Eclipse enthusiasts from around the world gathered in South Africa’s Kruger Park on Wednesday to witness the last solar spectacle in the region for the next 28 years.
The huge park, home to thousands of wild animals, is one of the best sites to view the total solar eclipse which will sweep across southern Africa around 8:00 am (0600 GMT), with the added attraction that it will show how predators, grazers, birds and insects react as day turns into night for 80 seconds shortly after breakfast-time.
Some 20 vehicles were parked in a remote area outside the park on Tuesday night while their passengers were eagerly waiting for it to open. ”He doesn’t want to let us in,” said an impatient motorist, one of the first in line, gesturing at an impassive guard.
”We are having a picnic and then we’re sleeping in the car. We want to be one of the first to be inside the park when the gate opens.”
Park events manager Frans Laubscher said about 6 000 day visitors, 3 000 guests inside the park and 3 000 staff members were expected to watch the eclipse.
Starting in the southern Atlantic at 0550 GMT on Wednesday, the shadow will race eastwards, streak across southern Africa and head across the Indian Ocean before traversing South Australia. Three hours and 21 minutes and 12 000 kilometres from the start of its trek, the umbra will expire unseen, in the wastes of the Outback.
For those people in the path of the ”totality,” the Sun will be completely obscured, appearing as a dark disc with a halo of gold, blazing in a sky of indigo.
Africa experienced its last total eclipse last year in Zambia, Zimbabwe and Mozambique, but the next one is not due until 2030.
Traffic was heavy on the roads in north-eastern South Africa on Tuesday, especially around the Kruger Park.
While the tourism industry, local authorities and villages have been very active in promoting the event, there were nonetheless concerns that not enough protective sunglasses had been distributed and over whether enough information had been disseminated about the perils of looking at the eclipse.
The most famous solar eclipse in southern Africa occurred in 1835 when the Zulu Ngoni sub-clan was fleeing attacks by legendary Zulu King Shaka and forded the Zambezi river.
Legend has it that scores of Ngoni women, children and elders drowned while others were eaten by crocodiles, and when they reached the northern side of the river, the sun suddenly darkened. – Sapa-AFP