Simba - 6. Simba Ch 6

“Wow, really, just 2.5 kilometres from Taylor Island? Who owns it?” I said when Google maps zoomed in on the island, “Well, it is currently leased by our friend Patrick Carter, who is looking at the possibility of buying the island off the state government, to make it into a private reserve like he is doing to Taylor Island.

Grindal Island is 220 acres in area, so a bit under half the size of Taylor Island, it has no buildings on it, and like Taylor, it has a good amount of vegetation on it, but there is no beach or safe landing place.

If you look in the northeast corner, that rocky outcrop could easily be made into a rock wall that could be extended to the northwest, to create a safe landing area. A landing pier would need to be built too, which is part of the additional information that I included in the submission to Minister Atkinson,” Uncle Nat said to me.

“I guess we just have to wait and see what the results, of the committee decides,” I said in response, just before everyone started coming indoors, with Will carrying the tray of drinks. With Mrs Fogliani not being around today, Nanny Afya headed to the kitchen to organise dinner. “You are in for a treat tonight guys, Nanny’s cooking is superb,” I commented to my friends.

For the final two weeks of the holiday break, we turned the upstairs study behind the bedrooms, into our research office, with Uncle Nat buying some fold up tables and a few office chairs for us, and we now had to start working through all the information that we had gathered over the past two weeks.

Using the notes that we had, we marked the back of each photograph with the scientific and common names of each mammal, bird, reptile and ocean creatures that have been photographed, along with the date of when the photograph was taken and the exact location.

By the time that we finished cataloguing everything, apart from the 5 species of mammals, 10 species of birds, 10 species of reptiles and 6 species of marine animals that were already listed in the previous study ten years ago, we added more to the list. With an extra five mammals, four reptiles and three birds to the list, with photographic proof of their existence on the island.

“Well lads, I think we have done far better than expected with out work on Taylor Island,” I announced, once we had looked at draft copy of the report that we had printed out for each of us. “I agree, and although I am studying more about treatment of sick and injured animals, I have found this just as rewarding,” Chris commented.

“Have you come up with a name for the project?” Will asked me, “Yes I have, it is Kuokoka Project, which means Survival in Swahili,” I replied, and I saw Will smile, “You were thinking of that time we were on that trek in Tasmania when you came up with that didn’t you?” Will asked.

“Yes my friend that is indeed correct, and it is what these animals are doing every day of their life,” I replied, “I think that it is perfect in that case, say it again slowly so we can get the pronunciation right,” Chris asked, “it is Kuo… ko…ka” I replied slowly, and they repeated it a few times.

“Very good, we will have you both speaking fluent Swahili in no time,” Nanny Afya said from the bedroom doorway, “Nimeyazungumza lugha hiyo na kwa muda wa miaka ishirini nab ado sijazungumza vizuri katika ndovu,” Uncle Nat said from behind Nanny, and both Nanny and I laughed.

“You do know what you just said don’t you Uncle?” I asked once I had calmed down, “Yes I was just testing to see if you were listening, and no I am not fluent in Elephant,” Uncle Nat said smiling. “Go on with you, get away, you are a bad influence on these young men’s brains,” Nanny Afya said to Uncle Nat, shooing him away with her arm motions.

“What uncle Nat was saying is that he has spoken the language for twenty years and he is still not fluent in Elephant, with the last two words added for fun to test me,” I explained to my friends, and we all laughed at this. “Can you teach us some words please Jacob?” Will asked. “Well… Yes I guess I can, but not when Nanny is listening in, she has better hearing than a wild elephant,” I replied.

“I heard that Simba,” Nanny Afya called out, “See what I mean,” I said as I stood up and closed the doors, so she could not listen in, and I sat back down again. “Right, I will teach you some basic words, first word is ‘Asante’, which means thankyou, and I wrote it out on an A4 sheet of paper and wrote out how it sounds under it, and I got the lads to say it a few times before I went onto the next word.

“Next is ‘Tafadhali’, which means please, which I once again wrote down a fresh sheet of paper with how to say it underneath, and I introduced the lads a few words and greetings as a starter, including ‘Usiku mwema’ which is Good Night and ‘Habari za asubuhi’, which is Good Morning.

“Remember that in the Swahili language, like many other languages around the world, it depends on how the words are said; which makes a difference in what the word is,” I instructed them.

“So what does Simba mean in Swahili?’ Chris asked me and I smiled, “It means Lion Cub, and I was named that because a lioness brought in her cub in her mouth to our home one evening, because it was sick, and wanted help. Against all warnings from Nanny and Dad, Mum waited till the cub was on the ground and the lioness had moved away before picking the cub up and taking a look at her.

I was about two years old, and while the lioness stayed at the back of the property, keeping a close eye on what was happening with her cub, and she was recovering, the cub became my play pet for about two weeks.

During that time, Mum left out some milk and our dinner food scraps for the lioness, so she wouldn’t go hungry, and when the cub was all better again, the lioness and cub went back into the wild,” I explained. “Wow; that is an incredible story, do you know what ever happened to them?” Will asked.

You better ask Nanny that question, she is the only one here that was present when it happened, I had forgotten all about it until now,” I replied. At dinnertime, Will asked Nanny about the lioness and the cub that visited the house when I was a baby.

“Kwa kweli, kwa nini sikufikaria hiyo wakati huo!” Nanny said throwing her arms in the arm, and we waited for more information. “What are you trying to say Nanny?” I asked, “Simba mkabwa wa zamani, alikuja kuembelea kwa wiki muda mfupi baada ya kurundi nyumbani Australia,” Nanny said in reply.

“Kweli? Simba ambaye aileta motto wake mgonjwa nyumbani? I asked, “Hey, we are still here, and we would like to know what you are saying?” Chris said to me.

“Oops sorry mate, that story that I was telling you about earlier, Nanny was saying that if she had remembered about that incident when I was a baby, she would have realised that it was probably the same lioness that had been hanging around the house, shortly after I left to return to Australia,” I explained.

“Sounds like she still remembers you Simba?” Uncle Nat said to me, and I saw Nanny nodding in agreement, I was a little surprised at this news and remained silent. “Oh by the way, there is a letter for you, it is in my brief case,” Uncle Nat said to me, so I headed to the office to retrieve the letter, which I discovered was a very official looking envelope.

I sat down at the desk and after turning it over a few times, I gently opened it, pulling out a few sheets of paper, and when I saw the Australian Army letter head, I called out to Uncle Nat. Could you please tell me this is not a joke?” I asked, “No I am sorry it isn’t, my CO told me about it when he handed the envelope to me this afternoon, I am afraid you have been ordered to Basic Training for Reservists,” Uncle Nat replied.

“But, what about my university studies?” I asked, sounding shocked at the news, “Well you have two choices with that, firstly you can do the 5 weeks of basic training, and from there you can be posted back to Adelaide to continue your studies.

The other option is that you do the full time training which is an additional six weeks, and from there you can go onto ADFA – Australian Defence Force Academy, and continue your university studies there, which the Army will pay for. On graduation from there, you will not only have a double degree, but you will also be an Army Officer, just like me,” Uncle Nat said to me smiling.

“I guess I don’t have a choice do I?” I replied, “You do, but I would be very proud of you if you do go ahead with this,” Uncle Nat said to me, “Ok, I will go to ADFA, that way it takes the financial pressure off Mum and Dad for paying my University fees,” I replied.

“Good, I will let my CO know, and he will pass it onto ADFA in Canberra, and they will start the processing for you,” Uncle Nat said to me and we headed back to the living area to join the others. “Um, I have some news… I am heading to Kapooka near Wagga Wagga, in New South Wales, to start my basic training to join the Army,” I said to those gathered.

“Wow, I didn’t expect that to happen, when do you go?” Chris responded to my announcement, “I’m not sure exactly, I have to wait and see, but I think it will be fairly soon,” I replied, “What about your artificial foot, won’t that stop you from joining?” Will asked.

“No, the Army already know about that, and it appears that it isn’t a problem,” I replied. “What will this mean for your Science Project? Chris asked, “I am not sure about that, it will have to be put on hold until I have completed all of the training, then I may have a better idea once I get my first posting,” I replied.

“Wow, my mate in the Army, that is so cool, I don’t have the abilities to do something like that, but I look forward to hearing from you on a regular basis my friend, as I want to know all about it,” Chris said to me.

“I too want to hear about it, so don’t forget to keep me in the loop with how it is all going,” Will added.

A week after Will and Chris returned to University studies, I was on my way to New South Wales to begin my basic training, or eleven weeks of hell, as my uncle called it, which didn’t make me feel any better about it. I was also reviewing my studies, with consideration to changing from Science in the area of Environmental and Animal Conservation to something that maybe a little more practical for the Army. What that may be? I was not quite sure just yet.

As Uncle Nat had said it was indeed eleven weeks of hell, with the three days of orientation at the very start being very mind numbing, with so much information. When we started the first week of basic training, and the guys in my platoon saw that I had an artificial foot, one of them called out Mojo, and right away I knew what it meant.

“What was that you just said Lumbasi?” another cadet called out, “I said Mojo, it means One in Swahili” the other cadet answered, and for the first time I took a closer look at the one named Nathan Lumbasi.

I had heard the last name before, it was a common name in parts of Africa, and my guess is that he is probably from Kenya, although he had what looked like a good tan colour of his skin, which made me think that he is half or a quarter native African, and the rest English or Dutch.

From then on, my nickname was Mojo, and I decided not to ignore it but just accept it, so I answered to both Mojo and Blackwood, when my name was called for. Near the end of the second week, I had the chance to be alone with Lumbasi, on a Sunday directly after Church, as he sat outside enjoying the cool sunshine.

By that stage, I had learnt enough about Lumbasi during the past two weeks, confirming that he was born and brought up in the town of Meru, on the north side of Mount Kenya. In addition, his mother is ¼ African and his father is Australian, with Scottish heritage, and that he and the family of six moved to Australia when he was just 8 years old.

“Asanti kwa jina la utani lisolhitajika, mwenzi! I said to him quietly as I sat down beside him, “What did you just say too me?” he asked me looking very shocked, “You heard and understood me perfectly, and I suggest you be careful what you say in future. Kwaheri,” I responded, before standing up and leaving.

Nearly a week later, when we had just completed another session of weapons training, Nathan Lumbasi came up to me, keeping up with my walking pace as we headed back to barracks. “When did you learn to speak fluent Swahili?” he asked me, and I smiled.

“Easy mate, although I was born in South Australia, I spent the first five years of my life at our family property at the foot of Kilimanjaro,” I replied, and Lumbasi stopped, while I kept walking and I chuckled softly to myself as I approached the barracks.

A few more days passed and once again after Weapons training, Lumbasi appeared beside me again, “Are you the kid that is known as Simba, who has climbed many mountains around the world?” he asked me, “Yes, that is me, Jacob Simba Blackwood, it is my middle name and the name my family call me,” I replied.

“Holy cow, I am not sure if you know it or not, but you are a legend in the Mid East of Africa, especially in Kenya, Tanzania and Zambia,” Lumbasi said to me.

“I am not really interested in that, my Uncle and I just enjoyed exploring new places, and having greater challenges than before. Like I said to you before, mind what you say, as it may affect your life as well as putting mine at risk,” I said, before speeding up my walking pace, and Lumbasi didn’t bother to try keeping up with me.

At evening parade, another week later, once all the formalities were over, we were waiting to be dismissed before heading to the dining hall for chow, “Lumbasi and Blackwood, I am not sure what you two have done but the Commanding officer wishes to see you both immediately after chow at 0745 hours,” our platoon commander announced before dismissing us.

When we both entered the Base commander’s office, we snapped to attention and waited. “At ease, now tell me why is it that I am hearing rumours about Blackwood here, being some kind of African Hero,” the CO asked, and I turned my head to look at Lumbasi and frowned, before facing front again.

“Sir, I only told a few of the guys in our platoon that Jacob, I mean Cadet Blackwood here is a legend in my home country of Kenya, sir,” Lumbasi responded. “Cadet Lumbasi, take one step forward, one step to your left and about face,” the CO commanded, and he did as he was told, until he was facing me.

“Now Cadet Lumbasi, I want you to take a careful look at Cadet Blackwoods ID card and tell me what is different compared to your own,” the CO instructed, and I looked at the CO who gave me a little nod and smile.

“Sir, it says that Cadet Blackwood has the Honourary Rank of Corporal and the letters DIO below his name, and in the bottom corner there is AG SC3, sir,” Lumbasi replied.