It’s cold here today. The weather says it’s ‘very cold’, but in fact it’s more like 16 degrees, which for a Brit wouldn’t be classed as ‘cold’, except when one is used to regular temperatures in the mid 30’s…
I’m feeling it even more as I woke up ill this morning, something weird. Hope not caught at hospital, but I can’t eat much cos I’m so nauseous (definitely something is wrong!!!) and am all shivery and dizzy ;-( … when I finally got out of bed I wrapped up warm, but I won’t be venturing far outside my house today. I hope it’s only a passing thing and not something more serious, but in this environment you can’t be too careful. The bugs are everywhere! Maybe it’s flu, but as I’m ‘in charge’ for the next 4 days, it’s not good timing!
I did, however, have to go and give a message to the Kitchen, and on the way I passed the few remaining kids who opted not to squish in the library to watch the ‘Kaiser Chiefs v Orlando Pirates’ soccer game. How quiet will this place be in 2010 if this is what happens when soccer is on…
Those who were left were just starting to weed the new project that is the vegetable garden. HJ had the bright idea of getting them to take responsibility for their plants, which were planted a few weeks ago during the Easter Holidays when the Scottish nurses were over and keen to enthuse the naughtier boys about the wonders of growing vegetables. I’m no expert but with 7 plots there were a lot of weeds, but they’ll make a start… The veggies are already coming up, G proudly showed me the radishes that were poking their heads up, but he then complained about his plot being a bit dry and needing some water… He’s really taken to the idea of growing things, which is great. It’s a very positive project which kept some of the younger ones occupied for days over the holidays, and it’s capacity building too for the future.
The only problem is, our kids eat anything they find on the trees and bushes around, it’s difficult to stop them. They love oriental guavas and passion fruit, even though neither are ripe yet. The bananas are relatively safe, being higher up, but I expect they too will get the same treatment in due course. Amazingly they never complain about poorly tummies, or not to us in any case!
Will the radishes be safe?
Or will they meet the same fate of never growing up to be the radishes they are meant to be. Or is their destiny to be a deterrent for the above actions?!
Tune in in a few weeks to find out…
Saturday 28 April 2007
Friday 27 April 2007
Freedom Day
Today is a public holiday in South Africa, where everyone celebrates their freedom.
Except someone has to keep an eye on what's going on. With 70+ children around, I'm the one on duty this weekend to make sure all goes smoothly.
And it's been a chilled day, with 2 exceptions...
1. As I drove down the N3 meandering past the throngs of Gauteng cars heading for the sea, a Mercedes started flashing its headlights frantically behind me, I slowed down and they indicated my rear tyre. Having stopped safely (as safe as one can be on the hard shoulder of a fast motorway with an extremely steep grassy bank next to it!) I saw that the tyre was so flat you could see the silver metal bits from inside. Strangely, I'd not felt it at all, but had I continued much further it would potentially have been quite nasty... Anyway, I called my knights in shining springbok skins and 2 of the Young Zulu Warriors came out to change my tyre (I love them - they are so strong!) and all was well. Except I've got to fork out for a new tyre tomorrow...
2. Trying to catch up on all the things I couldn't do yesterday (see previous post for reasons why), I made the most of the office being quiet... I was in another office when I heard a noise and thought it was someone coming in. I went out to greet whoever it was, just in time to see Sunday (official and oversized 'pet' sheep) exiting my office at speed with a document in his mouth and several on the floor where he had been... I tried to retrieve said document but he wasn't letting me near him, so at the best I attempted to see if I could see any writing on document to report to the owner of that particular desk what piece of paper was missing. Yet the sheep was obviously hungry and chomped it too quick for me to identify anything! Hmm, glad it wasn't one of my documents, which are neatly organised on my desk, thankfully in the far corner of the office. For the first time, I was glad for my little corner...
And Sunday still thought he'd try to come back in and battled with the slam gate to try and get in again. I had to shut the door in his face to discourage him. We'd been discussing this week that the sheep must be lacking in an essential mineral or something as he's craving paper, now we're going to have to watch all the time for the cunning creature...
oh, and the kids, they were as great as usual! They're never really the problem here, it's the pesky extra animals that provide the comedy entertainment...
Except someone has to keep an eye on what's going on. With 70+ children around, I'm the one on duty this weekend to make sure all goes smoothly.
And it's been a chilled day, with 2 exceptions...
1. As I drove down the N3 meandering past the throngs of Gauteng cars heading for the sea, a Mercedes started flashing its headlights frantically behind me, I slowed down and they indicated my rear tyre. Having stopped safely (as safe as one can be on the hard shoulder of a fast motorway with an extremely steep grassy bank next to it!) I saw that the tyre was so flat you could see the silver metal bits from inside. Strangely, I'd not felt it at all, but had I continued much further it would potentially have been quite nasty... Anyway, I called my knights in shining springbok skins and 2 of the Young Zulu Warriors came out to change my tyre (I love them - they are so strong!) and all was well. Except I've got to fork out for a new tyre tomorrow...
2. Trying to catch up on all the things I couldn't do yesterday (see previous post for reasons why), I made the most of the office being quiet... I was in another office when I heard a noise and thought it was someone coming in. I went out to greet whoever it was, just in time to see Sunday (official and oversized 'pet' sheep) exiting my office at speed with a document in his mouth and several on the floor where he had been... I tried to retrieve said document but he wasn't letting me near him, so at the best I attempted to see if I could see any writing on document to report to the owner of that particular desk what piece of paper was missing. Yet the sheep was obviously hungry and chomped it too quick for me to identify anything! Hmm, glad it wasn't one of my documents, which are neatly organised on my desk, thankfully in the far corner of the office. For the first time, I was glad for my little corner...
And Sunday still thought he'd try to come back in and battled with the slam gate to try and get in again. I had to shut the door in his face to discourage him. We'd been discussing this week that the sheep must be lacking in an essential mineral or something as he's craving paper, now we're going to have to watch all the time for the cunning creature...
oh, and the kids, they were as great as usual! They're never really the problem here, it's the pesky extra animals that provide the comedy entertainment...
Thursday 26 April 2007
a hospital experience
Over the past 2 days I’ve been getting insight and experience of what it’s really like to be a black African in the New South Africa, or more precisely in the ‘New South African Hospital system’.
One of my teachers has been very ill for a while so I took her yesterday to see my Doctor, who referred her to a hospital in PMB. Not knowing what to expect, and with the added complication of her very young baby, we had to first drive back to my house to find out where to go, then into the valley to collect someone to come with us to look after the child if necessary and only then could we set off to the hospital.
It’s never a good idea to go to a hospital any time after about 8am, I’ve found. The queues are horrendous.
Before anything, my car was searched before I was allowed into the hospital grounds. I don’t know what they think I might be smuggling in. We did wonder if it was because there’s been a spate of baby-snatching, but that still doesn’t explain the checking on the way in… Once we’d figured out how to get inside the actual building, an officious clerk shouted at me to sit down when I asked her for help, but then admitted P.
And so it began.
We entered the MOPD (Out Patients) and walked into a long room filled with very sick people, some sitting, some lying on benches, some in wheelchairs, some on metal bed stretchers looking very ill indeed… It seemed that if you wanted attention, you had to make an effort to get it, I spoke to a Dr who got P in quite soon to be seen and then sent her to another room for treatment.
But all the while I was waiting in this room surrounded by people, mostly suffering with TB. It was quite overwhelming and, especially as I’ve been struggling with a little bit of depression this week anyway, I had to fight back the tears. But our time there yesterday was fairly quick, I think we were only in the hospital for maybe 3 hours. Once out of MOPD, there was another queue for prescriptions, but this one was well monitored and only took half an hour (during which time I managed to get help on something I needed translating into Zulu, so the time flew by!)
Today, however, was a different story. We only had to go and get some results, but the Dr said to come early. In the end this is a breakdown of my day:
08:30 Pick up P, baby and our helper from the valley
09:00 Arrive at hospital – usual check for stowaways in my car boot – conversation with security conducted entirely in Zulu (I’ve no idea what she was on about, but anyway…)
09:15 Parked, try to find out where to retrieve yellow admissions file that was given yesterday. On the way pass the main information window, outside of which a man in blue pyjamas with a feather in his hair is lying down waving his arms around like he’s making a snow angel. (No one makes any move to assist him.)
Find correct building, and the queue.
11:15 Finally get file, having waited in the rather hot sun for a while; been befriended by a child who was desperate to feed grapes to the tiny baby; noticed that one gets one’s file quicker if you are, in fact, an inmate of the local prison; set off to find next destination.
11:45 Still waiting in the blood pressure room of the MOPD, whilst an assistant searches for test results, only to be told that they’ve not arrived and to see the Doctor… Walk straight past the queue (the same people are still sitting around later in the day) and aforementioned Dr recognises us (it helped P to have a cute child and a white woman with her, I think) Dr goes off to phone for results.
12:00 Dr (about my age, Afrikaaner, probably attractive behind his face mask!) returns to say results not back yet but will phone again in ’20 minutes or an hour’. Same Dr then goes on lunch break with all other Drs from the department, but as he goes he makes an effort to find us and tell us he’ll be back.
12:20 Female Dr (who must be the boss) turns up and asks us why we’re here as she told us to come back in a week. We explain but she tells us that results won’t be ready yet.
13:00 2 Policemen wheel a guy in in a wheelchair, he’s totally naked apart from the dirty rag of a sheet thrown across him, hands handcuffed behind his back, he’s cut and bleeding all over his upper body, looks like he’s been beaten up, he’s definitely been arrested and the policemen are angry. All Doctors return (perhaps earlier than they want to) to sedate him. Notice that all the Doctors here are very young and white. Where are the older ones? We speculate on what the patient has done, he’s in a bad mood, possibly been caught red-handed, or else perhaps a community taking out punishment on him, or possibly beaten up… we’ll never know.
In such a hospital department, nothing is private. Patients results are discussed openly in the waiting room in front of everyone. The guy mentioned above was wheeled around in front of everyone and finally sedated in a room with the door wide open. In front of us as we waited were a row of beds with some exceedingly ill people in them. One woman was being attended to by her teenage daughters. She looked very weak and frail. I felt for the 2 girls, who were looking after her, they were being so careful but they looked so burnt-out themselves. They shouldn’t be having to bring their mother in at their age. Who knows what other responsibilities they may have to take on in the very near future?
Another bed was wheeled past, with a guy on it who was probably only mid 20’s, he was so emaciated that it almost didn’t look like anybody was on the bed. I prayed that I would never see any of my good friends here in SA in that state, but the truth of the matter is that it is it happens…
There were a few ‘comedy’ moments too, like when the Drs ‘lost’ a patient who was lying on a bed and one Dr was ordered to ‘find her quick, she can’t have gone far’. The patient was wheeled back in shortly after and all was well again. But the same Dr had to take blood from this woman in front of us all as we waited.
13:48 Dr finally comes back with results. She has TB. Needs to go to clinic but also we need to take baby to POPD (paediatric outpatients) for treatment… more queues!!!
13:49 Walk through the door next to us to POPD. Place full of mothers and babies. Sister tells us we need to get an admittance form for the baby. Back to the start…
14:00 Success with form, and it’s free too!
14:02 Join next queue in POPD, this one moves faster, although that’s quite irritating when one is trying to hold a sleeping baby and manoeuvre through rows of plastic chairs with ones bag. P cunningly makes the trip to clinic whilst baby asleep and not in need of feeding, thus saving us a little time in our day…
14:30 Starting to get irritated by woman breastfeeding next to me, not because she’s feeding, but because her child’s feet are getting dangerously close to ‘my’ baby’s sleeping head.
14:35 A very thin woman brings in her baby to be weighed. The child is emaciated, his/her eyes look pained and frightened. It is wasting away and weighs in at 3kg. It’s the first child I’ve seen like that up closes in Africa. Quite distressing.
15:15 The strain of not eating properly all day is starting to show, (and my blood sugar has plummeted). Our helper and I venture outside to seek food. We buy drinks, sandwiches and I get mealies (corn on the cob) and fetkoeks with polony (all traditional food!) from the Zulu market just outside gates.
15:45 All the nurses in POPD sign off and go home. Suddenly there is a rush to see the patients and the queue starts moving faster.
16:15 P and baby have been seen. Not all good news as she has to come back on Monday. Even though her baby seems disgustingly healthy, it’s better to be safe. But she keeps the file so that she eliminates the 2 hour queue on Monday morning (not sure that’s technically allowed, but could you blame her?!?!)
16:20 One more check to see if we’ve stowed anyone away (they didn’t check the x-ray packet for the files though! J )
17:30 I finally arrive back home. What a day! I was only supposed to be gone for an hour or so this morning, but it was an experience I’ll find hard to forget…
Pray for P, she’s got the right treatment so she should be ok. But in a region in the grip of a drug-resistant TB epidemic, you can’t be too careful. Pray too that the baby is ok and doesn’t get ill.
The Drs are saying that in fact it’s not HIV that is killing people here anymore. With the correct drugs people can live with HIV for 10-20 years. What’s killing people is TB.
One of my teachers has been very ill for a while so I took her yesterday to see my Doctor, who referred her to a hospital in PMB. Not knowing what to expect, and with the added complication of her very young baby, we had to first drive back to my house to find out where to go, then into the valley to collect someone to come with us to look after the child if necessary and only then could we set off to the hospital.
It’s never a good idea to go to a hospital any time after about 8am, I’ve found. The queues are horrendous.
Before anything, my car was searched before I was allowed into the hospital grounds. I don’t know what they think I might be smuggling in. We did wonder if it was because there’s been a spate of baby-snatching, but that still doesn’t explain the checking on the way in… Once we’d figured out how to get inside the actual building, an officious clerk shouted at me to sit down when I asked her for help, but then admitted P.
And so it began.
We entered the MOPD (Out Patients) and walked into a long room filled with very sick people, some sitting, some lying on benches, some in wheelchairs, some on metal bed stretchers looking very ill indeed… It seemed that if you wanted attention, you had to make an effort to get it, I spoke to a Dr who got P in quite soon to be seen and then sent her to another room for treatment.
But all the while I was waiting in this room surrounded by people, mostly suffering with TB. It was quite overwhelming and, especially as I’ve been struggling with a little bit of depression this week anyway, I had to fight back the tears. But our time there yesterday was fairly quick, I think we were only in the hospital for maybe 3 hours. Once out of MOPD, there was another queue for prescriptions, but this one was well monitored and only took half an hour (during which time I managed to get help on something I needed translating into Zulu, so the time flew by!)
Today, however, was a different story. We only had to go and get some results, but the Dr said to come early. In the end this is a breakdown of my day:
08:30 Pick up P, baby and our helper from the valley
09:00 Arrive at hospital – usual check for stowaways in my car boot – conversation with security conducted entirely in Zulu (I’ve no idea what she was on about, but anyway…)
09:15 Parked, try to find out where to retrieve yellow admissions file that was given yesterday. On the way pass the main information window, outside of which a man in blue pyjamas with a feather in his hair is lying down waving his arms around like he’s making a snow angel. (No one makes any move to assist him.)
Find correct building, and the queue.
11:15 Finally get file, having waited in the rather hot sun for a while; been befriended by a child who was desperate to feed grapes to the tiny baby; noticed that one gets one’s file quicker if you are, in fact, an inmate of the local prison; set off to find next destination.
11:45 Still waiting in the blood pressure room of the MOPD, whilst an assistant searches for test results, only to be told that they’ve not arrived and to see the Doctor… Walk straight past the queue (the same people are still sitting around later in the day) and aforementioned Dr recognises us (it helped P to have a cute child and a white woman with her, I think) Dr goes off to phone for results.
12:00 Dr (about my age, Afrikaaner, probably attractive behind his face mask!) returns to say results not back yet but will phone again in ’20 minutes or an hour’. Same Dr then goes on lunch break with all other Drs from the department, but as he goes he makes an effort to find us and tell us he’ll be back.
12:20 Female Dr (who must be the boss) turns up and asks us why we’re here as she told us to come back in a week. We explain but she tells us that results won’t be ready yet.
13:00 2 Policemen wheel a guy in in a wheelchair, he’s totally naked apart from the dirty rag of a sheet thrown across him, hands handcuffed behind his back, he’s cut and bleeding all over his upper body, looks like he’s been beaten up, he’s definitely been arrested and the policemen are angry. All Doctors return (perhaps earlier than they want to) to sedate him. Notice that all the Doctors here are very young and white. Where are the older ones? We speculate on what the patient has done, he’s in a bad mood, possibly been caught red-handed, or else perhaps a community taking out punishment on him, or possibly beaten up… we’ll never know.
In such a hospital department, nothing is private. Patients results are discussed openly in the waiting room in front of everyone. The guy mentioned above was wheeled around in front of everyone and finally sedated in a room with the door wide open. In front of us as we waited were a row of beds with some exceedingly ill people in them. One woman was being attended to by her teenage daughters. She looked very weak and frail. I felt for the 2 girls, who were looking after her, they were being so careful but they looked so burnt-out themselves. They shouldn’t be having to bring their mother in at their age. Who knows what other responsibilities they may have to take on in the very near future?
Another bed was wheeled past, with a guy on it who was probably only mid 20’s, he was so emaciated that it almost didn’t look like anybody was on the bed. I prayed that I would never see any of my good friends here in SA in that state, but the truth of the matter is that it is it happens…
There were a few ‘comedy’ moments too, like when the Drs ‘lost’ a patient who was lying on a bed and one Dr was ordered to ‘find her quick, she can’t have gone far’. The patient was wheeled back in shortly after and all was well again. But the same Dr had to take blood from this woman in front of us all as we waited.
13:48 Dr finally comes back with results. She has TB. Needs to go to clinic but also we need to take baby to POPD (paediatric outpatients) for treatment… more queues!!!
13:49 Walk through the door next to us to POPD. Place full of mothers and babies. Sister tells us we need to get an admittance form for the baby. Back to the start…
14:00 Success with form, and it’s free too!
14:02 Join next queue in POPD, this one moves faster, although that’s quite irritating when one is trying to hold a sleeping baby and manoeuvre through rows of plastic chairs with ones bag. P cunningly makes the trip to clinic whilst baby asleep and not in need of feeding, thus saving us a little time in our day…
14:30 Starting to get irritated by woman breastfeeding next to me, not because she’s feeding, but because her child’s feet are getting dangerously close to ‘my’ baby’s sleeping head.
14:35 A very thin woman brings in her baby to be weighed. The child is emaciated, his/her eyes look pained and frightened. It is wasting away and weighs in at 3kg. It’s the first child I’ve seen like that up closes in Africa. Quite distressing.
15:15 The strain of not eating properly all day is starting to show, (and my blood sugar has plummeted). Our helper and I venture outside to seek food. We buy drinks, sandwiches and I get mealies (corn on the cob) and fetkoeks with polony (all traditional food!) from the Zulu market just outside gates.
15:45 All the nurses in POPD sign off and go home. Suddenly there is a rush to see the patients and the queue starts moving faster.
16:15 P and baby have been seen. Not all good news as she has to come back on Monday. Even though her baby seems disgustingly healthy, it’s better to be safe. But she keeps the file so that she eliminates the 2 hour queue on Monday morning (not sure that’s technically allowed, but could you blame her?!?!)
16:20 One more check to see if we’ve stowed anyone away (they didn’t check the x-ray packet for the files though! J )
17:30 I finally arrive back home. What a day! I was only supposed to be gone for an hour or so this morning, but it was an experience I’ll find hard to forget…
Pray for P, she’s got the right treatment so she should be ok. But in a region in the grip of a drug-resistant TB epidemic, you can’t be too careful. Pray too that the baby is ok and doesn’t get ill.
The Drs are saying that in fact it’s not HIV that is killing people here anymore. With the correct drugs people can live with HIV for 10-20 years. What’s killing people is TB.
Monday 23 April 2007
and on that note...
61 days and counting ;-)
Grande Decaff Iced Latte & Granola Bar - How I've missed you!
A new season
The thing about giving your whole life to God is that sometimes He asks you to do stuff that you don't really want to do, but you know that it will be for the best. It's tough but that's life...
I've returned from my holiday in a more positive frame of mind and more determined not to get dragged down into any negativity that flies around here at times. It's great to spend time with one's family, to just 'be' myself with the ones who know me best.
God's also been impressing on my just how massive He is, especially compared to the worries and chaos that we live in. He is much bigger than this place I find myself in now, He's much bigger than all the problems of everyone here. He is the Lord, the King of the Universe. He knows everything, sees everything and loves to surprise us.
Sometimes I think you have to suspend your own desires, throw away your frustrations and just 'go with it'. I think that could be the key to survival here. I love structure and organisation. I ran a school, you need to know who is with which group of children, where and when. It seems that is not possible all the time here. Tomorrow a lot of the key players in the volunteer group here are heading off for a few weeks. We are left with few people to do a lot of jobs. This weekend it looks like I'm running the whole show alone. And yet, somehow it all comes together and works, after a fashion. I think I'm adopting the 'adapt or die' model of survival (and the only thing that I want to see die is the mould!)
But I digress... God stepped in yesterday to sort out a situation. He pushed me to make a decision and to follow it through immediately without time for procrastination or hesitation. After I took the step and shut the door, He jumped in and bolted it firmly shut, put several locks on it and a 'no entry' sign up.. He told me not to look back or to analyse but to look forward to the blessings to come. He met me and walked me through it and I know that He will provide generously for my needs. He then proceeded to shut several more doors during the course of the evening and to bring more answers to my questions today. God is on the move in my personal life and it's exciting to see what will happen next. The annoying thing is that no amount of wondering, projecting or planning will prepare me for it. I simply have to let go, trust God and lean not on my own understanding. It was a weird day yesterday, I cried so much I looked like I had sunburn on my face, and yet I was so happy that God is moving and refining me. Life is so weird sometimes, but thankfully God is good and that will never change. Exciting times are ahead so I wait with eager anticipation for the Lord to move more and more...
And on a completely different note, I sorted my ticket out today and will be in the UK from 23rd June for about 7 weeks! ;-) Am very excited about coming back home and seeing all my friends... I've only got about 8 weeks here and then I'm off! I'll be arranging to see various people when the choir is on tour and will have an itinerary sorted soon, but after the tour is finished I'll be free to catch up too and can come and talk about my work here if anyone is interested/motivated to set up a session! Get in touch...
I've returned from my holiday in a more positive frame of mind and more determined not to get dragged down into any negativity that flies around here at times. It's great to spend time with one's family, to just 'be' myself with the ones who know me best.
God's also been impressing on my just how massive He is, especially compared to the worries and chaos that we live in. He is much bigger than this place I find myself in now, He's much bigger than all the problems of everyone here. He is the Lord, the King of the Universe. He knows everything, sees everything and loves to surprise us.
Sometimes I think you have to suspend your own desires, throw away your frustrations and just 'go with it'. I think that could be the key to survival here. I love structure and organisation. I ran a school, you need to know who is with which group of children, where and when. It seems that is not possible all the time here. Tomorrow a lot of the key players in the volunteer group here are heading off for a few weeks. We are left with few people to do a lot of jobs. This weekend it looks like I'm running the whole show alone. And yet, somehow it all comes together and works, after a fashion. I think I'm adopting the 'adapt or die' model of survival (and the only thing that I want to see die is the mould!)
But I digress... God stepped in yesterday to sort out a situation. He pushed me to make a decision and to follow it through immediately without time for procrastination or hesitation. After I took the step and shut the door, He jumped in and bolted it firmly shut, put several locks on it and a 'no entry' sign up.. He told me not to look back or to analyse but to look forward to the blessings to come. He met me and walked me through it and I know that He will provide generously for my needs. He then proceeded to shut several more doors during the course of the evening and to bring more answers to my questions today. God is on the move in my personal life and it's exciting to see what will happen next. The annoying thing is that no amount of wondering, projecting or planning will prepare me for it. I simply have to let go, trust God and lean not on my own understanding. It was a weird day yesterday, I cried so much I looked like I had sunburn on my face, and yet I was so happy that God is moving and refining me. Life is so weird sometimes, but thankfully God is good and that will never change. Exciting times are ahead so I wait with eager anticipation for the Lord to move more and more...
And on a completely different note, I sorted my ticket out today and will be in the UK from 23rd June for about 7 weeks! ;-) Am very excited about coming back home and seeing all my friends... I've only got about 8 weeks here and then I'm off! I'll be arranging to see various people when the choir is on tour and will have an itinerary sorted soon, but after the tour is finished I'll be free to catch up too and can come and talk about my work here if anyone is interested/motivated to set up a session! Get in touch...
redecorating
First picture - before.
'What an interesting shade of mould you have in your bathroom!' was R's opening comment on arrival in my house...
Second Picture - after the first coat of 'Arctic Blue' - much better
So I've set about my new task with gusto... I think my bathroom was the worst hit in terms of the mould that had been causing my cough and general ill-health, so it seemed the obvious place to start. I must admit I had help for the first coat of paint which we did yesterday, but this evening I decided to do the second coat.
Not so easy when the kitchen light has blown and the bathroom light stays on for a while then has a rest for a few minutes, plus the roller decided to fall apart mid roll and I managed to get paint all over me it seems... it somehow seemed easier in the day! However I did get it all done so am happy! Even if I am applying somewhat unorthodox methods...
And after all the search for something to kill the mould, good old Mr Muscle has come through again! It smells a bit of bleach so I felt like I was living in a swimming pool changing room for a while, but thankfully it passed fairly quickly...
The next challenge is my living room, a much bigger area!
Thursday 19 April 2007
Since you've been gone...
(this post is dedicated to L&R, back at work in the UK today! - Greetings!)
Well, thanks for taking the sunshine with you!
On Tuesday, Dad attempted a braai without the help of R... Success! But then we did have a very nice built-in braai facility to enjoy! We've eaten almost every meal out on the patio, one of the joys of it being undercover.
Yesterday (Wednesday), it rained heavily and solidly for 12 hours. We spent the best part of the day in the 2 main shopping malls in Shelly Beach. Avoided Spur, ate at RJ's instead. Not bad. I will soon be able to write my own guide book on the eateries of South Africa...
Today, we paid a quick visit to the hardware store for some parental advice on decorating, in preparation for 'project redecoration' (more on that in a later post) and then we set off down the coast to see what lies South of Uvongo.
Margate is next. Absolute 'dogbox' (to quote HJ) - it does indeed live up to the Rough Guide's description of being 'The brash, built-up holiday town [...] With its high-rise appartments, fast-food outlets and ice-cream parlours, Margate offers little in the way of undiscovered coves or hidden beaches; its big plus point is the wide choice of good-value places to stay... '
Why would anyone WANT to stay in such a ghastly place?
In any case, having driven out of the centre as quickly as legally possible, we arrived in Ramsgate. Getting smarter...
The next area down the coast, and our destination for today, was Southbroom. It seems to be a kind of 'Beverley Hills' resort, with massive houses hidden behind palms and high walls with major security. These are, after all, the summer homes of Johannesburg's wealthy. (They'd feel worried if the fences were too low...) Even the beach-side cafe was posh... We took some great pictures of the rising waves and watched the dark clouds move in for this afternoon's storm (sadly has not come to much, but at least I can catch up on my email in the meantime).
And tomorrow it's back to UK for Mum & Dad, and back home to inland KZN for me. I need to do some major redecorating work on my house as we've discovered that the level of mould in the place was what was making me ill... After 2 months of an irritating cough, I've no intention of letting it return so I'm venturing into new territory this weekend. Those of you who know my decorating attempts in Leam will probably be chuckling.. I'm not exactly and expert, but I can learn... First port of call is my bathroom... could be interesting!
Tuesday 17 April 2007
Finally the ‘multi-coloured’ birds...
(Tuesday - up to date!)
This morning, Mum, Dad and I went to Uvongo Bird Park. Apparently famous. It didn’t look like much from the car park but was actually very interesting when we got in there. A few years ago I would never have entered such a place, as there were free-flying pigeons and doves to contend with and I hate flappy things… I think my rooster has done some fine work in getting me used to being around things with wings… (although he’s never flown at me yet!). We’ve finally filled our quota of multicoloured birds. There were so many beautiful creatures in the aviaries. The best ones were the pair of little birds who’d looked like they’d escaped from the 60’s (unfortunately we couldn’t get a photo). They had red heads, black and red striped chests moving into yellow bellies with green spots, with green wings. Groovy… They would be very at home in an Austin Powers movie.
All the birds were extremely tame as they have become used to being fed by visitors. That’s why a very fat pigeon waddled round with us as our guide (see photo). The place was quite over-run with guinea pigs too. We wondered if they were in fact the ‘small rodents’ that some of these birds were preparing to eat…
In another part of the aviary, the pigeons and doves were more insistent in asking for food and flew around our heads, one even landed on Mum’s back and another on Dad’s head. For a girl who takes the subway round Trafalgar square, this was me out of my comfort zone big-time… but I survived (mostly by flapping my arms around in a frantic manner to dissuade our feathered friends from getting too close. It worked, even if I did look more than a little stupid!)
There was a cool hornbill though, see picture. He made a lot of noise and flapped around just like the Rowan Atkinson version in ‘The Lion King’. Dad and I were on a mission to get the best photos through the bars and I won on this one! ;-) (not that we’re a competitive family or anything… )
An encounter with Dassies
(Monday)
The problem with Uvongo (the same as for most of the coastal area around here) is that it’s been a bit smashed up by those recent storms. The car park has been halved in size, and the beach path now nothing more than a neat pile of bricks on the verge.
The beach, however, is lovely. There’s a waterfall that gushes down into a little lagoon on the beach. This joins into the sea in a kind of water from all angles way… We paddled in the breakers and enjoyed the warmth of the hot sun! It makes such a change from the freezing temperatures of the mountains, and L’s woolly hat (bought in desperation in Underberg) had been definitely relocated to the suitcase.
R wins the ‘beady eye’ award for spotting the rock hyraxes on the area just beyond the lagoon. Otherwise known as ‘dassies’, we had thought they only inhabited Table Mountain, but no… there was a large colony settled in KZN too it appears. They are kind of like enormous guinea pigs, they come out and sit on the rocks and get warm, or chase each other round. They climb into the plants growing out of the rocks and munch on the leaves. They seemed impervious to the children playing nearby… and then suddenly one of them decided enough was enough, and with a high-pitched squeak, set off a mass exodus of the dassies; in a flash they all vanished from view. L tells me that dassies have the amazing ability to suck in their ribcage and get into the smallest of crevices, I think they were showing off their ability…
L&R left us this afternoon to return to the UK. It was sad to see them go, we’ve had such a fabulous time together…
The problem with Uvongo (the same as for most of the coastal area around here) is that it’s been a bit smashed up by those recent storms. The car park has been halved in size, and the beach path now nothing more than a neat pile of bricks on the verge.
The beach, however, is lovely. There’s a waterfall that gushes down into a little lagoon on the beach. This joins into the sea in a kind of water from all angles way… We paddled in the breakers and enjoyed the warmth of the hot sun! It makes such a change from the freezing temperatures of the mountains, and L’s woolly hat (bought in desperation in Underberg) had been definitely relocated to the suitcase.
R wins the ‘beady eye’ award for spotting the rock hyraxes on the area just beyond the lagoon. Otherwise known as ‘dassies’, we had thought they only inhabited Table Mountain, but no… there was a large colony settled in KZN too it appears. They are kind of like enormous guinea pigs, they come out and sit on the rocks and get warm, or chase each other round. They climb into the plants growing out of the rocks and munch on the leaves. They seemed impervious to the children playing nearby… and then suddenly one of them decided enough was enough, and with a high-pitched squeak, set off a mass exodus of the dassies; in a flash they all vanished from view. L tells me that dassies have the amazing ability to suck in their ribcage and get into the smallest of crevices, I think they were showing off their ability…
L&R left us this afternoon to return to the UK. It was sad to see them go, we’ve had such a fabulous time together…
Back to the sun!
On Sunday we bid farewell to the mountains and drove back towards the sea, passing through East Griqualand region, and briefly dipping into Eastern Cape Province. I can firmly say that I never need to pass that way again. We stopped for coffee in the main town for the region – Kokstad and this will forever be the site of the family ‘Spur Experience’.
For the un-initiated, ‘Spur’ is a major restaurant chain in South Africa, and it appears to be the favourite restaurant of most South Africans. (Sorry if I alienate most of my S.African readership with this little rant!) Why it is so popular eludes me at every visit. It’s kind of the equivalent of a bad ‘Beefeater’ restaurant with sluggish service and meals that kind of taste a bit ‘rubbery’ and never as good as it looks on the menu… We ordered coffees and milkshakes, and waffles. An hour later we were still wondering what had happened to the waffles… It’s now become a family joke when deciding where to eat as to whether we go to Spur or not….
(Despite this rant, I’ve eaten at Spur so many times, and probably will again too. In Spur’s defence, their salad bar is pretty plentiful so it’s not all bad news…)
East Griqualand is also the winner of the ‘most speed-humps in one place’ award. Another thing about South Africa is the amazing number of speed-humps. Why have one speed-hump when 6 will do… or in this case, 21 in a row!
We finally arrived at our last residence for the holiday, in the coastal resort of Uvongo. Staying in a fabulous apartment which belongs to some friends of the family. Nice. In fact, very nice. The covered patio, with views over the ocean, is bigger than my entire house… ;-)
For the un-initiated, ‘Spur’ is a major restaurant chain in South Africa, and it appears to be the favourite restaurant of most South Africans. (Sorry if I alienate most of my S.African readership with this little rant!) Why it is so popular eludes me at every visit. It’s kind of the equivalent of a bad ‘Beefeater’ restaurant with sluggish service and meals that kind of taste a bit ‘rubbery’ and never as good as it looks on the menu… We ordered coffees and milkshakes, and waffles. An hour later we were still wondering what had happened to the waffles… It’s now become a family joke when deciding where to eat as to whether we go to Spur or not….
(Despite this rant, I’ve eaten at Spur so many times, and probably will again too. In Spur’s defence, their salad bar is pretty plentiful so it’s not all bad news…)
East Griqualand is also the winner of the ‘most speed-humps in one place’ award. Another thing about South Africa is the amazing number of speed-humps. Why have one speed-hump when 6 will do… or in this case, 21 in a row!
We finally arrived at our last residence for the holiday, in the coastal resort of Uvongo. Staying in a fabulous apartment which belongs to some friends of the family. Nice. In fact, very nice. The covered patio, with views over the ocean, is bigger than my entire house… ;-)
The mountains
By the third day in the Drakensberg the cold had passed and the sun shone again. It’s amazing how much nicer the whole resort seemed with a bit of warmth. We ventured up the nearest slope to view the surrounding vistas and weren’t disappointed. The Drakensberg really are quite beautiful and so very, very big.
I was a bit concerned about how much energy it took to climb a short height; even with a few rounds of ‘the bear went over the mountain’ it still seemed a struggle… and then Dad enlightened us to his ‘just a bit of trivia’ knowledge he’d gleaned from the manager of the resort… Our chalet was at 5600ft (that’s 1,200ft higher than Ben Nevis, the highest point in the UK, and we’d been climbing even higher!) No wonder it was hard going! Something to do with altitude!
The same manager (lovely local) was very chatty and when we arrived he proudly pointed out all of the creatures who lived on the resort and who passed through. When he indicated his flowerbeds and announced that Eland regularly trampled them down, I mentioned that in St Lucia, we had hippos wandering up to our back door, and after that he became strangely quiet… ;-)
Change of scene
(written on Friday 13th April)
Wednesday
We left the sub-tropical heat of St Lucia (before the monkeys turned nasty…) and headed South to the shopping mecca that is ‘Gateway’ in N. Durban. Having 2 males in our midst, any browsing time was seriously restricted but L,R and I did manage to return there later to catch a movie – ‘Music & Lyrics’ (the latest Hugh Grant offering), which is surprisingly good actually…
Thursday (& Friday)
After spending the night in Umhlanga, we headed past my house to the hills, stopping briefly at the rather small ‘Hilton Railway Museum’. There was something for everyone there, Dad is a veteran at trains, but these could be the first steam engines with added monkey fun… Following that, we drove up through beautiful valleys into the Drakensberg. Well, the valleys were beautiful, I’ve seen them before, but all we could see yesterday was the deepening fog! Eventually we arrived at the valley resort where we are staying.
It’s in the middle of nowhere, freezing cold and, after the heat of last week, everyone is struggling somewhat. This kind of place would be fantastic in the heat of summer, we’re surrounded by mountains (mostly covered by mist as I write) and there are wild birds a-plenty around the lake near the raised log cabins. Bleak, a bit like North Wales.
There really is little to do in Southern Drakensberg but hike… and it’s raining, so we won’t be doing much of that. We’ve investigated Underberg and visited the animals at a nearby farm and curio shop… Everyone is looking forward to the weekend when we get back to the beach!
And we’re back…!!
Hmm, modern technology eh! After 4 days in the middle of a dead-mobile area, I was looking forward to blogging de nouveau on arrival at the South Coast, only to discover my laptop was ill and refusing to start up! ;-(
After a brief stay in a local computer shop, I’m happy to say that we’ve all made a rapid recovery and now I’m back to blogging! (so here are a few entries in succession!)
So, in case you were worried, we didn’t get eaten by hippos, giant bullfrogs or kidnapped by baboons… it was merely a computer malfunction!
After a brief stay in a local computer shop, I’m happy to say that we’ve all made a rapid recovery and now I’m back to blogging! (so here are a few entries in succession!)
So, in case you were worried, we didn’t get eaten by hippos, giant bullfrogs or kidnapped by baboons… it was merely a computer malfunction!
Tuesday 10 April 2007
Interesting signs...
Reason number 1 to not mess with wheelchairs...
We never found the 'non-biting' crocs... ;-)
Last day in St Lucia
After a full day of Game watching yesterday, this morning was a slow start. We did, however, spend some time at a little market, purchasing souvenirs and some fruit & veg (Hluhluwe queen pineapples, bananas, passion fruit and avocados) The above purchases cost us R80 (about £6!). Nice.
L,R& myself spent a couple of hours in a crocodile park this afternoon. It's amazing how interesting those creatures really are. We were perturbed, however, to come across several seemingly-empty snake pits as we were unsure where those snakes had gone to, but I'm sure they were really just hiding under a rock...
Again, it was possible to get right up to enormous (but elderly) crocodiles with only a thin-ish wire fence in between... so much for safety...
In conclusion to the Wildlife bit of the holiday, it's been a thoroughly great few days and we've seen much more than we bargained on. Over dinner this evening, the top 3 creatures were chosen and they are as follows:
- Hippos - especially when they wander up into our garden and for looking permanently bemused as they wallow in the shallows all day ignoring tourists.
- Warthogs - for having different hair-styles - we saw blondes, brunettes and even redheaded critters in iMfolowzi. Cute in a scruffy pig sort of way.
- The local monkeys - for using our tree as a landing strip and for being so amusing to watch (although not to get to close too!)
Tomorrow we're heading back down South for a day near Durban at Gateway Theatre of Shopping and Umhlanga Rocks, before heading towards the mountains on Thursday. It's certainly been a full programme so far and looks set to continue...
Up Close and Personal
South Africa is definitely a land of living dangerously... You can get 'up close and personal' with a variety of creatures (which would never happen in the UK).
Yesterday we got up at silly o'clock to get to Hluhluwe-iMfolowzi Game Reserve in time for 6.30am to catch the animals early in the day. We spent 7 hours driving round iMfolowzi and didn't even get into Hluhluwe. But it was time well spent, we saw our full quota of zebra, impala, nyalas, warthogs, buffalo and rhino.
One highlight of the day was spotting 2 cheetahs (out of a total of 59 in the whole 2 parks, we did well!) by the river, sunning themselves and then considering chasing an antelope. They were amazing creatures, thankfully we each had our own set of binoculars to follow these magnificent creatures.
We also spotted several rhino and baby rhinos in the bushes, so cute!
A visit to the bomas (holding pens for animals to be transferred to other parks) was interesting and provided us with a way to get dangerously close to white rhino, awaiting sale to other game reserves or safari parks (but not to zoos). For a mere R300,000 you too can entertain a female white rhino in your private game reserve (a male is slightly cheaper at around R200,000!)
And then in the evening back at the appartment, whilst enjoying an game of cards on the balcony, Dad commented that hippos could wander up into the garden, only to look over the balcony and spot 2 of the same grazing very close by... A hippo hunt ensued, but too dark to take any photos.
Yesterday we got up at silly o'clock to get to Hluhluwe-iMfolowzi Game Reserve in time for 6.30am to catch the animals early in the day. We spent 7 hours driving round iMfolowzi and didn't even get into Hluhluwe. But it was time well spent, we saw our full quota of zebra, impala, nyalas, warthogs, buffalo and rhino.
One highlight of the day was spotting 2 cheetahs (out of a total of 59 in the whole 2 parks, we did well!) by the river, sunning themselves and then considering chasing an antelope. They were amazing creatures, thankfully we each had our own set of binoculars to follow these magnificent creatures.
We also spotted several rhino and baby rhinos in the bushes, so cute!
A visit to the bomas (holding pens for animals to be transferred to other parks) was interesting and provided us with a way to get dangerously close to white rhino, awaiting sale to other game reserves or safari parks (but not to zoos). For a mere R300,000 you too can entertain a female white rhino in your private game reserve (a male is slightly cheaper at around R200,000!)
And then in the evening back at the appartment, whilst enjoying an game of cards on the balcony, Dad commented that hippos could wander up into the garden, only to look over the balcony and spot 2 of the same grazing very close by... A hippo hunt ensued, but too dark to take any photos.
Other Easter pictures
What do you do in South Africa for a traditional Easter Lunch? Braai on the balcony...
Second photo is of Cape Vidal, a bit wilder than usual...
Easter monkey collage
These little fellows have not ventured onto our balcony yet, they've only got one more day left now!
Sunday 8 April 2007
Beware the Easter Monkey...
Happy Easter everyone!
Our Easter Sunday was a bit different this year. Instead of a morning service (we couldn't find a church that wasn't in Afrikaans!), we were treated to early morning entertainment by a troupe of Vervet monkeys who used the Acacia tree adjoining our balcony as a landing strip for their daredevil leaps from the building roof.
It started quietly with a solitary female preening herself on a branch closest to the balcony. She was presently joined by another female and a rather large male monkey. They were swifly followed by about another 12 monkeys of varying sizes and ages, all of whom peered over the gutter to check it was safe to leap.
By now a small crowd of residents had gathered to watch the show and the monkeys were treated to bread from the guy in the flat below. He kept trying to throw to one monkey in the tree, who wasn't very apt at catching small pieces of bread, maybe he knew that a larger piece would be thrown up there next and he managed to catch that (he almost got a round of applause from the audience). One female monkey gave the same man an evil look when he considered trying to retrieve a piece of bread that had fallen near her. Never mess with monkeys, no matter how cute they seem to be...
In the meantime L&R had managed to get enough monkey photos to last us all week! (which I'll add when it's working!)
Our Easter Sunday was a bit different this year. Instead of a morning service (we couldn't find a church that wasn't in Afrikaans!), we were treated to early morning entertainment by a troupe of Vervet monkeys who used the Acacia tree adjoining our balcony as a landing strip for their daredevil leaps from the building roof.
It started quietly with a solitary female preening herself on a branch closest to the balcony. She was presently joined by another female and a rather large male monkey. They were swifly followed by about another 12 monkeys of varying sizes and ages, all of whom peered over the gutter to check it was safe to leap.
By now a small crowd of residents had gathered to watch the show and the monkeys were treated to bread from the guy in the flat below. He kept trying to throw to one monkey in the tree, who wasn't very apt at catching small pieces of bread, maybe he knew that a larger piece would be thrown up there next and he managed to catch that (he almost got a round of applause from the audience). One female monkey gave the same man an evil look when he considered trying to retrieve a piece of bread that had fallen near her. Never mess with monkeys, no matter how cute they seem to be...
In the meantime L&R had managed to get enough monkey photos to last us all week! (which I'll add when it's working!)
photos from Saturday Safari...
Here are some of the creatures we captured on film yesterday. It was a tiring job!
Family Visit 4
St Lucia
I've already done an entry on St Lucia when I came here in January. It's still a tourist spot much as I described before (check out http://carolineinsa.blogspot.com (my old blog) and go to the January entries if you missed it)
After an incredibly muggy start, yesterday we were plagued with heavy downpours, although I managed to avoid getting wet. L,R and Dad were out for a stroll when the worst came down, it was kind of like someone turning on a power shower and then turning it off again...
I spent most of yesterday struggling to fight off a migraine (holiday detoxing from work maybe?) but am much better today after much sleep.
After the rain passed we drove up through Greater St Lucia Wetlands Game Reserve to Cape Vidal, although it was a much different picture to when I went in the Summer, this time the tide was high, the beach was covered in debris and the waves were vicious, probably a throwback to the recent storms and waves that pounded the coastline. We are becoming experts on the various antelope, although the park was strangely devoid of buffalo and wildebeest yesterday. The highlight was seeing a hippo in the middle of a stretch of swampy grassland...
I've already done an entry on St Lucia when I came here in January. It's still a tourist spot much as I described before (check out http://carolineinsa.blogspot.com (my old blog) and go to the January entries if you missed it)
After an incredibly muggy start, yesterday we were plagued with heavy downpours, although I managed to avoid getting wet. L,R and Dad were out for a stroll when the worst came down, it was kind of like someone turning on a power shower and then turning it off again...
I spent most of yesterday struggling to fight off a migraine (holiday detoxing from work maybe?) but am much better today after much sleep.
After the rain passed we drove up through Greater St Lucia Wetlands Game Reserve to Cape Vidal, although it was a much different picture to when I went in the Summer, this time the tide was high, the beach was covered in debris and the waves were vicious, probably a throwback to the recent storms and waves that pounded the coastline. We are becoming experts on the various antelope, although the park was strangely devoid of buffalo and wildebeest yesterday. The highlight was seeing a hippo in the middle of a stretch of swampy grassland...
Friday 6 April 2007
Family Visit 3
I'm writing this from our balcony in St Lucia, overlooking the estuary. We arrived here this afternoon to be greeted by our 'monkey welcoming party' in the gardens below. As we admired the view, the sound of someone running upstairs awakened us to the fact that we were on the top floor and we were very bemused to see a medium-sized monkey leap from above our heads onto a nearby tree... Communal monkey count is now up to 6... I guess afore-mentioned critter could easily leap onto our balcony and into our residence so I imagine not much will be left lying around here for the next few days.
Yesterday we spent some final time with the kids for the moment, it was so hot that they were making the most of the swimming pool, but L&R declined the opportunity to join them. The water in our pool is fairly murky, need I say more?
2 great restaurant recommendations: for Lunch - 'The Pot and Kettle' at Botha's Hill, fantastic views of the Valley of 1000 Hills and extremely colourful salads; for dinner- 'La Strada' in Hillcrest, the best and most authentic Italian Restaurant I've been to this side of Perugia.
Yesterday we spent some final time with the kids for the moment, it was so hot that they were making the most of the swimming pool, but L&R declined the opportunity to join them. The water in our pool is fairly murky, need I say more?
2 great restaurant recommendations: for Lunch - 'The Pot and Kettle' at Botha's Hill, fantastic views of the Valley of 1000 Hills and extremely colourful salads; for dinner- 'La Strada' in Hillcrest, the best and most authentic Italian Restaurant I've been to this side of Perugia.
Tala Photos
Finally!Photos on my blog of some of the animals from Tala, courtesy of Rob's amazing camera...
Wednesday 4 April 2007
Family visit 2
Wednesday
I tried to attach some animal photos from Tala yesterday, plus a collage of photos from today when L&R brought face paints, balloons and 'matching pairs' games for the kids. It was a popular choice and the kids loved it. They didn't bother with the brushes that came with the face paints, who needs that when fingers will do!
One group of children are currently being very profitably engaged in digging and planting a vegetable garden, it's certainly keeping some of our more lively boys occupied... They still haven't learnt about waiting for fruit to ripen though, several were 'scrumpying' mini guavas and passionfruit from various trees around. Potential sore tummies for at least 10 kids tonight!
L has been getting stuck in with the kids, and coming up with all sorts of plans to organise different things here. One did wander off with her sunglasses, but was later discovered with them on her head! The kids are making the most of offers of games and cuddles. R has been videoing and photographing, Mum and Dad have been getting stuck in too, as the kids here throw themselves onto anyone who comes near and expect to be played with or cuddled. That's fine, except when there's watercolour face paint around to smear everywhere! Dad seems very popular with the little crechies (maybe there's a father Christmas link in their brains somewhere!!)
And our first monkey too... Well, for R and myself as we drove down to Mophela, we spotted at least 2 monkeys at the side of the road, moving too quickly for a camera lens. Everyone else had to believe us, although when they are out scampering about, it won't be long before one or two cross our path again. Africa is full of the unexpected...
I tried to attach some animal photos from Tala yesterday, plus a collage of photos from today when L&R brought face paints, balloons and 'matching pairs' games for the kids. It was a popular choice and the kids loved it. They didn't bother with the brushes that came with the face paints, who needs that when fingers will do!
One group of children are currently being very profitably engaged in digging and planting a vegetable garden, it's certainly keeping some of our more lively boys occupied... They still haven't learnt about waiting for fruit to ripen though, several were 'scrumpying' mini guavas and passionfruit from various trees around. Potential sore tummies for at least 10 kids tonight!
L has been getting stuck in with the kids, and coming up with all sorts of plans to organise different things here. One did wander off with her sunglasses, but was later discovered with them on her head! The kids are making the most of offers of games and cuddles. R has been videoing and photographing, Mum and Dad have been getting stuck in too, as the kids here throw themselves onto anyone who comes near and expect to be played with or cuddled. That's fine, except when there's watercolour face paint around to smear everywhere! Dad seems very popular with the little crechies (maybe there's a father Christmas link in their brains somewhere!!)
And our first monkey too... Well, for R and myself as we drove down to Mophela, we spotted at least 2 monkeys at the side of the road, moving too quickly for a camera lens. Everyone else had to believe us, although when they are out scampering about, it won't be long before one or two cross our path again. Africa is full of the unexpected...
Tuesday 3 April 2007
Family Visit 1
The Great Horn-Webber South Africa Experience 2007
Part 1
My blog is temporarily going to become almost a daily journal of what’s been happening with the family as they visit me here. The main aim is to keep the rest of the family in the UK informed so that they feel part of the adventure, Hello to you J,B(+1),G and G&G! If you support me here, you’re kind of part of the family too, so I hope you enjoy the stories as well…
Sunday
Mum and Dad arrived from an overnight flight from the UK. After a cold and wet week here last week (which I thankfully missed having been in milder Gauteng!), the hot weather was back with a vengeance and it was quite a shock to the system for them to step off a plane into blazing hot sunshine and mid 30s temperatures.
They are staying in Hillcrest in a very nice Guest House with 2 beautiful dogs, one of which is called Loopy! After a quick change into some cooler clothes, we headed for my house and they had a brief tour of the site before it got dark. All the kids were in dinner so it wasn’t easy to talk to them.
Good restaurant for dinner – Butcher Boys – think it’s a chain, at least in KZN. Nice place, but everything is cooked fresh so it’s a little bit of a wait for food. Dad had Kudu steak, quite tasty. He has been banned from shouting out ‘I’ve eaten you!’ as we go round Game Reserves.
Monday
Picked up hire car and L&R from airport. Felt like paparazzi as we took photos of plane landing, them walking from plane to terminal, emerging from arrivals hall etc… Just before they came out, a guy in orange robes (can’t remember the religion, Buddhist maybe?) came through arrivals and was greeted by similarly dressed men who placed a garland of flowers around his neck. It was too late for me to assemble a similar garland of biltong (dried meat loved by South Africans worldwide) to place around L’s neck…
As I showed them all around site later on, the kids were a bit more interactive. One little boy told my Dad he looked like Father Christmas (because of his beard!), and another little treasure told my Mum that she had hair ‘like a Gogo’ (because her hair is blonde?!)
All the Zulus here are very eager and pleased to meet my family. It’s quite amusing watching them. I keep being accosted by people who’ve heard that my family are around but have not been introduced yet. Tomorrow could be a busy day…
Tuesday
Time is flying by already… Today I took the family for a visit to the local Spar shopping centre to get a couple of things. It’s a centre full of black Africans and is lively, loud and a real experience… Then I drove them to visit a couple of the preschools, through the valleys of KwaXimba and Swayimane. L and R took some footage on video camera which will be made into a DVD at some point soon, we watched it this evening, I think the comedy parts might not make it through, but there were several. We encountered all the traditional sights of driving through the valley – crazy combi driving, large cows and goats blocking the road, everyone waving as we passed; but sadly no monkeys were out today. It was a bit weird for me driving so slowly through the valley, normally I’m on a mission to get somewhere and don’t stop to admire the views. We couldn’t stop for long, but we did get some good views of the amazing valleys.
After lunch in Pietermaritzberg, we headed to Tala Game Reserve. After a comment yesterday from Dad that all he’d seen in the way of wildlife so far was dogs, cats, Sunday the sheep, my rooster and Tubbles (special cat), I decided it might be fun to do a ‘trial run’ around a smaller game reserve, in preparation for the big ones up near St Lucia at the weekend.
And we weren’t disappointed. Arriving just after 4pm it was cooler and time for the animals to come out. My car isn’t suitable for driving down near the water, so we had to admire hippos from a distance, but with our plethora of binoculars and long lens cameras, it wasn’t a problem. A little farther along the way I stopped to point out what turned out to be a rather boring bird in a tree to the right, but immediately on our left there were 2 warthogs having a set-to. Having pushed each other around, and then pushed dirt at each other, they both turned around and peacefully started munching the grass. Must have been males…
I commented that to make a good day we just needed to glimpse Warthogs, Giraffe and Rhino (no predators (lions, cheetahs, leopards) or ‘tramplers’ (elephants) allowed in Tala, it’s a peaceful reserve), and shortly afterwards we came across 6 giraffe right next to the road having a snack of some trees. 4 adult and 2 young. They were outstanding and to be so close to them was incredible. Giraffes are so docile that that wasn’t a problem, but we were eager not to scare them. They are such amazing creatures, so graceful and yet each seems to have an expressive face as they stare straight at you taking picture after picture of them chewing away at some leaves. I wonder if God was chuckling as he designed them. Did He know how much pleasure and amazement these beautiful creatures would bring to the inhabitants of an (almost clean) White Toyota Camry on a sunny Autumn afternoon in 2007?
Two down, only the Rhinos to go. Cleverly, I thought to ask a ranger where the rhinos were hiding and we headed down that way. We nearly lost the track by following another guided tour but spotted our horn-ed friends over on another hill. In the process of getting close to 4 chunky rhinos, we pootled past herds of zebra, wildebeest, Eland, buffalo and several other deer, not to mention several Ostriches and Herons. But the light was fading fast and so the cameras had to be put away and all too soon it was time to go. But for a first attempt at Game viewing, it was excellent and everyone is happy to have been able to get so close…
Highlight of the day: Without a doubt, the giraffe experience. Until you’ve been up close to one of them, you can’t appreciate how amazing these magnificent creatures are, and our car was surrounded by them! Awesome!
All of the pictures are on cameras requiring a special device to get them onto my computer, so they will follow tomorrow. Friends back home had better book out several days for the post-holiday photos on return from here, something tells me that there are going to be a lot!
Part 1
My blog is temporarily going to become almost a daily journal of what’s been happening with the family as they visit me here. The main aim is to keep the rest of the family in the UK informed so that they feel part of the adventure, Hello to you J,B(+1),G and G&G! If you support me here, you’re kind of part of the family too, so I hope you enjoy the stories as well…
Sunday
Mum and Dad arrived from an overnight flight from the UK. After a cold and wet week here last week (which I thankfully missed having been in milder Gauteng!), the hot weather was back with a vengeance and it was quite a shock to the system for them to step off a plane into blazing hot sunshine and mid 30s temperatures.
They are staying in Hillcrest in a very nice Guest House with 2 beautiful dogs, one of which is called Loopy! After a quick change into some cooler clothes, we headed for my house and they had a brief tour of the site before it got dark. All the kids were in dinner so it wasn’t easy to talk to them.
Good restaurant for dinner – Butcher Boys – think it’s a chain, at least in KZN. Nice place, but everything is cooked fresh so it’s a little bit of a wait for food. Dad had Kudu steak, quite tasty. He has been banned from shouting out ‘I’ve eaten you!’ as we go round Game Reserves.
Monday
Picked up hire car and L&R from airport. Felt like paparazzi as we took photos of plane landing, them walking from plane to terminal, emerging from arrivals hall etc… Just before they came out, a guy in orange robes (can’t remember the religion, Buddhist maybe?) came through arrivals and was greeted by similarly dressed men who placed a garland of flowers around his neck. It was too late for me to assemble a similar garland of biltong (dried meat loved by South Africans worldwide) to place around L’s neck…
As I showed them all around site later on, the kids were a bit more interactive. One little boy told my Dad he looked like Father Christmas (because of his beard!), and another little treasure told my Mum that she had hair ‘like a Gogo’ (because her hair is blonde?!)
All the Zulus here are very eager and pleased to meet my family. It’s quite amusing watching them. I keep being accosted by people who’ve heard that my family are around but have not been introduced yet. Tomorrow could be a busy day…
Tuesday
Time is flying by already… Today I took the family for a visit to the local Spar shopping centre to get a couple of things. It’s a centre full of black Africans and is lively, loud and a real experience… Then I drove them to visit a couple of the preschools, through the valleys of KwaXimba and Swayimane. L and R took some footage on video camera which will be made into a DVD at some point soon, we watched it this evening, I think the comedy parts might not make it through, but there were several. We encountered all the traditional sights of driving through the valley – crazy combi driving, large cows and goats blocking the road, everyone waving as we passed; but sadly no monkeys were out today. It was a bit weird for me driving so slowly through the valley, normally I’m on a mission to get somewhere and don’t stop to admire the views. We couldn’t stop for long, but we did get some good views of the amazing valleys.
After lunch in Pietermaritzberg, we headed to Tala Game Reserve. After a comment yesterday from Dad that all he’d seen in the way of wildlife so far was dogs, cats, Sunday the sheep, my rooster and Tubbles (special cat), I decided it might be fun to do a ‘trial run’ around a smaller game reserve, in preparation for the big ones up near St Lucia at the weekend.
And we weren’t disappointed. Arriving just after 4pm it was cooler and time for the animals to come out. My car isn’t suitable for driving down near the water, so we had to admire hippos from a distance, but with our plethora of binoculars and long lens cameras, it wasn’t a problem. A little farther along the way I stopped to point out what turned out to be a rather boring bird in a tree to the right, but immediately on our left there were 2 warthogs having a set-to. Having pushed each other around, and then pushed dirt at each other, they both turned around and peacefully started munching the grass. Must have been males…
I commented that to make a good day we just needed to glimpse Warthogs, Giraffe and Rhino (no predators (lions, cheetahs, leopards) or ‘tramplers’ (elephants) allowed in Tala, it’s a peaceful reserve), and shortly afterwards we came across 6 giraffe right next to the road having a snack of some trees. 4 adult and 2 young. They were outstanding and to be so close to them was incredible. Giraffes are so docile that that wasn’t a problem, but we were eager not to scare them. They are such amazing creatures, so graceful and yet each seems to have an expressive face as they stare straight at you taking picture after picture of them chewing away at some leaves. I wonder if God was chuckling as he designed them. Did He know how much pleasure and amazement these beautiful creatures would bring to the inhabitants of an (almost clean) White Toyota Camry on a sunny Autumn afternoon in 2007?
Two down, only the Rhinos to go. Cleverly, I thought to ask a ranger where the rhinos were hiding and we headed down that way. We nearly lost the track by following another guided tour but spotted our horn-ed friends over on another hill. In the process of getting close to 4 chunky rhinos, we pootled past herds of zebra, wildebeest, Eland, buffalo and several other deer, not to mention several Ostriches and Herons. But the light was fading fast and so the cameras had to be put away and all too soon it was time to go. But for a first attempt at Game viewing, it was excellent and everyone is happy to have been able to get so close…
Highlight of the day: Without a doubt, the giraffe experience. Until you’ve been up close to one of them, you can’t appreciate how amazing these magnificent creatures are, and our car was surrounded by them! Awesome!
All of the pictures are on cameras requiring a special device to get them onto my computer, so they will follow tomorrow. Friends back home had better book out several days for the post-holiday photos on return from here, something tells me that there are going to be a lot!
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