Remembering Cee of Cee's Fun Foto Challenge ...

 

Dan Antion, along with Marsha Ingrao, are posting in her memory … I didn't know her – but I'm happy to support Dan and many blogging friends.

Appropriate links at Dan's site … here 'Remembering Cee'. 

Victoria Falls Bridge under construction in 1905 – as part of the Cape to Cairo railway – an unfinished project in the late 1800s, early 1900s …

Construction across the Zambezi in 1905

... so many won't get to finish their project of life … remember we have whatever time we have left – let us not waste our days … live and enjoy …

With thoughts to Cee's family and friends on this her birthday day … as too Dan and Marsha, who have their birthdays today ... with wishes ... 

Hilary Melton-Butcher

Positive Letters Inspirational Stories

Africanfuturism … the Binti trilogy …

 

When I read Mary Pax's review of this novella I was interested … and then I heard two talks on the BBC about 'Binti' – a name that rings a bell as soon as it's announced …

I thought it would introduce me to an author, Nnedi Okorafor, I'd never heard of, while also read about her very open-minded approach to authorship.

Neil Gaiman praises her … when I bought the book it had become a trilogy – he says ' Prepare to fall in love with Binti' … yes I did!

Namibia - the Kunene region is in the
north near the Angolan border

The other connecting subject was the setting – the Himba people of Namibia … I'd been fortunate to have visited, with my mother, The Skeleton Coast of Namibia in the late 1980s.

Reading Mary's assessment made so much sense – more so now … when Binti runs off – Mary comments 'How can we shed what we are? We can't completely. Customs and traditions are the foundations of self.'

Himba woman - self-protected
using the Otjize mix

In the article on the Himba people, Wiki make a salient point … I'd watched a programme of BBC presenters when they visited various places in southern Africa – one of which was the Himba people … where the presenter mocked the red clay (otjize) that the Himba use to protect themselves from the harsh desert climate.

Otjize is a mixture of butterfat and ochre pigment – which Binti, the protagonist, takes with her on her travels. Scientifically Otjize supports the low skin cancer rate within the Namibian Himba community.

Otjize - Red Ochre mixture used by 
the Himba peoples

I too couldn't put the book down … the trilogy, not just the novella. On the other hand I related to the Himba and Namibia … the setting, the landscape, the people … I feel quite wistful for those weeks of my life.

Also a while ago, earlier this century!, I'd heard that the OvaHimba people's perceptions of colours was 'limited' … they use only four colour names … now I see in Wiki – that this has been explained, and notes that like many traditional societies, the Himba have exceptionally sharp vision …

Nnedi Okorafor - with insects in a
Butterfly Conservatory

Mary Pax has once again praised Nnedi Okorafor for her new story 'NOOR' – well another book I will definitely get to read in the near future … I can't resist this read.

I set out below the various links … in the hope you'd like to check them out …

Himba woman milking a cow

Africanfuturism is a cultural aesthetic and philosophy of science that centers on the fusion of African culture, history, mythology, point of view, with technology based in Africa and not limiting to the diaspora. It was coined by Nigerian American writer Nnedi Okorafor in 2019 in a blog post as a single word.

Afrofuturism – is a sci-fi sub-category that is about “Black people within the diaspora” often including stories of those outside Africa.

Noor - the new book

By the way – I wish Mary all the best – she's just been on a course of chemotherapy, which has now finished … so I, and I'm sure you too, wish her the best for her future.

PS - I've never quite worked out how I comment on Mary's blog … but I've known her for many years.  I've learnt that Mary has turned off comments ... during her treatment - so that understandably explains this aspect.

Mary Pax – SciFi Worth Reading: Binti book review

Mary Pax – SciFi Worth Reading: Noor book review

Wikipedia – Himba people (and colour perception information, included here)

Wikipedia – Otjize

Hilary Melton-Butcher

Positive Letters Inspirational Stories

Bran Tub # 21: Jiminy Cricket, another oddball post …

As I do, wherever I am, I seem to muse about blog posts … yesterday I was happily sitting outside having lunch up at a local hotel – with a croquet lawn to admire, the English Channel waves undulating a few hundred feet away …

Outlook from hotel

...an idyllic sunny day to spend a bit of time with a friend … soon after we first met we were having lunch … as we were enjoying ourselves … a mighty seagull powered its way from the roof and whipped my friend's piece of salmon off her plate! Yikes and yugh!

Seagulls scavenging ... I must say that looks
quite a good tasty pasty - better than some

We haven't been eating outside since … but the manager informed us - they had seagull scarers now – so we risked it …

… oh yes – we were safe! But no … a very pretty emerald golden spider was flitting around me … matching the thistles on my skirt … I managed to release him to the care of the earth …

He's quite pretty isn't he?

… looks like he might have been a Cucumber Spider – they seem quite common, but I've never noticed one before, though they appear at this time of year …

… but as I go to various group classes – history, memoir, life-science and music appreciation (today's class) and others … I ended up pondering humans … and how odd we all are … how our behaviours are all so varied … all good fillers for a blog post!

But I digress – I think! - and then remembered the Desert Rain Frog and my time in Namibia … that I'd intended to write about …

Desert Rain Frog

… he's a plump species with bulging eyes, short snout, short limbs, spade-like feet, and webbed toes … charming little fella, n'est pas?

Added to which he has an unusually high-pitched cry similar to that of a squeaky toy.

Another view of a Desert Rain Frog

Also he's unique as he develops directly from the egg into an adult – so no tadpole stage. He pads happily about on the sand, not requiring water in his habitat for survival.

Their habitat is a very small strip of land in the Cape Province of South Africa, and the coastal strand in southern Namibia … where the Skeleton Coast Desert can be found – an area stretching from Angola in the north, into the Cape Province further south …

The marked edge of southern Africa -
where this little frog si found

The Desert is magical … fog provides most moisture in an otherwise arid and dry region and it's amazing how much can survive in the coastal dunes – about 24 miles wide, and 310 miles in length …

… our little Desert Rain Frog is one of those incredible species … sadly its habitat is being lost to human 'needs' (mining and tourism) …

Namibian homelands 1978 - 
the Skeleton Coast is marked, as 
too the Desert

I'd like to think that we will realise what we have on this earth … and which we should be looking after for future generations …

My mother and I went there about 35 years ago … strange but true!

Thanks for visiting – another Bran Tub post … so many other subjects to get to: I'll get there …

Hilary Melton-Butcher

Positive Letters Inspirational Stories

Kazungula Bridge …

 

Four countries (Zambia, Botswana, Namibia and Zimbabwe) meet in the middle of southern Africa … I had not realised this bridge was being built – but was amazed to see it up and running this year …

 

Victoria  Falls and the bridge
across the Zambezi

I’ve been fortunate enough to live in South Africa, and been able to visit Zimbabwe – back in the late 1970s when it was still Rhodesia.

 

 

Then to visit Namibia and Botswana at separate times, and once drive up from Johannesburg through Botswana via the Okavango Swamps, to this junction … where we either ferried over the Zambezi, or took a short flight … depending on the next destination … usually Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe (ex Rhodesia). 

 

Victoria Falls Bridge,
crossing the Zambezi

I have walked to Zambia’s border half-way across the railway line, during the guerrilla war years, on Victoria Falls Bridge, which crosses the Zambezi, and was the Cape to Cairo route in Cecil Rhodes’ days … but have never visited that country …

 

 

As a quiet aside my grandfather designed Victoria Falls Bridge, opened in 1908 … and at the hotel there is a plaque acknowledging this – hence one reason why I went to the Falls in the late 1970s. 

 

Zambezi River at four countries'
crossing

 To get from Cape Town to the rest of Africa … the Zambezi River needs to be crossed …

 

 

I am seriously thinking about writing some of my thoughts on my time in the 1980s in southern Africa – as a change to posts on Museums, Art Galleries and all the other subjects I gently touch upon (like this one!).

 

 

The route of the revised bridge

The Kazungula Bridge has definitely spurred the direction of my thoughts … I’ll leave you with the images I’ve found, and some links …

 

It was going to link the four countries … but Zimbabwe had a change of heart (actually a boundary dispute) and so the bridge originally 600 metres long, had then had to undergo design alterations stretching it to 923 metres, avoiding Zimbabwe … they’ll regret that in the coming years – losing those connections and revenue from the trade that would have accrued.  Zimbabwe is desperately in need of a better economy.

 

 

I’ve been watching or half-watching way too much tennis … French Open, Eastbourne and now Wimbledon … and so haven’t been half as dedicated as I might have been.  (There is a football match on in an hour or so … !!)

c/o The UN Organisation Development Project

I’m not really back either … as the Olympics is a-coming … and I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned I worked for the British Olympic Association back in 1972 – a privilege and was taken to Munich.  I have some information from that time – and if I can find it … I think I’ll write about that – then I can donate things to charity.

 

Well this was meant to be short … but so be it – I’ll be around and doing what I can … Look after yourselves as these months slip by – and I will see you at your blogs …

 More details can be found here at the Development of Bankable Transport Routes article

Diane on her Photo Diary published a post on 1st May 2017 ... after she'd visited this junction ... see the link

I found out about the Kazungula Bridge via this article ... which I completely and unintentionally ignored - here it is:  Big Think - World's Weirdest Bridge

Hilary Melton-Butcher

Positive Letters Inspirational Stories