Hello Comrades,
I hope everyone is doing fine today. Hopefully there aren’t too many suffering from a case of the Monday’s today. This past weekend was a fun one here in SA. The whole group took a trip inland to a farm for the weekend. The farm was in the shadow of The Great Winterberg Mountain which is the third largest mountain in SA. A pair of families hosted our group to accommodate the entire group.
View of the area
The first thing to note is that the farms are primarily animals. There are cows, chickens, and sheep just like farms in Minnesota. Unlike farms in Minnesota, there are eland, springbok, kudu, and other animals indigenous to SA. Obviously since it is very mountainous, the land is not ideal for crops like the breadbasket of the US. Farming is what the Afrikaners took a liking to after settling in Cape Town in the 177th century. I’m not accustomed to life on a farm at all. I am a city boy, so most of the activities we did were my first experiences with them.
We left early Friday and arrived in time for a late lunch. Following that, we visited a nice river to swim in with various waterfalls. That was obviously very cool to do. When we returned to the farm though, we help round up some of the sheep in the pen. The reason we did this was to castrate the sheep. Yes, that was new to me. I guess it serves a couple different purposes. The first is so that the wool doesn’t get infected or tainted. Basically, the tail will eventually fall off which is a great place for maggots and bugs to get in the wool and infect it. The second is for breading purposes. The best bulls are bought, so the ones on the farm are just used for their wool. We then had a late dinner before playing guitar and entertaining each other before splitting up for bed.
The mountain we climbed
On Saturday, we went to a neighbor’s plot of land to climb a mountain. On our way around the land we stopped at where they sheer the sheep to watch a couple of sheep getting a hair-cut. It is amazing how much wool comes from one sheep. All of the roads are dirt and filled with huge holes which made are main mode of transportation fun (the back of a bakkie- a pick-up truck). We were able to drive a large portion up the mountain. By looking at the final peak, I thought it would be a quick trek up. Nope, the height is misleading, and there is always another peak at the top. The view was phenomenal because you can see the entire valley filled with various villages and farms. The landscape is quite different from that on the coast, and you really can see the “bush” that Africa is known for having.
Riding around in the bakkies
Later, we went to the other families house were we relaxed by their pool, played tennis on their court, or chatted with our hosts on the patio. It is definitely a different side from what we have seen. Another first followed this, shooting a gun. The owner brought out a 22 gauge rifle, and we were all given one shot at hitting the bulls-eye on a target. My shot was not very close, but it was not the furthest either. It is a good thing I don’t have to hunt for my own food. The owner then showed us his gun case and trophy room. He has quite the collection of both. The trophy room was particularly cool because it was decorated with everything on the walls from a giraffe to a zebra to a wildebeest.
Sunday we did a different hike which ended at a cool canyon with a swimming hole that we swam in. Maybe one of the coolest places I’ve seen yet because after swimming through part of the canyon it opened up to various ledges and a crevasse with a very cool waterfall. At the base of the waterfall was a pool where you could sit and relax. I was not able to get any pictures because I needed to swim to the spot. The mystique will have to remain a legend. The land over all was very cool. I don’t think I could live like that though. The distance to town is too far, and I need to be in an area with something going on. The trip was a blast though.
I will probably not post again for a couple weeks because we are taking a big trip to Cape Town. We leave Thursday the 29th and we will not get back until April 9th for “fall” break. The entire time there will be packed with activities. Among the activities are bungee jumping at the world’s highest bungee, an international jazz fest (with Atmosphere- a Minnesota artist who is one of my favorites), climbing table mountain, visiting Robben Island, a wine tour, homestays (in the townships). Those are just some of the activities amongst many that will be fun. It is the trip that I am looking forward to most on the trip along with most of the group. There will be plenty to do, so I will probably need to split up the posts.
Until then, thanks for reading! Congrats to the Osseo Boys team for being state champs, great work.
Cheers,
Bobby
What an exciting weekend that you had filled with many firsts. Can't wait to hear about this next trip. The kids got their postcards last week. That was so cool!! Thanks for thinking of them. I need to get them back on here. They read the first few posts. I'll need to catch them up while you're on your trip.
ReplyDelete--Aunt Kathleen