Africa – Page 13

Little Critters

Click here for an updated version of this article with photos.

In the United States, “little critters” are best known as a children’s chewable vitamin brand. In Africa, this has an entirely different meaning. African “little critters” refer to the insects that invade your home looking for sustenance. They could be mosquitoes looking for blood, perhaps leaving behind malaria, or different types of spiders, the most common of which in Lusaka, Zambia are the “flattie” spiders so named because of their flat bodies (they can grow quite large with a leg span of up to several inches). Some are flying termites, gnats, putsi flies, or varied types of cockroaches. Most often, they are ants of many varieties, shapes and sizes ranging from tiny sugar ants to large army ants.

African homes are quite porous and make it easy for little critters to enter at will. Whether it’s the doors with gaps that leave ample room for entry or the holes in the concrete walls meant for ventilation but more often act as sieves, homes here are built with little thought given to keeping out the creepy crawlies that find them tantalizing targets. Occupants usually learn to live with them unless the “little critters” invade en masse or appear to be a physical threat. The mandibles of a large ant leave no doubt that one bite would hurt immensely.

We’ve learned to put up with the “little critters” for the most part, except when they take a liking to our kitchen or living quarters. When a stream of sugar ants attacks a morsel left on the kitchen counter, it’s time to dispatch them. When a spider preys too close to the bed, it meets a quick demise. Spraying poison inside the home is tricky business, and using clothes or paper towels to wipe them out is impractical when they come in great numbers. Thus, we usually put with them unless they cross our threshold of comfort. “Little critters” is one of the many aspects of life in Africa that makes living on this continent more challenging than in many other parts of the world.

More About Zambia

Top Ten Things to See in Zambia	Zambian Critters	Zambian Trees in Bloom
Iguazu Falls vs. Victoria Falls	Lake Kariba	James Bond in Zambia
Boomslang Barry	Elvis in Africa	Flat Stanley’s Adventure on the Zambezi River
When I Saw a Lion	Other Articles

World Adventurers Magazine

Victoria Falls and Iguaçu Falls

Click here to read a follow-on article about Victoria Falls and Iguaçu Falls with photos.

I’ve had the rare opportunity over the past year to visit two of the world’s largest waterfalls. I visited Iguaçu Falls on the Argentine-Brazilian border in February 2009 prior to leaving South America, where I had lived for two years. I just returned from a short weekend trip to Victoria Falls on the Zambian-Zimbabwean border, which is a six-hour trip from Lusaka, Zambia by car. As measured by water volume, these two waterfalls are two of the largest and arguably most spectacular waterfalls in the world.

It’s easy to make comparisons between the two. In truth, both waterfalls are equally impressive. They’re different, so it’s difficult to say whether one is “better” than the other. Iguaçu Falls is larger by volume and longer. It comprises numerous waterfalls that give it a layered effect, and it stretches over a longer distance than Victoria Falls. The Parana River above Iguaçu Falls collects at the top of the falls and cascades down over what must be a stretch of five miles or longer. At the same time, Iguaçu features a boardwalk on the Brazil side that puts you near the heart of the waterfall, the “Devil’s Throat” (La Garganta del Diablo).

Victoria Falls appears visually larger than its Latino counterpart. The sheer “in your face” effect it offers you while the Zambezi River spills over is incredible. The pathway on the Zambian side puts you very close to a massive wall of water that drops at least a couple hundred feet in front of you. Although I wore rain gear, I was soaking wet when I passed close to the falls – wetter than I was at Iguaçu.

Although I left Iguaçu Falls convinced that it is unsurpassed in its grandeur, Victoria Falls rivals it in intensely. Of course, visitors to either locale would undoubtedly insist that each waterfall is more impressive than the other. As an objective outsider, I believe that these two falls collectively rank as two of the more beautiful and awe inspiring natural wonders of the world. If you ever have a chance to visit either one, don’t miss out. You won’t be sorry spending the money and time to behold two of God’s greatest creations. In this respect, I feel blessed to have experienced both.

Boomslang Barry: Zambia’s Answer to Groundhog Day

Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow today and foreshadowed six more weeks of winter in the Northern Hemisphere. Phil is an interesting meteorological barometer, and I would enjoy spending February 2 someday in Phil’s home, Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, watching him predict the change of season. Watching the Bill Murray film “Groundhog Day,” one of my favorite comedies, convinced me that it would be worthwhile making a pilgrimage to rural Pennsylvania in the middle of winter to see an overgrown rodent tell the future.

To my knowledge, the Southern Hemisphere does not observe the tradition of looking to a larger-than-life animal to predict future weather patterns. Animals play an important role in foretelling a change in season (e.g., the opening of hunting season), but Punxsutawney Phil doesn’t have a counterpart in the other half of the world. Perhaps it’s time for a country, town, or village south of the Equator to anthropomorphize a prescient creature that signals a significant event and popularize it to attract tourists who want to gawk at its predictive prowess.

If Zambia were to adopt this tradition, the termite might be the most fitting creature because it appears whenever the rainy season starts (in late October/early November). Unfortunately, termites aren’t loveable like groundhogs and would not be popular with termites. Watching termites appear with the first rain would not draw in significant numbers of tourists. Rather, the animal or insect would have to be adorable and irresistible to those who are attracted to odd traditions for the sake of superstition or curiosity.

Zambia might do well to adopt the snake as a national weather barometer and cash in on its newfound fame. As they are often temperamental, and sometimes lethal to farmers, farm animals, and bystanders who cross their paths, snakes are not popular here. Many Zambians differ from Americans in that their natural inclination is to kill snakes rather than to avoid them. Nevertheless, snakes are good predictors of weather changes here because of their reptilian nature. Whenever the weather changes from hot to cold or dry to wet, snakes often move to warmer places such as road surfaces. Zambians could turn local logic on its head and emulate one type of snake – a more beautiful, “less” dangerous variety such as the beautiful but deadly boomslang – as a harbinger of change. A town or village could establish a festival signaling the beginning or end of rainy season and adopt one snake that can publicly announce the season change in front of throngs of tourists. Boomslang Barry, perhaps?

Boomslang Barry

More About Zambia

Top Ten Things to See in Zambia	Zambian Critters	Zambian Trees in Bloom
Iguazu Falls vs. Victoria Falls	Lake Kariba	James Bond in Zambia
Boomslang Barry	Elvis in Africa	Flat Stanley’s Adventure on the Zambezi River
When I Saw a Lion	Other Articles

World Adventurers Magazine