KalahariLog

Idols West Africa and Big Brother Africa are a couple of shows that seem to be gaining popularity in southern Africa. Of course, on satellite one can get the original shows too and many other popular US shows: Lost, Desperate Housewives, and, of course, countless soap operas like the Bold and the Beautiful.

There is one show that is a bit different from the mainstream TV. Flower is the main character and is matriarch of some character. Despite her toughness, she can be nurturing, but is equally capable of ruthlessness, in all of the name of "survival of the fittest". Mozart is Flower's sweet, kind and unselfish daughter. She has been kicked out from the family at least twice for getting pregnant at the wrong time. Zaphod is Flower's partner and is a bit of a bruiser. He is also friends with his brother, Youssarian, who used to be the stronger of the two but who now babysits and is described as having "social problems".

Of course, the family in question is indeed a family of meerkats and the show, Meerkat Manor, is surprisingly entertaining. The show has been going on for a couple of years and accompanies a 10-year Cambirdge study of meerkats. The location is the spectacular Kalahari dessert, or at least the 3 sq km of it that the family covers. Like many runaway TV hits, Meerkat Manor: the Movie is in the making.