I was very lucky to have the opportunity to stay Ukuvuna with John Nzira and his family, who live on a beautiful plot of land overlooking Johannesburg. John and his wife Fungai* were both born and bred in Zimbabwe, where they will eventually return. For now, though, they have Ukuvuna, an organisation that teaches permaculture and organic farming methods to local farmers

They live in a huge thatched house surrounded by vegetable gardens, a nursery with a mixture of trees and herbs, a couple of pens for keeping livestock (currently: goats, geese, turkeys, chickens, and rabbits), and an area of papyrus swamp interspersed with lavender bushes and several underground tanks used for water purification.

(If the last item on that list is of interest - the household's greywater is passed through a series of tanks, each of which is walled in with stones and bricks. The addition of papyrus and other swamp-dwelling plant species aids in the water purification process. Water from the final tank is used to irrigate the vegetable garden through a drip irrigation system. The whole system is entirely self sufficient, and they have no need for mains water as a result.

Rainwater is also collected, purified and reused. The purified rainwater is used for irrigation via a sprinkler system, and the final tank used for rainwater is also home to a breeding population of tilapia fish. So when they want some small fish for dinner, they can go and fetch some from the tank..)

The photos above were all taken on the premises. You'll notice that the ground is covered in a layer of cut grass: This is grass from communal areas in the surrounding municipality, which is routinely cut by the local government and usually destined for landfill. Ukuvuna asked for the grass to be dumped here, and it is used year-round as mulch, for the animal pens, and for making organic compost. One person's waste is another's riches.

*Fungai: 'Yes, like fungi, like mushrooms' - When John said this to me, he reminded me of another story from Dr Sadomba that's worth mentioning: When collecting mushrooms in Zimbabwe, he told us, it is said that it is important to say a prayer to your ancestors before you pick the mushrooms. When Dr Sadomba asked local collectors why the mushrooms are so revered, they answered him with a further question, 'Have you ever seen the seed of a mushroom?' Mushrooms, propagated by the fickle and unpredictable movements of the wind alone (oh, and by termites, on occasion), are a mystery, and as such one must take care not to disturb nature's balance when harvesting them. 

Could this become a new holiday pursuit? Sort of like wine tasting tours? 

Perhaps. Then again perhaps not… Either way i feel very fortunate to be funded to do this for research purposes: Travelling from town to town through the beautiful southern African countryside, searching every marketplace for caterpillar salespersons, and asking them about their wares. Almost without exception I'm greeted with smiles and laughter (I think due to a mixture of surprise and ridicule … in a good way), as people tell me to try before I buy and explain how I should cook them. 

In just three days touring the caterpillar markets of Limpopo on public transport, I've counted at least 31 hours spent in minibuses looking at the ever changing South African landscape passing by (often to some great music - but my favourite remains this reggae cover of a country classic: ). The photo above shows just how changeable it is, with bright sunshine one minute and a sudden thunderstorm the next (sort of like home…)

Here are a couple of examples of the scenes I came across along the way: 

The photo on the left shows a lady in Tzaneen with the brightest smile, her happiness on being asked to be photographed almost complimented by well-meant teasing from the kid in the background... and the photo on the right shows a tall and handsome entrepreneurial seller in Polokwane, flirting with a customer.

And here is a simple but delicious recipe, cooked by Sophie (who works for Koos and Lucia, the couple whom I must thank for giving me a really lovely and welcoming place to come home to after each day of travelling)

After a 6hr bus journey and three plane journeys (5.5hrs, 12.5hrs, 1.5hrs), we eventually arrived in Harare, the capital of Zimbabwe. The summertime rains are coming to a close, and as a result, the landscape is green and fertile.

I was able to take these photos thanks to a Zimbabwean woman sitting next to me on the plane, who offered me her window seat for the landing. She also shared lots of very, very interesting stories with me, about all sorts of things..one of which was her own experience of entomophagy while growing up in Zimbabwe. She mentioned that she remembered collecting Msasa beetles as a child. I duly wrote  her description of the beetles in my notebook - they feed on the Msasa trees and are plentiful in December, often called Christmas beetles. After collecting them, the children would remove the legs and wings and fry the body. - and assumed a quick internet search would give me more information. However, I've found conflicting results, and nothing very concrete. Some sites mention that Christmas beetles are cicadas; a Google images search yields photos of a 'blister beetle' in Zambia..  I wonder which (if either) is correct, and if these insects are still collected by children in parts of Zimbabwe. If you are reading this and know more, please send me an email!