It is December already: A 'break-off at Mkhuze and ome good snorkelling.

Pictures include large potjies for boiling local mielies(they are hairy and white and not tasty at all), the road to Bhekabanthu clinic, hippos in the lake system, a local hairsalon and a smiley Ceri at Bongiwe's local restaurant.

We went to Lala Nek last weekend: Louis snorkelled in quite rough conditions but I think the thrill of seeing fish close up in the ocean is quite amazing. I saw 2 sting rays and spent hours just searching for fish amongs the rocks.

The next day me, Ceri and Louis went to Mkhuze game park. Louis had a 'break off from Ralph' -as he put it. He overheard Ceri saying that Louis could do with a break from Ralphie.

Ceri likes to look for weavers and very small birds...so we now have frequent stops in the game parks.We basically now look at everything that moves.

Mkhuze is the home for many fever trees(they have an almost yellow bark and they are often found near water. They almost get a fluoresscent shine with sunset) and there is a curio shop with very comfortable ladies shoes- not a cheap day after all.

Cecily is arriving in a couple of weeks. She is in a cold Scotland and is in for a heat wave treatment. It really is almost 40 degrees here. I have a shower in the morning, a shower at tea time, lunch time and then later. Also a dip in the pool at 6 in the morning and at night.

I am making a seasonal tree out of wood and wire and we are starting Xmas celebrations with a hospital sit down meal in the garden this week.

We are now off to Maputo on Friday to see the fish market and experience some city life and a birthday celebration. We become like nutters when we arrive in cities with all the bright lights and money spending places.

our first scuba dive -Ondine's curse

Me and Ceri spent a night at Rocktail bay beach camp and did a pool scuba introduction and then a first open sea dive at 12 metres. This was an incredible experience. We spent quite a while trying to equilize, but this evntually was made easier by a potato bass the size of Louis that seemed to try to rub his scales on our wet suites and managed to take our minds off the pressure! I found the breathing very difficult in the pool and eventually had to tell Ondine that I was unable to concentrate on any activities because i felt I was being suffocated. Turned out to be a closed valve used by experience divers to reduce oxygen intake when diving! With this problem solved I was fee to brathe again and felt like a water baby...probably why my oxygen ran out first when we did the sea dive(I was so relieved to have oxygen in my lungs after my previous day of oxygen deprivation. Ondine was our instructor and Ceri pointed out her very relevant surname in the diveing world ie. Ondines curse!
On a seperate snorkel excursion a slinger bit ceri on the little toe and another slinger bit me on my finger. Ceri almost jumped staright back onto the boat. A large potato bass again came and circled us. Quite intimidating to have a large fish follow us around the weekend.

Louis is now able to snorkel in the swimming pool. We want to go to Lala neck to take him to snorkel. It is a well protected bay which is good for kids to snorkel in.
Ralph loves the tele tubbies and Fifi. He also is a 'dyno thunder power ranger' with a sword and a noise to accompany his movements. Ralph loves the jungle book and espesially the song: ' trust in me...'


Cecily had her birthday last week and we are now organizing things to do when she comes over the Xmas period. It is nice to have visitors because we then plan excursions and this is a great past time.

In the garden - shongalolos, coconuts and a play gym

We have seen alot of thunder the last few weeks. The rain seems to be falling in true Monsoon fashion. This means we will be eating plenty of mangoes and plenty of mosquitos will be eating us.

Ralph loves shongalolos and collects them in cups. Louis put 2 large shongalolos in our bed - I found them in the sheets the same night I admitted a patient to the hospital who was bitten by a spitting cobra in his bed!). The next morning we told the kids about the shongalolos in our bed and the fact that we thought there might be a nest under our bed. Louis just laughed...

We have built the boys a very nice wooden bridge, tower and swings in the garden. Aaron the gardener (who loves to turn bouganvillia into topiary-heart shapes) finished the roof as a traditional zulu thatch.

We have a cement pad for the barbeque area, which means I can make a fire for ambience and a fire for the food. Ceri has started playing the accordian and this is a great music instrument to accompany the beautiful african sunsets and stars. She plays 'all things bright and beautiful' en 'hansie slim'!

We often see owls in the garden and various other birds such as the african hoopoe, the wood hoopoe, the purple backed starling, the collared sunbird, the purple crested loerie and the ever present witbors kraai that likes the coconut palms. One coconut fell on the ground during my trip to England. No one was injured. The boys opened it to have a look.

vegetables and turtles

Ek is nou weer ingesettle hier by die hospitaal. Ek ry nog steeds klinieke toe en ek hou daarvan om grondboontjies en bone by zama zama kliniek te koop. Ek kry dit by die HIV counselor en by die dame -tuinier(pink lady) wat die kliniek groentetuin hanteer. Dit is nice om die middelman uit te skakel en direk vanaf die mense produkte te koop. Dis dan ook die Mboza kliniek hoenders wat so eiers le...n bargain vir R30 n hoender.

Ek swem nou elke oggend 50 lengtes in die hospitaal swembad waar n mens nie regtig lengtes kan doen nie. Jy kry net kans vir 2 vlinderslag bewegings dan is jy aan die ander kant. Ek probeer hoog oor die water opstyg soos n groot vis, en dit maak my onderste rugwerwels teer maar die oefening 6 uur in die oggend is goed vir die hele dag.

Kersfees is aan die kom en cecily se sy wil n klein varkie eet. Ceri se hier is tapeworm so ons sal moet settle vir iets anders. Enige voorstelle. Hier is bok om te eet maar ek verkies curried goat- en dit is nie n sinterklaas maaltyd nie. Kudu? Hier is nie ganse of kalkoene nie..

Ek en Ceri was vir die naweek alleen Banga nek toe. Dis hier waar die turtle tours is en waar ons die hatchlings, leather back en loggerhead gesien het. Ons het in die Community tent camp gebly en ons het sommer net lekker tyd alleen gespandeer. Ons het n afrika visarend op die strand gesien en n geelkeelkalkoentjie.

A snake on the road and the festival of light

the mouth and fish traps

kids in the veggies patch

best advertisement

the mouth

halloween(premature)

the bookshop

Life is back to usual. I am back home after a marathon trip to England to produce my videos for the last component of the GP exams.

Cecily seems to be doing very well and sounded very chirpy on the phone. She sound settled in Edinburgh.

I did the videos in London and worked at Park Medical Centre (old job). It was nice to see all the old faces. Nothing has changed. Sandra is still creating lunch time feasts and Nicky is as annoying as ever.

I came back via Doha and spent 2 days in Joburg. Had a great lunch with Jaco(remember this name Lukas!) and worked hard with the Snymans to produce what we now will call the best video ever. This was achieved with Janine 's large edit machine and patience, Piet's cheese platter and whiskey and the dates from Arabia!(Janine hates dates).

Back in Manguzi...

Eunace goes to the bookshop which is open from 2-4 pm in KwaNgwanase town. Louis is now going to school in flexi-time fashion due to Ceri's working arrangements. Ceri is now doing 2 days of anaesthetics and it is working out very well. I am doing a mixture of clinics, paediatrics, male ward and the occasional septic list which is always a surprise. It ranges from full hand repairs, evacuations and to large absesses...anywhere!

We have celebrated Diwali at the parkhomes. Bavani created a real festival of light. The boys were dressed up as usual and Louis ate a very hot chicken Briyani

Ceri 's vegetable patch is looking good and we are taking our 5 portions a day-some from the garden and some from the trees !

We continue to go to the mouth(pictured) as usual. Louis is now swimming on his own in the sea with only general supervision. This is so fantastic! The fish traps at the mouth are held within the families(handed from father to son)and are very old. They are woven from reeds found in the swampy area and sticks found locally.

The people from manguzi are not truely zulu-they are Thsonga people(fisherman) and the fish traps are important culturally. They are designed in order to cath the larger fish (so the ecosystem is supported). the traps are within the heritage sites within the lake system.

On a trip back from the mouth we saw an african rock python on the road one evening. It was approximately 2 metres long and this was a very unusual sighting. To see such a reptile in the wild is just really amazing! Ceri drove over the snake's tail/ end bit! The snake disappeared into the bushes after an initial slow start, which meant we were able to view it very closely. No pictures sorry!

Rise against the odds and shine!

play time

story time- take your chair

the library -learning about books

found some nice pictures in my 'nhs.net' e-mail inbox which were taken in London.

Riaan in London

on a nice walk

They are now back from London:
We took a very dodgy 4x4 path in a nature park in Pretoria. Kobus and Louis checked the trail and I held onto the sterring wheel with Ralph, Ceri and Sumari suspended in the Ford Courier wandering at what point the car was going to roll! I thought the trail was for yuppie whities from Pretoria to put a bit of mud and wetness on their city guzzlers. I forget there are some serious randjies in Pretoria!

Back in Manguzi:
Ceri and I walked around the lakes and onto the beach. It was a beautiful day and all the fish trap owners were out checking their nets. Ceri has excellent walking energy(from all the London walking)and her sense of direction is exceptional. We passed fishermen in the footpaths with speared fish hanging from sticks in the way Paddington carries his bundle of clothes.
The day was so lazy and we had time to chat, eat rocket(from the garden) sandwiches, swim, swim again and just admire the views.
Ceri fell into bed at 19h00 and was out for the count!

Since they have returned from London we have been at home mostly. Ceri starts working in the hospital soon, so we are preparing for this.
I am going to London in October to do video consultations for the MRCGP. A super nanny type person who is a GP will be helping me to pass this final module.

they are in London

the mouth(2 top pictures)

the end of th walk-approaching the sea...

fever trees

purple created loerie(like a phoenix)

the bladder in the water

flamingoes in the lake system

Eunace with the boys at the Voortrekker monument

Eunace at the boathouse(newton)

Weekend 1

Drove back from Joburg in the dark through so called Colliery type places. Mining towns and what may be perceived as dodgy killing spots. Finally got to Pongola. Had a great evening with Cathy who was a lady of leisure in Linden at the time when I was cycling on my red bike from the OK bazaars down past the butchery(Ross), past my Latin teacher's cottage(who liked John Berks' morning show) and then down 4th avenue and then left at the now Olympic standard pool and then home; sometimes followed by the little white and the very large black dog(symbolizing the current state in SA).

Ceri spent time in Pretoria and did the usual outing to the Voortrekker monument(pictured). They then left for a holiday in England. Ceri and the boys were seeing Cecily, Hardus en Lucy, Mattewis en Stella, Milan en Tatyana and the picture is from one of these encounters. The other picture is of Ceri at Newton(by the sea) Bay.

Weekend 2

Emergency update course in Durban. One of the emergencies covered was sexual assault - does give one an idea of the health agenda in the country.

Lekker om vir Kevin and Hilda weer te sien. Hilds, het ek regtig 10 savoury pannekoeke geeet?

Weekend 3

Home after a busy Friday HIV clinic and a trip to Ingwavuma. I left Eunace with 50 creche teachers and they attacked her with book/wall chart requests. Eunace is turning into Mama Precious Ramotswe.

Ceri's laptop has been playing up so I spent most of the weekend doing technical stuff like trying to bypass the keyboard and inserting an external keyboard etc. interesting.

This meant that I stopped being paperless/ paper light so back to the telephone and fax mode. I actually chose not to do any work instead-well almost.

I had a great swimming day with Sam in the mouth of the mouth(pictured), swimmimg upstream and trying not to get pushed out to sea. Sam likes swimming lenghts so this causes some frustration because the sea is not like a public pool and there are no lenghts to swim. I have now finished with the children's play area. It is really amazing. Pictures will follow.

Weekend 4
Amazing weekend with Carla. On Saturday we cycled to the mouth and then walked around first lake and crossed between 1st and 2nd lake towards the sea. We crossed very close to a hippo and saw flamingoes in the distance. We tried to find the path over the hill to the beach but ended up bundu bashing for a good hour. Did eventually manage to get to the beach for a swim and then back to the mouth. Drank a quart(in South Africa a 750-millilitre bottle is referred to as a quarter) at the tuck shop and then cycled back home easy-half drunk.

On Sunday I saw Mkhuze game reserve for the 1st time. Saw a blue wildebeest's stomach/ bladder(looks like a resus mannequin) in the water and a purple crested loerie with red wings(pictured) close by. Carla and Eunace provided a nice english breakfast with eggs, tomato(met speserye), boerewors, en mushroom...in a picnic spot surrounded by fever trees(my favourite).

Fever trees(UmHlosinga in Zule)

www.plantzafrica.com
'Early pioneers thought that this tree caused a fever since people travelling or living in the areas where it grew contracted a bad fever. They therefore associated the fever with the tree. This however was erroneous as the swampy places where fever trees grow are also ideal breeding grounds for mosquitoes, which carry malaria. Thus through these early settlers the myth was born and the plant acquired its name as the fever tree.'

At home:

The mongoose family is back. One of them tried to catch a chick (from one of the wandering hens and chicks of the compound). The mother hen became very aggressive and lowered her wings and started chasing the frightened mongoose back to the compost corner.

The chicken coop(?spelling) is finished(in a slightly dodgy spot under the coconut palm tree) and Eunace is very attached to the cockerel and hen which are from Mboza(R30 each). They have produced several eggs and they do have a run(pictured) which would qualify them as semi-free range. Apparently Adri's mother has chickens as large as turkeys, so we will hopefully not end up eating our own chickens for Christmas.

the view of the sea as the walk progresses from