Signal Boost: Going Sideways: Paying Calls

[mdlbear]

Trip Diary: Paying Calls - GoingSideways.blog.

The first visit we made today was to a nearby Zimbabwean village. But it began with a stop at the supermarket in town.

Some village tours in this area compensate their hosts by way of a monetary payment to the village chief. That isn’t how Old Drift does it. Instead, they first help you buy the kind of gifts any family in the village is likely to need. Then they find a family who’s at home and has the time and willingness to host a visitor ...

From the village, we went to the elephant sanctuary, where I met one of their herds...

I was introduced to a herd of five — a pair of matronly females named Janet and Emily, who were inseparable best friends; two younger females including one of Janet’s offspring, and a big old bull named Jock, who was one of the orphans from the original culling project.

Jock was chosen as my primary contact. He was a steady old fellow, prone to resting his trunk on his one complete tusk when bored...