Dear Friends
We hope this finds all of you well. Internet access is difficult for us to arrange so we have to resort to ‘snail mail’. But it’s been a long time since I have written so a few more days (weeks?) won’t matter. And as I have aged since last we talked, bear with me if I repeat myself. I haven’t written many letters from Africa but have been quite religious (in an agnostic sort of way) of making journal entries so much of this seems to me like I’ve said it before. If it sounds likewise to you, I apologize.
While some of you have had more visits to Africa than Connie and I, we quite possibly have had more time to observe and appreciate this part of the world. The thoughts that follow are not necessarily of a conscious flow (big surprise!) but will help convey what we’re experiencing.
DeWildt is run much the way we expected from reading Ann’s book – management by crisis or serendipity. There seems to be a lack of planning but things prosper anyhow. Ann is the undisputed “alpha female’ – the top job in this oh-so-very matriarchal society. Vanessa is the ‘beta’ but usurps many of Ann’s duties – so much so that she becomes a bottleneck at times. It’s not that she is overly a micro-manager but more that she has so much on her plate that she can’t get to everything in a timely manner.
This is a good place to interject my views on the South African work ethic. The whites seam unaccustomed to production, formerly counting on the blacks to do the heavy lifting. Now the blacks – those who are employed – are empowered enough to stand up a little. The result is that , while everyone is busy, not much seems to get done. As you might imagine, this frustrates the piss out of Connie. I being more of a grasshopper than an ant, don’t have as much trouble with it, but I do notice it just the same. To give you and example, Connie and I are currently renovating an old farmhouse to be called the “Rocky Mountain House” in our honor. No one can believe how much work we have done in a short time. What they don’t realize is if we had better tools (seriously lacking in South Africa) and the people who were supplying us with paint and other materials had planned ahead, we would have accomplished even more. A similar situation exists with Connie’s work on the website but in this case, Ann and Vanessa have a ‘manana’ attitude towards approving content.
Those are the downsides –everything else is wonderful. Our first two weeks were spent marveling at Africa’s wildlife. We logged four of the big five – leopards still elude us – took a bushveld trek, and saw all the other game species and incredible bird life in the lushest Kruger you can imagine. We had a couple of close encounters of the elephant kind, met your friends Johan and Johan (who asked how you all are doing) and enjoyed every minute of the experience.
After three weeks of continuous work at DeWildt – most of which was very rewarding – we took a ten day trip to Lesotho, Swaziland, and Kwazulu-Natal. This is the Africa we came to see – the people and how they live. Our first night was spent at Malealea Lodge in Lesotho after an interesting border crossing at Maseru, the capital. You stop, show your passport and get a ticket, proceed to a gate and pay five Rand, go to another gate and turn in your ticket, go through another gate and repeat the process in Lesotho. It makes the US/Canada border look like child’s play – but here no one confiscated out lemons!
In three days in Lesotho we saw only one white resident. Mick Jones owns the Malealea Lodge (sounds Hawaiian but it’s not!) where we camped for one night, then pony-trekked for two days and splurged on an ‘en-suite’ rondaval’ with dinner for the next night – a belated 10th Anniversary celebration.
The horse trek was special and my bottom will remember it for quite a while. Lesotho is one of the poorest nations in the world. Families make $2000 US annually, there is a definite absence of men in the villages except for the last week-end of the month when they return from the mines in South Africa. The women somehow keep it together, tending to their broods, watching the cattle and goats and sheep, gathering crops, collecting firewood, fetching water, cooking and even sweeping the dirt in front of their huts. They transport all of the above on their heads. In fact, some 70% of goods in Africa are transported in the heads of women.
We spent our 10th anniversary in a rondaval hut in a mountain village with no running water and no electricity. We slept in our sleeping bags on the dirt (and dung?) floor beneath the most beautiful stars you can imagine at about 8,000 feet above sea level. How lucky can one get?
The Basotho are happy, relaxed and wonderful people. The kids were at first disappointed that we didn’t have sweets for them but immediately warmed to us, or more accurately to my tall, blonde companion. I took some special photographs – several of National Geographic quality. Poor – yes, but they are rich in a way few of us will know and we were fortunate enough to experience it.
The trip continued on the same level to Kwazulu-Natal, where we got an appreciation of Zulu culture at Eshowe at the Zulu/British/Boer Museum and at Shakaland, a Disney-esque place where you learn about Zulu life. The highlight, however, was the Zulu ‘coming of age’ ceremony. It’s like a debutante coming out party /bridal shower where many of the young women are topless. The celebrant was the chief’s niece and there were about 1,000 people in attendance. Only two faces were white. Are we lucky or what? We spent the final four days camping at game preserves in Swaziland. It was nice to relax and be able to hike among non-predator species and reflect on the previous week.
So now we’re back at DeWildt, staying at the Cheetah Lodge, working hard and cooking our own meals. Tuesday I am cooking for Vanessa, two of her friends and Parks Leshaba and his wife. Parks is a black school teacher in one of the poorest Pretoria schools. He works wonders with almost nothing and I met him and his students when they did volunteer work here at the Centre. I am looking forward to spending time with him and hope to put him in contact with my high school friend who was recently “Science Teacher of the Year”.
We are also looking forward to seeing Marsha, Emmett, and crew but will most likely not travel with them to Zambia and Botswana. It’s really not our style and we have a ton of work to finish.
So that’s what we have been up to.
Best, J&C
