I don't know the answer to WHY but I can testify that they DO and that one certainly gives them the right of way. I am writing this from northwest South Africa, where yesterday I visited a second grade class in a primary school in a small Zulu village. About 45 children with just one teacher, and as I neared the classroom I could hear them singing the traditional "A B C D E F G" song---they start learning English very young--- enthusiastically.
They were lovely kids, all grins and giggles, and it is easy to see how one could fall into the Madonna/Angelina syndrome and want to take a few home.
I am in the town of Hluhluwe, which I can in no way pronounce. The landscape is vast and breathtaking, the people warm and welcoming, the poverty and unemployment heartbreaking. The night sky is incredible and makes me remember the Kurt Weill song "Lost in the Stars" from Alan Paton's book "Cry the Beloved Country" which deals with the days of Apartheid here.
"But I've been walking through the night, through the day
Till my eyes get weary and my head turns grey
And sometimes it seems maybe God's gone away
Forgetting the promise that we've heard him say
And we're lost out here in the stars..."
Tomorrow I start the long trek back to the USA, arriving home the following day, Friday.
Africa, NICE!
Twice I was on a list to board a C-130 at CENTCOM (US central command) to fly to Somalia during the "troubles" there, but was bumped off at the last minute. One of my favorite scenes of Africa is from the movie "Out of Africa" The wide shot of the tiny truck making its way across the green vastness. Sooo jelous!
Posted by: ojimenez | May 27, 2009 at 10:31 PM
I imagine this feels a little different than our occassional waits for the snapping turtles in a local pond...
Posted by: anne | May 31, 2009 at 04:32 AM
Great photo. Hope you are having fun in an intriguing country like South Africa. Enjoy the music!
Posted by: Tracy Edward Wymer | May 31, 2009 at 03:22 PM
Welcome Home! I was hoping you would blog from your trip. The rhino sure doesn't seem in a hurry to move.
Wish I could have seen those smiling faces...someday.
Posted by: Krista | June 01, 2009 at 09:53 AM