Heritage Day celebrations usually focus on South Africans' cultural heritage. But what of our natural heritage? Indlovukazi Ngumbela left urban culture behind for one weekend, to tune into the language of the land.
It was the sun's rays cutting through the trees, shining lovingly on my face, that announced the beginning of the new day. Waking up in the belly of the forest, to the soothing music of over a hundred species of birds, and the chatter of monkeys, was a humbling experience.
Heritage Day celebrations usually focus on South Africans' cultural heritage. But what of our natural heritage? Indlovukazi Ngumbela left urban culture behind for one weekend, to tune into the language of the land.
It was the sun's rays cutting through the trees, shining lovingly on my face, that announced the beginning of the new day. Waking up in the belly of the forest, to the soothing music of over a hundred species of birds, and the chatter of monkeys, was a humbling experience.
It was our second morning at Rock Bottom Camp at Assegai trails, close to Salem. We were celebrating Heritage Day in a refreshingly different, and spiritually uplifting way.
Joining us on the camp were 14 Grade 10 pupils who had been chosen from local high schools: TEM Mrwetyana, Nombulelo, Nathaniel Nyaluza, Kuthliso Daniels and Mary Waters. They had been selected for the camp after excelling in an assignment they were given by the Inkcubeko Nendalo Biodiversity and Conversation Programme, associated with Rhodes University.
Rhodes Senior Research Officer in biocultural diversity conservation, Michelle Cocks, and botanist Tony Dold founded the programme, which is sponsored by the Botanical Society of South Africa, and took it upon themselves to educate young people about nature – particularly those from townships, many of whom might not otherwise have the chance to experience the outdoors.
Dold believes one cannot truly appreciate nature until one's immersed oneself in it.
“Seeing nature is different from books. True learning is when you see, feel, touch, smell and taste,” he had told the pupils when we arrived on Friday.
Talking about the link between Heritage Day and what we were experiencing that weekend, Dold said, “Language and nature are closely related, in the sense that many plant and animal names are used in expressions, idioms and songs, without people realising it.”
Citing the example of umthathi (sneezewood), he said this tree was very important in African Culture. Sneezewood was traditionally used to carry the spirit of someone who had died far from home.
A little later in the day, the pupils were given little notebooks and told to go out into the forest to find and bring back an object they liked.
When the pupils returned after 40 minutes, several presented plants central to Xhosa culture.
Meanwhile Cocks, senior researcher at the Institute of Social Economic Research (ISER) at the mobile science museum and co-founder of Inkcubeko Nendalo, put her culinary skills into play, preparing delicious kudu potjiekos and mielie rice.
The ISER's Mluleki Nkosi, facilitator of the project, announced the prizes to the top three presentations.
As we sat around the fire after supper, Nkosana Yeye, Lab Assistant at the mobile science lab, conducted a mini cipher (informal word used in the hip-hop circle for a jam session), encouraging the pupils to sing, tell stories and recite poetry.
It needed little encouragement for the children to show off their talents – some singing opera, others reciting soulful poetry and others telling tales about nature.
Only when the fire turned to embers did we realise we had stayed up long past our bedtimes and most called it a night.
For many of the children it was the first time they'd been camping.
Yanga Nohatshi, from TEM Mrwetyana, said, "It's my first outing and I am loving every moment of it. I realise that opportunities like this are rare, so I'm grateful to Inkcubeko Nendalo for granting me this opportunity."
As for me, the fact that the further we ventured into the hills, the worse cellphone reception became made it seem to me as if nature herself was rejecting these foreign objects, beckoning us to come to her. I felt I was being urged to forget about urban culture, what we deem as civilisation, and retreat to a world where monetary value does not determine something's worth – a place where the laws of the outside world do not apply.
In nature, I felt more spiritually centred than I ever had before.
As much as the latest technological inventions are part of our heritage, so are plants and animals.
