Clanwilliam
Wednesday we visited the closest town to Lisa and Linton, Clanwilliam. It is about half an hour from here, still nestled in the Cederberg Mountains.
As we travelled the road, Linton pointed out the local dam here which holds back a portion of the Elephant River for use in irrigating local farms. He explained that an extensive construction project is underway to raise the dam by 45 feet which will create a large lake, flooding hundreds of acres of farmland, the road we were traversing and hundreds of homes. The need for water for irrigation here is so great that they are willing to make this sacrifice. Makes me realize aagain how much we take water for granted at home.
We spent a lovely afternoon nosing around the hardware store and then the grocery. It was really interesting to explore the products in the grocery store and to compare prices. They had most of the same meats that we have although not the same cuts. Their meat as a rule is much leaner and there is a huge section for lamb and mutton. Ingrid (who lives here at the Lodge and manages it while Linton is away) tells me that this will vary depending upon the region you are in. Lamb and mutton are cheaper and so are more popular in less affluent areas. Prices were surprisingly comparable. There were a few things that are cheap for us but expensive here and vice versa but not many.
We had a lovely lunch at “Nancy’s Cafe”. Schnitzel with cheese sauce accompanied by french fries. Scrumptious! A lovely outdoor patio allowed us to sit out where, although it is always hot here (around 100 each day) there was a lovely breeze. Looking out on the manicured lawn with its palm trees and succulent plants was very enjoyable.
Linton drove home along the back road rather than the highway. This meandering gravel road followed the crest of a ravine with more spectacular view of the ravine below. As we rounded a curve we came upon two baboons crossing the road but I wasn’t quick enough to grab a snapshot of them. Baboons run wild everywhere and are a terrible nuisance for farmers as they love to steal the Mangos from the trees. While they are amazingly large and travel in large troops, they, like most wild animals here, will stay our of your way if you stay out of theirs.
After the afternoon nap which I am becoming all too familiar with, Lisa prepared us a wonderful meal of Spaghetti before we gathered in the Boma. The Boma is a structure of vertical sticks that make a wall in a large circle. There is an open air fire in the centre and each night everyone gathers there to share stories of where they are from and discuss anything that happens to come up. This sharing of stories is an integral part of African culture and it is most interesting hearing about each of the guests here.
That night we had a family from Germany who sang in harmony, acappella. Also an English fellow from Manchester who is in the British Royal Navy and had just completed 3 tours of Iraq and 2 of Afghanistan. He is a helicopter door gunner. You know – the guy who shoots the machine gun out the helicopter door in combat. He shared amazing stories of his escapades and training, some of which was done in the Arctic. His girlfriend whom he met in England is South African so they were here on holiday but I think they plan to move here when he retires from the military. There are so many interesting people here. It was amazing to hear their stories while we gazed up at the milky way which emblazens the night sky. A very mellow way to end the day before retiring to bed.
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Morag