KRUGER NATIONAL PARK (South Africa), Dec 4: Eclipse-watchers saw the heart of darkness over South Africa’s Kruger National Park on Wednesday, but the local Venda people bowed their heads — forbidden by their god to watch.

Tens of thousands of “eclipsomaniacs” observed the total eclipse as it raced across five southern African countries in the morning then sped over the Indian Ocean to cast its shadow over the Australian outback, where it was evening.

Amateur skygazers and professional eclipse chasers lined the seashore of Ceduna, a sleepy town of some 2,000 in the state of South Australia that became eclipse central and mounted a full-fledged “solarbration” for the event, complete with buskers, street stands and oyster feasts.

But in Africa, many tribes see eclipses as portents of death, famine and pestilence.

The Venda, who live in northern South Africa around the Kruger park, the world’s biggest game reserve, believe that their god, N’wali, visits Earth during an eclipse, and that if they witness it they will be struck by lightning and burnt to ashes.

Venda, dressed in colourful traditional clothes, travelled to the park to experience the eclipse alongside thousands of tourists, but were not allowed to view it.

“It means that our god is passing through. We bow our heads to show that we respect him,” explained Margaret Makuya, a local woman.

“We are very happy because our god came to visit us and we will have a big feast,” Makuya told AFP.

Heavy cloud obscured the spectacle in South Africa, but for the eclipse-watchers this was a bonus: they were able to dispense with their special viewing glasses and watch the moon inch over the sun with the naked eye.

Said Judith Jackson, from Chicago, Illinois: “I thought it was extraordinary. And it was wonderful to look at it without the eclipse glasses. We were just so lucky.”

The sky turned to dusk, then an eerie silence descended on the park during the moments of totality. Seconds later, light broke through the clouds again, birds started chirping and viewers spontaneously applauded.

The moon’s shadow first hit the southern Atlantic at 0550 GMT, then raced eastward, streaking across Angola, South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe and Mozambique.

In Angola, the sun rose but did not shine, as the eclipse occurred at daybreak.

“I thought my watch was broken, because I couldn’t tell what time it was,” said Yolanda Teresa, a 28-year-old civil servant.

In Zimbabwe, hundreds of local and foreign viewers witnessed the eclipse in the southern town of Beitbridge, on the border with South Africa.

Traditional dancers performed entertained viewers there, but in the capital Harare, where most people’s concern is finding enough food for one meal a day amid rampant inflation and unemployment, few people bothered to view it, going about their business as usual.

In Mozambique, tourists flocked to the Indian Ocean beaches of the popular tourist town of Xai-Xai.

The town, renowned for its white sands and warm waters, was so overcrowded that many foreign visitors pitched tents.—AFP