adminLenin Ndebele
THE late Nigerian author Chinua Achebe argued that the jungle and Africa are a source of temptation for both real and fictional white European characters, but recently, for one Australian backpacker, having spent almost a year in Southern Africa, he says the darkest thing about the continent is ignorance of it.
Nicholas Menner (30) spent a total of 11 months living with complete strangers while on his Bon Voyage which took him to South Africa, Swaziland, Lesotho, Namibia, Angola, Botswana, Zimbabwe, to Zambia and Malawi.
In Bulawayo, Zimbabwe where he met this reporter, Menner found himself walking into a bar for a few ice- cold beers on a Friday night. Considering that it was December 2014 just a few days before Christmas, he found the environment exciting.
“I didn’t come across this in Botswana. This is new but the people are in a way related,” he said as he took a gulp of the local flagship beer, Castle Lager.
He was in the third leg of his nine-country tour. Like the adage goes ‘‘there is nothing new under the sun’’, Menner smiles at the suggestion that he is a modern day Vasco da Gama but with nothing new to ‘‘discover’’.
He wanted to see the Victoria Falls which he had read a lot about and found amusement in the fact that it was said to have been discovered by David Livingstone when the local community had already named it, “Mosi-oa-Tunya”.
With his African Safari completed, he is back in the comfort of his home in Australia with many stories to tell.
“I visited places that gave me unique experiences, met individuals that allowed me to listen to their life experiences, and last of all, the families that let me into their lives like a friend, or even better, like one of their own.
“I felt truly blessed. I only just got an email from a friend in Namibia saying that I am an uncle to a new- born and even though we are not blood-related, are of different race and culture, I honestly feel like I have a new nephew now,” he said in an interview.
He experienced the ups and downs of life in every country that he spent time in and he attributes this to a famous saying; “No hurry in Africa”.
“I saw incredible scenery in every country and I had many positive happy memories. I could give you many highlights from each country and I guess that is because I had the time to have so many great moments,” he said.
But his trip suffered a major setback in Botswana a few days after he had left South Africa where his journey began.
“One story was that I bought a used and run down car in South Africa. I drove it for 14 000km around Africa before the conrod snapped and put a hole in my engine. I was driving on a remote road through the lowly-populated Botswana and the bakkie was my home. I had slept in it for six months, it stored all my food, my clothes, my bed, everything and here I was with my car on the side of the road with oil everywhere in the 38-degree sun. The car could not be fixed and I remember just laughing and thinking ‘well this was not in today’s plan,” he said.
At that point he came across the good side of African people, divorced from the stereotype crooks and petty thieves.
“A local gentleman drove past after about two hours and helped me take it to the nearest town. He towed me for 90km with a two-metre rope. His car also had no brake lights and his speedometer did not work but he was sure how fast he was going.
“At one point my speedometer read 80km/hr, palms sweating as I prayed for the next three hours hoping to arrive safely. The car got trucked back to South Africa. I gave away half of my belongings and I enjoyed a well- earned beer.
I made the decision I would continue travelling by local buses and hitch-hiking for the next five months,” he added.
But being white and from a First World country had its merits and demerits. In some cases he was seen as a demi-god while in others he was lucky enough to get involved with people who were genuinely friendly.
“I had to make the effort to bridge the gap or to ease the separation between myself and the locals in almost every place I went to. Being a white man from a First World country in Africa brings many hurdles that I had to overcome to live the way I wanted to.
“I was more often than not seen as a rich man and asked for money, I was sometimes spoken to as a superior, I was also associated with the negative history that people with similar skin colour brought to Africa over the past centuries. However, there is reason for such stereotypes so rather than take offence I chose to adapt and I listened to understand rather than listening to respond. I shared my food rather than just my money which meant we also shared conversation,” said Menner.
In countries such as Malawi and Angola having been accepted into rural communities, he had to earn his keep like everybody else.
“I lived as my local friends did by helping to plough gardens, eating with my hands, hands washing my clothes, learning the basic in local languages which brought many laughs at my expense and other such things to close the divide and to rid me of stereotypes,” he added.
Menner had survival tactics, unlike the conventional tourist his budget was stretched to last a year.
“I had money that I had earned in Australia which goes a long way in Africa. However, the choice of lifestyle whilst in Africa allowed me to stay for 11 months. I wouldn’t say I lived hand to mouth as I met many Africans that had to do just that. I lived a simplistic lifestyle in Africa which once again I think allowed me to get closer to the locals of Africa.
“Tourists spend ridiculous amounts of money for certain tours that last a month, I probably spent half of that and I lasted nearly a year and I would not change my experience for their safari. Although I never saw a wild lion,” he said.
His biggest lesson was that not all that he read in newspapers and saw on television reflect the full spectrum of the African story.
“Africa has such a variety of countries, all with different cultures, languages and history (for positive and negative) yet they speak about Africa as one country. The positive Press we get about Africa is very limited and usually sport-related. The negative Press paints all of Africa with the same brush. The pity Press just uses words and famous people to advertise associations rather than educate society of the facts.
“Yes, I found on the ground most of the certain things I have heard in the Press however, the Press could and should play a huge part in assisting African people by giving them a hand up as they have the opportunity to educate Westerners and in turn bring healthier connections between countries so we can assist by want not hand out by guilt,” he added.
Given a choice to be resident in any African country he has visited, Nicholas Menner is caught in between.
“I still have so many countries of Africa to visit. I did love the emptiness of Namibia but also the craziness of Zimbabwe. Being from Australia I do love the ocean or even the lakes and rivers so Malawi was also great. I can’t choose! Can’t I just keep being a gypsy of Africa?,” he said.
Online Reporter