Reflections on the Super Moon - from Africa

Last night there was a GREAT silver orb of a moon that hung above us in an ink-black sky.

The streets were quiet and the dogs weren’t barking as there were no visitors at our gates and no cars driving by. So the dogs were lying quietly in the moon’s pearly rays. Lockdown is everywhere now and this is when families sit together and dream of holidays past and adventures that are still to come. And over all of them, past and present and future, the moon waxes and wanes and shines ever bright.

This morning we woke to the same moon still in the sky and my brother captured the moon with its backdrop of pinks and blues. No less beautiful in the light of day.

I have travelled often and Africa is my backyard and my favourite place to visit. We have stunning landscapes and majestic animals and bright, vibrant peoples that form a tapestry of sights, sounds and smells that can be found nowhere else on Earth.

I love campfires at night and starry skies where the moon sits in all its splendour and shines light on the nighttime vistas before us. Whether you are alone or with friends or with a group of people you have just met, there is something magical about moving in the silvery light of the moon. This is your time for new friendships as you get to meet all the animals that are normally hidden. It all starts at dusk when the bats come out and fill the skies. Bushbabies squeal and spring and look around in wide-eyed wonder. Aardwolf and aardvark and the civet are all rare and such incredible sightings and only when they have scuttled away do you remember to breathe once more.

My favourites are the bat-eared foxes who come out and visit your campsite at night to check and make sure that all is well. They are nocturnal in summer and can be seen in the daylight hours of winter. But I like to think of them at night, with their quick prancing runs and massive ears in the deserts and scrublands. The little field mice with their quivering whiskers and twitching noses are gorgeous too. If one is extremely lucky and sit quietly,  you can see the silent owl swoop down with claws extended for his midnight snack.

I remember once going to sleep in between two massive boulders at Spitzkoppe in Namibia where the only view was the solitary moon and her entourage of stars. Waking up the next morning, we were greeted with several hot air balloons floating silently by. The children’s moon still to be seen in the early sunrise with the brightly coloured balloons drifting passed.

Myths of the Moon in African Cultures

The Tswana people believe that the moon’s markings are of a woman carrying a child who was caught gathering wood instead of being at a sacred festival.

Many other tribes see these markings on the moon as a woman or man carrying a bundle of sticks.

In Malawi, they believe that the morning star is a bad wife who allows her husband the moon, to go hungry and starve. The evening star is a good wife that brings him back to life.

The Xhosa believed that the world ended with the sea and the sea concealed a vast pit of new moons ready to use and each lunar cycle truly begins with a BRAND NEW MOON!

That I think is my favourite.

I love the idea that each new moon rising is brand new and unblemished and full of possibilities.

Travel may all be in our minds for the moment, BUT a new moon will rise and travel will begin again, so dream big and dream often. Africa is more bountiful than ever and the moon will turn her big round beautiful face to us and shine on.