MUCH IN COMMON

Jules Bos, from Alphen, a village between Antwerp and Rotterdam, has the best of both worlds: he’s retired but still gets to visit developing countries acting as a consultant for a quasi-government organisation with headquarters in Den Haag.
It was on this basis that I was tasked with looking after his needs for the two weeks that he was visiting South Africa’s West Coast. “Tasked?” I say. Nay, it was indeed a pleasure to host his two-week stay and to talk with him about matters general and more specific, like the derivation of words that our nations share, like the Zandvliet Shiraz Rosé which he enjoyed with his curried kreef, Zandvliet of course translating into Sand River (vliet = flow).
They term it Chambre D’Hote in Europe; we call it Bed & Breakfast -

but hopefully our definition provides the requisite levels of service and personal touch.

MUD, MUD, GLORIOUS MUD

Wendy Stone of the Dept of Microbiology in the Faculty of Science, Stellenbosch University, is doing her Masters on the occurrence of anammox bacteria (yes, readers, I also raised my eyebrows at that one) in South Africa. Her Associate Professor Alf Botha and Jan Wilsenach (CSIR), an expert on the anammox process, act as her study leaders on a joint project between the two organisations.
The overall aim of this project, which is largely sponsored by the Water Research Commission, is to search for anammox bacteria in South Africa. Writes Alf, “Under unaerobic conditions, these bacteria use nitrite to oxidize ammonium mainly to nitrogen gas.” He explained to me that this process has the potential to be used by the waste water industry in South Africa.
One of the sampling sites that they identified as a possible natural habitat of anammox bacteria was St Helena Bay – and that’s where Andrew Pascall, laboratory manager at CSIR and colleague Alistair Adonis (who, with his family, stayed at Dolphin B&B+S/C) proved invaluable.
So it was that this happy little band spent Valentine’s weekend scraping the proverbial bottom of the barrel, that being the bed of the bay. Follow the red lines in the sketch to trace their route.
Alistair, skipper of Waverider, CSIR’s outsize rubberduck that sports 2X90 4-stroke engines, steered them out to sea in what was one of the gustiest days we’ve experienced this season. In situ the multi-corer was dropped and scooped up the requisite samples, which were then retrieved by the Davit system that operates on the vessel.
I know both Alistair and Andrew from the St Helena Bay Water Quality Trust (when I was manager till November 2008 and now a trustee) and who managed the bacteriological sample collection on behalf of the Trust. Alistair has upgraded his licensing to 40 nautical miles and the group was in excellent hands and the few herbies were not of his doing. As Alf puts it, “Without them sampling in the scientific manner would have been impossible. They could tell the properties of the sea bed and, very importantly, they were able to get us there and back in one piece.”

IF I KNEW YOU WERE COMING ...

I’d have baked a cake – so says the song, but in this case good friend George laid on lunch for my guest Lois Kolver and me at his wonderful bed and breakfast establishment, Blue Dolphin, across in Paternoster.
Here they stand with Sarah tucked into George’s arms (”She’s the boss around here,” I am reminded) with the wonderful view of Groot Paternoster bay in the background.
Colleague Courteney missed out on the delicious lunch, as he was manning his equally delightful gift shop in the town’s fish market square. But perhaps I made up for that by spending money on yet another set of earrings for myself (I now own over 200 pairs). “Do you really need more?” he enquired and of course the answer is “No, but I want them!”