1 1- Somewhere in Africa
17:35pm. Monday, April .7 .2009
The land cruiser hard top Safari, maneuvered its way from the city, entering the rough roads in full speed. I occasionally stared outside. surprised by the beauty of the place. So this is Africa, a home to vast deserts, tropical rainforests and the wilds. it's better than how it looks in the safari channels, magazine and the documentaries I've watched. we began leaving off human settlements driving into the woods. I turn to the professor we came with, she is very calm and collected, she must have been here before, she wasn't as excited as we were. we kept driving towards the interiors of the red land for almost forty five minutes when we came to a stop at a village. the driver got off the car going to the villagers. "Let's go explore the village shall we" The professor announced and I was itching to get down from the car, before we were allowed to interact with the villagers the professor gave us a pep talk, "okay students, we stop here for the night, you're allowed to take pictures, buy stuffs and explore the village but not too far, I'm I clear?" we all replied in unison. I started walking following everyone to where the driver was standing with a couple of elderly dressed in traditional attire. he was speaking to them in their language. the women and children surrounded the car inspecting it. they were dressed in leather tops and leather short skirts of a wired design. with beads hanging from their shoulders all the way to their waists. Other beads were on their hairs in a different style for each girl. something was making noise whenever they walked by, I realise it's what they wore around their legs.
I began taking random pictures of the village and the people, their housed were just marvellous. the traditional Africa is pure beauty. I caught sight of the professor greeting the other elderly with a hand shake and a slight bow, I aimed the lens of the camera and caught the moment. I flipped the camera to see what I captured and I mentally complemented my Canon Eos 7D all thanks to the 18-megapixel resolutions, I'm capturing the moments in clear images. "students come say hello". I release the camera from my hands leaving it to hang around my neck. the professor introduced us in their language, I was surprised and impressed the elders shaked their heads in response, the conversed some more then the professor allowed us to tour the village. the elders summoned their people spoke to them in their language and the people cheered. I began walking observing the small mud houses with grass roots the blended perfectly with the setting sun.
I retrieved the camera In my hands taking a few shots of the place. at a far end I saw a girl dressed in a unique attire but not quite different from the others I've already seen. she smiled at me and I smiled back.
she raised her hand to wave me over and she began running to the opposite direction of the village settlement. she stopped a few feets to check if I was after her and she was disappointed to see me still. she waved me over to hurry and curiously I began following her to see where she wanted to take me. I followed her behind and we were heading to the woods, I felt a bit hesitant because the professor clearly said not too far from the village, I turned to get a view of the village and back at the waiting girl and I decided against going back. I runned into the woods for about five minutes until we reached a hillside, she climbed a little faster than me to the top. I reached the top panting and I find her waiting for me "I gatta say, you're pretty good runner" I bent down, hands on both knees trying to steady my breathing. I rise from my position looking at the view infront of me and I was flabbergasted, the greenfields at the far end, natural landscapes and the river that flowed to I don't exactly know where. I rised the camera to my face and clicked a few photos, it felt so peaceful around here. I felt a tap on my shoulder turning to the girl she was pointing to the opposite side I slowly turn around to see the view that melted me. the sun set! and the village. the scarlet rays illuminated the village giving it a different and interesting sight. I took multiple shots of the view. I turn to the girl and take a couple of pictures her as well. "thank you" she just smiled and tagged me back to the village and we parted ways.
The sun was completely out of sight, as the darkness took over. the villagers prepared a born fire where they danced around it. others burned what I guess is some animals meat from the same fire and eat it. I got a glimpse of the same girl from earlier and I began approaching her. "ahh hello" I tried gesturing my hands to show greetings "I'm mark and you" I pointed to my self when I mentioned my name and pointed at her to ask for her name. she giggled and for the first time "I am Dikeledi, daughter of Gorata the moitseanape of the village" her English was an alternative version of her native language. "you can speak English?" she shook her head "Not really, I know a few words and sentences, I learned from the people of your kind" I laughed "You mean tourists, what's your village called?" she raised her hand to show a tattoo, it looked more like a branded scar, it had complex drawings, hard to figure out "This is an introduction, for the Bakalanga people of Tutume" i clicked the flash on my camera to capture the tattoo "it's beautiful in a complex way" she smiled instantly "come, come meet my mother" I followed her past the few huts to a narrow bushed trail leading to three smaller huts isolated from the village settlement. We walked In to one of the hats which had smoke coming from its top.
she spoke in her native language to a woman behind a leather curtain with ancient drawings, same applies to the walls inside the had, there were drawings on the wall resembling the Egyptian hieroglyphs. I walked towards a familiar symbol studying it, before I could bring my fingers to trace it, the woman emerged from the carpet. An aged woman with a normal height, healthy body, a skin a shade darker with a bold head that was covered in complex drawings too. her collar bone was inked or shall I say branded as well. she had a different style of dressing, a black piece of cloth covered the chest to her mid legs. adding to her look was a wood staff which had wired cravings I've never studied about. "Mother, I brought someone to see you" she turned my way and smiled widely, I now noticed two of her teeth are missing from the bottom "welcome, young one"
I made myself comfortable and we were hearing stories about the ancient societies and the oracles. I was noting down every detail but something caught my eye all this time and it bugged me. "you look bothered young one, what is it?" she asked in her booming voice "I was wondering, if I could take pictures?" I lied politely, the woman broke into a laughter "no body lies to Gorata, young one" I saw the girl beside break into laughter too. the woman lifted her self from the stool, walking over to the symbol she traced it with her fingers "This is was from one of our oldest tribes, behind the Kalahari mountains." I walked closer to it studying it carefully "I've seen it before" I fish out something from my collar, A nacklace I compare the pendant on the necklace and the symbol on the wall "That's impossible, where did you get that?" the woman asked impassively shock evident in her eyes "My mother gave it to me, what is?" the woman held the pendant while she closed her eyes she muttered a few native words before opening her eyes. "it's a cagn mantis amulet, where did you find it?" I looked at the priceless piece of pendant "it was among my mother's findings, she gave it to me before she came to Africa".
"where is your mother?" I looked at her, concealing the pain "She never came back, nobody knows what happened to her, it's been two years".
she looked at me intensively before walking over to her clay pots full of water of different colours she spoke to the clay pots in a native tongue before she swiftly turned her head towards me "I'm afraid, your mother had set foot in a no man's land" in confusion I had to ask for clarification "what does that mean"
"she has woken the demon spirits of Kalahari" she spoke in a monotone.
