The Rescue

We left Cape Town a bit later than I’d intended on Tuesday morning (the 10th), and I think the route we took was perhaps a little longer than going straight up the N1, so it was late and dark by the time we reached our stop for the night just outside of Britstown (in the Northern Cape province). Our destination was Rooidam (red dam or red lake) Cottage. Rooidam is a sheep farm in the Karoo. The owners have 2 little cottages beside their house that they’ve converted into guest cottages, and I found them on the Web. (I really can no longer imagine travel without the Web!)

As I said, it was dark when we arrived, so we couldn’t see much of the farm around us. The cottage had a small kitchen/lounge, 2 bedrooms and a full bath. And it cost only R250! It was just about perfect for us, except for the small field mouse that seemed to have made a home in the kitchen cupboard. But he was quiet during the night – or, we were so tired that we didn’t hear him!

While in Cape Town, I’d made a visit to my favorite wine store, so I got a bottle from the car, Jeff carried a small bench just outside the gate to the house, and we sat outside drinking wine and looking at the amazing night sky. One of my strong memories from Kilimanjaro is waking one night to use the toilet and being amazed at the number of stars in the sky. I think I may have seen even more stars in this Karoo sky. It was really astonishing. I think I saw three shooting stars. I don’t know how even folks who are knowledgeable about constellations could pick any out from amongst so many stars!

The next morning dawned bright and early – it is a working farm – and Jeff and I each took turns wandering around checking things out. At one point, I was standing outside the cottage combing my hair while Jeff was in the shower, and farmer Barry came over to tell me that there was a problem. One of the hens had recently hatched some chicks, and she and four or five of the chicks had fallen between the cattle grate that separates the fields from the yard. I walked over with him, and sure enough, there was the hen and her brood, squawking about being stuck down below (a little less than 2 feet, I’d guess). Barry reached down and managed to pull up the mother hen. The housekeeper, her husband and I tried to reach the chicks, but they were just beyond our reach. So the three of us lay down on the ground and slowly managed to scoop up all of them. Jeff walked out during this operation, and I’m sure it was quite a sight to see Barry standing there with a squawking hen in his arms, and the other three of us lying on the ground doing heaven knows what!

Barry was born and grew up on the farm, but he is now retired; he and his wife live in town. Their son and daughter-in-law now run the farm, which raises sheep (not much else could live or grow in the arid Karoo). Barry and the wife (whom we did not meet) were looking after the place while the son and his family were off on holiday. Older Afrikaans farmers tend to be a religious, conservative lot, and Jeff was surprised to hear Barry say that he is concerned about global warming. Jeff was also happy to learn that Barry thinks land use has improved during his lifetime. Many farms in the Karoo were over-grazed for years, but now farmers have learned to keep herd sizes smaller.

It was an interesting place to stay, and I wish we’d had more time there.