Women's Day Adventure

The 9th of August is Women’s Day in South Africa. This day commemorates the march by the Federation of South African Women – a multi-racial group of 20,000 women -- held at the Union Buildings in Pretoria on 9th August in 1956. The women were demonstrating against the so-called pass laws, which required people of color to carry “passes” or identity documents that proved they were allowed to enter “white areas”. Despite the protests of those women, the pass laws weren’t repealed until 1986.

So, that Thursday was a public holiday, and Jean gave Friday off to those of us who would be attending IFLA over the weekend in Durban two weeks later. When Lisa Glenn called to see if I was up for an adventure, I was ready. We decided to concentrate on an area close to home – the Magaliesburg – and after a little bit of Web searching (really, HOW did we ever travel without the Web?!), we decided on a hike at Vergenoeg Nature Reserve (http://www.hartbeespoort.co.za/vergenoeg/index.htm) which is about an hour from my house near Hartbeespoort Dam, and then circle back to spend the night at Aloe Ridge Hotel (http://www.aloeridgehotel.com/), which is only 30 minutes north of where I live. Dinner would be at The Observatory (at Aloe Ridge), home of the largest privately owned telescope in South Africa.

Lisa came to my house early that morning and we set off. Vergenoeg is owned by Jan and Elsa Pretorius. We learned that Jan worked for the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) before retiring. When we arrived, we paid Jan, met our guide dogs, Sheba and Wolfie, and started the path up the mountain. The path up is about 3 kilometers. The dogs weren’t the best guides in the world; they were easily distracted by flying birds, each other, and whatever other things are attractive to dogs. Still, it was kind of fun having them along.

As you look at the photos, remember that it is winter here, so almost everything is either brown or gray. Even the air! Winter in Gauteng is very dry, and veld fires are common. There is an almost constant haze in the air. But I bet this place is beautiful in the summer!

We lost our way a couple of times, but not too far. Close to the top of the mountain was an overlook where we could have stopped to watch the Cape vultures gliding on the thermals, but a large-ish group of people came from behind, and our unspoken wish was to get away from them, so we forged ahead to the 4K trail down.

This was great exercise for me, because I’ve spent much of the winter weekends in bed – the only place I can stay warm! And it was good for Lisa as she prepares for the December hike across the country that she and fellow Rotary Scholars will undertake to raise money for various charities.

We came down about 11h30 and drove to the Hartbeespoort Dam. It was interesting, although stinky. They’ve had a problem with an overabundance of water hyacinths, which apparently rot and make the water stink. Ewww! After lunch in a nearby pub, we did a little bit of shopping at the craft market, then drove back towards town and Aloe Ridge.

We checked into the hotel, showered and rested up a little before dinner at The Observatory. Dinner was very good, but the fun thing about the evening is that small groups of people are escorted outside to the telescopes several times during the course of the meal. The astronomer (who we later learned is the owner of the telescope and property) would find something interesting to look at, bring folks out and tell them a bit about what they were about to see, and then you look at the object with the smaller telescope and then the big one. The big one is so big that you have to climb a ladder to get up to the eye.

We overheard a couple who turned out to be American and chatted with them for a bit. They had apparently met Alex (the owner) earlier in the day, and when the evening was over, he offered to drive all of us to the hotel door (not really very far away, but it was chilly). But Alex had something else in mind, and he drove us up the hill to his private residence. It was very lit up, and in the well-fenced front yard, he showed us his pride and joy – an American wolf that he imported. He also had a few bobcats roaming around. They were beautiful animals, but it was kind of disturbing to see them cooped up in such a relatively small area. Weird, actually. I hope he lets them out during the day.

The next day after breakfast, we took a walk down to the small waterfall, and then a longer walk following a dirt road around the perimeter of the property. That road stays on the far side of the fence. The place is actually a small game reserve. We saw some wildlife on our side of the fence, though, including several female and one magnificent male kudu, more interesting birds, and the baby hippo (the adults were on the other side of the fence). We also enjoyed closely observing the almost tame vervet monkeys and zebra family near the entrance of the hotel. Then we headed back to town so Lisa could make her 15.00 class, which had not been cancelled.

All in all, we had a very nice adventure.

Our Visit to the Orange Farm

Before I tell you about our visit to the orange farm, it occurred to me that I should tell you a little bit about Youth Day. When I first heard of it, I assumed (as maybe some of you have) that it’s another false holiday, created by the candy or toy industry. I’m sure some of you have heard my diatribe against Valentine’s Day. But a couple of days before Youth Day, I heard a story on the news about the Soweto Uprising which occurred in June, 1976. Aha! There is a real, logical explanation for Youth Day. In 1976, the ruling party, the National Party, introduced Afrikaans as the language of instruction in all schools. Students in Soweto rioted in protest, which was the beginning of weeks of violent protests across the country. The introduction of Afrikaans was probably just the straw that broke the camel’s back. The protests were also about the poor facilities, overcrowded classrooms, and poorly trained teachers. Youth Day honors those young people who lost their lives during this struggle.

So. As I mentioned earlier, Colleen and I went to Cape Town a couple of days before the book fair so that we could call on customers. Friday was Youth Day, so there were no customer visits to be made. We went to the gym to swim, had breakfast at my wonderful guest house in Constantia (http://www.capestay.co.za/constantiastables/), and then drove north to an orange farm 18K outside Picketburg.

Colleen was very close with the family of her best friend in school, and the woman we visited, Nadine, is a sister of that friend. Nadine and her partner, Eleni, bought an orange farm last year. Eleni is still living and working in Cape Town; she comes up on weekends. They have a 2 ½ year old daughter, Cassandra. Nadine’s parents recently moved to the west coast down from Jo’burg, and they were visiting, too.

Eleni put Cassandra down for a nap, and she and Nadine drove us to the orange groves. The trees had been kind of neglected by the previous owner, but Nadine has been working hard to get them into shape. She improved the irrigation and drip lines, sprayed for pests, and did a lot of pruning. Last year, they produced only 3rd grade oranges, and not too many, that they sold to a local broker. This year, the crop was much larger and better in quality. We learned that the 1st and 2nd grade oranges are sold for export, largely to the U.S. The main difference between the grades is the appearance. Beautifully colored oranges with no blemishes (or only tiny ones) are first grade and go for export. The skin of an orange can be affected by several things. An orange can be sunburned! High winds can damage the skin. Tiny mites and rain can also make unappealing marks. Here in the regular grocery stores in SA, we get mostly third grade oranges. But there is little, if any, difference in the quality and taste of the fruit itself.

The block in which we walked had not yet been harvested, and there were quite a few trees with so much fruit that some limbs were bending low to the ground. We spent a little bit of time picking fruit to relieve the trees. You must twist and gently pull an orange to get it off the branch.

When we got back to the house, Nadine started a fire for a braii. Brian, her dad, showed me how to properly score and peel a navel orange. It’s so easy! I think I’ll be eating oranges more often now.

In addition to the oranges, Nadine and Eleni are raising chickens, turkeys, sheep and goats. They have 4 or 5 female goats that will deliver kids any day now. Two lambs are still being bottle-fed in the evenings, and Colleen and I got to do that. Colleen also helped round up the goats for the evening. Ever since they ate my vegetable garden in Zimbabwe, I have no fondness for goats, so I decided not to participate in that.

The farm is in a valley with rugged but beautiful mountain ranges on either side. The sunset was rather spectacular. Beautiful sunsets make me think of my neighbor and dear friend, Bonnie Snow, who passed away in the summer of 2001. I always feel her with me when I’m admiring a lovely sunset. I seldom try to take photos of sunsets; they never come out as nice as the real thing. So, I just try to lodge them in my memory. I think I’ll remember this one.

Public Holidays in South Africa, 2006

Around the time of Memorial Day, several people noted that I wouldn’t be celebrating that here in South Africa, and some wondered just what the holidays here are. Below is a list of the 2006 public holidays in South Africa.

January
1 – New Year’s Day

March
21 – Human Rights Day

April
14 – Good Friday
16 – Easter Sunday
17 – Family Day
27 – Freedom Day

May
1 – Workers’ Day

June
16 – Youth Day

August
9 – National Women’s Day

September
24 – Heritage Day

December
16 – Day of Reconciliation
25 – Christmas Day
26 – Day of Goodwill