Back from the hols...

So, I'm back in Pretoria and back at work - urgh! Not my favourite thing, and now even more so. It's time to start preparing budgets. That is about as much fun as having your leg hairs removed by a Russian Beauty Therapist with a pair of tweezers...

So, lots to tell y'all and lots of pictures to post, but for now - just this little one taken on my mobile - on the road to the Northern Cape, driving at about 180 kph (about 110mph) To be honest, this is the longest stretch we did and it's straight (look in the rear view mirror) as an arrow and never ending - stretches of 400 km between towns. The other fun thing was that at one point somebody overtook me...

Now, y'all have a pretty, fruitful day now!

TTFN

A bit of this, a lot of that...

Yesterday, 40 years ago my dearest mom, HIGHLY pregnant with me was listening to the radio, and was specifically listening to how Neil Armstrong spoke 'those words'. A few days later I was born... Not that that is what I want to write here - my birthday this year just seems so insignificant - and I'm as emotional as hell at the moment, so we're going to skip that one...


Mom and I are on our way to go and look at the wild flower display in the Northern Cape. Namaqwaland to be exact. It's an arid desert type landscape that, once a year, turns into the most phenomenal flower garden. It's absolutely stunning! Then on to Cape Town for a few days and then back home via the Garden Route. A round trip of about four to five thousand kilometers covered in three weeks. This is my birthday present to myself. Dawie and I saved up to go for a nice trip together on my fortieth (We would have gone to the US) but I've decided that this will do... Anyway, I'm in no mood to travel on my own. And I promised my Mom a trip to the flowers before her seventieth.

I feel completely uninspired and 'lifeless' at the moment - maybe just tired, maybe this long cold winter getting to me, or maybe I'm just not dealing with everything as well as I think I am. A dear friend commented that I'm not myself this weekend when we went for breakfast. I don't know - I'm coping, I think, mostly... Just not ready to break down again and deal with this, so it's easier just to avoid it... There - that my solution, stick my head in the ground and hope it goes away!

So - long story short - I'll be away for the next month. Hope y'all are happy and healthy!


TTFN

I'm baaaaaack!

Well, how times flies when you're having fun... It just seems like the few days spent with my family went by so quickly that I can hardly believe it's over already. Damn, now it's all the way to July before I can take some leave again. Well, except for a long weekend in April when we're going to God's Window to scatter Dawie's ashes - but that is a story for another day.

It was hot and humid in the Lowveld where we were and to be honest, we did not do a hell of a lot. As my family shows love by feeding you I obviously came home a 'little' (said very lightly - hee, hee) heavier. Mom's always believed that tears can be stopped with chocolate, happiness should be celebrated with a braai (BBQ), indiference should be overcome with a potato bake - basically any mood can be changed/celebrated/encouraged/discouraged by adding some home cooked goodness. This is the reason we used 3 different cars to transport 7 people to the destination, and one of them is a seven seater MPV/minivan that towed a luggage trailer! (I will post pictures of the packing when I download the camera...)

We spent a lot of time just talking and being together, a lot of time reading, and catching up on some well deserved afternoon naps. Also a lot of time next to the pool as it was hot and humid - but I've said that already. Long walks in the bush resulted in long dips in the pool followed by a little snack. Long games of Putt Putt (Mini Golf) resulted in long dips in the pool followed by a little snack. Long drives into the Game park resulted - I think you get the picture... And yes, you can turn me on my side, throw a few lights on me and call me the Goodyear Blimp!


Will post some pic's soon for y'all to see, but basically this is just a quick HELLO to all in Blogland! Missed y'all see!

TTFN

We're all going on a Summer Holiday...

Well, not all of us, but I am, so there!

Will be away from 'civilization' for 10 days relaxing with my family. Should be fun. It's the first time since Dawie's death that I'm able to switch off a bit and I'm thinking this will be good. Also good that I'm surrounded by people that love me and loved Dawie...

See y'all in a few days,

TTFN

The mountain, the elephant and the very dusty trip.

Had the most amazing weekend at the foot of Mount Kilimanjaro this weekend. Was actually in Amboselli National Park on the Kenyan side of the Mountain, and we stayed at a stunning lodge, Satao Elerai that opened recently. (Now if Blogger or my ISP would only allow me to upload some pictures, I could show y'all how pretty it was there - but nooo, the Internet is out to frustrate the shit out of me today and is achieving it's goals admirably!)

It was a trip that I will not forget for a long time, if ever. Firstly we had the whole planning thing arse about face - got the directions wrong and ended up being lost for over four hours, but a least it was a fun four hours - driving trough a national park at night (illegally I might add) and then 'waiting' for a heard of ellies to cross the road - so worth it! And then getting to the camp with a cold gin and tonic and a warm meal waiting for us - how tough is it living in Africa?

The next day, after a scrumptious breakfast, we did a self drive safari with a Masai as our guide. He command of the English language included left, right, straight, elephant, zebra, warthog etc and nothing else. It was amazing how this man could spot an animal MILES away and I could not find it with binoculars. Muzungu's (White people) aren't made for the bush apparently... We saw a heard of ellies (my favourite animal ever!) of over 100 animals, and the stunning sightings just kept coming. At one stage we were parked on the road with the heard on both sides of us - younger crowd on the left taking a dust bath, older crowd on the right giving disapproving glances.

So the next minute these two young'ens start making a ruckus on the left - chasing each other, kicking up a whole lot of dust and making a real noise. (I'm in heaven at this stage, ellies playing) This goes on for a few minutes and then an old bull from the other side of the road decides that enough is enough... He drops his (not unsubstantial) fifth leg and start storming across the road - trumpeting and making sure EVERYBODY knows he's now PISSED. He storms trough the crowd of other young'ens and heads directly for the two young bulls making a fuss. These two have seen that they are now in trouble and decide that the best course of action would be to RUN... They head of in separate directions and run like hell, but the old 'codger' has set his sights on teaching somebody a lesson - and gets a hold of the one young'ens tail - young'en not slowing down for a second, just being tugged at from behind by angry bull elephant and 'sort of screeching' the whole time in this very nervous little voice. It was the funniest thing ever - even our Masai Guide had this grin on his face for the rest of the afternoon.

So after not being able to really catch this young'en the old bull decided to pee on everything and then went back to standing around and being calm and collected... (By the way, a bull elephant having a pee is a sight to behold!)

Telling you more of this trip will take me a whole day and I just don't have time, but will try and post some video of this event and share it with y'all.

On another note - I only have another week or so left in Kenya before I go back home... Sadness has gripped me, and at the same time happiness as well. And on yet another note - has some really exciting news on the work front as well which I will share soon... Going to have a whole lot of fun I am!!!

Hope y'all are having loving, sharing days now!!!

TTFN

Travelling in Kenya.

Just read a 'rather funny' post, and it reminded me of a time (it was last Easter, actually) when we travelled down to Kilifi for a long weekend. A dear friend from SA - her nickname for me is Chicken so that's what we'll call her here, was here for a visit, and a local friend Es was also travelling with us. Dawie was flying in from Joburg and taking a connecting flight to Mombasa where we would meet him and then proceed on to Kilifi. The picture is of the house we rented.

But I digress...

Chicken is a 'Kugel' of note. This is 'Souf Efriken-ism' for 'Cool Girl', or a person (of the female persuasion usually, but you do get male kugels) that is a dedicated follower of fashion, talks with a funny-ish nasal, accent (Ye knew doll, this little spot is deviiiiiiine!Im about to platz!) and is ever so slightly over the top. Do not misunderstand me for one second - I love her to pieces, she is such a genuine person and will not hurt a fly, but her mannerisms really are very stereotypical. It is also important to note here that Chicken is VERY well travelled and has been all over the world - both on leisure and business travel. However, most of her travels are to Europe and the like...

So we set of for Mombasa with a cooler box full of Evian water, wet wipes to clean our hands and faces every now and again, some low -GI sandwiches in a cooler and a half a ton of luggage. We also have the air con pumping full blast in the car, and soft, esoteric music playing on the stereo. It's all very Zen...

As you might know, the first section between Nairobi and Machakos Crossing is not particularly smooth, and this took us a good hour and a bit to complete. Chicken is making little funny noises in between mouthfuls of Evian, and me overtaking into oncoming traffic and the occasional crazy driving antics as only displayed here in Kenya. Ducking a diving in between cars and matatus, taking on trucks and just generally being a right arse on the road - loving every minute of it... Chicken - being of the nervous passenger variety, makes comments like -'You never told me we needed a sports bra for this daaaahling', and 'My Gawd, this is stuuuuning doll!' and 'Mummy needs to make piddles, see!'... So, after a rather bouncy bit we stopped at Machakos Crossing at the fuel station to 'make piddles'.

This specific station is used by the truckers that travel on this very busy route and, to be honest, is not particularly 'clean and sanitized'. In fact, as you get out the car, you get a whiff of old urine and blocked toilets, and then you're not even close to the bathroom door yet. You have to still walk around the building... So, Es and Chicken head for the bathroom (I know better, I'll stop next to the road a little out of town) and I sit in the car. Chicken has a packet of wet wipes, a toilet roll and hand lotion in her hands in addition to the whole handbag thing, and Es - being an old Kenyan traveller, a roll of paper and wet wipes.

Chicken, bless her, walked to the bathroom with all her normal flair, flicking her hair, slight bounce in the step and bosom pushed out to as far as it would go - getting the attention they deserve - the puppies, I mean, her Prada heels clicking on the rough sidewalk next to the petrol station. She walked to the door of the bathroom, slight grin on her face and took one step into the door of the bathroom. As if running into a brick wall she stopped, paused for the slightest of moments and duly made a 180 degree turn. Walking back to the car, she looked me straight in the eye and said 'Don't worry sweetie, I'll hold it!'

And she did - until we stopped another two hours later - but she was applying Avroy Slain to her lips every few minutes and not a drop (wet or dry) passed her lips until she had a chance to empty her bladder. I have enormous respect for her - I cannot hold 'it' that long - when a mans gotta go, a mans gotta go!

The rest of our trip was wonderful and the rest of the weekend phenomenal, but that is another post altogether - or maybe I've written about it already... Not about to go back and check. There were other great instances - like when Chicken went to braid her hair in Kilifi, when she was 'attacked by a vicious minkey' in the room, when we had to remove the 'froggie from the bathroom but not kill it, because it has a family' or when we used a tuk-tuk to go to town and it nearly rolled over when negotiating one of the pot-holed streets. (That scream made the whole town of Kilifi stop in it's tracks for a few seconds...)

Dawie and I both LOVE Chicken to pieces and one of the places where we can always just be ourselves is at her stunning home in Sandton. (Obviously!) She is just such a sweet, wonderful and sincere friend. The rare kind!

Now hope y'all have a really purdy day now, see!

TTFN

Lake Baringo...

Spent some time this weekend at the stunning 'Camp Island' as we called it, or Island Camp as it is really known... Was a bit of Freudian Slip the first time it was said and it stuck around for the rest of the weekend. Well, long weekend really, we arrived on Thursday and only got back to the city on Sunday afternoon. It was truly worth every shilling... You have no choice but to relax and just let the time fly by - you're on an island in the middle of a croc invested lake, so what you gonna do - swim across?

The first pic is where we are crossing the equator by road...

I'll post a few pictures here today - no real time to write a whole story with it, but it will come!

On the boat on the way to the Island. It was a stunningly hot dry day!

Sunrise the next morning over the lake - taken from the veranda of my tent on the edge of the water. Boy, life is Africa is hell! Hell I tell you!

Sunset over the lake. Taken from 'skull island' as we referred to it. The island in your sight is where we stayed. Went for a sundowner cruise to another island...

Skull island taken from the restaurant side.

Just for interest sake, the owner of the lodge on the island is a lovely fellow that is quite the host - he's always got a quick joke and time to talk to his guests. He is also, very gay friendly for those gay folks looking for a spot to travel to that does not 'frown' upon two men sharing a double bed. (Not that my Dawie was there, but I discussed this with him...)

I'm out to my friends and they in turn outed me to him - not that I'm worried about that - he seemed very friendly. Even made a joke when we were checking out that he should post his lodge in the Pink Pages as 'Camp Island' and he (in a very serious note) told me about Gay tourism in other parts of the world, and how much we (the rainbow folks) could mean to a business - as if I don't know, but it was very sweet...

Some more pictures!

Am I the only one to see the 'phallic image' with this Eclair... Maybe I've just been away from the hubby for too long!

More sunset pic's.

Quite the unique picture taken by a friend. And a bit of a pun for the local brew, of which we consumed copious amounts. It was REALLY REALLY HOT, alright!

That all for now folks. Hope y'all have a really pretty day now!

TTFN

Back in Nairobi, back on-line...

Lets first scream it from the rooftops - HAPPY NEWYEAR to all! Hope that 2008 will bring a time for dreams to come true, love to be abundant and happiness to prevail always!

Then, to all of the people that have enquired about my safety in light of the events after the general elections in Kenya, I'm fine, thank you! It is still a bit tense in Nairobi, but in general I feel safe and secure. My heart does go out to all the people affected by this tragedy thought, and my sincerest condolences to those who lost loved ones in the senseless and stupid violence! Lets hope that the politicians come to their senses soon...

My holiday was phenomenal, but I feel this is not the right time to talk about this. Too much happening right now to keep my mind occupied - and the need to visit all my 'bloggin' friends to see what's going on in the world.

Will share one little thing thought - Dawie and I have become parents again! Her name is Jessica (Jess for short) and she is a pocket Yorkshire Terrier! She has the heart of a lion, and Jason (our 7 year old boy) has grown to love her too - although id did take him a few days... She weighed a full 400 grams when we got her (at eight weeks old), but she's now (four weeks later) touching 600 grams, and healthy and fit! Her estimated size will be aprox. 1.1 to 1.2 kg when she is fully grown... Is she not the cutest thing!!!!

Well, got a ton of email to respond to, and get back to work at some stage.

Hope y'all are well and happy!

TTFN

Off on holiday...

I'll be out of touch for about a month! This is a wonderful thing, as it means that I'll be with the man I love for a full, uniterupted 30 days...

Here's wishing y'all a wonderful, blessed Christmas and the best possible 2008! I hope that this time is filled with love, understanding, kindness and of course a really fruiful time!

TTFN

Me bad!

Been really 'lazy' the last while with posting and blogging - with communication in general really. No, let's be completely honest, have been so busy at work, that I just could not face plugging in the laptop at the end of the day, and logging on from home... That, and all my creative 'juices' were sapped by writing board reports and going trough piles and piles of financial reports. (Mental note to self - in my next life, I do NOT wanna study anything to do with finances...)

Right, so what's been happening here? Endless rain, completely mixed up weather, lots and lots of work, and very little else really. Estelle - a really dear friend, has been going trough a personnel crises, and I've tried to assist her as far as I can, but sometimes feel a little ill equipped for that purpose. I grew up, after all, in a house - although loving and caring, where the general feeling was always - deal with it! I've always tried to be a compassionate and caring person, and me thinks I achieve this most of the time, but not always.

Dawie is traveling a lot for work at the moment, and out of the last month or so, he's spent only one week at home, so he is also tired and basically at the end of his tether. That little break we took a while ago just feels so much like it never happened, and I think we both deserve a longer, and more substantial break soon. Planning to tour trough Namibia in December, so really looking forward to that at the moment. Not sure exactly how yet, but we will be driving from Pretoria to Windhoek via Upington and Keetmanshoop - a round trip of about 5/6000km. Lots of time together, and lots of time just to be... Amazing part of Africa Namibia is, such stunning scenery and contrast, and so sparsely populated, that you can go miles before spotting another living thing.

Will for now focus on our holiday plans for December, all that keeps me going at the moment. Also need to go 'down South' for a weekend soon, miss my Dawie and miss just being with him BIG TIME!

Oh well, all for now, really not too creative at the mo - so sorry for boring y'all to death!

Have a fruitful day now!

TTFN

A few pictures!

I feel really 'uncreative' today, so, going to bore y'all with a few more pictures from my part of the world! I cannot always remember what I've posted before (It's called STML - Short Term Memory Loss), so if this is a rehash - sorry!

Mombasa Old city - you can walk for hours trought narrow little streets shopping in what seems to be little shops that come from the begining of the century. Loverly antiques!

This was just such a 'pretty' picture. We went on a Dhow trip around Kilifi creek for a 'sunset booze cruise' - it was friggin' hot, but the G&T's where cold, and they were plenty!

My parents - bless them, have a cottage next to the Kruger National Park in SA, and this is the view of the Crocodile River. We as a family (Me, Hubby, my sisters and their 'better halves' and my folks) are planning a nice break here soon. It is such a blessing that my hubby is so well integrated into my extended family... (Even when I'm not home, he gets invited to the family dinners and get togethers!)

This is Sun City in SA, overlooking the golf course and stunning landscaped gardens. We've spent many a weekend here as a 'mini break' from the madness of the city. Not really into gambling the two of us, but we do enjoy sitting together at the 2 cent machines and screaming with glee if we win something... We can occupy ourselves for hours with R20 (US$3)....

Well, I've once again ran out of time, so that's all folks!

Hope y'all have a really pretty evening now!

TTFN

Back in Nairobi.

Back from the holiday in SA, and feeling a lot more 'alive' - althought, think this will be very quickly dispatched with, as the work is a mountain ahead of me! My goodness, a mailbox can pile up when you don't attend to it's dirty little needs...

Will be posting more on our fantastic holiday, but for now, just a quick note to say I'm back in my little Kenyan world...

Keep well y'all!

TTFN

Ta ta for now...

Will be away for the next 12 days, and will have no access to the internet. (Will be on holiday with my hubby, so the internet will be the last thing on my mind really...)

Just to make everybody a bit yellow, here is a pic of a sunset over the Crocodile River in the Kruger National Park.

Hope y'all have a wonderful time, and think of me 'suffering' trought a few days of rest, relaxation and utter uselessness...

TTFN