TALL TRAVEL TALES

As most of my friends know, I love to talk, but equally most of them won't listen to me and so I have chosen to commit my thoughts to paper, particularly those gleaned when travelling far and away.

Anyone who is remotely interested is invited to visit http://www.dolphinza.com/travel.html the latest one being on my recent trip to Botswana. (The pic is of us on the Chobe River - Moi is in green in the middle on the left.)

Once the silly season is past (did I wish my fellow Bloggers all blessings this festive season?) I will concentrate on where next to take this bod: will it be Sumatra or Cuba perhaps? What I do know is that I will spend the last couple of weeks of any holiday I take lying horizontal on the beaches of Bali. Bye!

THEY'RE TALKIN' TURKEY

On contract from Leeds to Pretoria where Matt is working on a coal mine operation for Eskom and Claire is a civil engineering designer, they chose the West Coast as their holiday destination.
"I've always wanted to cook a Christmas meal in a Weber," says Matt and on what was a perfect day weather wise he did just that. Here they partake of a turducken (a chicken in a duck in a turkey ... or whatever it is that Nataniël calls it) with the traditional trimmings (those on the plate and on their heads!) and Claire reports that, "He can do that again anytime" (although I did wonder if there was any inference in the fact that he received a braai recipe book for Christmas).

HARK, THOSE LITTLE ANGELS SANG

Doug and Julia chose to spend their annual holiday on the West Coast but, he being a thoughtful person and knowing her penchant for animals, booked an overnight at Elandsfontein Game Lodge on the R27 and by so doing they got the best of both worlds: Doug for the sea and Julia for the bushveld.

Every Thursday volunteers work in a soup kitchen in Stompneus Village and by way of recompense the children performed at a carol-singing concert at Shelley Point Hotel on - appropriately - the Day of Reconciliation, some as young as 5 years. Afterwards they were royally treated to the juiciest of hamburgers and the crispiest of chips by the Hotel management and took home gift packs to put under the Christmas tree.

Having driven all the way north to Lambert's Bay to enjoy lunch at the famous Muisbosskerm Open Air Restaurant they still found it in their hearts to hotfoot it back in time to catch the tail-end of the choral refrain.

Generously Doug, whose son suffers from Asperger's Syndrome, made a wholesome contribution to Die Eilandhuis vir Gestremdes and which Jimmy spent on making sure the children under his care will have a brighter and lighter Christmas.
Both these organisations could do with a cash injection and if you feel it in your hearts to do so, please let me know and I'll put you in touch with the right people.

DIE TWEE IS TWEE KEER HIERNA TOE

I've said it before ad infinitum and ad nauseum: my guests are great; not only do they keep me entertained, they also pay for me to go on holiday! Yes, Blog followers, that's where I am going tomorrow courtesy of Karoo Birding Safaris, headed for the very northern corner of Botswana to look for, inter alia, Carmine Bee-eaters (a dream of Michael and mine from w-a-y back in 2001 when we had to cancel a trip due to his illness) and if I am very lucky Pel's Fishing Owl to boot.

But back to my guests. Having been married on 31 October 2009, Andrew and Yolanda arrived the next day and spent their honeymoon week here at Dolphin B&B+S/C. And so - two years later - they chose to spend their well-deserved annual break on the West Coast with me again. (Check out my earlier Blog "It seems that this is the time for tying the knot" which I posted on November 24, 2009.)

The update is that they're just as in love and happy as two years ago and thanks, you two Lovebirds, for the chokkie hazelnuts. It's your fault I am growing in girth!

Hope the wind drops so that you get to enjoy Britannia Bay in all its glory before leaving for home in Montague next Monday.

THE SWEDES COME TO TOWN

Neil and Ragnhild Crawford who hail from Kärna, Sweden, had stayed with me in September 2006 and toured the southern and western areas of the Cape in search of elusive plant species and were indeed rewarded for their diligence.
It was thanks to their stopover at Dolphin B&B+S/C that good friends Lars and Kerstin Peterson, through referral, spent two nights exploring the West coast and although their sights were set on flora, it extended also to avifauna, Lars being particularly pleased with species he could tick off on his 'life' list.
I was struck by the observations that Lars had made through their travels in South Africa so far: "European Union citizens and white citizens in South Africa are in many cases in a similar situation. Farmer political and economical dominance is broken" He went on to encourage us to "continue to protect the biological diversity" of our country, adding that "Ecotourism is a growing market" and that "managing nature reserves is good investment". I can relate to that, Lars.
From here to Cape Town, then via the southern Cape (Knysna etc.) to Prince Albert where they've been put in touch with Sue Milton-Dean (PhD) who, with her husband Richard Dean (PhD), manage RENU-KAROO Veld Restoration cc and are deeply involved in and committed to Karoo veld assessment, vegetation surveys, indigenous seed and plants for Karoo restoration and landscaping. Three years ago I spent two of the most enlightening hours in Sue's company as she led a small group of us through her 'patch of perfection' - a small holding that she and Richard have left pristine and where lithops compete with gymnosperms and Khoi middens give us a glimse into an era long gone. Highly recommended.

MONKEYING WITH A GOOD WRITE IS PURE MONKEY BUSINESS

I don’t know about you, but trying to follow the Dewani case has been jolly hard work, what with the hype from spin publicist Max Clifford and the surmisations and suspicions voiced by a polarised public. And so it was with delight that I learned that long-time friend Mike Nicol's book, Monkey Business, was to be launched at the Open Book Fair last month.

Personally I think journalist Zelda Venter lost the plot when she wrote (in her review of the book) of ‘being disappointed’. Read the full review at http://www.iol.co.za/tonight/books/no-new-light-shed-on-anni-s-murder-1.1156402

Layman I might be, but I couldn’t but fail to gasp at how Mike has mastered the chain of events – and in the short while it took him to put it all together. Had I the time – or, for that matter, the inclination - I still wouldn’t have known where to search to read about this fascinating case and yet this author has been able to capture the intrigue in brilliant chronological order - and probably from the confines of his office.

I’m sorry the book is only a centimetre thick and, yes, I wait expectantly for the case to come to trial. Who knows that we mere mortals won’t have the benefit of reading the sequel which captures all that. Certainly the book is not ‘premature’; Mike has just been very resourceful in seeing a gap and taking it. It smells of professional jealousy that a journalist didn’t see it first.

DIVINE INTERVENTION OR WHAT?

My day was touched by the gentle impact of a gentle man in the form of Father Elsey. Knock-knock (or truth be told, ring-ring) at my door and there stood this larger-than-life bearded priest ("I'm of the bell's and smells discipline," he claims) from Devon who has just spent three months filling in for the Calitzdorp ngk Dominee who took a sabbatical allowing Father Ed time to explore the port capital of the world - you got it - in between the 92 recitals he played during that time.

I was to learn so much from him during his 48 hours' sojourn here and, no, he doesn't mind at all that I write openly about his gayness (or is it gaiety?), his having come out six years ago and very comfortable with himself.

I was so comfortable and charmed by this intellectual and his bonhomie, not to mention his zest (dare I say lust?) for life. We spent quality time swapping lifestyles (mine is much more mundane) and sharing a meal at Beira Mar for which Father generously paid - sorry there were no whales!

As he wrote in my visitor's book (under the column of "How did you find us?") 'Chance/Divine'. A bigger and better man knows why ours paths should have crossed and I am all the richer for it.

WORTH TURNING A YEAR OLDER

Spent my birthday arvie last Saturday with family and the evening with close friends. What better way to celebrate than that?

Deer Park Café in Vredehoek, at the foot of Table Mountain, is a delightful, open-air restaurant that caters primarily for children and spills out onto rolling lawns where the kids can swing, climb and crawl up jumpin' jacks and down foofy slides. Which is exactly what these cousins did while the moms drank lattes, vino bianca and munched on chips and chocs.

The vibe at Mamma Mia in Steenberg is somewhat more adulterous - if you know what I mean Having placed orders for veal all round with attentive Debbi, Keith, Mike, Roy, Jill (with whom I share a birthday, although there's a year's difference between us - in her favour!) Moi and Kevin settled in for an evening of catch-up, having been friends for 30 years.

A great way to spend my (sorry, Jill, our) birthday and ta to all who remembered it by calling, emailing, SMSing and, yes, those luverly pressies Mwah x

THIS POOR CREATURE NOT HAVING A WHALE OF A TIME

The call went out around midday September 19th to save a stranded Dwarf Sperm Whale Kogia sima – identified from photographs by marine expert Mike Meyer - that had beached near the slipway in Britannia Bay.

MCM inspectors and volunteers worked to stabilise the animal, which was still breathing, keeping it upright and cool. Other than a few scratches, caused probably when rolling in over the shallow reef, it appeared to be unharmed. Meyer explains that the so-called pool of blood in which the animal was swimming was in fact a cloud of reddish-brown faeces that the creature releases when frightened at the surface.

It was dragged back into the water where it rolled and floundered for a couple of hours before washing up once more. Again it was pushed back into the sea, but it considered unlikely the creature will survive and anyone coming across the animal is asked to call Bernie Pols on 083 425 7678.

HOME AWAY FROM HOME

Dave and Ena had stayed with me before, but on this occasion Ena's daughter, Cheryl, and friend Matthew also spent two nights at Dolphin B&B+S/C, theIR intention: to see Cheryl's newly built house - all done via email from her career home in Saudi Arabia. Now that's what I call project management and with an excellent architect and local builder Steve Misplon (Pride's Buildings) the result is simply stunning.

Cheryl has every reason to be proud of what she's achieved and says she was like a child under a Christmas tree opening the boxes of personal effects that will adorn the shelves of her new West coast home.

Welcome to this very special part of the world, Cheryl; lovely to have you as a neighbour, which is essence means I also get to see more of the Hiblings too.

LIFE IS ANYTHING BUT A BIND

Long-time friends Christel Borck and Barbara Meyer, from Germany, enjoyed a surprisingly warm winter's day having brunch on the deck overlooking Britannia Bay.

We talked about their respective careers and agreed that retired life is wonderful, as it allows one to dabble in all manner of interesting pursuits, Christel's being book-binding.

Here she's used the inner tube lining of her bicycle tire to cover her diary and the postcards are simply corrugated cardboard cut to size which she decorates with something indicative of the country she's travelling through. In our case I guess it could have been JuJu's picture adorning the cover, but taste ruled and her friends back home instead will see the Big Five and labels from product bottled at Klein Zalze Wine Estate. Much better than Malema, don't you think?

I TALK TO THE TREES

John en Teresa Tree (glo my of nie maar hulle is pure Afrikaners) het by my vir ‘n week kom bly en op Saterdag was dit weer die Koffie Kan in St Helenabaai. Dié uitstappie is bedoel vir ons wat oor vyftig is en is ‘n geleentheid om bymekaar te kom, te gesels en lekker te eet. Dis geinspireer en gemotiveer deur Menita Paxton (voor), lid van NG Kerk, maar is bedoel vir almal wat in die dorp woon.


Bo en behalwe die feit dat Teresa ook ‘n prys in Bingo gewen het, het hulle my vriende - insluitend my dierbare vriendin Susan – ontmoet en saam met ons gekuier.


Van daar af was ons tot oo op Britannica Heights om die Uitsig vanaf Elandsbaai tot Cape Columbine buite Paternoster te geniet en waar ek die blomme kan identifiseer om ‘n berig vir toerisme doeleindes te skrywe.

Gawe mense, maar ek sê weer: al my gaste is uitstekend. Lief hulle almal.

BALI ... HI

It's called Island of the Gods - Bali, that is - and I'm about to find out why.

First I'll spend seven nights at Mediwi Bay Retreat in Negara (north-west of the mainland) after which I join one of Intrepid's adventures (I've used them before and will continue to do so to countries where language and culture can be a barrier) for a 15-day intensive tour ending up on one of the small islands off Lombok: Gili Meno Resort, in the heart of one of the world's biggest natural bird sanctuaries. (I can do bird-watching lying on my back soaking up the sun, binos pinned to my beadies!)

But, no, fellow-bloggers, you'll have to wait for mid-June when I return and write up my travel tales. For now be content with a taste of what's to come.

Bon voyage, I say!

MAN'S INHUMANITY

I was alerted to the fact that there was a dead dolphin washed up on Golden Mile's stretch of beach in Britannia Bay. What I saw was in fact the evidence of some callous brute who had shot the creature.

I called MCM senior researcher Mike Meyer and, at his behest, had the carcass (of what he told me was a sub-adult common dolphin) moved to the deepfreeze of a friend until he could arrange for it to be collected (for DNA and further study).

This beautiful, innocent creature had likely been targeted by pelagic fishermen as it is wont to rush at the netful of fish being hauled aboard a fishing vessel.

Lee knelt down beside the body and stroking it murmured, "I've never touched a dolphin before".

Sad, eh?

WHO'S HAD A HARD DAY AT THE ORIFICE?

Robin and Sylvia Gibbs broke their long-standing tradition (seven years in a row) of spending the Easter weekend here at Dolphin B&B+S/C by choosing instead to travel to Kgalagadi National Park, but in their stead I hosted the stay of a most delightful family: Denise and Hannes Meyer and their daughter, Salome Hoogendijk and her husband Frits.
Other than the fact that they were just darned nice people, what made their stay stand out for me was one of these coincidences that is a reminder of how miniscule we are in the greater plan of things.
Having established that Salome is a dentist and Frits a maxilla-facial surgeon, both practising in Pretoria, I asked whether by any chance they knew my cousin Boetie who passed away tragically in 2009. Not only was the response positive but, when chatting to Hannes, who has a dental practice in Thabazimbi - is this keeping it in the family or wot? - Denise chips in to say that she and Boetie were in the same class at school together. You can't talk about anyone and it will get back to them!
Incidentally, I've seen some seriously good camera equipment in my time but their clobber was to-die-for, although let's give credit where it's due: I suspect it's their dedication to get that perfect shot rather than their Nikons that made the results of their work so extraordinary.

GET YOUR TEETH INTO THIS ONE

Last time I tried to explain to, you, my Blog-followers why it is that I do what I do. Probably the paramount reason I gave is the fact that I learn something new every day. I mean, how many of you know that an elk has only two ivory teeth? Come on now ... admit it ... you had absolutely no idea that an elk even had teeth; you thought they only had antlers.
Ignacio and Sarah - he from (Basque) Spain and she from Montana - stayed with me during his research into renewable energy along the West Coast (he's a provider to the industry, not a developer per se). Sarah proudly showed me the antique ring Ignacio had bought for her birthday next Friday - and this is where the elk thingie creeps in.
I couldn't read the carat gold, but knowing the age of the ring, I guess it would be 24ct - as pure as they made it in them thar days - and promptly guessed (wrongly) the stones to be opals of a kind.
That's when I had a lesson in natural history from Sarah who explained that the boreal elk Cervus elaphus has, amongst its other gnashers, these two ivory teeth and as I can't for the life of me think what they could be useful for, I wonder whether they - rather like man's useless appendix - were stubs of a kind of tusk from elks of the Pleistocene Age. Whatever ... it makes for nice cocktail party prattle.

IT'S ALL ABOUT THE BIRDS AND THE BEES, REALLY

Why do I operate a guest house? What's in it for me, you may well ask? Besides the obvious income, there's the joy of knowing you've made visitors content, if not downright happy - something I really strive to do.
But for me it's also the gratification of learning something new every day - and this morning was one of those back-to-school moments.
Siegfried and Trudi, who stayed here with Hansruedi in January, returned with her Mom, Petro and friend Mari-Louise and over breakfast I was taxed with "What's the difference between swallows, swifts and martins?"
Now, I've often been called Mrs Reuter or Mrs Yellow Pages but, trust me, it's not because I have all the answers. Nyet, nay and not at all! It's just that I know where to find the answer. So quicker than you could say boo to a goose I was on the blower to avifaunal ace Trevor Hardaker (Don’t believe me? Go to www.zestforbirds.co.za for a right royal treat.) whose succinct reply was, “Swifts have no back toe so can’t perch”. And there you have it, dear followers of my Blog.
Anymore brain-teasers you want to throw my way this bright Monday morn?

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY

An off-the-street enquiry resulted in Pierre and Mireille Klemm from Geneva, Switzerland spending three nights at Dolphin B&B+S/C and I was able to spoil them with a special breakfast on Valentine's Day morning. Mind you, methinks these two celebrate their relationship every day they're together (with Pierre referring to her as The Colonel I think they're set for many happy years yet to come).
This is their fifteenth trip to South Africa, but their first this far up the West Coast; usually they reach only Yzerfontein where they stay with now-friend Angelique at Villa Pescatore and from what they wrote in my visitor's book ("We have fallen in love with the area") I may see more of them in years to come. I certainly hope so!

CARING KID

I'm a very proud step-grandmother. Young Christian, aged 10, has subscribed to National Geographic Kids for about three years now. Then, lucky lad, he was drawn as subscriber of the month, which won him this drop-dead-fancy PawPaw watch. Last year he submitted a letter about the litter the family collected whilst hiking up Lion's Head - perhaps that went a long way towards his name having been selected. Personally I think it's very responsible of him to show concern regarding the planet he lives on and to have done something about it.

IRON BRU

I know it in my guts: there's a book to be written about the guests who come to stay at Dolphin B&B+S/C and today cemented that theory.
Eckhard Scholtz and Derek Oehley came specifically to celebrate Chris Dixon's 50th birthday at the home of his parents who live on Golden Mile here in Britannia Bay.
Both are ultra-fit and run a couple of marathons like you and I enjoy Chenin Blanc; they also cycle seriously and the Iron Man competition is a cakewalk for these extreme enthusiasts.
But today's sojourn into Britannia Bay took that slice of cake. Derek donned his wetsuit and dove in undeterred by the icy temperatures of the Benguela Current of around 12°C to swim across to his mates who were enjoying lattes on the eastern side. You better believe it! Makes me tired just thinking about it.

KISSING COUSINS

You can imagine my surprise when a voice on the other end of the line identified herself as Debbie Pallister, eldest daughter of my father's brother and thus my cousin.
Gerald and Debbie had travelled to Cape Town to attend their younger son Kyle's wedding and took the opportunity of contacting me.
I'd never met my two cousins (LIndsay being her younger sister) and jumped at the chance. So off to the city where we hugged for the first time - and it felt like we'd known each other for yonks.
Gerald is headmaster at the school at the sugar cane plantation known as Hippo Valley Estate in the southeastern corner of Zimbabwe, Chiredzi being the closest identifiable town, where Debbie teaches the little ones ("I spend the day playing", she claims).
The time sped by and we parted company with the promise that I will seriously consider returning to the country of my birth to meet Lindsay and Graham and link up with the Pallisters once again.
My surviving relatives have just swelled to three and as I get older I realise just how important family is. Thank you, Debbie and Gerald, for giving me these two hours of great pleasure ... and, oh yes, congrats. on Kyle's marriage.

GREAT GUESTS!

I just wanted to share with you the guests who spent their well deserved annual holidays at Dolphin B&B+S/C.

First there was Tommy and Stella who were here for Christmas and New Year's Eve - that's them raising a glass to 2011 and revelling in what turned out to be the mother of all electric thunderstorms - something quite rate on the West Coast - which vied for attention with fireworks displays courtesy of rich locals.

Then came Cape Town-based Siegfried and Trudi with friend from Switzerland, Hansruedi, whom we were hard-pressed to keep out of the chilling waters of the Benguela Current. The weather being what it was this festive season they were able to partake of their evening meal on the patio overlooking the calm waters of Britannia Bay. (Am I lucky to live here or wot?)

Walter and Francheste (to the right of the picture) are spending what he terms "a delayed honeymoon" here, having been married on December 2, 2011. Her family travelled up to see them safely ensconced, although young Navan was a tad tearful to be parted from his Mom. I promise to look after her for you, Navan! Enjoying refreshments on board Groenveld, a converted fishing vessel moored at MCM's pierside in Sandy Point Harbour, was something of a novelty for them and they were kept entertained with the antics of a Cape fur seal fending off opportunistic kelp gulls bent on scavenging for food.