Before we set out for the day's agenda, Joe surprised us by taking us to a traditional healer from his village who has a small "business" in the market area. We did not see or visit the healer because he apparently was in private consultation with someone. However, we did get to watch two of his helpers prepare some of the medicines. It was like an apothecary except it was full of roots, seeds, weeds and bark. Joe explained to us how some of it is used. For instance, he buys what looks like small chunks of wood when his chest hurts. He boils in water and steams the vapor. He also said there were other remedies that the healer only knows, and the healer is stronger when he gets herbs and such from far-off places like Tanzania.
Traditional healers are called, and they are apprenticed for anything from one to maybe three years. A traditional healer is obligated to help the people whenever they need or ask for it. It's very much like those in native tribes who are called to be healers or a medicine person.
Joe's great-grandmother was a traditional healer, and he told us a story that he went to a traditional healer who told him about the signs that he (Joe) would become a healer but Joe has mixed feelings about it because he said he has plans for his life, and if he were called to be a healer, he would have to put everything on hold.
We then went to Shakaland, which is an interesting place. One of the first "soaps" to be produced when South Africans were allowed television in the 1970s was a drama series telling the story of King Shaka, the illegitimate son of King Senzagakona. Shaka almost single-handedly built the Zulus from a comparatively insignificant tribe into a warrior nation justly feared by all the other Black nations with whom they came into contact. The part of Shaka in the "soap" was played by Henry Cele, a giant of a man who entered wholeheartedly into the role, In his younger days, he had played professional soccer as a goalkeeper, and he always wore a black outfit, thereby acquiring the nickname "Black Cat" Cele.
Anywho, the television company built a permanent set for the filming ,and once filming was complete, the entire site - just a few kilometers from Eshowe in the Nkwaleni Valley, was turned into a tourist hotel designed to provide overseas tourists with an African experience.
It now is owned by Protea Hotels, which is a large chain here in South Africa. It's a touristy thing, kind of like going to Ts-La-Gi, which is the Cherokee equivalent i.e. an educational and entertainment enterprise. Economics requires us to "perform" our culture. With that being said, it actually was very informative and fun.
We got there early (we beat two busloads of tourists, thank goodness) so there were but seven of us in the early tour.
Our tour guide was very funny, a little sexist, and gave a young, 15-year-old Swedish girl a lot of grief. Anywho, he was very good in explaining things, as we spent the remainder of the morning learning about traditional Zulu life.
We started at a site in which a miniature replica of a Zulu family complex was built, where he described the composition of the complex. For instance, the cattle are kept in the middle of the circle formed by the huts so they can be protected and kept in one place. There is a grandmother's hut, which is where the family convenes for meetings and social events; there is the hut for the man, and a woman only can enter with a permission invitation; each of the wives have a hut in which they live with their children; there is a kitchen; and there is food storage on stilts.
We then moved to a site where a woman showed us how they prepared Zulu beer, which is just maize and sorghum (2% alcohol) that must be filtered. Joe later told us it takes about a week to make the beer properly. It is used on several occasions, we learned later.
Two women showed us how different pots of beer are balanced on their heads. We learned the previous day a saucer turned down over the top of the pot indicates there's no beer in it; if the saucer is setting upright, there is beer in the pot.
We also learned that before Shaka, the warriors used long spears that they threw but Shaka advised them to use shorter spears, more like a machete, because they stay in your hand and you can use them repeatedly instead of losing them by throwing them. A guy exhibited for us the long spear and the short spear.
We then learned about the traditional healer and the diviner (who he said was his sister). The diviner is, basically, a fortune teller. If you agree with the what the diviner says, you clap loudly and say something like "Masagos." If you disagree, you clap and say "Masagos" much more quietly because you are not allowed to come out and say liar.
We also got to taste the Zulu beer, which was alright. It tasted a lot like fermented yeast. Joe told us a story about when he was about 11 years old, his father told him to deliver a message to another man in the village. When he arrived, the men were drinking the Zulu beer, and they called him over to drink some. He did but he failed to turn the cup upside down (which indicates he wants no more) so they kept calling him over to drink more. He didn't like it, and he said his stomach got extended. Then he learned to turn the cup upside down so he would not be required to drink any more.
We - Beth and I - witnessed another running of the goats similar to the running of the goats in Victoria last spring. It wasn't a feature of the tour, we just happened to see it through a fence that blocked us from really seeing it, if you know what I mean.
There was a teacher, a principal and two students from a secondary school in Sweden in our group so we visited with them while waiting for the performers to change into their regalia for the dance portion of the tour. They escorted us into a traditional round Zulu hut where they performed several dances. It was totally different than what we had seen in Cape Town. Very energetic and aerobic, as both the men and women lifted their legs high into the air. The drumming was awesome, and I inquired about whether the drum had any significance as it does in our native culture. He said no, there was no significance to the drum. And he really didn't explain much about the significance of the regalia the performers were wearing.
After the dancing concluded, we ate. It was a buffet that included maize, cooked spinach (which is kind of like greens here), meilie-meilie (corn and pumpkin mixture), baked chicken and roast beef and about three kinds of salads. There was rice, roasted yams and squash and some chips (potato wedges).
We were very contented as we head back to the hotel to take a brief nap before heading out to his village.
The rest of the day was the very best thing. Joe took us through his village, told us stories, cooked supper for us and we slept in a traditional Zulu hut.
Let's start from the beginning. The road to the village, which is high on a very large hill, was pretty challenging for a mid-size Nissan rental car. The road was rocky and, well, I had to drive very slowly because I don't want another flat tire.
We got to his place that he shares with his mother and his 11-year-old nephew about 3:30 p.m. The first thing he did was take us into his ancestors' house and explained to us why and how they talk with their ancestors and the protocol when someone dies. Each family has an ancestor house and family members are not buried in cemeteries but are buried on the land near the house.
Joe's brother died in 2016, his father died in 2017 but it wasn't until 2018 that he could afford a proper ceremony for his brother because you are required to slaughter a cow, and a cow can cost some R1,000 or about $800 in US dollars. The beer is made on Sunday if you are going to slaughter a cow on Friday so it is fermented correctly. The slaughtered animal is left in the ancestors' house until Saturday, at which time it is boiled and served. The men get to eat the head, and the head is put in the pot first, followed by particular layers of the cow.
The ancestors' house is where you go to talk and communicate with the ancestors, and that is usually done when you are having difficulty or want a solution to a problem. Only certain people can speak to the ancestors. Joe is the youngest of five boys (two have died) so he cannot communicate directly with the ancestors unless his older brother gives him permission to do so. Otherwise, the older brother must come before the ancestors on his behalf.
After learning about the ancestors, we walked up the hill a bit to the "store" in the village. Not many people have refrigerators so all of it was dry goods such as seasoning, cooking oil, sugar, flour, maize, dried beans, rice, couple of cabbages, potatoes, onions and some candy. I think I spied a couple of bottles of beer. It is not a shebeen, which is the word for a liquor store, however.
Several children were playing outside the store, so we watched them for a while. The boys were playing with tops that they slung to the ground and as they turned, each attempted to pick it up with a string and transfer it into their hand, still turning. The girls were doing their hair.
A couple of children were fascinated with my camera. They wanted their picture taken then they wanted to take a picture so I let them hold it and take a few photographs before I took it back because they were wanting to push on the buttons on it. Ha!
We walked back to Joe's place and hung around for a bit while he attended to something then we got in the car and took a very slow drive down to the primary school. There are about 350 children at the school; there are about 3,000 give-or-take people in the village. He said many of the young people are moving out, some even to the townships, because they are bored, and there is entertainment in the city and the townships.
We then walked to a spot in which there was a circular fence enclosing a site that had white rocks placed in a circle where Shambal prayer services are held each Saturday. Shambal is a religion that allows traditional beliefs as well as Christianity. They dress in white, sit in the circle and pray.
There is a particular seating pattern - as it is in the ancestors' house too - in which men always sit to the right, and women sit to the left. The men sit to the right so they can protect the women i.e. if something threatens, the men can use their right arms to defend.
It was getting late, well, it was nearing 6 p.m. (the sun sets at 6:30 p.m.) so we headed back to Joe's place where we were going to meet his mother, eat and sleep.
Joe went to put supper on the stove then joined us to watch Celebrity Family Feud on TV - yes, that Celebrity Family Feud with which you might be familiar.
He called us to supper about 7:30 p.m. We ate what the villagers eat: maize, rice and some really good beans. I was a little fearful of the beans, considering we are using an outhouse across the way from our Zulu hut in which we're going to sleep.
It was yet another full day, an enlightening day and a day in which we experienced a Zulu village without all the hoopla that goes with tourist attractions.
This guy wanted his photo taken. We were on our way to the traditional healer's apothecary.
This is a portion of the medicines - roots, herbs, etc. - in the traditional healer's apothecary. I was asked not to take photos of the two men helping the healer but if you look to the right, you can see one of them filtering and grounding some of the medicines.
Just had to take this photo - stereotypes of indigenous people in the Americas, well, they're ubiquitous through the world. This is a new steakhouse in Eshowe but it's a chain throughout South Africa.
This is the view from Shakaland, overlooking a damned lake in the Nkwaleni Valley. The circular fenced area traditionally holds cattle or goats.
Our Shakaland guide explains to us the family compound and the purpose of each structure.
A Zulu warrior demonstrates how to use a spear.
The woman has prepared and is serving Zulu beer to a warrior.
Some of the dancing performed at Shakaland.
A goat in the village.
Two children in the village who were fascinated with my camera.
A photo taken by the child to the left in the above photo.
Boys playing tops in the village.
Girls doing their hair in the village.
A beautiful little princess in the village.
A view from the village.
A child walks a road in the village.
A traditional family compound arrangement.
Our sleeping accommodations in a traditional Zulu hut.
The other side of the accommodations.
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