Learning to spell - and other distractions

Visiting Wankie Game Reserve in 1975

My first visit to Hwange Game Reserve was in 1967. I was an entomologist in the Tsetse Control division of the Department of Tsetse and Trypanosomiasis Control, which was part of the Department of Veterinary Services of the Rhodesian (now Zimbabwean) Government. Formerly called "Wankie," this game reserve was established in1928 under the supervision of a 22 year old conservation-minded young man named Ted Davison.  It was to become one of the finest Game Reserves in Africa. Davison's classic book "Wankie:The Story of a Great Game Reserve" was, for many decades, the definitive read for anyone interested in development of Africa's wildlife resources. 


The 14,600 sq.km. (5,637 sq. mile) park is the largest reserve in Zimbabwe.  It has been, perhaps, most noted for it's large population of elephant; drawn here by a series of watering holes established by Davison in the 1930s and 1940s. The western edge of the park is the border of Botswana and the vegetation transitions into the Kalahari desert there. 

Main Camp, Hwange Game Reserve, 1985

The prospect of returning to this unique wildlife preserve is causing me some excitement and that will build over the next 18 months.

Hwange elephant - August 1996

After spending three nights at Imbabala Camp, the African Bush Camps trip outline reads as follows:

 After an early morning activity and brunch, you will depart at 1100hrs to Victoria Falls Airport.
You will be driven east back to Victoria Falls airport, where you will meet your Sefofane Air pilot for your flight to Little Makalolo Camp, Hwange. The flight takes 1 hour, and you land at Makalolo Airstrip situated deep within the park on a private concession.



Little Makalolo, situated in a remote and private concession within the vast Hwange National Park, is one of the few camps built within the Park. Hwange is legendary for its wonderful array of wildlife, particularly the massive herds of elephant and buffalo, and summer sees the large antelope herds migrate onto the plains, closely followed by large predators.

The camp is built on the ground, providing panoramic unique views over the Little Somavundlha Pan with its excellent concentrations of wildlife. Accommodation consists of 6, comfortable tented rooms with en-suite facilities as well as an outdoor shower for those who enjoy showering under the stars. The lighting in the rooms is battery-powered so there is peace and quiet in camp, allowing one to listen to the sounds of the bushveld instead.

The main area has a lounge, pub, plunge pool and dining area where delicious meals are served. While the emphasis is on game drives, night drives and guided walks, well-situated hides or raised viewing platforms provide the ideal manner to while away the lazy midday hours, watching wildlife come down to the waterholes to drink.

There are a number of shallow pans spread throughout the Park, around which wildlife congregates, making for excellent and reliable game viewing. During summer plains game migrate onto the plains, closely followed by their predators. Elephant, Cape buffalo, sable, roan, southern giraffe, blue wildebeest, impala and sometimes even gemsbok (oryx) can be seen here.


This Park is one of the best for predators - lion, leopard, wild dog and cheetah are regularly sighted, along with the smaller African wildcat, serval, honey badger, civet and spotted hyena.

Bird life in the area is prolific, with more than 400 species found, and varied as species frequent teak woodlands as well as those more typical of the drier Kalahari being present.

3 nights at Little Makalolo Camp in a twin bedded tent, with en suite facilities, on an all inclusive basis.

 

Learning to spell - and other distractions

Muir College School Crest

 

My brother John and I had completed 6^th grade at C.A. Donehoo Elementary school in Gadsden, Alabama before traveling to South Africa.  Now, suitably outfitted in our new school uniforms we were to enter Standard 5 at Muir College Boys High School.  In South Africa schooling begins as Kindergarten I (KG 1), followed by KG II, then Standard 1, Std. 2 and so on.  So the seventh year of one’s schooling is Standard V (5). Eventually, in theory, we would finish High School by successfully completing the academic requirements of Standard X (10).  We would then have “matriculated” and moved on to higher education at a University.  In effect, because the U.S. school year ends in June each year and the South African school system ends in December, we would skip half a year, going from Grade 6 to a half year into Grade 7. 

Academic standards between the two school systems were not all that different.  I mostly remember having to catch up with a new history curriculum.  The settlement of the Cape Colony by the Dutch in the 1600s had not been a part of our history lessons in the 6^th grade in Alabama. The names Bartholomew Diaz, Simon Van Der Stel and Jan Van Riebeeck were unfamiliar to us.  A higher standard was demanded in English a stronger emphasis on written essays and reports.  Correct grammar, spelling and punctuation were required, without compromise.  Many words were spelled differently.  Neighbor, labor and just about all words ending in “or” were now to be spelled the old English way; Neighbour, labour, favour, vigour, etc. The transition in Math was not difficult.  In Social Studies we lost a little in the geography of Africa and the United Kingdom but had the upper hand on North American topics.  Generally speaking we were able to fall into the new system pretty easily and it didn’t take long to begin to catch up.

In 1956 South Africa there were two official languages taught in schools; English and Afrikaans.  In English schools Afrikaans was taught as a second language and vice versa in Afrikaans schools.  Afrikaans was derived from the old language spoken by the early Dutch settlers and farmers (“boers”).  A requirement for graduating (or Matriculation) was competence in two languages.  As our parents did not anticipate being in South Africa for more than my dad’s three year contract period we were advised to take Latin classes, knowing that Afrikaans wouldn’t transfer very well to any other country, if and when we were to move again.  So Latin was our second language and we would begin taking Latin in Standard VI.

Looking back, I found the transition to an all boys school system to be pretty easy.  We made friends easily.  Our southern accents were obviously a conversation starter but within about six months we had just about lost any outward evidence of our American origins.  (At home our diet still consisted of fried chicken, black eyed- peas and other traditional southern delicacies.)  The Muir uniforms in winter consisted of grey slacks, black leather shoes, white shirts with school tie and a blazer with dark blue vertical stripes with thin white and lighter blue stripes.  It was distinctive and a much better colour combination than many of the other school uniforms in the area.  In summer, we would wear cooler dark blue shorts with knee high socks that required elastic garters to hold them up.  There was also a “beany” cap required for younger students when walking to and from school or when wearing school attire in public.

Dr. Thomas Muir - 1914

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I mentioned the history of Muir College in an earlier blog.  There was a very strong feeling of history and tradition here, which was evident from the old buildings and many historic plaques on the walls of the main assembly hall.  The school had, after all, been established in Uitenhage 134 years before, in 1822, as the “English Free School.” 1822 to 1830 was a period of widespread chaos and destruction in the eastern and central parts of southern Africa, brought about by the expansion of the Zulu State under their powerful ruler, Shaka.  Putting this into even sharper historical context, it was only in1831 that Charles Darwin began his voyage on HMS Beagle to South America and the Galapagos Islands.  Slavery would be abolished in the British Empire in 1833.

My next blog will discuss school activities, competition and maintenance of one’s self-esteem in the decade of the 1950s.