Having googled the names a bit more, I realise I may have the wrong end of the PC stick here. . . . :confused:

The other night, I watched Breaker Morant again on TV for what was probably the 50th time. Outstanding film.

I do not want to go into much depth about this topic. There is still a lot of bad feeling among the older people in our country. The film of Breaker Morant is typical holywood. Not much true in it. My grand father was a Cape rebel. I did a lot of research on the topic and can write a lot of things about the war. As a matter of fact I am currently busy writing a book about my grand father's expierence. He used a alias 'Johannes Strydsman' when the Brittish captured him to hide his true identity. Strydsman means warrior.

Lex, last night I found this thesis which may interest you.

Thanks Gerald! It will give me something new to read in bed before I go to sleep. :)

Johan, that thesis is in lots of parts (separate files on the www), but you should see an index in the left column if you are using Acrobat Reader, and you can click to the next part from there.

Gerald,

My sister-in-law just flew in from Kenya and we got to visit tonight. You called it correctly. They stayed in Stellenbosch. She went to SA for some kind of training and thought it was so wonderful that she called my brother after one day and told him he HAD to fly down there. Tonight she gushed for at least 30 minutes about how great SA is. She said it is absolute paradise and the steak she ate one night was the best she had ever had. I believe she told me they visited the Asara winery. Then again when she was leaving, she talked about how beautiful Capetown and SA is. She said they'd love to live there and are definitely going back for a vacation.

I sure hope I can visit one day.

We will invite you to the "MechMate Center" for training, then you can claim a tax deduction when you visit. :D

I am posting this here because it has to do with our South African issues. Why must one always being ripped-off by dealers. My BlackBerry battery is starting to play up. It is a C-S2 type for the BlackBerry Curve. Phoning around the prices in South Africa is beteen R 500.00 - R650.00 (about $58.00 - $76.00.

Searching the internet I got a price of $ 1.67 on the Amazon site .... http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...chant&v=glance

The postage is a bit high, but man what a big difference in price.

I wonder how much it will be for somebody in America to order 2 x C-S2 batteries, pop them into a small padded envelope and post it to South Africa ?

I hate being ripped-off like this.

I'll be happy to do that for you Kobus.

How many do you want? Also, I guess you need to send me a PM with your mailing address so I know how to address the envelope. When I clicked on the link, the price had dropped to $1.49!!!!

I saw my brother this weekend and he said he is in love with Cape Town and Stellenbosch in particular. Dave said it was immaculate, breathtakingly gorgeous and the prices were super reasonable. He said the wine was out of this world and cheaper than the water. He is dying to retire there. He convinced my wife and I that we HAVE to visit paradise as soon as possible. He said the South Africans were fantastic.

And it is so true!:)

Thanks for the offer Doug, but JR contacted me and offered to get them...just waiting for his reply.

OH! I'm sorry for not replying (didn't know you wanted me to). They are on the way to me. I'll let you know when I receive them. Ordered them yesterday.

Thanks JR, will mail you the delivery address.

Gerald,

How about some pictures from your trip? I really enjoyed the last set you posted.

Doug, this time we hardly took any pics. It was a family re-union and then some time in a game reserve where the weather didn't play along. I saw cheetah for the first time in the wild, but my pocket camera wouldn't do them justice at about 80 yards. For the rest, the animals were all standard issue: Elephant, lion, rhino, buffalo, kudu, waterbuck, nyala, impala, giraffe, wildebeest, meerkat, warthog, ostrich, hornbill, baboon. And then, 2 days in the city of Johannesburg.

Gerald,

Standard issue with the animals is a rare thing for us. I would love the opportunity to see a few of those in the wild.

Spot the lions . . . . (That river at sunset has crocs and hippos, but the river bank is vertical at that point)

More interesting stuff, all taken at the Rendezvous Tourism Centre:

Donna, if you reading this, all pics above resized with Irfanview (resize to 640 wide, sharpen, save at 90% quality). Original pics were 3264 wide, over 1.5 MByte.

Which was probably more scary than all the Elephant, lion, rhino, buffalo, kudu, waterbuck, nyala, impala, giraffe, wildebeest, meerkat, warthog, ostrich, hornbill, baboon. :) No offence Kobus

We are going to Jhb the end of the month for a week,taking the kids on a train trip to visit the old peaple and to start collecting parts for smaller #2 so will be flying over Midrand and Brakpan.:)

Hey, Johannesburg is not such a bad place! Granted, there are some large no-go areas, but there is an economic buzz there that is far bigger than anywhere else in this country. And there are some very nice suburbs, with very pleasant weather too! Did the typical strolling at Melrose Arch, Montecasino, Sandton City, Melville, Zoo Lake and then for a reality check drove through Hillbrow, Joubert Park, and down Jeppe Street to Newtown.

Grew up in Melville,those where the days my mother still looked after me:)(sevende laan)
Gerald, even the boys up in the north feel the slump at the moment.The Brow probably still looks the same

Gerald,

Only the buildings with the tourist center have the decorations and are these government buildings?

That tourist center is privately owned and was newly built, modelled on the buildings in nearby Pilgrims Rest. The jigsaw cut fascia boards are over-the-top but some people like them.

Gerald,
Was that chicken, pork ribs and steak on the BBQ or maybe something more exotic?

Nothing more exotic than chicken, pork ribs and lamb rib chops.

Wow!! Great pics. Thanks.

Like I said in an earlier post, my brother has turned into a one man South African tourist agency and he said so many nice things about your country, he's persuaded my parents into vacationing there for their next trip. I've been persuaded too but my bank account won't cooperate at the moment

Nice pictures.
I am long overdue for a trip to the nature reserve. Nothing like a braai at sun set!:)

Doug, I would be happy to meet your parents when they are around here. We can exchange phone numbers if they want to know some locals for "back-up" - I am sure that the other S.Africans will offer their numbers as well. We are well spread out, and fairly close to the typical tourist routes.

Anytime. Just say the word.

always a spare room .

Attachment 4876

This photo was circulated by e-mail recently. A farmer at Harrismith took the photo of the two meerkatte. I am not sure what they are called in English.
Afrikaans is a very descriptive language, but sometimes we get it wrong. The direct translation for Meerkat is a 'Lake cat'. I have never seen them close to a lake. :confused:
Another word is 'Tuinslang' which translates to garden snake. A hose pipe! A little more descriptive.

Wow!!! Thanks Gerald, Johan, and Hennie. That is extremely generous of y'all. I'm sure they wouldn't like to impose on any of you but I'm sure that they'd love to get some advice on where to eat, what to see, and what to avoid.

I'll let them know. Thanks again.

A slghtly bigger "slang"

A farmer up North was concerned about his sheep going missing so installed an electrc fence...this is what he found one morning.

Attachment 4877

Attachment 4878

That’s only a Python, they are not poisonous….I didn’t say that they are harmless, just not poisonous, best to stay away from the sharp end…:rolleyes:

The "where to eat, what to see, and what to avoid" is well-covered by guide books, and even though we are happy to help out there, I was thinking more along the lines of car problems, needing to find a decent doctor and other stuff they may be a little apprehensive of before venturing out here.

That python had an impala ewe (hornless) in its belly:

http://www.bushveld.co.za/pictures-python.htm

Wow,
I guess you would not want to leave your dog outside around there at night. :)