This is the creature that they make the tops of shields from - wild cat apparently.
Me and Mdu's younger brother (whose name I've temporarily forgotten!) Before the joys of rugby I spent a few hours in the Valley near Inanda Dam on Saturday afternoon. My friend Mdu wanted to visit his family and so I drove him down there. It's a stunningly beautiful drive down the mountain towards a lake that would not look out of place in N.Italy next to Lake Garda.
Mdu's family live along the banks of the River Duzi, famous for a marathon boat race once a year (not sure when?) and you have to cross the river (thankfully there's a road bridge) and then drive along the river and then down a track right up close to the river before descending through a field to get to their place. Last time I apparently drove 'too fast', so now I let him drive the last bit, which meant I was free to take photos. (again there are loads more on facebook).
Once we got there, Mdu took the kids off to the store and I was left with his family, which was interesting as the majority of them don't speak English. One of his younger brothers, Khaye, speaks good English so he made sure I was being looked after. Bit of an awkward moment when they brought out a bottle of coke for me to drink. I haven't had coke since 2003 as it makes me ill. Took me a little while to get them to understand that. (Ngiyaxolisa kodwa uma ngiphuza icoke, ngiyagula kakhulu.... ) check out my Zulu ;-) Eventually I managed to get some pineapple fanta (still full of sugar, but no caffeine!)
In any case, their family are big on making shields and traditional costume and they do this in the rondavel where they entertain visitors. So I got a great insight into how one makes these things. The animal that they use for the tops of the shields (Chris L - this is what's on your shield! - you wanted to know) is a small wild cat that they catch locally. There were several skins hanging up to dry. The skins that are used for drums were being stored in a pond down by the river and while we were down there, the wife of one of the brothers came down with a rake and hoiked them out. What a smell! Pond-soaked animal skins...
They have their own beach down by the river. You can walk across the river to the other side but I refrained. And I'm glad I did as I later found out that this river is rather polluted. I imagined it would be, it's used for many different purposes not just canoe marathons. The family don't wash white clothes in there, but I think that's the only thing that doesn't get put there!
Anyway, it was so nice to be in the middle of nowhere, to be surrounded by beautiful mountains, and to not hear any traffic. It was so tranquil and peaceful.
