Christmas in Darkest Africa

Preamble…. We have been without Internet for a couple of days, so I am very behind postings… and will have to start crowding... to tell everything!!! I will say that my visit this time is going by so very quickly!!!

On Christmas Eve our Rental Car, (more like a ‘glorified’ roller skate),

was delivered on time, right to the condo. It is what they called a Kia Picanto. The car conveniently had 5 doors; 2 for us to use and 3 more to get the luggage in and out. The trunk space was negligible would hold maybe 5 grocery bags and a gallon of milk. Good thing we didn’t have any kids to ride with us… they would have had to ride on top. We loaded and headed for Pietermaritzburg, a bit over an hour away. One of the other oddities was the turn and windshield wipers were reversed in this car. Most vehicles here seem to match the US except you drive on the other side of the car. We met Fanie and Thornton there put our stuff in just about all the remaining room in the bakkie (pickup truck) and turned in the rental car. On our way out of town we stopped at a grocery store and completed the overstuffing of the bed and capper on the bakkie, and I do mean stuffed!!!

We then took off for Darkest Africa. See here for a map on Google,  (campsite A). The drive was about 2 hours more and it was too dark to take photos on the way in… so we headed right up to the main house… met the property owner (Pete) and several other family members and friends, also there to have Christmas. Pete served all of us weary travelers and family a meal of cold sliced venison (game from the Farm), a roll and cold pickled beets. Then off to the rondeval, I didn’t think to take a picture of ours, which is a bit different than any I could find on the Internet…. The building is typical to South Africa; it is round with a thatched roof. Ours was approximately 40 feet across and the walls maybe 11 feet high, and built below grade on two thirds with thick stone wall about 8 feet up… and the rest of the side was screened, the remaining third was screened from top to bottom with screened a door set off to one side. The full wall screens could be pulled up similar to Roman shades, to facilitate any cool breeze or for easier access. There were 6 metal bunks… moveable, so we moved 2 together for a double…. Sort of… and the kids used them as intended…. We made our beds and pretty much fell into them. When lights out came it was DARK!!! DH has a bit more respect for my little travel size Maglight!!! He had to make a trip to the outhouse in the middle of the night. When I say dark, think no electricity…. No street lights, no over glow from nearby town, nothing human…. Really DARK inside the rondeval, outside it was star or moon light only, and filtered by trees.

In Africa, in the summer the sun rises early. The sky starts to lighten at about 4:30 in the morning and full sunrise is around/about 5 am. So, you have to sleep past daylight to get enough rest if you go to bed late! We all got up around 7-ish…. I took a walk with my camera… and caught a couple of pictures. My first encounter was with a Millipede… or in Zulu a Shang ga lo lo, (I have spelled it phonetically, because I don’t know how to spell it in Zulu). This guy was about 6 inches long and moving at a good pace.

We had a delicious breakfast and then down to the rivers edge, which is named the “Boesman’s River”. Where because of the rains was a mixed with silt for silky brown color… The butterflies all came to drink from the rivers edge. I saw at least 6 varieties, but only a few showed their wings… There were some really bright birds too. The Yellow Weavers, which build nests hanging from the ends of branches, and the entrance, is from the bottom, so snakes can’t get in. Another interesting fact, the Weavers strip the leaves from the branches so they can see the snakes…. I saw another bird, but it stayed in the shadows so I couldn’t get a good picture to share. It was brown, red and blue! Along the other side of the river was a shear rock wall that there were swallows nesting, and skimmed the river all day. I have posted a few pictures on my Flickr page.

Soon, folks we met at the house the night before started showing up. They had to get the lamb on the spit and the vegetables in the oven… Around noon, everyone else arrived and we waited for the lamb to finish. Next the tables were set up for an informal Christmas buffet, which had lamb, venison, waterbuck, 3-bean salad, more pickled beets, butternut squash, carrots and potatoes roasted in a stone oven! Everyone had their fill and then there was dessert!!! A real Pudding Triffle- complete with pecans and brandied cherries with vanilla ice cream. Talk about a laid back Christmas. Antoinette, Pete’s daughter, had a small gift wrapped for each guest. It was so nice to feel welcomed and included!!! I wish I had known, so I could have brought something up for her, too!!! We had a gift for Pete, because DH has been to the Farm several times since coming to Africa and wanted to show his appreciation for allowing him to be there.

So far the biggest disappointment here has been that the box I shipped at the beginning of December still has not arrived!!! It has most of the Christmas gifts and the tree in it!! We may have Christmas 2009 in late January 2010.

I more to tell but it has to wait… this is already getting wordy, (nearly 1000). But yesterday I found a quilt shop!!!

AND

I want to give fair warning. I am planning a giveaway for January!!! Details, coming around January 3rd… so stay tuned.

More LATER!!! oh and Happy New Year!

So Much To Tell...

So I am going to post again to the blog…. I have so much stuff going on… I am feeling so special… I live such a boring life…. Most days and then I get to do something so different from my everyday life, like go to Africa twice in one year! And for long stays, so I get a bit of a feel for the area, people, climate and customs.


There are many added benefits too. Like, even though there is a full kitchen, I don’t cook here. The pots and pans are marginal at best…. as are the utensils. And the cooktop is induction… which -well -is much too slow and much too hot for me to balance cooking on. So we eat out a lot! So far I have mastered grilled cheese and salads in the kitchen here, although I have to sharpen the knives every time I use them, because they won’t hold an edge. Another benefit is the condo comes with cleaning ladies, every day except Sunday, like in a hotel. The linens are changed each Monday, and the rest of the place is kept up by them…. Dusting, mopping, counters, etc. daily. All I have to do is stay out of the way.

I mentioned in the previous post (yesterdays) that we went to a

street market on the waterfront in Downtown Durban on Sunday.

I have taken a couple of pictures of some of the loot… I got 2

table cloths that will probably become jackets, like the one on this page. One

is a light blue and dark blue block print on white. It has elephants in

the center - (if you want to see more in a photo, just click on it for a larger view).

and the other is a bunch of African figures dancing

in black on a multi color earth toned background.

My DH saw a painting that he liked…

well actually he wanted a large painting…

and I liked this one, because the trees are

Acacia and have leaves and the elephants.

We will have it framed in a simple black

frame and hang it in the family room,

which has become the “African Room”

in our home.

I was poking through some blogs I follow, read or pop in on once in awhile, and found a neat surprise. Becky of Beckys Blabber blog, posted an Honest Scraper… award on me. So I will have to address that too here, soon (I was thinking tackling it today, but this post is already long!). It’s about honesty and trueness in blogging…. You have to tell 5 things about yourself and bestow the Award on 5 other blogs! I don’t read too many blogs on a daily basis. If I did, I would never get up from the computer. I don’t know how some people do it…. I like to sleep about 8 hours every night…. and eat, and both take up a significant portion of time all by themselves. Add in the other “have to’s” and you are just about out of daylight and that leaves either a bit more time for the computer or in the sewing room. (So there is one honest thing!).

I have plans to visit with a friend, Brenda, at her place. We will be looking over the jacket pattern I made (again like this one), to see if she likes it. If she does we will start the plan!!! We will have to visit the fabric store (not quilting) for a suitable piece for her. And tomorrow she and her neighbor, Verna, will have lunch on the Promenade, just outside my door. It is supposed to be a great place for breakfast and lunch and if my nose is half right it will be spectacular!!!

I finally loaded a visual ‘Visit Counter’ to my blog… I had been meaning to do this for several months… ok, well since summer. But sometimes… the computer and simple escape me!!! And then getting things to work… well you know … I just let it go. Someday I will even find a layout with 3 columns that lets me put my own picture in the header…. But I have many other things I’d much rather do that search through endless template pages on the Internet!!!

In closing, let me wish everyone a Very HAPPY Christmas!!! I hope to post again before the New Year, but in case I don’t get too a SAFE New Year!!!



And as always- MORE Later!