Three Clay Friends

On the way down to the beach last month we stopped overlooking the Sterkfontein Dam. I remember it was a very windy day and there were 2 hawkers plying their trade at the tourist stop. Because it was so windy, not many tourists were stopping, Lynda felt sorry for the 2 hawkers, and bought these 3 clay animals, a porcupine, an elephant, and a warthog.

Still to this day we haven’t found an ideal place for them but in the meantime, these 3 clay friends live on top of the bar along with the TARDIS from my birthday cake. We don't have names for them yet, so their naming is now open to my readers.

Being the Tourist

They say while in Rome, do what the Romans do, so even though I grew up here, the family didn’t so while on holiday at the lower South Coast, why not do the tourist thing. This is us being the tourists.

First on our agenda was the famous Waffle House in Ramsgate for a yummy waffle breakfast. The morning was slightly nippy as the sun still had to warm up so it was hot Mocca to start while Matthew had tea, of course while we waited for our waffles.

A visit to Ramsgate Beach was squeezed in between the waffles and our next tourist stop, the Butterfly World as it was now starting to get warmer. The wind had picked up and the sea a little choppy so we didn't stay long before we were off again.

Now the Butterfly World was a little of a disappointment as it seemed a little run down. Maybe it is supposed to look like a grotto but the decor did not get a huge thumbs up from me. As for the butterflies, well there were lots and lots of Golden Piper butterflies everywhere but not a lot of other species. But for our grand daughter they were the thing to see. Along with the butterflies Rebekah was also enthralled with the tiny tortoises.

By now it was way past Rebekah’s bedtime, so Marco, Robynne and Rebekah headed back to our holiday apartment while Lynda, Bradley, Matthew, and I headed inland to the Oribi Gorge. I spent many times up here at Murchison, Paddock, Oribi Flats, and of course the two gorges. So acting as the tour guide I showed my charges the spectacular Oribi Gorge. But as usual I didn't pay too much attention to the fuel as being a tourist guide was taking a lot out of me and by now my guests were getting tired. But even though we were a little low on fuel we did managed to get back to the coast on a whiff of a oil rag.

All Creatures

All creatures great and small, fat and tall, our Lord God loves them all, or does that song go otherwise. Anyway on the very last day of the year, we did another early morning start. This time we left from our base in Nelspruit and headed for Numbi, the closest gate into the Kruger National Park armed only with our cell phones’ cameras.

It was a cool start but we knew that the temperatures would hit 40 degrees Celsius so we packed lots of water. At first the animals were scarce but we camped out at every watering hole between Pretoriuskop and Skukuza. The heat forced the animals to the watering holes with even the rhinoceroses preferring to wallow in the water as if they wished to become hippopotamuses.

We saw mostly Impala followed hot on their tails were the rhinos. Yes we were blessed to see lots of these endangered animals but towards the end of the day all we wanted was to see some elephants and then we nearly drove into two large males bulls as we round a dirt track that lead to another watering hole. These two must have opened the flood gates as it was elephants we wanted, we got plenty.

The crowning point of our trip was at the very end, near Malelane on another dirt track along the Crocodile River. The Leopard just caught a monkey in front of us and calmly proceeded to walk past us carrying it’s dinner, much to the disgust of the other monkeys who stayed well back in the trees barking at the leopard.

Hanro and the Hunger Games

Okay well not the Hunger games but an archery competition at the Ngomo Safari Lodge inside the Rhino and Lion Nature Reserve. The National Archery in Schools Programme held one of competitions at the lodge with another one which had contestants walking through the veldt and shooting at targets at various ranges and elevations.

My nephew Hanro from Rustenburg has been selected to represent South African juniors in the National Archery in Schools Program World Tournament to be held in July this year in Nashville, Tennessee.

Today’s competition Hanro shook his head as he was upset as he scored 270 out of 300. He was aiming for much higher. At only 12 years old, Hanro has the world before him. Good luck and may the odds be ever in your favour.

Other than watching the archery, we got to tour the nature reserve and see some amazing animals up close.

Please note poachers and those that believe that rhino horns give you some special powers, that all rhinos at the Rhino and Lion Nature Reserve have had their horns treated with toxins that make them unfit for human consumption.

Transvaal Museum

I had to do a mock lecture in front of the Vice Principal, Head of Human Resources and the Head of IT as part of a valuation for a college. I chose web image formats as my topic. The feed back was very positive. The lecture happened in Pretoria and afterwards Matthew and I went to the Transvaal Museum. Only the mineral and bird sections were very good. The other sections were suffering from lack of funding. We left there with very sore feet.