Advertisement
Published: October 31st 2009
Edit Blog Post
Mukuni Village
Our guide John. An amazing cultural day visiting Livingstone and Mukuni village.
We were bussed from our hotel to Mukuni Village, a nearby African community of the Leya Tribe. There we were treated to a guided walkabout, and learned all about their culture and life in the village. Unfortunately foot and mouth destroyed most of their cattle a few years ago. Such a disaster is as devastating to a family as a total loss on the stock market. Cattle mean wealth in this tribe, as in many places in Botswana. Fortunately the village did receive an international grant to buy more cattle, but these belong to the entire tribe and not the individual families.
Our guide John explained that it is very hard for a Leya man to get married because there is always a bride price of so many cattle that must be paid to the bride's family. Rich tribes such as the Tonga, will demand up to five cows for a bride. In other more wealthy tribes, the price can be higher. So for a Leya man with no cattle to marry a woman from another tribe is just about impossible. Needless to say, the girls are treated very well
Mukuni Village Jail
Violators were incarcerated here. in this and other tribes, because it is they who will demand the high price for marriage.
Our guide John was very informative and we felt privileged to learn more about the Leya. The political and justice system is community based and includes a chief and council court for resolving disputes. However, the Queen of the community (not married to the chief) also makes many decisions. It was interesting and complex, but seems to work well for the Leya people.
With their cattle decimated, craft making and selling has become 85-90% of the Leya tribe's economy, and proceeds from sales go directly to each family that sells their crafts. So a visit to the Mukuni craft market is a must do for visitors. The craftsman were all very aggressive with their sales pitch. This is definitely a visitor-savvy village. We learned to bargain hard because the sellers usually started out at twice the price they expected. Richard left the hard bargaining to Kayla, who purchased several items, including a beautiful salad serving set. In the end, we didn't feel hard done by, though and were happy to leave behind some hard US cash, even if the prices weren't
paid in cows. (Or portions of cows.)
Next we toured Livingstone to see the 1900 era European buildings (homes, church, library, school, golf course) - now falling into decay. But it was much more interesting to see the vibrant main street: people, stores, open air market and general downtown confusion of Saturday shoppers. We would have loved to stop and wander the streets just to get a bit more immersed in the atmosphere of Livingstone today. However, the guidebooks do warn travelers to be wary of being robbed, so maybe it was better that we didn't join the Saturday morning crowds.
In the evening Kayla and Richard, along with Pat & Duncan, went to a dance, singing and music performance by a Zambian troup, which consisted of traditional community dances from several Zambian provinces. Much to our surprise, we learned at intermission that the Chief and Queen from Mukuni Village were also in the audience. So Kayla asked if we could meet the Chief to thank him for letting us visit his village. He and the Queen were waiting for us at the end of the performance. What a great ending to an interesting day.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.086s; Tpl: 0.013s; cc: 11; qc: 28; dbt: 0.0473s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
judy Wyatt
non-member comment
Fascinating!
Loved all the photos - and although one of them was titled "Kayla, trying NOT to look hot", I was thinking that's impossible - Kayla IS hot!!! Your pictures have captured the essence of the marketplace, and I loved seeing the colorful t-shirts and clothing juxtaposed against the desert colors of the huts and sand. Also, a favorite was the Zebra on the grounds, looking so nonchalant. And, of course, the Victoria Falls photos were amazing.