshore is Bird Island, a man-made guano collector first built in 1930 by a German businessman who was inspired by a pile of rocks that had become a popular breeding ground for sea birds. The original platform has been expanded from 16 square meters to 17,000 square meters and yields 650 tons of guano annually.

Nearby Swakopmund is a German-built town and “port” sited to counter the British base at Walvis Bay. The town houses a museum, an aquarium, and from there you can access close by dunes and several types of high-adventure activities along the beaches.

Takoradi, Ghana

One Half of Ghana’s Twin Cities

The other half is called Sekondi and together form Ghana’s fourth largest city, Sekondi-Takoradi. The official alliance came in 1946. Sekondi, the older twin, thrived due to a railroad built in 1903 that tied it to the interior where timber harvesting and mining flourished. Truth be told, probably few of us have actually visited Ghana before. Just know there’s a lot of history to review to understand why we’re here. So, quicker than we can say, ”Find some shade” we’ll get started.

In The Beginning

Man has lived within Ghana’s borders, now defined by Togo, Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, and the Gulf of Guinea, since 4,000 B.C., give or take a few pages on the calendar. Bands of people made their way here, arriving from the east and the north. Over time, powerful kings expanded their base down the banks of the Volta River to where it flows into the Gulf of Guinea, amassing wealth from the gold they discovered. In the 1500s, the Ashanti people solidified their stronghold, seized control over lucrative trade, and built the notable city Kumasi. Europeans took notice while sailing the African coastline on their voyages of discovery. Among them, Portuguese sailors followed by vessels flying the flags of Britain, France, Holland, Denmark and Sweden. They all left their mark by erecting powerful forts before sailing away with gold, even slaves … terrified, torn from their families, fates unknown but feared. Their tragic stories are written in Ghana’s history books with that sad chapter ending in the 19th century.

Conflicts continued between the British and the Ashanti with the British consolidating their power over the Gold Coast, as it was known, after an important 1874 battle in Kumasi. Within a quarter century, the Gold Coast was a British crown colony. During WWII, British forces flew from Takoradi bound for Egypt and the Atlantic assisting convoys and searching for submarines.

Independence Comes to Ghana

The date, March 1957. Ghana was the first sub-Saharan country in colonial Africa to gain its independence. The former political activist Kwame Nkrumah became the country’s first president. Despite many challenges, he focused on the future by spearheading projects like the Akosombo Dam. Nkrumah was stripped of his power during a 1966 coup. Difficult times prevailed with political instability looming. Ultimately, things stabilized to the point that Ghana was recognized as realizing the biggest economic growth rate in the 1980s. And, while Ghana still enjoys a solid economic base, compared to many African nations, her people struggle with sub-standard conditions and challenges, even for basic needs. For the record, today President John Evans Atta Mills leads this constitutional democracy and its nearly 25 million people whose 2010 GDP per capita was $1,600. All this, mind you, with 100 ethnic groups each speaking its unique tongue though English is the official language.

Ghana’s economic base is built on oil with significant reserves found in the Gulf of Guinea’s Jubilee Field in 2007. Hence, the term “Oil City” is bandied about when referring to this area. Many believe Ghana will become West Africa’s third largest oil producer.

Agriculture also plays a role, employing around 50% of the work force … in cocoa (Ghana is one of the world’s largest exporters), lumber, gold mining, even fishing. Takoradi Harbor, built in 1928, was the country’s first deep-sea port. 

Lake Volta, a body of water covering nearly half Ghana’s total landmass, was formed by the Akosombo Dam that was commissioned in 1966. In addition to generating electricity for much of the nation, the lake also serves as a viable transportation route where roads fall short. It also gives farmers reliable irrigation where once there was none. Fishing is simply an added bonus.

What To Do With Your Day

Beaching, eco-tourism, historical insight, none of the above? The latter seems unfair for there is much to see. The first, beachies, could be quite a challenge considering Busua is 30 kilometers west of Takoradi with modest accommodations, so maybe save beaching for another day.  But, consider this factoid – Takoradi is touted as the largest city closest to the Equator AND the Prime Meridian. Screams sunscreen even if you don’t go to the beach.

Eco-tourism? Ahah!  You’ve got Kakum National Forest, a rainforest with a canopy walkway 100 feet above ground. More modest sites include the Twin Cities Wetlands area, considered a welcomed respite in town, with its collection of birds. The Mona monkeys hang out at, you guessed it, Monkey Hill. And the Fijai Green Bank is home to silk cotton trees, important to this area.

History your cup of tea? A must is European Town where the Brits and Dutch settled. Here, you’ll find the Old Railway Station, Fort Orange (1670), the High Court and the Light House. Consider, also, a look at Our Lady Star of the Sea Catholic Cathedral, from the early 20th century. Or, Elmina Castle, Portuguese from 1482, it’s here the slave dungeons are found. Cape Coast Castle is a must. Built in 1652 by the Swedes, it served as West Africa’s largest slave-trading center.

Back home, you’ll hear more about Ghana on the evening news with its oil revenues creating a place in the African history books. Then you can say, “I was there!”. And, so you are.

South African Tribes

Living in a Changing World

As the tribal people of South Africa greet the dawn of the new millennium, they witness a great and powerful change swirling all around them. Their leaders are guiding them toward a promising future, having closed the door to their dark past. And as these native people of South Africa meet the challenge of being full partners in their nation’s march forward, they are also encouraged to kindle the spirit of their forefathers. They are asked to always remember and gently nurture their tribal heritage for their leaders know that once this art and song, culture and identity are lost, they are lost forever.

Who Are The Zulu?

“Zulu.” The word alone evokes a sense of power. And, for many early settlers in the South African frontier, this power was so real that the mere whisper of the word “Zulu” sent shivers down these pioneers’ muscled spines.

The Zulu are a black South African people whose tribal homeland is Zululand. Their early history is open to speculation, for little was written about them prior to the early 1800s when white settlers first recorded their actions. When the first Europeans (Portuguese sailors in need of provisions) encountered these black natives of South Africa, the seamen described them as inhabiting productive lands and being organized into highly functional chiefdoms. Several of these sizable chiefdoms were actually a collection of smaller ones assembled into a larger coalition. A handful of these coalitions emerged as the most powerful, and often wielded their authority with a very heavy hand.

A barbarous Zulu chief named Shaka is acknowledged as the Zulu ruler who successfully created one massive tribal nation from a collection of many rival tribes. He annihilated enemy rulers, stole their livestock, and absorbed their people into his tribe. Feared far and wide, Shaka’s giant Zulu Empire grew to encompass most of Natal. He even successfully defeated several British forces before they subdued him in 1879.

Shaka’s notorious wrath scattered other tribal leaders and their fearful followers across the dry plains of South Africa. Among those who fled was Mzilikazi, a general who once served under Shaka.

The Ndebele Tribe

In 1823, Mzilikazi escaped from Shaka’s grasp and journeyed to the Transvaal region with a number of strong warriors. Together, they established their own power base in the Transvaal, the Ndebele* Empire, and survived there for some time. They were then driven north by the Zulu and by the Boers (also known as Afrikaners).

The Ndebele were later crushed by the British, following an 1896 uprising, and were forced to put down their weapons. They then literally turned their swords into plowshares and became farmers and herdsmen. Over time, many of these vanquished Ndebele people ended up in Zimbabwe, beyond the banks of the Limpopo River.

This, then, is a very brief history of two important South African tribes that were ultimately conquered, scattered, then assimilated into a white man’s world. Sadly, along the way, they lost much of their heritage. However, through their songs and stories, art and body adornment, remnants of their culture have survived. And survive they must.

Geometrics and Beadwork

Margaret Courtney-Clarke, in her book Ndebele, The Art of an African Tribe, wrote “The art of Africa is known as a casualty of colonial exploitation, surviving principally in the museums of other continents, never seen by the people who created it. What reappears among African artists today is regarded as a renaissance of a destroyed tradition.”

Efforts are underway by well-meaning people to keep alive South Africa’s tribal art, if only in a revived form. Many Ndebele women today still decorate the exterior plaster walls of their mud homes with typically intricate murals, as did the women before them. These paintings capture not only their impressions of their daily life, but also ancestral geometric designs that are remarkably similar to some Navajo weavings that are familiar to many of us.

These same women also adorn their bodies with huge beaded collars and armbands crafted from straw; copper neck, leg, and armbands; and beaded wedding aprons. Their shaved heads are topped with long beaded straps called milingakobe, which translates to mean “long tears.” Colorful, beaded gala blankets are also draped ceremoniously over their shoulders.

The Zulu women cap their heads with traditional flaring red wigs. Their necks are embellished with multiple strands of large, brightly-colored beads. And, unlike the Masai of Kenya, their ears are not usually pierced or adorned.

Traditions, such as wet-clay murals and beaded garments, are customs that are passed from African mothers to their daughters and represent important stages and events experienced by the families. And these customs will survive only if the daughters remain in the villages. Since many now take jobs in the city following their schooling, they are unable to actively take part in these cultural activities. In addition, they are often eager to eschew their tribal ways and take on the trappings of the modern world. Nevertheless, with great encouragement from South Africa’s teachers and tribal leaders, hopefully these ancient customs and ancestral art forms will live on for the enjoyment of the generations that follow.

Port Elizabeth, South Africa

Five hundred miles due east of Cape Town, perched on the shores of Algoa Bay where it’s washed by the tepid Indian Ocean, is a city locals call “PE” … short for Port Elizabeth.  It’s one of the spots along South Africa’s Garden Route with a long history and even longer sandy beaches.  Many of the country’s vacationers spend their holidays in tidy bungalows along Humewood Beach, a beach of such renown it’s earned the coveted designation of Blue Flag status.  And, occasionally, the flags do go flying for PE is also referred to as the “windy city.”  That’s perfect for sailors, kiteboarders, and surfers who consider this the center of the universe, as far as their sport is concerned.  So, too, the game fishermen, shark divers, and wreck divers who ply these bountiful seas.

So, hang onto your hat and savor all Port Elizabeth has to offer.

What’s Behind The Name?

A gentleman named Rufane Donkin was governor little more than 100 years ago and honored his wife Elizabeth by naming the city after her, the city he founded.  The Governor and the city’s namesake would be quite proud today for PE is eco-friendly, boasts a number of graceful buildings, offers a vibrant cultural scene, and is home to a host of tempting eateries.  There’s even something called the Donkin Reserve with miles of trails and a pair of distinctive structures – a lighthouse and a pyramid.  

Market Square, surrounded by many handsome historic structures, is a good starting point for a walk-about.  City Hall, dating back to 1862, is identified by its unique clock tower.  A tragic fire in 1977 caused substantial damage to the building but a major restoration program has returned it to its former glory.  Nearby is something called the Diaz Cross, dedicated to the first European who came ashore in Algoa Bay in 1488.  Bartholomew Diaz was that Dutch explore who was sailing east on a voyage of discovery.  He came ashore at an area known as Kwaaihoek.

Another discoverer given a nod here by town fathers is Prester John, a Portuguese explorer who also called in the area while sailing past.  Dating back to 1903 is the Queen Victoria statue.  Further downhill, quite near the access point to the waterfront, is the Campanile with its impressive carillon of 23 bells.  Built in 1923 to commemorate the first British settlers who set up camp here in 1820, the bell tower stands 171 feet high. 

St. George’s Cricket Ground is the scene of some hotly contested matches, lawn bowling, Prince Alfred’s Guard Memorial, and the 1882 Victorian Pearson Conservatory.  So, too, the Horse Memorial dedicated to the thousands of horses and mules that suffered or perished in battle during the Anglo-Boer War, 1899 to 1902.  Here, a soldier is depicted kneeling before his horse, pail in hand, giving his trusty mount a welcomed drink of cold water.  Fort Frederick, the powerful stone structure built in 1799 to defend the mouth of the Baakens River, is a reminder of the city’s turbulent past.  It’s named for Frederick, the Duke of York.

And for museum buffs, there’s the former King George VI Art Gallery, now known as the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Art Museum, where one could while away the afternoon taking in its displays of Oriental miniatures and fine examples of British art. 

Beyond The Beach

Africa is nothing if not for the game parks where mighty elephants follow ancient trails and lions wait out the midday heat under a shady shade tree.  Addo Elephant National Park is just 50 miles from PE and dedicated to the preservation of the Cape buffalo and the Eastern Cape elephant.  Found in the Sunday’s River Valley, the park dates back to 1931 when efforts were put into place to rescue the elephant population that had dwindled to a mere handful.  Today, it’s home to some 450 Addo elephants that are identified by their reddish color and small stature compared to other species of African elephants.  With luck, they’ll be on parade today.  And, though the Park is home to all Africa’s “Big Five”, the Cape buffalo, elephant, lion, leopard and rhino, sightings of all these members of Mother Nature’s elite are rare.  

This is not the case with the specimen on view at Bayworld’s Oceanarium.  Though schedules change and should be verified before setting out, it’s possible to see dolphin and seal presentations, even sea horses, eels and ragged tooth sharks.

If time permits, sample a bit of the sea’s tasty bounty – fresh oysters, crayfish, prawns, mussels, or calamari.  A fine South African wine might do nicely, as well.  Enjoy! 

Maputo, Mozambique

“South Africans and Southern Rhodesians troop to Mozambique on holiday. ‘Of course, it wouldn’t seem much to you,’ they often said, ‘but for us it seems marvelously continental.’ They used the word ‘continental’ in just the same way as the English do, meaning Latin, warm, spicy, relaxed and erotic. Laurenco Marques is the only town I have been to in Africa that really seems like Europe.”

           Richard West, The White Tribes of Africa, 1965.

Well, how could the former Laurenco Marques, now Maputo, not have the veneer, the soul, the facade of Europe coursing through its veins? It was, after all, the Portuguese who planted their flag here while Vasco da Gama sailed past in 1498. His country colonized the region with an eye toward the promise of gold. It remained a slave-trading center until the mid-1800s. For the record, the name Laurenco Marques was given at its founding in the late 18th Century for a Portuguese trader who was believed to be the first European to explore this area in 1544.

Today’s population reflects the indigenous peoples who called this nation home long before the Europeans. They represent 99% of the population and hail from 16 major ethnic groups among them the Makua, Makonde, Sena, Chowke, Manyika and Shangaan. In fact, the name Maputo is said to reflect the importance of a fiery tribal leader named Maputa who once ruled over this area. The Bantu and Portuguese cultures form an alliance that dominates the spirit of the country with a taste of Arab, Chinese and East Indian, as well. You’ll hear a cacophony of their dialects especially in the marketplaces, however Portuguese is the official language. Their faiths include Animism, Roman Catholic and Muslim.

Maputo serves as the nation’s capital, standing with its face toward the Indian Ocean. As Mozambique’s only natural harbor, measuring 20 by 50 miles, it was the logical terminus for rail shipments coming from and going to the interior bringing commodities like sisal, copra, hardwood, coal, cotton and sugar. The rail traffic that began in 1895 between the gold fields, Pretoria, and Maputo caused the city’s population to swell. Prior to the railway, this treacherous journey was made by oxcart.

A Darker Day Loomed

The people of Mozambique became locked in a nasty war with Portuguese colonial forces finally culminating in the nation’s independence in 1975. The Portuguese pulled out in massive numbers triggering a brain drain that turned the nation upside down. A Marxist faction, Frelimo, took the reins of power challenged by a South African-backed guerilla movement, Renamo. The resulting civil war and a disastrous famine were responsible for the deaths of close to one million people. A statue of Frelimo’s founder, Eduardo Mondlane, stands in a street bearing his name. His remains, along with Machel and other national heroes, are respectfully enshrined in the Praca dos Herois. The adjacent mural depicts the nation’s centuries-long struggles.

With their infrastructure in turmoil, the nation languished. Today, however, is a new day with tourism on the rise, agriculture making a comeback, and manufacturing of everything from shoes to furniture providing much-needed jobs.

Here’s a bit of history trivia. Sir Winston Churchill fled to Laurenco Marques following his capture by the Boer forces while serving as a British journalist covering the Boer War. He took refuge in Maputo’s British High Commission.

Boulevards and Bougainvillea

Despite the tragic human tale this nation has endured, the city of Maputo was spared damage throughout both the colonial and civil wars as all parties respected it as neutral ground. Some architectural gems have survived to remind everyone of earlier times. Determined efforts are in place to restore Maputo to this former splendor. Nowhere is this more evident than at the Polana Hotel. Once the playground for society swells and dedicated wanna-be’s, today it features fine harbor views, a tea garden, and a flourish of days gone by. The architect was Sir Herbert Baker, the same South African who designed Cape Town’s Mount Nelson Hotel. It was Frenchman Gustav Eiffel (of “Tower” fame) who designed the Central Railway Station on Praca dos Travalhadores, a site worthy of a detour.

Maputo is laid out in a grid pattern with broad boulevards, mature leafy trees including jacarandas, and some groomed parks. An important landmark is Fort of Nossa Senhora da Conceiao (Our Lady Of Conception). So, too, the Praca de Independencia, the city’s centerpiece. This square is bordered by the Roman Catholic Cathedral, the French-Mozambican Cultural Center, and a statue of Samora Machel, the nation’s first president. Nearby are the Botanical Gardens, the Jardim Tunduru. Though small, they still offer a retreat from the midday sun. Fortaleza, the former Portuguese fort, houses the remains of a Gaza ruler whose attempts to defeat the Portuguese failed.

Helping The Economy

Mozambique’s people continue to struggle. A souvenir or two of your visit will help them on their path to economic recovery. Consider traditional wax print and woven fabrics, woodcarvings and Batik cloth. Enjoy homegrown cashews and pressed sugarcane juice while you wander and celebrate your visit to the African outpost of Maputo.

Madagascar's Menagerie

The Wild and The Wooly

They creep, they crawl, they slime and slither. Screech and shriek, whine and whimper. Slide and glide, skip and flip. Madagascar is a wildlife lover’s paradise rich with a cast of furry characters worthy of a Hollywood film.

Well, in some ways, Madagascar was already the animals’ paradise. They live in a world somewhat untouched by the forces beyond their island borders. Madagascar’s isolation from the outside world has allowed Mother Nature to script a drama like nowhere else on earth. By the way, Madagascar is approximately the same size as Texas. And specialists speculate that there could be in excess of 200,000 animal species in Madagascar today. Of those little buggers, approximately eight out of ten live nowhere else on the planet, except in zoos.

If that isn’t a staggering-enough fact, just know that scientists believe the dinosaur fossils found here date back 230 million years and are, they claim, the very oldest that have been discovered. Another Madagascar wildlife shocker is that the “world’s largest flightless bird”, a whopper known as the elephant bird (Aepyornis maximus), stood nearly twice as tall as a grown man. It died out not so very long ago, in scientific terms, and their old eggs are occasionally still found in the country’s southern regions.

The Star Of The Show

Front and center, hands down, the Madagascar lemur is the star of the show. And, why not? It’s got an adorable face and Keane-size eyes, giving it a perpetually surprised “Holy Cow!” kind of look. Plus a really long ringed tail and a nature that allows it to be domesticated to varying degrees. Before man arrived to show everyone who was king of the jungle, giant lemurs the size of gorillas also roamed here. Man, however, managed to wipe them out within a short period of time along with a whole host of other species. Today, smarter minds prevail, prompted not only by a greater understanding of the ecosystems and wildlife preservation but also by the financial windfall of eco-tourism.

So, here are a few interesting facts about lemurs. These primates, well many of them anyway, live in small family groups with the females at the top of the pecking order. This is inconsistent with other primate groups but perhaps “glass ceiling” isn’t part of their lexicon. As well, many have pronounced noses increasing an acute sense of smell that they use for a whole host of reasons.

Of the approximately 100 species of lemurs living in Madagascar, some measure so small they could nap in your espresso cup. They’re called the Madam Berthe mouse lemurs. The largest non-extinct version, the Indri, can weigh up to 15 pounds. His local name, “babakoto”, means “little father.” The Indri’s powerful legs allow them to leap tall trees with a single bound plus he sings like a whale. The sifaka is the one you’ve seen on TV literally dancing across the sand in little sideways skips. Other curious behaviors include that of the ring-tailed lemur who is a sun-lover. He sits bolt upright, legs akimbo, hands of his skinny knees looking much like a yoga student holding his “sunworship” pose. Then you’ve got your wooly lemurs, your fat-tailed dwarf lemurs, grey gentle lemurs, bamboo lemurs, brown lemurs, ruffled lemurs, weasel lemurs, mongoose lemurs, dwarf lemurs and some little hairballs known as aye-ayes. They’re the ones with the bright orange eyes.

Mother Nature Didn’t Stop There

Undaunted by the task at hand, MN also went about creating curious-looking baobab trees, even bats and birds in a rainbow of colors. Then there are the reptiles and frogs, and that’s a strange-looking lot it must be said. Chameleons are those high-viz colored lizards that zap some hapless insect with their lightening-fast tongues. Depending on the chameleon’s size, and not counting his tail, some of these lizards have tongues up to twice their body length … the better to snag their prey with. Plus, their intended main course never stands a chance because they probably thought their predator was a twig or leaf or something else because they are camouflaged to the nines. By the way, Madagascar’s Brookesia Peyriersia, a weensy wee “pygmy” chameleon, is among the world’s smallest reptiles. It can actually sit comfortably on the tip of your finger.

Then you’ve got your uroplatus, the leaf-tailed geckos that look just like … leaves, hence the name. They’re really hard to spot, even for the experts who actually know where to search. And Madagascar is home to a whole host of frogs of every shape, size, and color.

Well, there are so many more bizarre little creatures that lurk in the deep dark of Madagascar’s wilds. Thankfully, the world’s eco-leaders have shined their conservation spotlight on this bio-heaven and have worked magic raising awareness, raising funds, and creating protected habitats for this parade of the animal kingdom’s most unique members.

Luanda, Angola

Now There’s a Surprise

Admit it.  The last time you thought about Angola, you were wondering what possible interest Cuba had in their civil war.  Some may still be wondering.  But somehow, since those days of the Angolan Civil War (1975-2002), Luanda has become the world’s most expensive city!  How did THAT happen?

Portugal

Portugal played only a peripheral role but since they were the first European colonizers, let’s start there.  “Colonizers” is even a bit of an overstatement as the first Portuguese to arrive in the 1500s were content to establish a few coastal outposts used to transit slaves to their vastly more important colonies in Brazil.  These unlucky souls were rounded up in the interior by cooperating African tribes, then traded to the Portuguese on the coast in exchange for western manufactured goods.  Brazilian independence in 1822 abolished slavery in 1836 and ended the slave trade from Angola.

The Portuguese didn’t venture into the interior significantly until the late 1800s in search of other resources to replace the slave trade.  Portuguese companies led the development of peanut and palm oil, timber, ivory, cotton, and eventually diamonds, minerals and petroleum for export.  As the various tribal groups in Angola became more aware of the wealth being plundered from under their feet, a number of competing armed political groups began agitating for inclusion.  Portugal’s superior military and technological prowess kept these groups at bay for about a century, but in 1974, a sudden change in Portugal’s government took everyone by surprise.

Independence And Civil War

The Carnation Revolution began as a military coup to overthrow            the authoritarian dictatorship known as Estado Novo that had ruled Portugal since the 1930s.  The coup was led by the young officers of the Portuguese military who had been fighting the country’s unpopular colonial wars in Angola, Mozambique, Portuguese Guinea, Cape Verde, São Tomé and Principe, and East Timor.  The coup found surprising popular support and the result was a democratic government that immediately withdrew Portuguese armed forces from all their colonies.

This brought a swift end to the Angolan War of Independence that had raged since 1961, but left the three major nationalist movements unprepared to govern.  Their attempts to form a coalition inevitably broke into an armed struggle for control of the new country, which wore on with few breaks until 2002.  The conflict, coming in the midst of the Cold War, eventually drew all the world’s superpowers into what would have appeared to be a less than global conflict.

Cuba?

Though the competing belligerents had united in their desire to end colonial occupation, their politics were mutually exclusive.  One billed itself as “Marxist-Leninist”, the other “anti-communist”.  As such, the Angolan Civil War was seen as another skirmish on the global battlefield of the Cold War.  The United States and Russian, via surrogates such as Zaire and South Africa, became deeply involved in the outcome while maintaining “plausible deniability” by operating more or less covertly.

Cuba’s involvement was originally believed to be as a stand-in for Russia.  In later years, however, it was revealed that Che Guevara had visited the leader of the Marxist-Leninist faction as early as 1963, and Cuban forces in Algiers trained some of his guerilla fighters.

Fidel Castro considered it his responsibility as an “internationalist” to help out like-minded leaders in other parts of the world even though intervention in Angola held no strategic interest for Cuba.  In fact, Castro became a long-distance military commander, monitoring battlefield events and controlling the movements of his forces from Havana.  Cuba’s presence in the fight ultimately proved decisive and Angola today is ruled by a decidedly socialist government.

The World’s Most Expensive City

One of the unfortunate outcomes of the protracted civil war was the physical destruction of the country.  When the war ended in 2002, there was virtually no infrastructure left undamaged.  But Angola is a country with many valuable resources and the revenue from oil and diamonds has afforded an aggressive rebuilding process.  The upper town, cidade alta, features glittery new high rises, government buildings and shopping centers.  Upscale housing and western amenities, however, are still in short supply and brutally expensive, resulting in the sky-high expat cost of living that has earned the city it’s “most expensive” designation.

Many of the historic buildings and areas have been and are being restored.  Among them San Miguel Fort, the church of Dos Remedios, and Palacio de Ferro (built by Gustave Eiffel of tower fame).  The Palacio has a past shrouded in mystery as no record of it exists.  The consensus seems to be that it was built in France for shipment to Madagascar but the ship was intercepted by pirates and set adrift.  Rulers of the Portuguese colony then claimed the ship and its contents and reassembled the building in Luanda.

To their credit, the current government is not trying to hide the capital’s past and have established the National Museum of Slavery which, in a stroke of irony, sits on property formerly owned by one of the colony’s biggest slave traders, Alvaro de Carvalho Matoso. 

Finally, a daytime stroll on the promenade along Marginal Bay will offer time to reflect on the turbulent past thrust upon this city, this country, and much of West Africa.

Lome, Togo

Long and Lean

A mere sliver of land stretching from the Gulf of Benin 370 miles inland and only 60 miles wide at the most, Togo is a long arm of opportunity thrust into Africa’s interior.  And, as such, it has served as a conduit for a flood of exotic “goods” for the outside world, even slaves. 

You’re here.  Now hear that story … and more.  Then take to heart Graham Greene’s comments from his 1936 piece Journey without Maps.  “It is not the fully conscious mind which chooses West Africa in preference to Switzerland.”  

Agree or disagree.  Nonetheless, today you’ve chosen West Africa in preference to Switzerland with the most conscious of minds.  And, why not?  This corner of the world is off the beaten tourist path, brimming with history, and something all travelers should see. Ghana, Burkina Faso and Benin rim this country of 6.7 million people.  Their story follows

A Lesson in History First

The early history relating to this area highlights alliances with several empires, among them the Akan-Ashanti and the Benin.  Over time, numerous tribal groups migrated into the region choosing to settle along the relatively cool shores of the Gulf of Guinea rather than in the steamier interior. 

These tribes included the Ewé (pronounced Ev’-he, meaning “lake”) who probably came from the Niger River Valley, and the Guin and Mina who migrated here from the west. 

During the 1500s, the brutal slave trade became a lucrative way of life for many of these people, especially those from the Mina tribe.  It was they who developed powerful pacts with slave traders from Europe who were involved in shipping human cargo to Brazil.  When some of these slaves earned their freedom, they returned to this area and became slavers themselves.  Agbodrafo is the former center for the slave trade.  There is an opportunity to visit slave dungeons to experience this chapter personally. 

A Dark Door Closes, A New One Opens

Thankfully, the inhumane practice of slave trading came to a halt in the mid-1800s.  Northern trading partners in Europe became more interested in crops such as coffee and cotton, cacao and coconut oil.  (Today, phosphates are the largest industry and export.) The French and the British vied for control of the area though it was the Germans who convinced King Mlapa of Togoville to give Germany control over Togoland. 

The local people, known as Togolese, resented Germany’s intrusion into their lives.  They courted the British during the First World War and, along with the French, forced Germany’s surrender.  Historians note that this victory is recognized as the Allies’ first in this war. 

Following the war, France and Britain shared this tiny nation, which was divided into two segments.  The divided Togolese were never too happy with this arrangement and sought to resolve it after World War II.  In 1960, French Togoland gained its independence.  Three years later, Togo suffered from the results of a military coup – Africa’s first.  Others, as you know, followed across this continent. 

A man named Eyadéma emerged as Togo’s leader on April 16, 1967 when he was elected president.  He has remained in power for more than three decades.  In fact, in 1998, President General Gnassingbe Eyadéma was once again re-elected to a new five-year term.  President Faure Gnassingbe, who is Eyadema’s son, has served as Togo’s president since 2005.  He was educated in Paris and the US.    

Togo Is So Different From Switzerland

Lomé is at sea level not high in the Alps.  Its air is heavy with humidity and tropical heat.  People move about at an easy pace, having adapted to their climate long ago.  Having said that, you should do the same as you explore this city, the nation’s capital and home to approximately 20% of the country’s population.  Note that Lome actually drapes across the border with neighboring Ghana. 

The National Museum offers a rich but modest look at the Togolese people and their lifestyle.  Be sure to look for the “thunder stones” and cowrie shells that once were a form of legal currency.  Examples of traditional jewelry, dolls, musical instruments, weapons and pottery are on view.  (A more contemporary scene plays out in Independence Square, built to honor Togo’s break from French rule in 1960.)  But stones and shells won’t get you too far at the Grand Marché or the Marché de Féticheurs where locals go to buy their favorite foods and fetishes.  At the first market locals offer fabric for sale, sold by the pagne (a measurement of approximately six feet).  Both markets are often crowded and not for those who aren’t a bit adventurous.  If you do go to the latter, keep an eye out for fertility staffs and grisgris charms, which locals drape around their necks to ward off evil spirits.  The village of Glidji is the spiritual center of the Guen people.

And remember, the best thing to prevent wilting from the midday heat is a chilled soft drink on the veranda of one of the city’s hotels.  Though modest on an international scale, the hotels are adequate and the staff eager to serve.  While there, you might formulate your thoughts comparing and contrasting this type of an adventure with a trip to the Alps.  Both yield great rewards.  Each is worthy of a traveler’s inspection.  It’s a topic to ponder.

African Prose

The Letters of the Land

From the crusted riverbeds and the vast savannalands, to the darkened jungles and the moist highlands, the essence of Africa has been captured on the pages of many fine writers. By a flickering candlelight, the night sounds all around them, these early adventurers scratched their impressions in leather-bound journals while they rested, weary from the day’s heat. You see, Africa has long been an inspiration to all who witnessed its theater. Collectively, the works of these inspired writers could fill the smoking room of Nairobi’s celebrated Muthaiga Club.

Why not retrieve a dusty book from one of your library’s top shelves, get comfortable, then drift off into the drama that is Africa.

Isak Dineson

Who among us does not remember that terribly romantic scene from the film “Out Of Africa” when Robert Redford waltzed in the drawing room with Meryl Streep to the gentle strains of a hand-cranked Victrola? His character, Denys Finch-Hatton, was about to again take leave of his lover Baroness Karen Blixen who, in real life, wrote under the pen name of Isak Dineson. Finch-Hatton was truly a Kenyan bush pilot who died in a fiery plane crash. The Baroness was actually the Dane who authored this tender tale.

Karen Blixen had come to Kenya to live on a coffee plantation on the outskirts of Nairobi. She grew to love those around her and fought against all odds to see that the plantation survived. But survive, it did not. And Blixen returned to Denmark to live out her life until her death in 1962. Her 1937 account of these years in Africa, “Out Of Africa,” is one of the most impassioned narratives of that era. So too is her work “Letters from Africa.”

Beryl Markham

At the tender age of four, Beryl journeyed from England to East Africa with her adventurous father who was bent on staking his claim for the future. Growing up on a coffee plantation proved a glorious adventure for Beryl as she ran naked with the children of the Masai and the Kikuyu workers, learning their languages and customs.

Following in her father’s footsteps, Ms. Markham became a horse trainer and a jockey. Next, she took to the skies as a bush pilot like her friend, Denys Finch-Hatton. With lofty thermals under her wings, the hot wind blowing into the open Avro Avian cockpit, Markham hopped from one rattly airstrip to another, carrying mail and medicine, hunters and heads of state. All the while, images burned their way into her memory, later to reappear on the pages of her autobiography “West With The Night” and in “The Splendid Outcast.”

Of Markham’s book, Ernest Hemingway wrote, “She has written so well, and marvelously well, that I was completely ashamed of myself as a writer. I felt that I was simply a carpenter with words, picking up whatever was furnished on the job and nailing them together. But (she) can write rings around all of us who consider ourselves as writers.”

Beryl Markham became the first person to single-handedly pilot a plane across the Atlantic from east to west, where she miraculously crash-landed onto the soft soil of Nova Scotia 21-and-a-half hours after take-off. The year was 1936. Thankfully, she had previously declined her friend Finch-Hatton’s invitation to join him on his fatal flight to Voi, a Kenyan game preserve.

And Speaking of Hemingway

This man’s man loved Africa and all its adventures. He wrote of this passion in his popular short story “The Snows of Kilimanjaro” where he vividly describes ‘the hunt’, and in his 1935 work “Green Hills Of Africa.”

Other labors of love by known and lesser-known authors include Ellspeth Huxley’s respected “The Flame Trees of Thika”, an account of her childhood on a Kenyan farm at the turn of the century. Popular, too, is “The Kenya Pioneers” by Errol Trzebinski, which details early settler life here. John Hylan Heminway’s book “The Imminent Rains” records the sagas of many of Africa’s last pioneers.

Peter Matthiessen has written about Africa for decades. Two of his most impressive literary accomplishments include his 1972 work, “The Tree Where Man Was Born” and “African Silences”, which he wrote not long ago. The latter chronicles the vanishing worlds of Africa, and those that are replacing them.

So, while you (or I) may never enjoy the pleasure of waltzing with Robert Redford as oil lamps cast shadows across the breezy room, you can curl up with a great book and slip into the creative minds of many talented authors. Through their gifted eyes you can view Africa as they once did.

São Tome and Principe

Where Bonbons Begin, More Or Less

“Life is like a box of chocolates.  You never know what you’re gonna get.”--Forrest Gump’s Mama. 

And you never know how far you’ll travel to discover the story of chocolate because you’ve come a long, long way here to the country of São Tome and Principe.  Look on any map.  It’s not exactly easy to find.  And, Bom Bom Island’s even harder!

Did You Find It?

First, we need clarity.  The Democratic Republic of Sao Tome and Principe is just that.  This country features two major islands (São Tome and Principe, ahem) found 87 miles apart plus a few other rock outcroppings.  It’s the second smallest nation in Africa and home to 170,000 people, only 7,000 of whom live on Principe.  Principe itself is only 19 miles by 4 miles.  And, Bom Bom Island Resort is an even weensier little islet connected to Principe’s mainland by a wooden walkway.  For further clarification Bom Bom Island Resort, where you’re going, can be found at one degree thirty-seven minutes north latitude and seven degrees twenty-seven minutes east longitude.  First, find the equator.  Then track these coordinates.  Eh, voilà.  Yes, that’s the one 80 miles out into the Gulf of Guinea off the coast of Gabon.  (Rest assured your Captain knows where it is.)

Bom Bom Island measures less than one kilometer in diameter.  As a single island in the small nation of São Tome and Príncipe, it takes almost more time to say the name of the country than to walk around this entire island. 

But, you’re here.  And you have three choices of what to do with your day.  Discover its important Portuguese history, learn about the cocoa trade, or do absolutely nothing in the shade of a breezy island palm.

Portugal Takes An Interest

Portuguese navigators first called in neighboring São Tome (St. Thomas Island) in approximately 1470.  About this time, their sailors were cruising up and down the West African shores searching for suitable trading posts to help them expand their empire.  Pedro Escobar and Joao de Santarem are credited with the discovery of the islands.  Early contact with local tribal chiefs involved the exchange of ivory and gold. 

Within 20 years the Portuguese had constructed an impressive fort in nearby Ghana, which they factored into their scheme for developing lucrative trade routes between Europe, Africa, and the Far East.  For the record, this trade never quite panned out exactly as they had planned.

The earliest successful settlement on Principe was in 1500, though conditions were far from idyllic.  In fact, not everyone settled here voluntarily including Portuguese Jews.  Two thousand Jewish children from 2-10 years old were sent to these islands in 1496 by Portugal’s King Manuel.  Their families had been driven from Spain when they refused to convert to Catholicism three years earlier.  They also refused to pay taxes levied on them to finance the colony.  Only 600 children survived the first year.

Slaving flourished, as did sugar cane cultivation because the volcanic soil was perfect for this crop.  The entire process, however, was really labor intensive hence the need to import slaves from the mainland.  The two islands together were at one time the most productive cane exporters in Africa.  But sugarcane production dwindled over time.

Thankfully the climate here was ideal for growing other crops such as coffee, copra, and cacao beans.  In fact, São Tome was referred to as the “Chocolate Island” at one time.  In 1908, São Tome was recognized as the largest producer of cacao in the world.  Even today, cacao represents 95% of the islands’ exports.

The islands also served as a trans-shipment point for slaves being sent to the New World.  Slaving was officially abolished in 1876 but abuses continued.  Portuguese coffee plantations, known as rocas were the scenes of virtual slavery long after the official practice had ended.

Independence came to all islanders when they formally severed relations with Portugal July 12th, 1975.

Who Doesn’t Like Chocolate?

The cacao plant produces a purplish cacao bean that is essential for cocoa and chocolate production and, therefore, essential for our survival and happiness, as well. 

Mother Nature has thankfully blessed these islands with enough rainfall to nurture these plants.  In fact, the average annual rainfall is close to 100 inches while nearly 400 inches of rain have fallen in one year in certain areas. 

A mature cacao pod holds 50 or more seeds and can weigh several pounds.  They were traditionally harvested daily then dried by spreading them about in the relentless African sun.  These beans were then bagged and shipped off to Europe where master chefs added their magic to sate the Europeans’ insatiable desire for bon bons, bickies and beautiful gateaux au chocolat. 

Meanwhile, Under A Palm Tree

Well, all this is simply too much to ponder, really.  Why not just pause to reflect upon the journey you’ve taken?  Perhaps mail postcards to friends back home, challenging them to find today’s island get-away in their leather-bound atlases.  Or, spend the afternoon lost in the writings of Alda de Espirito Santo.  She is remembered for her poetry as well as for serving as the first female President of the National Assembly of São Tome and Principe.