Trafika Europe 11 - Swiss Delights

Max Lobe

When Kosambela told me about their vacation in Bantuland, in Fang territory, northwest of our home, I first did a few dance steps from pure joy. I pictured my nephews getting lost in the vastness and beauty of that country filled with marvelous people. I told Kosambela not to forget to show them Victoria Falls, Lobe Falls, and Mosi-oa-Tunya National Park. I asked her to take them to the Katanga Plateau and to Lake Tanganyika, to take them up Mount Kilimanjaro and Mount Fako, and not to miss the Limpopo and Ubangi rivers, the elephants of the Okavango Delta, the zebras in Etosha, and more, too. Then my joy gave way to fear. I was sick with fear for the little ones. Poor boys, I thought. How would they perceive the sad reality of our urban scenery and the heaviness of our traditions, completely unknown here, in Switzerland, where they were born? Would it be traumatic for them? Would they get a grip on it all? I’d immediately drawn Kosambela’s attention to medical issues, especially vaccines: —They absolutely have to get all the vaccinations, and I mean all. —We’ll do what we can by the grace of Nkambé. He alone protects. She kept fingering the white rosary she always kept with her, even when she called her husband that- thing-there. After a thoughtful pause, as if she were

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