The long Transfer into the Bush – 6/25/22

We landed in Victoria Falls after approximately an hour and a half flight from Jo-Burg. There had been some concerned whispers about the first transfer being considered long. Given what we had just been through, being on the ground seemed like a welcome change. More importantly, this was where we met Dumi.

I’m not sure what I expected but I can say that it wasn’t Dumi. Maybe I expected someone older. Or shorter. Or ugly? I’m really not sure. I hadn’t invested a significant amount of mental energy into who or what a Dumi was or wasn’t supposed to be.

I will, at this point give you my initial impressions. Dumi is tall, handsome, and of an indeterminate age, but could be anywhere from 32 to 52. For the record, he is 43. Additionally, he gives off a vibe of capability and organization that makes you automatically follow him. He could have lured us off a cliff and we likely would have followed, probably while asking “how high IS this cliff?” Anyway, more Dumi stuff will be threaded throughout the saga as he will become an integral character in the tale.

From the airport we grabbed a bus driven by the nine-language-speaking Big Boy who would assist Dumi in what would be the beginning of our tour into the bush.

The primary industry in Hwange is coal mining. The surrounding hills consist primarily of anthracite, one of the highest grades of coal available and is highly valuable for the production of power. That said, you would think that the area would be beneficiaries of the natural riches right under the soil. Unfortunately, due to politics and Chinese intervention this is not really the case. Miners do get housing for as long as they work and some semblance of healthcare, but, as one might expect, the work is hard, dangerous, and unhealthy over the long term.

Due to the industry, Hwange is fairly urban with a population of about 40,000. While there are no visual mass media outlets, much of the mass communication is conducted via cellphone, with most people buying data and such by the minute from local kiosks. Apparently this was how a significant part of the COVID information was spread around. Anecdotally, it would seem that their marketing campaign may have exceeded the success of that in the United States.

I will end the political commentary here, but I suspect it will percolate periodically throughout the story as there are some interesting comparisons that can be drawn to the Bush and what we consider modern “First World” society. Along with that, cynicism is a waste of intellect and has no place when discussing the fate of people. I’ll get off my soapbox.

Our journey was taking us deeper and deeper into the bush. We were seeing fewer houses and homesteads although the truck traffic remained pretty constant as the coal dragons were never satiated. We did have one very interesting stop at the brand new Chicken Inn/Pizza Inn/Cream Inn. Fast food is not the staple of nutrition that it is in the United States so this new facility is a destination and a treat for the surrounding locals.

I would venture to say that this would be the last western looking shop we would see for a bit. I believe only Jona ordered ice cream, which he generously shared around the bus.

Our next stop would be the entrance to the Hwange National Park. What’s the difference between a National Park and game preserve? A national park is well, national as in run by the government. A game preserve is governed by tribal institutions. Enjoy this little cocktail party knowledge nugget next time you want to feel superior to Skip, who seems to know the starting lineup of the 1982 New York Rangers.

Moving on, here we would stop for a break at the loo, get a quick snack, and see the vehicles in which we would be spending a significant amount of our next days riding. Most importantly, we would be meeting our pair of field guides. They will get a special introduction later.

And into the bush we went. Our journey would take us until after sunset into the unknown.

Riding in an open vehicle like this Toyota Hilux with this seat platform on it is pretty spectacular. Now, I did get some comments from friends before we went to the continent alluding to “African Hot.” Well, sports fans, this is Southern Africa, so it is winter in this hemisphere. The temperatures are mid-50s in the days and high 30s at night, and night truly starts when the sun goes down.

So imagine whipping through the bush, in stadium seating, bouncing along getting what is called an “African Massage” wearing most of the clothing you brought. It’s pretty freaking awesome albeit a little brisk. Within a few moments we had already seen several impala!!

Little did we know what the afternoon would bring.

I think that most of us thought that this was just really a “ride” and not really part of the actual tour. This was not an accurate assessment. Apparently, the African bush is full of animals. (Please note sarcasm here)

Ok, so there are a lot of elephants in this park, but generally people don’t see a lot of lions. Unless you do.

I mean, it’s just a ride to the camp, right?

Ok, it’s sunset. Most animals bunk down at night, at least the cool ones. Only bats and some little things that have shiny eyes pop out at night, right?

I have no idea how the guides saw them off to the side.

I’m a little fuzzy on the details here, but basically we got a hero’s welcome, as if we’d just conquered the bush some how. We were then given a safety brief about the camp. There is no roaming around unaccompanied at night without a guide. We will talk more about this later. We were given a gourmet dinner in a “tent” and later shown to our tents. Tent is a bit of a stretch. They were a bit chilly but the sleep was wonderful.

Wake up for our first official game drive would be 6AM so we needed to get some sleep. I’m not sure how a “transfer” is defined, but this was a pretty special day. I’ll take a long transfer like this anytime.