At about 5.00am, it started to drizzle very lightly, and I opened my eyes to a cloud covered sky above me. I walked around the homestead with two cats in tow, taking photos of the sunrise, as well as a still slumbering Stoffel… The cats followed me everywhere, reminding me of the two cats we used to have when we lived in our first house in Nelspruit… They too would follow Vanessa while she watered the garden, watching her every move… One of these “wild” cats was a Siamese, and had fathered a number of litters with the other “wild” cats on the farm. As a result of these liaisons, a number of the cats that lurked under the farm machinery and in the flower beds resembled their Dad… It was strange seeing four or five Siamese cats in these harsh surroundings… The cats were not allowed into the house and never once attempted to get in through any of the open doors or windows… Disciplined cats…who would have thought!!
We had a light breakfast which comprised mainly of the meat leftover from the previous night’s braai, which if possible, tasted even better than the night before. After breakfast, with the cloud cover swiftly dispersing before the heat of the sun, we retired once more to the cool embrace of the dam and floated about in a semi-coma, trying to keep as much of our bodies under water, our caps covering our pips…
Stoffel still asleep at 6.00am… Easily the biggest bedroom I’ve ever slept in…
Sunrise through the clouds…
We went for a drive on the farm and saw a small herd of kudu bounding along the dry river bed which we drove parallel to for few hundred metres. The kudu veered off towards a small range of koppies in the distance, and we followed them there… Here Rabie showed us the active Black Eagle nest which was situated on a large ledge about halfway up the largest koppie in the range… Hundreds of Dassies darted about on the slopes, and a klipspringer was seen on the ridges above us… The Black Eagles were not short of prey, that’s for certain…
The drive back to the farmhouse was through rugged but beautiful countryside. We drove around, and on occasion, up onto small hills, littered with boulders… We went down into steep valleys on narrow tracks, and passed a herd of bemused Nguni cattle, which seemed to regard us with astonishment… Judging by the tracks we drove on, few vehicles find their way onto this part of the farm. We also inspected a few of the cages which are used to trap problem animals such as leopard, baboon and caracal, which attack and eat the new born lambs…
We drove on, to yet another farm, where a small herd of sheep were herded into a kraal, and then Rabie selected two of them that were to be slaughtered the next day… Stoffel got involved in the capturing, and after a short struggle, the two unfortunates were loaded into the back of the pickup and driven back to the farmhouse to await their fate. Tough being a sheep in this part of the world… I sat in the back with them and wondered if they knew what awaited them…
Marli’s younger brother came in from Upington (where he lives,) to pay us a visit and share a few beers. We had a great supper and then sat around outside talking about whatever came to mind. All in all, it was a very “rustige” evening “op die plaas”…
“Don’t look now Mabel, you may be next…”
© 2008 TBMH
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