Today I got to see something quite cool right here, on the farm – bushman cave paintings!
Who were the bushmen? They were the indigenous inhabitants of Southern Africa. Short in stature with a hunter-gatherer lifestyle, they roamed the plains of Zimbabwe for over 1000 years before anyone else set foot on these lands. In Zimbabwe, they are now extinct, as they were hunted by the Shona, Ndebele and colonialists as though they were kudu roaming the plains.
But they left their mark all over the country in the form of cave paintings. And here, in the Makuvi valley, tucked between two large gomos(rocky hills), the bushmen show us their ancient world.Drawn in red, black, and white naturally-created ink, these paintings depict animals being hunted by long, lean men with spears; trees reaching into the heavens with unfurling leaves; and men being taken in a long, chained line toward the slave trade.
In general, it’s difficult to see the images. The sun has faded the ink, the rock has crinkled and cracked as erosion took its toll, and the images are piled upon one another as centuries of bushmen turned to the Makuvi rock for shelter.
Standing there today, sheltered by the cave on one side and gigantic boulders on the other, I felt at once safe and so fully apart from the rest of the world it was as though I was in another land altogether. I could almost see the bushmen finding this rock, deeming it an acceptable resting spot for a season, and making their temporary home there. The men sharpening their rocky spears here before departing out into the bush to hunt, and then coming home and depicting their journeys on the rocky canvas behind them. Did they use their art simply to enhance their storytelling? Or to provide testament to the variety of wildlife and food available here, perhaps for the next traveler or for themselves, should they return to this place someday? Regardless of the reasons for these paintings, I felt that I had stumbled upon some hidden treasure today. For here, on my farm, far away from the throngs of tourists, the museums, and the national monuments, is a piece of history that I alone have glimpsed.
