Welcome to the Monkeyland Movie!

 March 30, 2025

Hope you enjoy the DH's collection of primates from our day at Monkeyland. It's not far from our second South African port, Durban. 

This section of eastern SA is still very tribal. Zulu culture is alive and well, including buying a bride with 11 cows. Our guide explained that if someone was walking along the road barefoot on a Saturday, they were probably going to "church." By that, she meant the gatherings that celebrate animism and ancestor worship. As we passed the small shanty towns in the countryside, we noticed the little cylindrical column houses with thatched roofs in the back yards. This is the place where the men of the family can go to talk with their ancestors and get the departed's advice and help with their plans. 

If someone in the township becomes ill, they are likely to visit a "traditional" medical person instead of going to the public hospital, which is seen as too expensive. They seem to have great faith in the poultices and teas prepared by these shamans. 

Apartheid has been abolished since the early '90's, but education is still segregated. As we've learned in the US, separate is never equal.  

(Quick note about the small antelope who lived in Monkeyland.  It's a duiker, a very small, shy creature who loves the forest, not the open savannahs. You'll see one in the montage.)