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.