Louis Trichard to Swaziland via Machadodorp

I was contemplating a quiet evening at Absolute Leisure on Friday 27^th May as I waited for the Bristow group arriving from Jo’burg and Louis Trichard.  I busied myself lighting the log fires as it was a cool evening, and at Absolute Leisure we like to give a warm welcome! Tegan was the first to arrive.  The drive from Wits where she lectures in Multi Media Digital Arts was easy, but she had heard that the others coming from Louis Trichard had had a flat tyre on our less than hospitable county roads.  Tegan invited me to join her for a glass of red wine and some perfectly ripened brie which had to be eaten that day, so I was more than happy to help out!  As we chatted Tegan told me that Leigh, her sister in law, has a habit of accumulating crowds....

The rest of the team arrived a little later, and in an instant a largely Woollies gourmet dinner was out on the table in Geluk and everyone, self included, was merrily tucking in and enjoying further bottles of wonderful red wine. And what fascinating, wonderful people I had the privilege of sharing the evening with.

Leigh set up Ridgeway College some years back www.ridgewaycollege.co.za , a quality private school in Louis Trichard. With her were Sandy and Rosy, two top bursary pupils from the school, as well as Leigh’s kids Kim and Aiden.  Then, there was, fresh from the UK, the new highly qualified Physics teacher for Ridgeway College, Geoff, from Wales, as well as Mike, the school’s scholarship fund raiser, retired English and cricket teacher, former church minister at the world famous Regina Mundi Church, Soweto during the 1980s, ANC activist, and ultimately a banned South African (because white people who spent a significant amount of time in the black townships in the 1980s were seen as a threat to the government of the time.

As we chatted we discovered considerable mutual ground.  Leigh had taught Thiofhi, our Emakhazeni Open Africa Route facilitator, when he was still at school in Louis Trichard.  I made mental note for Thiofhi’s next visit that he has formal cooking training and is known to be quite a whizz chef!

Mike knows the Brewer family from Katrinasrust Trout Farm on the Slaahoek Road (between Machadodorp and Badplaas), having also instilled some education into both Tim and Gavin when they were still wearing short pants!  Tim and Gavin now run the lovely scenic Schurweberg mountain retreat as a trout farm and weekend fly fisherman’s lodge with some of the best trout fishing in the region.  The business has been in the family for 3 generations, their grandfather having developed the trout farming some years back. gavinbrewer@telkomsa.net  +27132569058 or +27825747121.  

Of course the next question was why were these wonderful people spending the night in Machadodorp?  And in the answer lies another fascinating story.  Mike’s God son Jigs Thorne has set up an amazing establishment at Malkerns in Swaziland, called House on Fire - a n events venue and art gallery.  Annually this venue holds a music festival, the Bush Fire Festival, to which up to 4000 music lovers come  to hear a fusion of music from around the globe.  The festival not only helps develop and inspire local artists, but also raises money for upliftment causes and education in Swaziland.  Check out web sites www.bush-fire.com and www.house-on-fire.com .  I was tempted to join them for the weekend ...but alas did not have my passport with me! Tegan, you were right about Leigh’s habit of accumulating crowds!  Don’t forget to invite me next year Leigh...I’d love to come too!

Girl's Weekend

Four Cellists!

To celebrate the achievement of completion of her doctorate, Dr Terry , Peta Ann and Emakhazeni Highlands Lass set off for a girl’s weekend in the Mpumalanga Highlands...of course!  This all sound rather simple – not so!  Peta Ann’s work schedule as professional cellist with the JPO (Johannesburg Philharmonic Orchestra ), Terry’s lecture and marking commitments in the Social Work Dept at UJ (the University of Johannesburg), and my too-ing and fro-ing between Gauteng and Mpumalanga took a lot of co-ordinating.  Finally, following the wonderful concert by the JPO on Thurs 19^th May, after the post concert drinks with the orchestra, and  photo of 4 cellists (with varying degrees of competency from top professionals Dmitry Kouzov and Peta Ann, to ‘fit for Alex McCall Smith’s Really Terrible Orchestra’ Terry & I), we rattled off at around 11pm in Terry’s Landrover Defender.  Arrival at Absolute Leisure, Machadodorp at 2am was celebrated with a bottle of sparkling wine, and once we had run out of our many words for the day, we retired to bed around 3.

A late start on Friday took us to Kaapsehoop Horse Trails for a beautiful stroll along the scenic escarpment, overlooking rolling valleys www.horsetrails.co.za .  No, we weren’t saddled up on the wild horses of Kaapsehoop – heaven forbid!!!! – I was terrified as it was, having not sat on a horse since I was a child.  Kaapsehoop is famous for its wild horses, which graze peacefully around the hamlet, eating up the local residents’ flower gardens and grass.  The horses are believed to have been left by the gold rush folk who arrived in their masses in Kaapsehoop in the 1800s when it was rumoured that there was “gold in them there hills”.  The other theory is that they were left by the British soldiers from the South African Wars of 1900, when they returned to Britain after defeating Oom Kruger and sending him off into exile in Switzerland.   Whichever, it’s a beautiful sight to behold these free spirits wandering around the village in small family groups.  But back to our horses – which were very big, and also thankfully very placid – it was a wonderful two hours of relaxed stroll, with the more experienced riders having a good gallop back to the stables.  Interestingly Peta Ann had family ties with the area, her family having had ownership of one of the gold mines, but alas, things did not pan out (groan!) quite as well as the Oppenheimers!

  Part of our weekend’s journey was to share each others’ personal stories.                                                                                                       Following graduating as a Social Worker, Terry lived in a commune in the 1980s and practised social work in Soweto. She was under surveillance by the Security Police, being a suspected ANC terrorist in the days when the ANC was a banned organisation, and it was illegal to enter Soweto as a ‘white’ person without a permit. 

  One night at 0300hr her commune was raided and she was taken into custody, and interned in solitary confinement for 60days.  How did she survive the ordeal?  She said she just did not know how long she had been in there as one day drifted into the next.  She was interrogated daily, and just had no contact with the outside world.  Her Mother, who was dying of cancer at the time,  persistently phoned the authorities to try to find the whereabouts of her daughter, and this, Terry believes, was the reason they finally released her and dropped charges.  This experience resolved her to help even more with the struggle!

Peta Ann is from a highly achieving musical family, and spent her childhood and teens immersed in music, learning cello and ballet.  Her choice to become a professional cellist took her to the US to study further, before returning to South Africa.  Her Mum was an accomplished pianist who played and composed music as well as teaching.  Peta Ann remembers how her Mum was forever travelling  in and out of Soweto and other townships in the 1980s to play for black choirs.  Peta Ann herself is part of the JPO Cadet project, and teaches a number of young cellists from disadvantaged backgrounds, helping them to reach the high standards required for a professional career in music.

And as for Highlands Lass, my goal is to be a social healer within South Africa; to build trust between our rainbow of peoples and to help massage away the knots caused by South Africa's history.  In the rural Mpumalanga Highlands communities there is much low self esteem, poor education, hopelessness, fear of the unknown, fear for the future and anger, which all contribute to mistrust and division of people.  And what better vehicle to use than tourism! Tourism offers employment and business opportunity to people of all backgrounds. Traditional and township people can offer their cultures and ways of life, crafters can sell their wares. Dance, drama and music groups can perform.  And with further education we can have tour guides for culture, history, environment and ecology, as well as hotel and lodge owners and managers from the very communities that currently see no future for themselves.       

Following the horse ride and a fine pub lunch in Kaapsehoop, I took my friends to visit the site of the Mozambican train disaster of 1949 in Waterval Boven, our region’s only piece of Struggle Heritage.  Ploughing through the long grass, we arrived at the commemoration plaque – sadly there is still a lot of work to be done to bring this epic story to our tourism visitors.  But it will be done.  Just last year through the Dept of Heritage, I met one of the train disaster survivors, a dignified Mozambican pastor in his 80s.  In 1949 he was travelling home in the fated train after working 18 months as a labourer in the South African gold mines.  He remembers waking in the river after the train had fallen a good 100meters from the track over the escarpment down into the valley below.  He was taken to the Witbank hospital where he stayed for 6 months while his broken leg and back healed.  On being discharged from hospital, he was given the same blood encrusted, dirty clothes he had been cut out of, to return home to his family.  He was lucky.  63 of his fellow passengers are buried in the ‘black’ graveyard in Emgwenya township, Waterval Boven.

For our evening’s entertainment I had chosen the Wee Jazz Pub ( +27 72 915 7378 / +27 13 255 0726) in Siyathuthuka township, Belfast.  Now it’s not routine for 3 middle-aged ‘white’ women to got jolling (partying) in the ‘black’ township, especially in the Emakhazeni Highlands of Mpumalanga  but that is precisely why we went. We met Winny and some of her friends outside the Wee Jazz and chatted for a while in the street. Sadly for us, Winny, the business owner of Wee Jazz, had been up for the last 60 hours counting votes at our Municipal elections as part of the Independant Electoral Commission, being a thoroughly upright citizen.  She was not up to an evening of revelry so the Pub was closed.  Conventionally we returned to Belfast and tried out the newly opened Moulin Rouge Restaurant (+27 82 099 3849 / +27 84 430 5169) in Belfast.  Their De Luxe Pizza ‘Moulin Rouge’ I would highly recommend, and the ambiance was good.

Saturday morning saw us in the front garden of Absolute Leisure praising God through a 6 meditative symbolic movement sequences as taught by Terry:

1 Letting go of anger ( mimicking a bird flapping its wings)

2 Opening our hearts to new relationships (extending our hands outward from our hearts)

3 Painting a rainbow in the sky (just that)

4 Offering the Earth up for global peace (lifting a large imaginary ball up to the sky)

5 Playing with the world (bouncing a large imaginary ball between hands and feet)

6 Flying like Geese (or like an aeroplane while circling the garden)

So this was yet another confirmation to Machadodorp village of my off-the-wallish-ness.  Being different takes courage and conviction, but its worth it for the greater good.

I had yet another tourist attraction to take my friends to in Machadodorp in the limited time we still had.  The Machado Butchery, where Marina makes the best biltong (spiced and dried raw meat) in the whole of South Africa! People come from far and wide and take kilos of Marina’s biltong with them wherever they go.  Her phone number is +27 13 256 0323.  I have watched Marina’s kids grow up from babies in this wonderful shop.  Marina does her best to get me speaking Afrikaans, having heard that I was on my 3^rd attempt to learn a couple of years ago, but alas, it seems like I’m a hopeless case!  Saturday saw us return to Johannesburg revitalised and refreshed, and ready to get back to........things.

Inkhosi KJ Malaza's Ummemo - Cultural Festival 1st May - Part 2

Chefs at work

Dr Sambo

Chief KJ Malaza

Here are further pictures from the Ummemo, featuring Dr Sambo (seated), Chief Malaza and the chefs at work.



 Following our tour, the festivities started. The Chief addressed the people, and then the dancing started with the Indunas, then the Induna's wives, both groups performing with great dignity, followed by the young dancers showing their strength and energy.  It was a wonderful display of tradition, colour, dignity and energy....a tourism product waiting to be shown to the world.  Yet another gem of culture in our region presently unavailable to most.  This calls for a meeting with the Traditional Council!  Time to Facebook you, Zodwa!

Lovely girls!

Cool guys!

We noticed that the turn out to the Ummema was extremely well supported, and concluded that the tribal communication system seems to have better results than the more modern municipal system - and they don’t use internet either! Interesting!

The Induna's wives

The Indunas

Inkhosi KJ Malaza's Ummemo - Cultural Festival 1st May - Part 1

Bright and early on the cool Sunday morning of 1st May, Silvia and I dressed in our best trad African glad rags and set off to Chief KJ Malaza's annual Ummemo at the Chief's Kraal in Tjakafontein, close to Badplaas. We felt honoured to be attending such a grand affair as tourism representatives, having been invited by dear, beautiful Zodwa Nkosi, member of the Tribal Council, wife to one of our Indunas, Arts and Culture champion and facebook friend!

Things were still being prepared, so we checked out the market stall ladies, and then had an explanation of the Ummemo from the MC for the day Dr JZM Sambo, honoured in public speaking and a leader in Mpumalanga in choral development both in the schools and with the Police Music Competition each September.


Dr Sambo explained that the Ummemo is a "harvest thanks giving" for the community. He told us that the custom amongst the Nguni peoples is that they may not eat from the fields until after the Ummemo has taken place. The Ummemo also serves as a celebration of culture, allowing the young people to learn their culture from the older people, building identity, unity and pride amongst the community. Traditional dress is worn, and young and old perform traditional dance in front of the chief and invited VIPs, and for the crowds of villagers who attend.

I found it fascinating to be experiencing the real tribal governance of South Africa in action. As well as the Provincial and local Municipalities, tribal councils exist and are sponsored by national government.

Zodwa took us on a tour of the Chief's kraal to show us all the activities which had already taken place that morning. At 0500hr, sunrise, a cow had been slaughtered by the Chief and his Indunas (the senior men of the community) in a circular kraal, surrounded by tall sticks, which is the spiritual and royal place where the Chief and Indunas meet three times a year to discuss the affairs of the community. Then we met with the dance groups who were keen to pose for the camera in their beautiful dance clothes. People around were all busy, men and women alike, preparing the slaughtered cow for the VIP lunch later in the day, fires boiling up big cast iron pots, traditional drinks of umqombothi (traditional beer) and mahewu (sour maize juice) being made.

Our New Emakhazeni Tourism Office

Here is Silvia at work at our new Emakhazeni Tourism Office. As we await a prominent office with plenty of tourist feet passing through, we keep our work going through an admin office. Now our office is tucked away in Siyathuthuka, Belfast. No more commuting to work; our office is operating from Silvia’s rather compact family home in Entokozweni Section, Siyathuthuka. Skype calls to Silvia are punctuated with cocks crowing and chickens clucking as they pass through the Mahlangu garden! Well this is one way to take the concept of tourism to township folk! Tourism is for all! I no longer want to hear young black people telling me that tourism is for “the rich white people.” We are looking for all the craft makers and dance and drama groups we can find, to add to our list of tourism attractions in our beautiful Emakhazeni Highlands of Mpumalanga. We are already known for our fly fishing, hiking trails, horse riding, beautiful country scenery, internationally renowned rock climbing, as well as ancient stone circles and SA War history. Now we are adding Ishumi Lasemzansi T shirt (and more) brand,( sold from a well known Internet Cafe/barber shop in Siyathuthuka), Winnie’s Wee Jazz Bar and Restaurant, Chicken Dust, Ikhono Lethu Beadwork of Wonderfontein and the Shisa Nyamas to our list of attractions. Through the work we are doing with Open Africa, we will soon get all our attractions on the map. See www.openafrica.org Contact Silvia on silvia@emakhazenitourism.com and check out our web site www.emakhazenitourism.com ....and Facebook page too.

Easter - Gautengers escape to the country!

Andries, Lorette and Irma arrived Thursday evening to a blazing log fire in the Bakoni fire place taking the autumn chill from Machado House's elegant Victorian rooms. They stopped over on their way to the Kruger Park. As ever, the relaxing olde worlde charm of Machadodorp village waylayed them, and resulted in them setting off a good couple of hours later than planned on Friday morning. Andries and his wife have just moved from Johannesburg’s Wit University to Pretoria , Andries working as Associate Professor in Pretoria University’s Department of Sociology. They discussed the interesting cultural differences between the students of each University. The attractions they loved in Machadodorp include Milly’s trout pies, the distant chuffing of trains and the church clock’s bells drifting through the village night air. A soft mist surrounded us as we chatted in the morning.

Later on Friday morning we welcomed Aesha and Mahmood Nathoo just in time to get to Mosque. The Machadodorp Mosque is also in Taute Street, so they didn’t have far to go. The wind had built up a little and this reminded Aesha of Port Elizabeth where they both grew up. Geluk unit was their base for exploring the beautiful Emakhazeni Highlands of Mpumalanga. They took a tour to Badplaas through the beautiful Skurweberg pass, and enjoyed the fresh garden herbs in the Absolute Leisure gardens. Mahmood is a vegetable gardener of note in between his work in finance, so we exchanged a few vege growing tips!

Around lunch time the Grobler family arrived – Daniel and Muriel plus 3 year old Gené & 1 year old Louis. Gené just loved her room in Bakoni. After the long drive from Midrand the kids were brimming over with energy, and garden gates had to be closed rapidly to keep them from disappearing off down the street. Muriel was keen to browse the local junk and antique shops, so I recommended Flippy Taljard’s and the Highveld Emporium, as well as the Windmill Bargain Centre in Belfast. I also recommended they ask Flippy and Alta for a peek into their teddy bear room. Flippy, ever the eccentric Machadodorp artist, has covered the entire walls and ceiling of their bedroom with soft toys which he won from vending machines some years back. This room is a child’s dream come true!

Early afternoon saw the arrival of the Du Toit family from Jo’burg, Karen and Craig and their three boys. The boys, also full of energy and excitement, were straight up into the loft bedroom of Duckworth’s Dargle negotiating as to who would get to sleep there. Then, safely down the ladder again, the toy cupboard became the centre of attention. Pogo sticks and croquet set were tested in the garden while Mum and Dad unloaded the car. Dad Craig admitted to being a 1000 bounce pogo champ from when he was a kid, so their 5 day stay will see him and the kids honing their pogo skills along with some fishing and family bonding time. Happy holidays Du Toit Family! Please send some family pics for the blog.

The Back Road

On my way to Machadodorp and with a meeting in Middelburg, I made an economical route change decision and exitted the N4 highway at Emalahleni (Witbank) thus avoiding the Forty Rand toll fee at the Middelburg toll gate. A warm feeling stirred in my Scottish bones as I contemplated the Forty Rand I was saving. Along the way a few inconspicuous signs indicated that the road to Middelburg was closed, but this being South Africa I paid no attention and continued. Others were doing the same so no point in believing road signs. At around 15km of the 30km journey, where the road crosses the river, I saw ahead of me some mayor road works. I had heard that one of our friends at Middelburg Tourism Office was unable to get to work because during December’s heavy rains the bridge between Witbank and Middelburg had been washed away, and here I was at that very washed away bridge!

No sweat! As ever, an enterprising local farmer had made a plan, and a detour across a big grassy field (I missed a turn and found myself in a homestead surrounded by chickens) took me to a queue waiting to cross the river on a makeshift bridge. A farm worker stood at the front of the queue with a dented old bucket, and was handing each driver a 500ml bottle of orange juice, dropping the payments into the bucket. “Twenty Rand for a bottle of juice” he said as I arrived at the front. “I’m going to Middelburg, and I don’t need juice,” I said, a little indignant. “That’s Twenty Rand... ” he said, “...and you get a free orange juice.” I paid, got my free juice and laughed the rest of the way to my meeting. This is a must for foreign visitors and family outings! A real life “Boer maak ‘n plan” experience. And he’s half the price of the Middelburg tollgate!

Silvia & I had the juice with our Wacky Wednesday lunch!

Ghost Sightings of Machadodorp and the Mpumalanga Highlands

It has long been believed that ghosts abound in our Mpumalanga Highlands. Ghost enthusiasts and clairvoyants sense that the conflicts of bygone years result in wandering, unresolved spirits still locked in this world searching for answers. An old man has been seen repeatedly at the Machadodorp Police Station near the cells, sitting waiting. This used to be the village hospital, so it is believed he waits for a loved one in the hospital. In the main street of Machadodorp, now called Butana Jele St, a headless man is said to cruise at night. This ghost was reported in the newspapers in the 1940s. He was believed to be a wild red haired Scots soldier who was cheated out of some money during the South African wars. During the fight over the cash he was decapitated, and now wanders the streets with his head under his arm. Some red coat soldier ghosts are believed to appear close to Lydenburg, now Masheshing, from an even earlier era of history. Then there is the Afrikaans nurse who fell in love with a wounded British soldier. They meet nightly under a tree - now blown down - which was next to the military hospital in Waterval Onder. A ghost is reported at the Dalmanutha Station one night only annually, when the train goes by. This is the anniversary of the night that a stationmaster was murdered and his body buried in a shallow grave at the station. A poltergeist ghost catches out sleeping policemen at the Machadodorp police station, taking their guns from their holsters and placing them on the counter. And at one of the waterfalls close to Waterval Boven where a honeymoon couple's tragedy occurred, they are often see reunited. At Green Pastures Farmhouse an elderly lady watches over sleeping visitors.

And now I am rather excited to report that during March an Absolute Leisure guest reported that he sensed the presence of a ghost watching over him as he slept. Perhaps the old lady from Green Pastures has come to visit!? Now don't all rush over to check out this ghost sighting! It’s the first report of a ghost at Absolute Leisure since the cottages were started 7 years ago!

Girl Power building a New Power Station for Machadodorp....

These two beautiful young women are Sivu (right) and Sizi (left) staying at Cat's Whisker, Absolute Leisure Cottages, Machadodorp.  Sivu is busy building our new power station for us in Machadodorp, and Sizi, her sister, is visiting from the Cape where she is studying Ministry. It is so special to know that woman power is building our new power station.  Ok ..... so she does have some help from the guys, but this Mpumalanga Highlands Lass is proud to announce once more that South African women rock!

Supporting the Ekujabuleni Bakery

Machadodorp has its very own local bakery, Ekujabuleni Bakery.  Set up as an upliftment project by Nkomati Mine it bakes top quality bread, rolls, scones and "mosballetjies" (don't ask.....I will have to order one to find out what this is!!") The project got started in April 2010 and has created full time jobs for 10 people so far.  I went to arrange with the bakery to supply bread etc to my staff and guests, as they deliver daily around the village.  Recently there have been threats from local thugs, and deliveries to the creches and elderly in the township have been hampered.  So supporting them is particularly important at this awkward time. 

And what a surprise was in store as I chatted with Elijah, the bakery manager.  From 1995 to 1999 Elijah Lechela lived and worked in Switzerland as the chef to the South African Ambassador to Switzerland.  There he taught South African cuisine to the Swiss, and learned to cook all types of European cuisine and baking at various tea parties and events at the Swiss Consulate.  The following 3 years found him cruising around the Carribbean on the "Monarch of the Sea" as cruise liner chef.  He found his way to Mpumalanga when Aventura Resorts asked him to help standardise all their 9 resorts' menus.  So we are privileged to have such a celebrity in our Machadodorp community.  Elijah also runs his own catering business E&P Butchery and Caterers.   Through his expertise and business skills, 10 new jobs have been created, and by purchasing their products we, the tourism industry and visitors to Machadodorp can create more.  To order from the bakery call +27 76 638 5499 between 0700hr and 1800hr South African time, and order from Ellah or Sophie.  Alternatively go buy your bread from the Ekujabuleni Bakery.  It is a couple of km up the Carolina Road from Machadodorp village, on the right hand side, just opposite Emthonjeni township.

     

The Bezuidenhouts from Botswana

The evening of 17th March saw the arrival of the Bezuidenhout family from Gaberone, Botswana in their rather substantial home-rebuilt double cab bakkie with stainless steel canopy.  The kids told me in the morning that there is a couch in the back for comfy travel.  Cool!  A 5 hour drive brought them to Machadodorp for a sleepover at Duckworths Dargle Delight en route to a family get together in Nelspruit.  Kids Emile and Jessica were up with the dawn chorus, and bouncing around the gardens on the cottage pogo sticks, till they ran out of jump and popped over to join me for coffee and rusks in the sun outside my little coachhouse.  Both had a lot to tell about their tree climbing jack russels, and the birthday cake Emile's friend was keeping for him from his birthday party that weekend.  I was even priveleged to get to view the portion of Emile's car collection which he had brought with him.  Happy birthday Jessica for the 21st March - a good month to be born, (my birthday being just 4 days later!)  After much chatter I put the two to work on harvesting a few carrots from the vegetable and herb garden.  Then Jessica found the teeniest weeniest lizard just before they set off.  Thier comments on Duckworths Dargle - Emile and Jessica - yes they did have a lot to say - pronounced it to be a bit like Dr Who's tardis; it looks so small from the outside but its huge inside!  Happy family weekend Bezuidehouts!

Awaiting Monsieur Ginoux!

There was a light rain falling and we had been enjoying those exciting powerful lightening flashes and rumbles of our highland thunder storms - fabulous evening weather to be driving in; from time to time the surrounding countryside is lit up revealing far more treasures than just the road ahead as revealed by the headlights.  But it was not I driving tthat night.  I awaited the arrival of Monsieurs Genoux et Garcia who unfortunately took a wrong turning and were expected around 11pm instead of the original eta of 8.30pm - what additional exploring had they done on their way that evening?  A restful night in Machado House awaited.

Finally they arrived at 11pm as estimated - no African time errors....people from Europe are amazing at really knowing what time they will arrive.  Perhaps it is all this rushing around catching trains that leave on time in Europe that does it.....just not easy to understand here in Africa.  Sadly they have experienced some of our most spectacular pot-holed roads in the coal mining regions of Mpumalanga mislead by a very confused car navigation system...but on a brighter note it was a hire car they were driving, and all four tyres were still inflated, so presumably no harm done.  Visiting South Africa on a 4 month secondment with Aerosud in Pretoria, these engineers are taking the opportunity to explore our beautiful South African countryside.  Bon nuit Lionel and Loic and happy travelling tomorrow.....I think I can hear them sleeping....

Facebook Romance

Dumisani and Carol arrived quite by surprise very early one morning in March.  I had had Dumisani's enquiry the evening before, but while I slept he had paid his deposit, packed, driven from Midrand to Mpumalanga and arrived bright and early with Carol.  We had a lovely filter coffee together and thats when it all came out.  Dumisani from Joburg, South Africa met Carol from London, England on Facebook! Sweet! Rushing off to a business conference close-by, Dumisani left Carol with me.  As their room was not quite ready at 8am, Carol joined me for a sight seeing tour of Belfast - Yes, even quaint old Belfast makes an interesting jaunt for visiting tourists.  Carol works in midwifery research in London, and was remarking how heathly it is for babies to be carried on their Mum's backs, as is so natural here in South Africa.  Its just the best for bonding. Well done Africa's Mums.....we can show the world!  On the subject of great African women, I took a short detour to Mum Ngwenya's vegetable garden between Belfast and Syathuthuka.  No one was at work that day but we could see that the fields had been harvested.  When's the next crop due Mum Ngwenya?  Tourism businesses are ready to come buy your fresh vegetables!

Michael Crichton Visits Machadodorp

Michael Crichton is famous for a number of best selling book and movie titles: Jurassic Park, Rising Sun, Twister included. Well that Michael Crichton is not the one who came to Machadodorp this February.  Sadly that Michael Crichton passed away in 2008 after a courageous fight with cancer.  I'm glad to say this Michael Crichton, who is my brother, is still alive and kicking, and came with my sister-in-law Marise all the way from Cold Lake in Canada, to find out what I find so special about the Emakhazeni Highlands.  Here they are looking fresh as daisies after a night in Geluk unit of Machado House.  They loved the warm Machadodorp temperatures of 20 to 25 degrees centigrade having come from temperatures of around minus 20 to 25 degrees centigrade!

Austrian Architects visit Machadodorp

Back to South Africa and all ready to introduce you to the interesting people who visit Machadodorp.  A phone call on 15th Feb requests accommodation for 6 on their way to the Kruger Park.  Our lovely thatched Duckworths Dargle Delight was prepared, and Gregor Pils and friends arrive early evening.  They told me they have been touring around South Africa, drove from PE to Cape Town, flew to Jo'burg and are now off to the Kruger.  I had just left the Kruger myself so I assured them of great viewing.  What they did not mention is the wonderful work they have been doing to uplift the people of South Africa!  Gregor and Schnetzer Andreas Claus are amazing young award winning architects, based in Vienna.  Their web site: http://www.palettenhaus.com/ tells all.  The Pallet House and Slum Tube designs have been used to build inexpensive college buildings for Ithuba Skills College close to Johannesburg.http://www.ithuba.org   And what a small world this is - just last week my son visitted the Ithuba project as part of his Wits University 2nd year Architecture course.   Thanks Gregor, Schnetzer and friends for helping to build South Africa.

Utrecht beckons and a blog is born.

Not two weeks later I was cycling in slush and snow around Utrecht, the Netherlands, with my two student sons, exploring the shops around the Oude Gracht (the Old Canal) region of the mediæval town centre.   Being a Highlands lass with a love of the historical, accompanied by two similar offspring, we soon found ourselves warming up by pouring over ancient books in Hinderickx & Winderickx Antiquariaat sinds 1982. It was then that their "winkelsdagboek" caught my eye, and then my imagination.  For some years now the shop's historians have been fielding questions and enquiries from an eclectic range of browsers, and began some years ago to record their encounters and experiences.  Though it is mostly in Dutch I recommend a visit to their web site http://www.hinderickxenwinderickx.nl/ .  I owe the publicity to them for giving me the idea.  Perhaps there is a mention in  the winkelsdagboek in Dec 2010 of a South African Highlands Lass and her two student sons' visit....

How this blog began

It all began on a hot December 2010 day in Machadodorp, Mpumalanga.  Absolute Leisure Cottages extracted herself from some years of anonimity as her signage went up in the sleepy village of Machadodorp. Considerable whisperings of approval were heard around the village.  Professional signs, quality accommodation. This Emakhazeni Highlands Lass is proud of our quaint olde worlde country village with its amazing history, and excellent position half way to the Kruger Park, Maputo and Swaziland.  An ideal stop over, en route along the N4 Maputo Corridor.