The town of Stellenbosch in the Western Cape is a magnet for tour-ist buses.
Opposite one of their regular stops, a shop selling African art and souvenirs is identified by the giraffes, elephants, antelopes and hippos, some as tall as a man, that occupy the pavement outside. It’s almost impossible for passersby not to step inside, which is exactly what Salifoy Mbouombouo – Sali to his friends – wants. He’s the 44-year-old Cameroonian who has been running the shop for years. He’s also an artist, capturing images from African culture in wood and on paper and canvas.
An amiable man, Sali was born in the village of Foumban, which lies in the kingdom of Bamoun in western Grassfields, but he has lived and worked in South Africa for many years. One day I stopped by his store to discuss birds in African culture. This is when he told me a fascinating kingfisher story from Cameroon.
The kingfisher in Sali’s story is the small and brilliantly coloured Malachite. It is often found alone, perched on a branch next to a small river. ‘This bird belongs to the king,’ says Sali matter-of-factly. Astonished, I look up. ‘What did you say?’ I ask. ‘It belongs to the king,’ he repeats, ‘so no-one is allowed to hunt it or kill it with a catapult.’
Before I can react further, he continues, ‘If a Bamoun sees this blue kingfisher perched in a tree, he looks carefully to see which way its beak is pointing because in that direction the river is rich in fish.’
この記事は African Birdlife の July - August 2017 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です ? サインイン
この記事は African Birdlife の July - August 2017 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です? サインイン
EXPLORING NEW HORIZONS
Keith Barnes, co-author of the new Field Guide to Birds of Greater Southern Africa, chats about the long-neglected birding regions just north of the Kunene and Zambezi, getting back to watching birds and the vulture that changed his life.
footloose IN FYNBOS
The Walker Bay Diversity Trail is a leisurely hike with a multitude of flowers, feathers and flavours along the way.
Living forwards
How photographing birds helps me face adversity
CAPE crusade
The Cape Bird Club/City of Cape Town Birding Big Year Challenge
water & WINGS
WATER IS LIFE. As wildlife photographer Greg du Toit knows better than most.
winter wanderer
as summer becomes a memory in the south, the skies are a little quieter as the migrants have returned to the warming north. But one bird endemic to the southern African region takes its own little winter journey.
when perfect isn't enough
Egg signatures and forgeries in the cuckoo-drongo arms race
Southern SIGHTINGS
The late summer period naturally started quietening down after the midsummer excitement, but there were still some classy rarities on offer for birders all over the subregion. As always, none of the records included here have been adjudicated by any of the subregion's Rarities Committees.
flood impact on wetland birds
One of the features of a warming planet is increasingly erratic rainfall; years of drought followed by devastating floods. Fortunately, many waterbirds are pre-adapted to cope with such extremes, especially in southern Africa where they have evolved to exploit episodic rainfall events in semi-arid and arid regions. But how do waterbirds respond to floods in areas where rainfall - and access to water - is more predictable? Peter Ryan explores the consequences of recent floods on the birds of the Western Cape's Olifants River valley.
a star is born
It’s every producer’s dream to plan a wildlife television series and pick the right characters before filming.
