they are all in London

I have been to Johannesburg to drop off the crew. In the city of gold and muggers we saw Jaksie!, the Broekmans(for the usual bridge session) and the Snymans (for the usual late night gamble and entertainment). In Pretoria we saw granny en die jong groepie van Petro se kant. Yes, I did make it to Loftus... me and Louis, thanks to Kobus! Good to be back in SA!

I also saw my old primary school friend Cobus whom i've not seen for 20 years! Ek moet in Afrikaans byvoeg dat ons baie lekker gekuier het en ek is weg met n doos vol wyn en n plekmatjie met n Japanese motief.

Ceri and the boys have gone to London to see Cecily arrive back from her 6 months trip to South America. Cecily came back in good form and in one piece. I have spoken to her and she sounds as if she had a great time.

I have not had much opportunity to find out how they all are and what they are up to, but the text messages are suggesting that they are all spending time together and that the boys are a bit of a handful in the small flat in London!

They have now migrated up towards Edinburgh to help Cecily settle into university. They will be in Northumberland for the next week until they go up to Scotland. I think Ceri stayed over at Hardus and Lucy's home in Newcastle and this would have invariably involved long chats and drinks and Hardus probably making something like Beef Wellington! (jis ek gaan dit mis!).

Ek is terug in Manguzi en behartig die boekwinkel en die huislike bedryf. Ek lees boek en gaan slaap laat. Ek is op soek na n donkie...

Photos include :
1.Louis and Eunace at Louis' birthday.
2. Kids at Mandela museum in Transkei(birthplace of Mandela - 'area will increase in value' according to Piet).
3. Kids lemonpicking.
4. Corn on the cobs in large pot for sale in town.

ralph

hy is nou amper uit sy doeke!

rabies

Animals are everywhere.
Dogs in particular...
Ceri and I went for a quiet drink at the local lodge and heard this: a local GP 's dog started howling one night a few weeks ago. The GP and one of our senior doctors(who came to assess the situation) were attacked(scratches and torn trousers) and needed rabies vaccine and immuunglobulin. The last mentioned was out of stock(os) here at the hospital, so the GP had to drive 2.5 h to the nearest private clinic for the proper treatment!
He subsequently sent the dog brain privately to Onderstepoort veterinary institution and the report has confirmed rabies...he is now very angry with the pharmasist for not vaccinating the dog as part of the routine jabs.
This event highlights the fact that our biggest threat here in Kwazulu Natal is not malaria, but howling dog disease.
On a trip to the nearest town you may encounter the following on the road: cows, donkeys, geese, chickens, goats, dogs and today I almost crushed an Igrit!
Top photo is a lilac breasted roller, one of the common encounters alongside the road...always on the telephone line. Middle photo is a Nguni group crossing the sandy road on the way to the beach. Louis is pictured with a dog.