cellphones - mobieltjes

Bram: +26771219936
Maud:+26771219954

Food

Hurrah, we found a local bakery, so no more horrible Spar-factory bread for us. In fact we managed to avoid Spar completely so far; around the supermarkets the villagers sell their mangos, tomatoes, maize etcetera. We also found a Take-Away, which doesn’t only have pap or chips with beef or chicken, but also nice salads. Remains the hunt for morogo (local kind of spinach); our landlady, who used to be a restaurant cook and housekeeper, promised us she’ll teach us how to prepare it really nicely.
Actually this post isn’t meant to bore you with our shopping expotitions (finding a spanner cost us almost a week), but to tell you about Maud being a hero. One of the local dishes, an excellent source of protein, is mopane. Which is a big, gigantic kind of caterpillar. The season just started, so our friend Eric treated us, after a delicious lunch, to a big dish of mopane. Although Maud had to take a big breath she stayed with her decision to try everything, even if it has been walking around – and it was delicious. Not at all like the old tire Bram fed her once, telling this was the famous mopane.

In Gaborone

This year we managed to reach Gabs without a standstill in the dangerous South-African bush. Just paused for St Louis & Savanna Dry in Nietverdiend to celebrate our escape from being hijacked last year.
In Gabs we stayed at Hamish’s place again and immediately started house hunting, which resulted in renting a ‘2’ in Mochudi. A two-room house with electricity, a coldwater tap outside and a latrine in the back of the yard. We fell in love with the beautiful yard with blooming oleanders, canna’s, franchipaner and much more. And the owners, a friendly elderly lady and man – the landlord speaks only Setswana, but the landlady is quite fluent in English – who live in the ‘big’ house in the yard.
Mochudi is a big village 45 km north of Gabs, with a beautiful picknick spot on top of the hill, next to the museum annex mission, overlooking the widely scattered houses, the river and the lands. It doesn’t look like it will be raided by the many Zimbabwean illegal refugees immediately. They are becoming a big problem, even worse than last year.
With a roof over our head we can start planning who to meet, and, most important:-), when to do which bush trip. Definitely a camping trip with Hamish & Mpho to Khutse (south Central Kalahari), and a few days in Serowe and it’s nearby Rhino Sanctuary.

Veilig ry, Lekker bly

All set to go to Botswana now: our Potch-hartsvriende gave Bram a braaiskottel (connecting to the gassbottle) for his B-day. After crossing the border we'll first get Botswana cell-phone cards (we'll post the numbers as soon as possible), than go to Hamish and start house-hunting (mudhut & shithouse in a village).
Although we'll be hartseer to leave our friends here, we look forward to go back to Botswana, where there not as many plakkerskampe, and where you don't cure aids with garlic. And where we'll again enjoy good company, braais and evenings on the veranda.

Skypen is helaas nog niet gelukt. Mam, skypename Chris: snd66 (full name: Chris Baas Becking)

Ons Afrikaners sal Braai

Hoe anders kan ons die veilig tuiskom van Anel vier, as bij die braai?
Lucky us - Anel first visited her parents, and came home loaded with delicious goodies from her ma - kerskoek, sjokoladekoek, konfyt, manja's, ons is totaal bederf. In the evening we had a 'small' braaikie at Haddad's place; once again an evening filled with old friends and delicious food.
The day after we went to Joburg to buy a gass/electric/carbattery-fridge for Bram's birthday, and came back loaded with more goodies from the Outdoor Waarhouse.

Words cannot however capture the gorgeous velvet-blue black sky, vividly alive with a zillion stars, comforted by the concert of crickets, padda's and dogs, completed with the fragrance of franchipaner, sterrejasmijn and the ever present red earth . .

Mamarijke is jarig

Dit is een belangrijke dag, want myn skoonma mag die kerse uitblaas op haar koek.
Ja het klinkt bezopen, dus ik ga maar door in het hoger Nederlands. Van harte Marijke en er komt een keer dat je 20 januari hier in een weelderige tropentuin moet komen vieren want dan zul je horen dat de vogels vanaf 5 uur 's ochtends: "er is er een jarig hoera hoera" zingen.
Begeleid door het gekrijs van de Hadida's en het geblaf van de honden. Lieve moeder, heel veel plezier vandaag! Veel liefs voor oma, vertel haar maar iets over onze 'leidensweg in de bush'. We drinken vanavond een fonkelwijn ofwel champagne op je. En ja, Karel is substantieel groter dan Reusje - en echt een onhandige puber.
Vandaag gaan we de Botswana-huisraad van Gerhards zolder halen en uitzoeken. Gisteren bij de Outdoor Waarhuis in Joburg geweest om 'alleen een koelkastje' voor Brams 50-ste te kopen - uiteindelijk zakte Louis' Toyotaatje door z'n assen van de cadeauberg en zijn wij helemaal klaar voor luxe bejaardencamping.
Op een prachtige feestdag, Maud&Bram

Mail-problem

Maud's got a slight mail-problem – she can read everything (when she has access to the internet:-), but she can't answer. So everyone who send her an epos, baie, baie dankie, as soon as we solved this problem it won't be one-way communication anymore. Keep mailing!!!
By the way, feel free to comment on our blog, we love that too!!!

Tannie

Exercising every day now, making sure Bram’s Achillespees is stronger when we go to Botswana, and to keep the gut growth down while eating mountains of delicious food. Especially at Tannie Hettie’s (Gerhard’s ma). Remember the table moaning under our absolutely fabulous engagement-dinner? This time it was to be just a little braai. As little as Kareltje is small – Gerhard’s Great Dane 10 month-adolescent is huge, gigantic, enormous, clumsy and very sweet.
Na die heerlik knoffelpizza (just a little appetizer) kom Tannie se soetboontjiessaus en tuttie-frutti, Gerhard se slaai, al die braaivleis die Nick gebraai het, die sjampioene- en tamatiesaus, die kaasskottel met provita, die krummelpap. En dan Tannie se pudding, dat is die dood, chocoladetaart met roomys en vla.
Vir die kos het ons nog een draai deur Tannie se tuin gemaak, the garden which already was beautiful last year has matured marvellously. The palms, birches and prunes, papyrus, broodbome – Tannie still work wonders, as we’d already seen on the farm a few years ago.
Boektip: Eben Venter: Begeerte.

Meester Doctor

We joined, and actually go, to Virgin Active. In the gym and on the streets we notice affirmative action works – both ways. The gym is getting mixed, and it feels good that this isn’t an all kaaskop-happening anymore. On the streets you’ll find more and more white beggars. Strikingly, the street-whities mostly are just begging, while the street-Africans are selling newspapers, washing car-windows etcetera.
It’s wonderful to be back home again. Nothing can replace the air, sun, fruit, starry nights and countless other things of Africa. Today we had a very un-African sharpsharp appointment: Louis told us 20:00 on the dot Haddad & Gerhard would come over for a Big Announcement. Maud of course almost died of curiosity, having to wait for hours for the BA. Louis did his best, sneaking out to the nursery with her, while his phone kept ringing - nothing like the marvellous African vegetation to take your mind of things. Finally prof. dr. Gerhard was allowed to come out with the real champagne and make his Heildronk to … Doctor Kotze (dr. written in blood, sweat and tears). (Click on comment to send Louis your congratulations.)

Suffering in the Bush

Our usual suffering in the bush really started now. Busy busy busy – shop till we drop, trying to survive on all the African goodies like Louis se ma se beskuit, avo’s, manja’s, bilton, suikermillies, all the dvd’s we HAVE to see, a zillion people to meet... And Ommihoek introduced a daily cocktailhour we have to attend. On top of that we decided to join Virgin Active; not so virgin anymore Bram is all set to be horribly active.
We bought all we need to transform Maud’s Macmini into a working computer, so she can start her Setswana-course and Indesign-lessons now. But there’s also Louis’ garden which needs a plan, nurseries to visit (we have to promise Bram it’ll be just windowshopping:-), books to read. Thanks to a lovely Swiss-lady we got about 9 k’s extra in our suitcases, so we didn’t have to ship Bram’s books for his workshops for Pretoria University.

Ons is daar!!!

Ons het veilig in Potch aangekom en loseer in Louis se nuwe paleis. Dit is wonderlik om weer in die somer te wees, en alles is pragtig groen omdat dit baie reen. Die Suid-Afrikaanse mobielnummer is:
+27768358656
Ons gaan nou inkopies doen en blog later meer.