Hayestack

John and friend
Yes, I don’t know what it means either. There is a new law that says everyone has to pay to register their land that they have lived on for generations. It is not just the cost of administration but constitutes a substantial tax on the poor. A Community Volunteers Day was organised [...]

I have found a new pet, or more accurately, it has found me. Why it chose to land in my garden and wink at me with its great golden eye, I don’t know. It is a banded goshawk according to Nico (who loves birds) and who knows about these things as he has a book. [...]

Willy and Hilion on their cell phones.
We couldn’t find Kei Mouth on the map because Willy, Danie’s aged parent, insisted on calling it Kei Mon. Willy had a strange sense of humour. I’m still not sure whether the biltong he gives us to eat is actually giraffe as he claims or not. “I good [...]

Danie is an artist of extraordinary talent. He is married to Marie being therefore John and Kathleen’s son-in-law. They live together and Danie has his own studio built onto the back of the house. He has developed a unique style of creating metallic effects using ordinary paint. The results are stunning. He has recently finished [...]

In the photo you can see (l to r) Danie, who is married to Marie, who is the daughter of John, who is married to Kathleen, who is the friend of Georgina, who is married to the illusive cameraman.
It is a special delight to visit this family as we thought we would never see them [...]

Just as in Israel at the time of the birth of Jesus, everyone in Rundu travels at Christmas.  It’s not that  we need to be registered for taxation, it’s just too hot here. At times the mercury hits the forties.
Mary and Joseph went to Bethlehem, we are going to Bloemfontein.  This is the legislative [...]

Popa Falls is a rapid on the Kavango River just outside the Mahango Game Park. On our way there we stopped at a supermarket to buy cold drinks. Small and dingy, it was anything but “super”. But it did have cold drinks. Men and boys propped themselves against the walls as though the walls were [...]

So you’re on your way to Tesco, you turn the corner and there’s an elephant in the road, staring straight at you, wondering if it wants to charge you. You would have a fright, right? Well, we were sort of expecting it as we were in elephant country, Mahango Game Park, to be precise. Not [...]

This will probably be a short entry as I shall probably fall asleep over my computer. The reason is simple. Throughout every night we are subjected to the deafening cacophony of a hundred Baskerville hounds seemingly baying for our blood. The effect is spine-chillingly awful. It can start with one puppy spluttering over a chicken [...]

The engine on the boat fluttered a bit then gave out completely. The people showed no sense of panic as the boat drifted towards the weir, the boatman vigorously tugging at the engine’s start-up cord. He was fighting a losing battle.The engine was completely dead. The bystanders looked on anxiously, the boat picking up speed [...]