When First I Lived In Africa

When first I lived in Africa, I lived about 20 kilometers outside Arusha, Tanzania at the foot of Mt. Meru. My house was among the student houses at the Chuo cha waBatisti cha Theologia cha Afrika ya Mashariki (the Baptist Theological Seminary of East Africa).


My house seemed HUGE to me after a college dorm room. I had 2 small bed rooms, a living room, a kitchen, a bathroom and a dining room/butchery.


My house looked out on the student shambas (gardens). Beyond the student shambas and the jacaranda trees was a coffee plantation.


My living room was decorated with the skin and horns of a Thompson's Gazelle, from my first hunting experience. Maasai and Gogo spears, a Maasai shield and simi, Gogo ax were among the decorations on the wall.


Carvings, Indian brass ware and an ebony and ivory chess set rounded out the decor.

It was quite a mansion. Nyumba yangu!

Bushman Paintings

(Click photo to view full size)

Cave paintings are found all over Eastern and Southern Africa. They are commonly called "Bushman Paintings" in Southern Africa due to the popular attribution of them to the early inhabitants of the area, the forefathers of the San people. There is much variation in the styles of drawing and materials used for painting.

C. K. Cooke wrote A Guide to the Rock Art of Rhodesia for the Trustees of the National Museums and Monuments of Rhodesia, published in 1974. Peter Garlake wrote The Hunter's Vision subtitled The Prehistoric Art of Zimbabwe, published in 1995. Garlake's book is highly recommended.

The paintings in the illustration above are from a shallow cave near Lake Kyle in the Masvingo (Rhodesian Fort Victoria) district of Zimbabwe.