Africa - 1935

Africa, 1935, whilst on safari serving Lord Croft. Having become lost deep within Zulu territory, our expedition stumbles across one of the many villages scattered about the land. Such was the ferocity of the Zulu tribe that few entered such territories and returned in less than two pieces. Luckily the village was in the middle of celebrating the ritual of "Mahwe mahwe", performed once every three hundred years, an ancient tradition whereby each Zulu warrior must befriend a stranger until the next Great Rain. I am pictured here as the village favourite, adorned in Zulu Mahwe Mahwe dress, being "best pals" with three of the villages finest warriors whom insisted upon posing for the "magic picture box". The expedition made its hasty exit at the earliest possible opportunity, some three months later.

A week after escape we found ourselves being chased by the vicious Wedehelawi Tribe through the planes of southern Savanna, whose tall grasses grow to an average height of 4ft 8 inches. Curiously, the average height of the Wedehelawi tribe was only 4ft 6 inches, which allowed our eventual escape from our persuers, a fact which also accounts in part for the strange hunting-call of the tribe "Wedehelawi? wedehelawi?" from which they derive their name as they hunt the grasses for their prey.