ZULULAND. A cultural guide to help you make the most of your trip.

Transcription

1 ZULULAND A cultural guide to help you make the most of your trip.

2 Congratulations. You are about to embark on an amazing journey to Zululand. This is a short booklet to give you extra information about the culture you are entering, the people you meet with and the animals you may see while you are there. It does not pretend to be comprehensive. It s just an introduction with a few useful links and some books that you might want to check out. If you have any additional questions feel free to contact us and we will try our best to answer your question or find someone who can! If you haven t already, join our Reach Out Volunteers Facebook page. This way you can follow our progress, contact us easily, and look out for other volunteers who might be in your group when you join us in South Africa! We hope you enjoy this little Introduction. Culture The Zulu people of heaven Zulu people are the largest ethnic group in South Africa. When a Zulu person hands something to you or shakes your hand they will use their right arm to pass the object, then shake your hand and place the palm of their left hand under their right forearm. This is to signal no weapons and that they are peaceful. At first it may seem unusual but it is just good manners in Zululand. Dancing and singing is a big part of Zulu culture. There is a dance or a song for almost anything that occurs. The singing is one of the strong memories you will take home with you and something that makes Zulu culture so fantastic. Married women cover themselves fully to indicate that they are not available. It is an idea not to dress too provocatively as this is seen as a sign of availability.

3 Location Food: Meat is only eaten on special occasions or by those with more wealth, as it is expensive. This means a lot of the meals they eat are vegetarian. Amazi is a favourite food amongst most Zulu people and is considered a delicacy. This is mostly made up of curdled milk. Each person will have their own plate to eat from and correct behavior is to wash your mouth after eating. Religion: A mixture of traditional beliefs and Christianity. Africa is in a subtropical location, moderated by ocean on three sides of the country. This, together with the altitude of the interior plateau, accounts for the warm temperate conditions so typical of South Africa - and so popular with foreign visitors. South Africa is famous for its sunshine. It s a relatively dry country, with an average annual rainfall of about 464mm (compared to a world average of about 860mm). While the Western Cape gets most of its rainfall in winter, the KwaZulu-Natal coast is generally a summer rainfall region with accompanying hot, humid days. The KwaZulu-Natal coast offers fantastic winter weather with sunny, warm days and virtually no wind or rain. You should expect day time temperatures of around 23 degrees Celsius with little chance of rain. Bead Guide Beadwork is a popular craft and is often purchased by tourists. The colors in these beads can tell different stories: White - is the color of purity. Black - indicates the colours of the rafters of the hut, to which color the maiden has turned in pining for her loved one. Blue - if I were a dove, I would fly to your home and pick up food at your door. Yellow - I shall never eat if we marry because you own no beast you can slaughter. Pink - You should work harder to gain your lobola and not gamble your money away. Green - I have become thin like the sweet cane and green as the first shoots of a tree because of my love for you. Red - My heart bleeds and is full of love

4 Language Animal Facts Greeting Hello Sawubona (First person singular) Sanibona (First person plural) How are you? Unjani? I am well Ngisaphila. I am fine, thank you Ngisaphila ngiyabonga. Goodbye Hamba kahle (go well) Sala kahle (stay well) Expressions yes yebo no cha please ngiyakucela thank you ngiyabonga help siza Excuse me Uxolo I am sorry Ngiyaxolisa. Numbers 1 - one kunye 2 - two kubili 3 - three kuthathu 4 - four kune 5 - five kuhlanu Lions Leopards Lions are the only member of the cat family that live The leopard is an elusive and shrewd cat. It is a strong socially. The females form the basis of the social structure. climber and often uses this skill to move its kill away Related females form prides that combine to increase from competitors like lions and hyenas. When not their success in hunting. The males compete in lethal hunting, it can move through herds of antelopes battles to have or hold ownership over these prides. without unduly disturbing them by flipping its tail over its back to reveal the white underside, a sign that When a younger male (or male coalition) defeats it is not seeking prey. the current male head of the pride the victory is commonly followed by infanticide by the victorious Leopards are not social cats at all and go out of their male(s) despite the attempts of the pride to defend way to avoid one another. Each leopard has a home their young. The lion is a powerful cultural symbol range that overlaps with its neighbors; the male s to many African tribes and has a powerful impact on range is much larger and generally overlaps with tourist on first sighting the creature in the wild. those of several females. They are fiercely protective of their range and will battle to defend their patch. When a kill has been made the males eat first and can Leopards growl and spit with a screaming roar of fury consume up to 30kg of meat each. For comparison, a when angry and they purr when content. wildebeest weighs about 200kg. It has been estimated that a lion will copulate 3,000 times for every young With marking and calling, leopards usually know one that reaches one year old. another s whereabouts. The lion is an extraordinary hunter with a roar that can be detected up to eight kilometres away. It is a night hunter with powerful dark vision.

5 Buffalo This is an unpredictable and can be a dangerous species. The herd will rush to the defense of endangered young offspring that signal their distress. The herd form a circle around the young if attacked. By lowering their heads and presenting a solid barrier of sharp horns, it is difficult for predators to seize a calf. This effective group defense even allows blind and crippled members of the herd to survive. Take a moment to watch Battle at Kruger on YouTube at if you have not seen it. You will see exactly what we are talking about. The females and their offspring make up the bulk of the herd while the males tend to spend much of their time in bachelor groups. It is the old, solitary-living males that are most likely to be taken by lions. Rhino Two types, black and white. The white rhino, which is actually gray, has a pronounced hump on the neck and a long face. The white rhino s name derives from the Dutch weit, meaning wide, a reference to its wide, square muzzle adapted for grazing. White rhino live in the more open spaces and graze on grass, their young tend to walk in front of the mother. They have larger heads and longer horns and are generally more placid than the black rhino. Black rhino have smaller heads and shorter horns, they live and graze in bushy areas and are therefore sighted more rarely. The black, or hooked-lipped, rhino, along with all other rhino species, is an odd-toed ungulate (three toes on each foot). It has a thick, hairless, gray hide. Both the black and white rhino have two horns, the longer of which sits at the front of the nose. While their eyesight is poor, which is probably why they will sometimes charge without apparent reason, their sense of smell and hearing are very good. The black rhino declined drastically in the 1970s and 1980s due to poaching. To prevent extinction, many rhinos were relocated to fenced sanctuaries in the early 1990s. This effort appears to be succeeding, as 1994 was the first time in 20 years that rhino numbers did not decline. The rhino is prized for its horn. Not a true horn, it is made of thickly matted hair that grows from the skull without skeletal support. The major demand for horn is in Asia, where it is used in traditional medicine and in ornamental carvings. Another little fact; you may notice while in Zululand, the animals with little hair e.g. warthogs, buffalo, hippo etc, all wallow in mud. The reason for this is not just for sun protection and because it feels nice, it s also because the mud can suffocate the parasites that are on their skin. When it dries they can rub it off on a tree and so remove the parasites. Elephants A fully grown male African elephant is usually about feet and weighs about 15,400 pounds. They can live up to about 70 years, they can swim for long distances, they live in breeding herds run by a matriarch and males leave this herd at around years old.

6 READ ON... Books to buy to learn Zulu ulu&tag=googhydr-21&index=aps&hvadid= &ref =pd_sl_9dt9fdcc07_ Learn zulu South African history htm Reach Out Volunteers acknowledges the work of Sarah Frew in the development and design of this brochure. Without her energy, ideas, enthusiasm and love of South Africa it would not have happened. BBC fact file on South Africa files/ stm Amazon, South Africa lonely planet book alias%3daps&field-keywords=lonely+planet+south+africa &x=0&y=0 Bus service (buy a bus pass) Animals l:/zenden=2&subsoort_id=1&bestemming_id=1 Culture