ZuLu Land
Ok so I suppose its my turn to blog.. Brett’s been bugging me to add my two cents but he and Nigel are doing such great job… I’d rather be watching a Malaysian soap-opera. Just kidding. I noticed they haven’t commented on the Zulu cultural show so here goes.
Just outside our tent cabin was a Zulu village. Read on to learn more about our experience visiting the village.
We were told that a tribe does indeed live there but most their lively-hood is made from the daily cultural show for the tourists and tending to their cows and zebra herd. Before we entered their sacred space we were asked to throw a stone on a heap of rocks. If ours landed on the pile then the Zulu ancestors welcomed us into the village. Fortunately all of our stones landed in the middle (well, except Nigel’s, but they let him in anyway because he said he went to confession).
Once inside the village our Zulu guide took us to each thatched hut to describe how the Zulu society works. We were shown how hunting and ceremonial shields were made and how to weave water-proof bowls out of reeds of grass. We visited the medicine man and I had the wise woman read my fortune.
The Zulu’s clothing was very colorful with lots of intricate bead work and cow hide skirts for the men. We were told that the women with bare breasts were single and that Brett and Nige could trade one of them for 11 cows (16 cows for a ‘royal’ Zulu girl), and that it didn’t matter that they were already married. Zulu men can have as many wives as they can afford….
After a tour of their village we were given a bowl of Zulu beer to share.
It is customary for the host to sip the drink first to demonstrate that it is not poisonous and then pass it along. We all sipped from the same bowl and waited for the ceremonial dancing, drumming and singing. This is what I was looking forward to most. We heard drumming and singing from our cabins each day and I couldn’t wait to see the dancing that went along with the deep rhythmic beat of the drums.
The drumming began and the dancers moved to the rhythm. I was mesmerized by the repetitive beat of the drums and in awe at the strength and beauty of the sun catching muscles and sweat on bodies.
Before I knew it my eyes filled with tears and I felt a tremendous sadness. I sat sobbing silently as images of colonization came to mind from movies, college courses and the report I wrote in 4th grade about how the Zulu’s were invaded by Westerners with guns. And here I sit now drinking my 7-Up watching a once sacred ceremonial dance reduced to a tourist attraction.
Later, we were told by our ranger (who speaks Zulu) that the Zulus were making up funny lyrics to the songs and having a good old time. It turns out that perhaps they are quite the entrepreneurs and are doing quite well.
May 31st, 2006 at 8:14 am
Judging from that cover photo it’s a good thing they have underwear in Zulu Land.
May 31st, 2006 at 11:55 am
Did you see Michael Caine while you were there?
May 31st, 2006 at 4:00 pm
Didn’t see Michael, but I did try and tell Nigel that the red uniform was a bit inappropriate.