I was born in the little town of Kadoma in what is today, Zimbabwe.
I grew up playing with the Bafana, the children of the farm workers on my family’s farm in the Chikari district, and later on a huge ranch between the Sebakwe and Munyati rivers in the Kwekwe area.
We hunted with slingshot’s, collected bird’s eggs and butterflies, fished and cooked corn flour cake Mpotohai on the cut off top of a molasses barrel over an open fire.
…… a halcyon bush boy’s life.
Driving the 60 kilometers to town sometimes involved chasing a cheetah, dodging a kudu leaping across the road or scattering a flock of Guinea fowl.
The bush was never far away.
High school was completed in South Africa, and the year in the South African infantry followed, and then a degree in biology before I left Africa for two decades.
First stop was Israel, where I married and settled for 12 years and spent almost half of that time in the military.
A course in coding and writing airborne system software brought me to the United States, to work for Microsoft, culminating in a position as team lead for the quality assurance of Windows 95.
Despite being a Jack of all trades, Africa and the Safari business always held my heart, resulting in three decades of being involved in that industry in the Kafue National Park in Zambia.
These days I get great pleasure from telling some of Africa’s stories.
Africa is full of stories waiting to be told, especially in the lesser known parts north of the Limpopo and Zambezi rivers, which for me is the real heart of Africa.
- David
David Maritz 