you just died of dysentery.

OKAY - this is one of those times that I learn something REALLY COOL about world history & I'm mad at Alabama School Systems AGAIN for not teaching me anything besides the Alabama state bird. (the yellowhammer, you're welcome.)

So. Around the 1600s, Europeans (white people) thought they were better than any other humans on the planet, and decided to take over the whole world by colonizing as fast as possible. They figured it would be a good idea to send their people to all corners of the world to build another tiny version of home, 'civilize' the natives, send all the natural resources back to the homeland, and make themselves unbearably comfortable by wiping out the native culture & replacing it with tea & crumpets & small talk about the weather.

Every major European power was doing this. France, Germany, Great Britain, Sweden, The Netherlands, blah blah blah. Everyone was trying to grab up the most amount of dirt because they wanted to rule the world.

Thats not the part I learned today... everyone knows all that. White people ruin everything, etc.

What I learned is this - The Dutch settled in South Africa first. They got along with the natives there pretty peacefully (according to records anyway). Then the British got jealous, & came down to take over - little ole Netherlands couldn't take a war with England, so they packed up & moved out into the grasslands of Africa. They had wagons. And families rode out of the city to find new farmland for their own.

SO BASICALLY - THE DUTCH HAD THIER OWN OREGON TRAIL. EXCEPT THEY WERE UP AGAINST LIONS. AND CHEETAHS. AND HERDS OF ELEPHANTS. AND BABOONS THAT WILL RIP YOUR FACE OFF. Not to mention, South Africa is in the southern hemisphere. Its friggin cold. AND the highest population of Great White sharks live in the waters immediately off shore?!?

ummm, excuse me, WHAT?? Where are you hollywood??? This is a blockbuster movie times a million!!! These people didn't die of cholera, they died from a rhino knocking their covered wagon off a cliff. Also - the Zulu tribe was NOT happy about new white neighbors... eh, only the largest tribe in Africa. NBD.

Google the Boers & the "Great Trek"... madness.