It not just Matopos, its a characteristic of all places. In fact it is not only a characteristic of ecosystems, its there in many things we deal with… the basic components or parts of the larger whole. The elements that constitutes the whole. When reading a little more about the word component - the dictionary suggested to also look at the word compound, and that brought me to the word aggregation… which is very different from compounds, but each describes in its own way how these systems are constructed. So this is how I look at my world, and therefore how I see Matopos, the larger whole made up of many different building blocks, some in compounds others mere aggregations of elements - which ever way it comes together - there are numerous elements which ultimately constitutes what we know as Matopos.
There is a lot which is of importance here - its not only what the specific components or “ingredients” are, but more importantly how they all are assembled, how they fit together and in some cases how they merge or fuse into something else or change in character. At another level, the overall whole is affected by the way in which these components, aggregations and compounds interact - how they integrate to create a larger whole. Their specific dynamics create the whole which we often refer to as the ecosystem, or should we want to be smart and include the human component, which we should, then we refer to it as the socio-ecological system. This system is then controlled or its interactions determined, or driven by outside factors such as sunlight and rainfall, and economies at various levels. So while the system is composed of specific components the way in which they are assembled, aggregated and fused, determines their interactions and dynamics - and ultimately the behavior of the system.
The individual components my be inert - sterile, but the way in which they act and react upon one another, how they interact and these smaller interactions merging and fusing into larger dynamics - this is what makes it special, functional and worthy of further consideration!
Most probably because of this, I often get the feeling this place is alive… yes its alive with animal and plant life, but more than that, when you pause to look and feel, you often feel it breath… not hear, feel. There’s the presence of the place that gets to you. Like a ridiculously large behemoth. In places the ancient exoskeleton is exposed and the granite is pealing off like old dry skin… with a mosaic of lichen dandruff and warts and large grassy hairs remaining in the creases and crevices. New growth is evident in the soft areas between the hard exterior and the softer belly. Where the hard exterior gives way to the softness of dark rich soil. Covered with vegetation, drying in the winter sun like a huge butterfly waiting for its wings to harden against the forces brought upon it by the next part of its continuous life-cycles. In a not too dissimilar fashion this place reveals all the possibilities of evolutionary life seen in times gone by and present.
When I stand at the edge of numerous wetlands or vleis in summer and the ducks arrive from no-one really knows where, and the frogs and other amphibians emerge from their clay tombs, I think of it as the gills of an exceptionally large salamander, most sensitive and vulnerable to the outside world if not treated with care. I think of pollutants burning into those sensitive breathing apparatus and wish for a major storm to flush it clean of chemicals, to leave it clean and pristine so the heron can stare at it own reflection for days on end…. So other critters can complete life-cycles of their own and birds can hang their nests out of harms way… so life can play its role in the lives of the different layers of life represented in this place.
Further afield the rocks and boulders build up in massive aggregations or monstrous monoliths, like the one near Mbalabala, a huge wart on our critters back, together they all form when you fly over Matopos the wrinkled back of our friend. Trusting the world, its exposed capillaries merge into small veins and arteries joining in where valleys merge into larger rivers channeling life giving water to man and beast. It amazes me how hard the skeleton can be and how trusting it exposes the softest parts of its existence to the world, to use and abuse. Not questioning our intentions - jut giving and trusting.
The outer layer is in most places, hard crusty rock - like the exoskeleton of an old insect of ancient crocodilian, in places it gives way to softer skin, rich soils from which grass and trees emerge making then best of the opportunity provided to them. When you scratch too hard here, you will expose the soft inner being, and if you dont care for it, it will become infected and erode away into large gullies, which like the wounds of an old person, it never really heals. So be careful where you place your roads and stalls and gates. Just like the human hand is composed of delicate bones and tendons and muscles and skin, perfected with nails and pores and hair in the masculine version or simply soft and smooth…. Such are the places in Matobos when you look for it, or if you are prepared to see it… delicately put together with the minimal use of components, unlike the the extravagant rain forests of Costa Rica or elsewhere, Matobo is a place of modest minimalism. How contradictory can that be? Let em explain - the individual components are minimal, simple without ostentatious flair, just there - but when you look at the whole, you allow the human eye and mind to comprise the symphony of place and spirit to come together, then it the simplicity merges into the greater whole… the basic components aggregates and compounds into what we realized in our simplicity as a place worthy of international conservation status…
