[The first solar eclipse of the millennium swept across southern Africa June 21, 2001. Read photo caption below].

LUSAKA (Reuters) - The first solar eclipse of the millennium swept across southern Africa on Thursday, thrilling millions of people watching one of nature's great wonders.
Onlookers cheered and danced as the eclipse raced eastward, from Angola to Madagascar. In some areas, the moon's shadow blotted out the sun for more than four minutes.
As darkness fell on the Zambian capital Lusaka, a crowd of 5,000, many of them wearing ``Eclipse 2001'' shirts, cheered as they watched the sun disappear behind the moon.
``It's incredible. It's fantastic. I have never seen it before,'' shouted Zambian President Frederick Chiluba, who later shook hands with tourists. ``There can never be a better ambassador for Zambian tourism.''
Thousands of tourists, astronomers and ``new age'' travelers flocked to Africa for the event, many to prime observation points in Zambia and Zimbabwe.
In Zimbabwe, President Robert Mugabe said the eclipse was an opportunity to prove that his crisis-bound country was a safe tourist destination. ''It will take you a very short period of stay to realize that the ... country the media routinely besmirch and depict in hateful and horrid images and epithets is hugely discrepant to the wonderful and serene destination which you have chosen to visit,'' Mugabe said in a statement broadcast on state media.
Clouds spoiled the event for thousands of spectators who assembled at a point in southern Madagascar, billed as the Indian Ocean island's best viewpoint.
``Astronomy is riddled with such cases,'' one exasperated expert told reporters. ``Specialists come from all corners of the world to watch the skies and a few clouds spoil everything.''
SCHOOLS AND FIRMS CLOSED
Many schools and companies in Zimbabwe closed for the day as thousands flocked north to view the full eclipse in tourist areas such as Kariba.
The eclipse began around 6:57 a.m. EDT on the Angolan coast and then cut a swathe across Zambia and into northern Zimbabwe and Mozambique, ending in Madagascar at 10:30 a.m. EDT.
``I was very excited because I am watching my first eclipse,'' said Dominic Negili, an 11-year-old Angolan boy.
Negili was among 1,000 revelers who gazed up at the skies from the coastal town of Sumbe. For a few minutes they could forget the decades-old civil war plaguing their country.
``It's very nice. There's lots of tourists. Normally we never see any at all,'' he said.
Authorities estimated that 20,000 eclipse watchers had traveled to Zambia, preferring it to other destinations like Angola because of fear of political instability or conflict.
An acute shortage of protective eyewear and a busy trade in bogus viewers raised fears that people could damage their eyesight while viewing the sun. South African scientists had recommended people use a foil tea wrapper to protect their eyes.
FEARS FOR CHILDREN
``Our main worry are children, and we are warning parents and adults to mind the kids,'' said organizer Peter Morris.
Madagascar's President Didier Ratsiraka personally ordered the purchase of 13 million pairs of protective spectacles for the 14 million population at a cost estimated at 2 million -- a vast sum in the poor country.
There was no immediate word on a religious sect in the west of the isle who had vowed to stare at the eclipse without being blinded to demonstrate the power of God.
In the Mozambican capital Maputo, the city was deserted as local residents afraid of damaging their eyes stayed indoors.
``I had an eerie feeling. I saw a lot of birds screaming,'' said Johan Rensburg, a 57-year-old South African who flew to Zambia for the eclipse.
In Luangwa Valley in eastern Zambia, hundreds of ethnic Ngonis commemorated the country's previous eclipse in 1835.
At the time, the Ngonis were escaping from tribal wars and preparing to cross the Zambezi River. When the eclipse appeared, they retreated in fear, thinking it was a bad omen.
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PHOTO CAPTION

The first solar eclipse of the millennium swept across southern Africa June 21, 2001 thrilling millions of people watching one of nature's great wonders. The eclipsed sun is creates a "diamond ring" effect as it passes over the Mavuradona Hills, north of Harare, Zimbabwe. (Howard Burditt/Reuters)
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