Voortrekkers

To celebrate die naweek, we go to the Voortrekker Monument after we bought Maud’s bus ticket to Potchefstroom at the railway station. Die voortrekkers are the maburu (white Afrikaners) who travelled inland (1834-1853) because they didn’t combine that well with the English settlers (yeah, this is the much abbreviated, simplistic version).


Botswana legend tells the maburu turned around near Molopolole, where the huge agaves grow. Their scouts encountered the agaves during sunset, thought they were gigantic black warriors, and decided the ox wagons came almost too far.


Die Voortrekker Monument was build during the Second World War, to commemorate the maburu who migrated inland. Both Bram and Maud have never been there, so it’s time we take a look. It’s huge. The museum is quite interesting, especially the beautiful elephant gun & the embroidery (Maud), and the big tapestry with an ox wagon in flames & the huge Statenbijbels (Bram). The whole building has the atmosphere of a mausoleum. According to Bram it is very protestant, and it reminds Maud of Nazi-architecture.


The monument is surrounded by gardens. Long ago someone made a beautiful lay out, and planted succulents with lots of love and knowledge. The original plan is still visible through the additions of an absolute bulb-fanatic, and we get great ideas for draught-resistant gardening in Botswana.
Back home we briefly see Judith, who has a few hours in between coming from Windhoek and going to Oman. It’s nice to at least greet her, and tell her in person we enjoy staying in her Tshwane pied a terre!

Snorcity

Arrived alive in Tshwane / Pretoria, one of those places we would never visit if we didn’t have to. It’s like Annette said in her post ‘Impressions’: South Africa is beautiful, but very scary. There are places where you can enjoy the beauty without being scared, like die Ooskaap around Jamestown, Potchefstroom, die Groot and Klein Karoo, but Tshwane is creepy.
Those who think it’s only dangerous for white people get real, these tsotsis come in all colours, and they would kill their own mom for only the thought she might be hiding a 5 rand coin in her bra. The only people out on the street are those who don’t own a car, or have a vicious dog to walk them.
The upside is Bram enjoys lecturing at Pretoria, we’ll meet some friends, and we don’t have a zillion parallel deadlines to meet. Maud’s concentration on the pile of rhino-work isn’t quite there yet, but the only other thing to do here is mall-crawling, which she hates, so sheer boredom might bring focus.

Princess’ Party

The day before we leave, Miss Ellen Kefilwe Bowie invites us to her 5th Birthday Party. When we arrive, the yard is already packed with kids, exploring the brightly coloured Princess’ jumping castle and the trampoline. There’s a snacks & drinks table in the same colours, that looks very promising, guarded by two brave moms, and Ellen invited enough adults to keep her parents busy, cause you don’t want them disturbing your party all the time.


Upon arrival we bump into our neighbour Mr. Claeys Junior, who brought his mom and aunt to entertain the parents. Edu is supposed to be shy, but after some juice and cheese puffs he decides to throw off his disguise. When the hot dogs are served, we decide it’s time to leave and resume packing, before everyone points to Bram as the one who taught Zachary to chase that cute little girl in yellow around the yard.

What Breed?

The most important thing on our ‘last minute’-list is a trip to the posh veterinary clinic. It’s earlyish for the puppies’ second round of shots & de-worming, but it’s better than nothing.
Saturday morning the expotition starts: 5 puppies & Maud in the back, all excited about this big adventure. We’ve never been to the clinic on a Saturday before, and will avoid that from now on: it’s packed. The parking lot is filled with posh cars, feverishly guarded by ntsa tshaba; we’ve never seen so many expensive full bred watchdogs together.


It’s a smart idea: leave the patients in the car, while Bram gets in line in the office. Soon our puppies are the main attraction in the parking lot. Within seconds a lady walks up, says ‘ah, how sweet’, and asks ‘what breed is it’. When Maud tells her they’re full bred Tswana, she tells about her sweetest dog in the world, a Tswana that just walked in one day, looking for food and medical care. Another lady wants to know if they’re all Rhodesian Ridgebacks, an Indian guy with a beautiful German Shepherd almost kills himself with laughter when Maud tells him hers are full bred Tswana’s, and so on.
Finally it’s our turn, and the vet decides it’s easier to treat our bunch inside the car. Nelson and Aisha scream their head of, but Desmond, Nadia and Moira are very brave, and we leave with a fully certified Tswana pack.

ATA

Preparing for temporarily leaving Botswana leaves us little time to blog, so no post about our last evening meal with LJ & Dineo, and Jeff & Pelo, for which LJ made his famous dumplings, no post about our stay at the Serowe office, and so on.
Although we can’t leave out the miracle: hand-raised Black rhino Noddy managed to produce offspring, born on Bram’s birthday or the day before, the first baby black rhino in Botswana for many years! Noddy doesn’t even understand he’s a rhino, he recently moved from the restaurant & swimming pool to the campsites, so it’s sensational he knocked Dorothy up after all. There’re two baby whites also, but they breed like rats anyway.
Sunday April 6 we leave for Pretoria, and April 30 we fly to the Netherlands. Our South African cell numbers are:
Maud: +27765604009
Bram: +27768358656
We’ll try to update our blog during our stay in Pretoria, Potchefstroom and the Eastern Cape, but we’re dependent on internet access via universities, and their security is very restrictive when it comes to surfing the worldwide web...