Regular folk can make a difference

IRIN
Anthroplogist Margaret Mead once said "A small group of thoughtful people could change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has." And in the past couple of weeks, southern Africa is experiencing the phenomena.

A bunch of my friends and family have been asking about Zimbabwe. What is going on? Why doesn't South Africa do anything? That sort of thing. I can't give good answers. I'm not South African and I don't live in Zimbabwe, but the papers here and the BBC give better coverage than the US media.

It is four weeks since the election and still no "official" word on who is president. I doubt that there will ever be official word, since Mugabe is in charge and doesn't want to give up his power. In the meantime, vote recounts continue for the parliamentary elections. Here, Zanu-PF's opposition, MDC (Movement for Democratic Change), is gaining ground and keeping it. Zimbabweans have resoundingly had enough. One can only hope that the current government takes heed before there is even more of a bloodbath.

BBC Africa
China has also seen fit to involve itself by selling arms to the Zanu-PF government. That's a terrific sign. So the Chinese tanker ship landed in Durban. The South African government gave permission for a legal unloading of arms and ammunition. Then, the South African people had their say. Union dock workers refused to handle the cargo, a judge ruled that it would be illegal to transit the arms through the country and thousands of regular citizens showed up to protest and block roads to prevent transit. That's what regular people can do. Good on them. Maybe their action can embarrass their government into doing something.

Now Angola has let the Chinese ship dock. However, it will not be allowed to unload its cargo of weapons. The Zambian president has called on other African countries to not allow this ship to dock and unload its deadly cargo.

Yesterday, 400 people were arrested in Harare by riot police as they were taking refuge from violence in MDC offices. The name Operation Mavhoterapapi (Who did you vote for?) says it all.

For further reading:

Civil Society's Triumph on Zimbabwe

Angola Allows Arms Ship to Dock (note: they will not be allowed to unload arms)

Police Swoop on Injured MDC Supporters

Zimbabwe Opposition Retains Gains

All Africa News - Zimbabwe Page

Polokwane, South Africa

Once Chris arrived in Pretoria, we headed north to Limpopo Province to the town of Polokwane (formerly Pietersburg). Polokwane has the largest municipal game reserve in South Africa. The guy at the gate said that there were no wild animals, so it was safe to walk around. "Watch out for the rhino, we're not responsible for that." That's debateable. White rhino, giraffe, zebra, impala, lots of birds, hartebeest, etc. all make their home very close to the rugby stadium (that was the big local landmark). The town is preparing (i.e. lots of construction) for the 2010 World Cup as one of the game venues. I expect that the animals here will get lots of viewing.

We also visited an open air museum featuring traditional Sotho culture. The houses are all plastered in smooth cattle dung. It feels like plasterboard. They have just begun excavating the central kraal. They have only found one pot (in many pieces), but I expect there will be other interesting finds. It is the chiefs kraal - there may be human burials, sacrificed cattle, and certainly some everyday trash to help build a better picture of life in that place hundreds of years ago. It has been very cold in South Africa - see your breath in the morning and frost on the grass kind of cold. I asked our guide how people kept warm during the winter since they worn mainly skin clothing. Sitting around the fire was apparently a very popular activity. It still is. :)

Baby Zebra

Hartebeest

eland

Giraffe

God's Window found in Blyde River Canyon, South Africa

This past weekend I traveled with my friends Natalina, Ventriss, and Etienne to God's Window in South Africa (Mpumalanga Province - Place of the Rising Sun). Blyde River Canyon is the third largest canyon in the world. It was a little strange passing through towns that are mentioned in the archives I've been reading for the past month (yes, I have been working too. More on that in another post.) The Pilgrim's Rest, Sabie, Graskop, Nelspruit areas are part of the Delagoa Bay (now Maputo Bay) trade hinterland. Gold, ivory, other wildlife items, and agricultural products found their way down the Drakensburg (Dragonback) Escarpment to Delagoa Bay for shipping to India, Portugal, Great Britain, and other far off places in the 1800s and early 1900s.



Entering South Africa at the Ressano-Garcia border crossing. Yet another disease for my mom to worry about - she recently sent me an article from the Watertown Daily Times (of all places) on a deadly strain of TB that had crossed the South African border into neighboring countries. But moms and dads are supposed to worry, right?





Enjoying cold water on a hot day.



Better than the Windows version of Bliss.



Me on the trail we were hiking near Graskop.



A cool looking grasshopper. Yeah, I probably spend way too much time being fascinated with stuff like bugs and butterflies and flowers... speaking of which, these lilies were blooming all along the roadsides. They didn't have any smell though.





God's Window. Remember to...



That must be one humoungous bottle of Windex.

Somewhere, off in the far, far distance is Maputo and the Mozambican coast. The Drakensburg Escarpment marks the 1000m transition from the lowveld coastal plain to the highveld (Transvaal).







The Three Rondavels, Blyde River Canyon



Lisbon Falls



Mac Mac Falls



cycads



Clear cuts and reforesting



Current screensaver

Monkey Gland Sauce

So while I was shopping for instant protein (TVP) in Nelspruit I came across this lovely little packet of sauce. Later I found it sold in bottles. I might have seen it on my past trips to South Africa but it didn't register. At any rate the vegetarian conservationist in me shuddered to think what the possible ingredients were. Was I seeing a bushmeat product on the shelves of a national grocery chain? I really did have one of those moments when I was completely revolted, but driven to see what was really inside the container. Darwin will probably catch up with me one of these days.

What is in Monkey Gland Sauce? No monkeys, unless African monkeys are made of sugar, starch, maltodextrin, wheat flour, skim milk powder, salt, flavouring agents (gotta watch ingredients with an extra 'u'), vegetable fat, tomatoes, herbs and spices (just what kinds?), colourants, MSG, flavour enhancer, emulsifier, and anti-caking agent (damn, and I wanted a chocolate monkey cake). So at first read, perhaps the sauce is meant to satisfy monkeys (the hairless kind) - although the gland thing.... not sure why that particular word was included.

So I googled it. I'm not the first blogger to write about Monkey Gland sauce - it strikes many non-South Africans as an odd thing. But as an American, who is married to a Texan and living in Georgia, I get it. Monkey Gland sauce is the South African equivalent of BBQ sauce. Why they choose to call it this is beyond me, but it seems to be a must have at braais for your steaks.

I found a recipe on line for anyone who would like to try it at home from Johan Potgieter's South African Cooking website. He recommends the sauce for meatballs, steak, or even just pasta. The sauce can be stored in the refrigerator for 2 weeks or in the freezer for 4 months.

Monkey Gland Sauce

Ingredients
2 large onions, chopped
3 garlic cloves, sliced
olive oil
1/2 c water or stock
5 tsp prepared mustard or 1 tsp mustard powder
5 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1/2 c tomato puree
3 tbsp port wine
1 tbsp red wine
2 tsp soy sauce
3 1/2 tbsp ketchup
1/2 c fruit chutney
2 tsp ginger, grated
salt and black pepper to taste

Instructions
1. Saute onions and garlic in some olive oil.

2. Add stock or water, black pepper to taste, salt to taste, mustard, worcestershire sauce, port wine, red wine, soy sauce, tomato puree, ketchup, fruit chutney, and ginger.

3. Simmer for 30 minutes or more.

As you can see, no monkeys will be harmed directly in the making of this sauce. However, depending on what you put it on, some monkeys may suffer symptoms of indigestion, higher cholesterol, hardening of the arteries, accumulation of fat around the mid-section and buttocks, and heart attack - not to mention the potential damage to the biosphere from industrial food production and transport.