Homestart Runner letter from ZA!

Long time, no blog.
Hey this week's Strongbad email on HomestarRunner.com is from Bloemfontein! Other than that, there is no South African content. But that's all I gots time for right now.

Boks win the Rugby World Cup!

Check it out! I wish I could be as excited about this as the Red Sox going to the World Series, but I really can't. GO SOX!

Boks going to the Finals in Rugby World Cup!

Just checked in, having missed most of the round of 8 action. The Springboks are going to play England in the Final of the RWC next Saturday, 20 Oct, in Saint-Denis, France. Go Boks!

Photos from Sarah A

Hi again,
Here's a couple more pix of our trip to Capetown, courtesy of Sarah A.

Boks blow out Brits

The Springboks have ground England, defending World Champs of Rugby, into a fine pasty paste: 36-0. Next match is against Tonga on the 22nd.

Cricket Pro 20's

One of my agents in ZA has alerted me to the start of the Cricket Pro 20s going on right now. This series is condensed from the already condensed form of the One Day Internationals from 50 overs to 20 overs (hence, 20's). Usually test cricket drags on for days and days, and everyone wears white. In ODI's the uniforms are a bit more flashy. You can check in on the action here, and probably elsewhere. The Proteas just beat the Windies a couple of days ago.
Thanks for the tip, Juanita!

Rugby World Cup is underway!

Howzit!
The 2007 Rugby World Cup is on, and the Springboks are primed for their first match, against Samoa tomorrow (9 September) in Paris. The 'Boks are in Group A with defending champs England, as well as the USA and Tonga. Should be lekker!

Happy National Braai Day!

Today was National Braai Day in South Africa. I did not know this when I fired up the gas braai this evening for the American version of boeries. Nobel laureate Bishop Desmond Tutu made an appearance to promulgate the holiday, and was made the patron of the holiday. Mmmmm. I wish I could get some boerewors right about now.

We're famous again!

Hi ZA fans!
South Africa has just jumped into the limelight again, thanks to a certain Miss Teen USA contestant who comes from a state I'm not sure I could find on a map.

Also, there was a recent story on NPR about the increase in muggings on Table Mountain in Cape Town, but I can't find a link for it.

Funny name change

A lot of towns in ZA have had name changes since the transition. Pretoria is transforming into Tshwane, Louis Trichardt into Makhado, Pietersberg into Polokwane, and apparently this town in KZN.

Rilly funny short film about braai'ing

I don't think you have to be South African to appreciate this.

What’s magnetic in ZA?

The answer may surprise you. Of course, South Africa is a land of many metallic objects. She is famous for her metals, hewn from the earth by sinewy, hardened muscles. Gold and platinum are two expensive examples. The news daily focuses the attention on the fate of fine ounces of these metals. But neither of them are, alas, magnetic. Neither are diamonds which don’t even have the courtesy of being metallic!

So, what is magnetic in ZA? Many electronic door locks are made of strong electromagnets, but that’s not very different from in the ‘States, now is it? There are a lot of these locks, perhaps more than in the ‘States, but still that’s not interesting.

Here’s a challenge. Take a quarter, dime, penny, or nickel. Any US coin or in fact, even paper bills, and then try to pick them up with a magnet. Use as strong a magnet as you can find within a two mile radius, and chances are you will be sorely disappointed with their intercourse. You may now take a South African coin, if you are fortunate enough to have one. One rand, two rands, 10 cents, five cents, it matters not. Now take your widely sought magnet and just tease the coin with it. What happened? Did it leap at your magnet like an attention-starved puppy? It did? Oh yes of course it did! Because IN SOUTH AFRICA, COINS ARE MAGNETIC! Surprise!

But what else of note is magnetic? Surely, the well of magnetic secrets of ZA has not dried up, has it? The answer is no.

If you would like a refreshing beverage in ZA, you have many options. Glass bottles are available, although these are certainly not magnetic. Plastic bottles and juice boxes are also available, and offer delicious 100% juices, but neither bottle, box, nor juice is magnetic. But what about canned drinks? You may have enjoy a canned beverage, and upon extending you throat upwards for the last precious drops feel somehow as if there must be something more. As you lower the can, it feels as though there is a last swallow of drink hiding somewhere in the can. But there is no such thing. The can itself, is a bit HEAVIER than the typical can in the ‘States. Aha! A clue! What if we apply a MAGNET to the can? KA-CHING! MAGNETIC! Yes, cans in ZA are made of steel, and not aluminum, or even aluminium, as they call it here, and are thus MAGNETIC.

Will ZA reveal more of her magnetic secrets on our next trip? I certainly hope so!

Home safe and sound, part II

So here I sit, back in Alabama, with lightnin' fast wireless internet. As the previous post indicates, it may be worthwhile to check in every now and again for new material related to Africa and especially ZA. Things to look out for: How the Springboks do in the Rugby World Cup in France, when the spaghetti really hits the fan in Zimbabwe (okay, the spaghetti just keeps getting fed through the fan there, but when Mugabe finally stops destroying his country), and soon, I will tell you WHAT IS MAGNETIC in South Africa. The answer may shock you!

Interview with Femi Kuti

Here's an interview with Femi Kuti, son of the Nigerian creator of Afrobeat music, Fela Kuti, who died of complications from AIDS in 1997.
http://www.laweekly.com/music/music/femi-fatale/16844/

Leavin' on a jet plane

Howdy folks, and goodbye.
My flight leaves tonite from Oliver Tambo International, and should have me home in about 25 hours. I've been scrambling to get everything in a state fit for my departure at home and at work.

My work here is unfinished, however. And while I've gotten a lot done, there's more to do on the main project I came to complete. So, plans are in the offing for a return trip, a shorter one, and possibly another after that.


So this is not adieu, but au revoir, ZA...

Lekker Verjaardag, Madiba!

Yesterday was Nelson Mandela's 89th Birthday.

Triskadekaphobia!

Happy Friday the 13th, y'all.
This is Mma Jossie and my lucky day, as our first date occurred on such an occasion. I've been busy wrapping up my studies here at FABI, and missing the ladies terribly.
It's been a bit cold, although some days get up to 17 degrees (or about 65 F). Otherwise, not much to report.

Who's two? Lulu!

Yesterday was Violet's second Birthday. I did get to talk to her briefly, and she mentioned that I was in 'Toria. She's getting to be quite a verbal little one, as she'll need to be to keep up with her big sis. Happy, Happy Birthday, Lulu! Here's a couple of pix from her last day at school here, and one of her on a horseback ride at the Voortrekker Monument.

Home safe and sound

Hi Everyone,
I've just received word that the ladies are safe and sound back in Alabama. I'm still here for another two weeks or so, and I already miss them very much. They left on Friday night, in the middle of a party here at FABI, the annual meeting of the Society for the Presentation Of Outrageous Findings, or SPOOF. I gave a talk on some of my "inventions", and we all had a good laugh at the nerdy business we do.

After the talks it was party time, and the girls got to play and eat a bit before getting in the car for the 45 minute drive to OR Tambo International Airport just north of Jo'burg. Oliver Tambo was Nelson Mandela's law partner and also very active in the ANC in exile while Madiba was in Prison. He died in 1993, after the lift of the ban but before election.

So the ladies got to the check-in counter and I parked and came back for some last hugs and kisses. They had some difficulty at the ticket counter, but fortunately weren't saddled with overweight fees. So I helped entertain the kinders while Mum sorted the tickets.

Jo'burg to Amsterdam overnight, Amsterdam to Detroit, Detroit to Atlanta. If there are more details of note from the trip, I will relate them as I hear them. But I'm glad their back in oaks and hickories in Alabama once more.

Whither this blog? Perhaps I should change the name to Zanzot in ZA?, Will I continue to blog after my return? Perhaps a new blog? It's pretty fun I must admit.

In other news we are already making plans to come back. My microsatellite work is at a pretty good mothballing point, but I'll need to come back for a quick month or two to finish collecting data (hopefully), and Jossie is also trying to coordinate with the Architecture folks here as well. So perhaps I'll keep folks abreast of ZA news from home. I don't know...

Birthday Safari

Howdy Folks,
and HAPPY BIRTHDAY WEEK to the girls!! Veronica is now 4 and Violet is very soon to be 2. What do you get for the girls who need no excess baggage? How about some giraffes and rhinos!
As a special birthday surprise, we decided to take the girls on another quest for the ellies. We opted not to go to Kruger National Park, which is about 4 hours away and is typically booked solid anytime near a weekend in winter, but rather go to Pilanesberg National Park, which is about 2 hours away. It's right next to Sun City, which dinosaurs of my era may remember from the 1980's cassette featuring artists dedicated to boycotting the casino/resort as a protest against Apartheid.

We decided to boycott the casino too, if only because taking a girl to a casino for her fourth birthday may seem to some like irresponsible parenting, especially if there aren't enough chips to share with her two year old sister.

So we headed up to P'berg after another trip to the Rosebank Craft Market down in Jo'burg. Sorry, apart from the bouncy castles, I can't say what all we did there in order not to ruin some surprises. Then, at naptime, we headed northwest past PTA to Pilanesberg, and managed to book into an Executive Safari Tent at the Bakgatla Camp. We actually arrived at the Mankwe Camp, and decided to move on, but not until we had availed ourselves of their bouncy castle.
We did find the Bakgatla Camp, just before dark, and after driving through Goat City, which was what Veronica christened the town along the edge of the park for salient reasons.

We arrived at the Executive Safari Tent, replete with running water and electricity and debarked the provisions for the night. We wandered through the camp in search of hilarity and the restaurant for the buffet dinner. We found the playground, which was in the dark, but well enough lit for a little extra birthday adventure. We then beheld a glowing in the northeast, over the mountains, and some patience bore the rising of the bright beautiful full moon. This may have partially explained the rousing chorus of "Bohemian Rhapsody" from one of the campsites, though clearly this was not the sole lubricant of the revelers' muse.

After a delicious all one could wish to eat dinner, including a lovely desert buffet, it was off to bed. While the tent was comfortable with its beds and mini-fridge, it did turn out to be insulated as a tent typically is. Fortunately for us there was also a space heater.

In the morning we found one of the promised amenities, a trampoline, but had to wait until after breakfast for the 2200-800 curfew to pass. Another fantastic buffet breakfast and back out to the trampoline. Also on site, the superette with extra provisions for lunch. And as the grown-ups provisioned, the Bakgatla Bouncy Castle appeared and drew the jumping feet along. It was tough to get the girls in the car for a day of game watching, but we managed.

We drove into the Park proper and set off for the first hide. Not much going on there. So back in the car. Shortly later we saw our first game of the day, some blue wildebeests. A few photos and onward!

Next we came across some warthogs, rooting about.

We turned off the paved road onto a nice gravel track and came upon a roving ostrich
As well as some animals we'd never heard of,
These here are red hartebeests, and we also came across tsessebes, which are another bok-like creature. For me, the boks held little interest until you learn to tell some of them apart.

We stopped in at the Pilanesberg Centre, which is under renovation, but which did have the shops relocated to tents. The Centre was fenced and had a nice view of a watering hole with more wildebeests gamboling.

We headed off to find a suitable picnic spot, and were flagged down by a fellow game watcher to alert us to a lion sighting not to far from where we were. Lions are one of the "Big 5", and when the locals start getting excited about it, you know it's a big deal. We headed to where we were told to go, but we didn't really need to scour the landscape. The lion sighting had caused a nice knot in the traffic, with people parking on both sides of the street in the lanes to stop and gawk at the King of the Beasts. We didn't really see them, and basically got frustrated with the agog game-watchers forgetting their motoring skills. And we were hungry, so we managed to wriggle out of the traffic and head for the picnic area.
We were rewarded with an encounter with a herd of giraffe.

Let me tell you, I was pretty riled up by the traffic episode, but giraffes exude a mellowness and poise that can just put you into a state of bliss by their company. I think giraffes are about one of my favorite things. Look at this one! It even has a heart shaped spot on it!
How can you not love these things?

We stopped for lunch at a picnic spot called Fish Eagle, overlooking a watering hole. We saw these lumps that I thought were hippos, but then I thought they were rocks. Then hippos, then rocks again. Then I took a picture, but I still couldn't tell. I'm pretty sure now that the rocks are in fact, hippos. They are chillin' here with some waterbuck
After lunch it was time for a rest, and we promised the girls we'd wake them up if we saw ellies. We didn't see elephants, but we did spy some rhino (probably white rhinos, which are NOT on the Big 5, though black rhinos are).


And also some zebra (which rhymes with Deborah, in the local parlance). As the girls woke up we spied some more zebra, wildebeests (these things are everywhere), warthogs, rhino, and even some baboons.
And on another tip, we found another traffic snarl which meant lions. There were 3 lionesses there, though I only saw one of them, she was about 60 meters off, and this was the best shot I could get.

The sun was going down, and we needed to get to the gate. On our way our we saw another rhino with a baby, and back at the first lion-related traffic snarl we found the lions were still there. This time we saw them, only about 10 meters off the road. A male and a female. But it was too dark to get any good photos.
So we left Pilanesberg after a good days Safari, even if no ellies, and a great start to the Birthday Week.

Go Beavs!

Thanks to Agent ytnok for keeping me posted on College World Series. GO BEAVS!!!!

A much cooler blog about Africa

I've just come across another cool website featuring things African. Do check it out...
http://www.afrigadget.com/

"How to write about Africa"

I just came across this, I recommend reading it, as it really sums up how many westerners view Africa. I once jokingly asked someone (I think it was an adult) what the capital of Africa is, and their answer "Egypt?".
Addendum: If this doesn't work, try this: http://www.granta.com/extracts/2615

A snippet

"Always use the word 'Africa' or 'Darkness' or 'Safari' in your title. Subtitles may include the words 'Zanzibar', 'Masai', 'Zulu', 'Zambezi', 'Congo', 'Nile', 'Big', 'Sky', 'Shadow', 'Drum', 'Sun' or 'Bygone'. Also useful are words such as 'Guerrillas', 'Timeless', 'Primordial' and 'Tribal'. Note that 'People' means Africans who are not black, while 'The People' means black Africans.

Never have a picture of a well-adjusted African on the cover of your book, or in it, unless that African has won the Nobel Prize. An AK-47, prominent ribs, naked breasts: use these. If you must include an African, make sure you get one in Masai or Zulu or Dogon dress."

Mapungubwe National Park

“Go to the banks of great grey-green greasy Limpopo River, all set about with fever- trees, and find out….”

Our drive north towards the Botswana and Zimbabwe border began in the middle of the night. With sleeping girls wrapped in blankets and bags of provisions, we piled into Oom Piet’s land rover and settled in for the six hour journey to Mapungupwe National Park. Four cups of coffee already in his system, Piet drove steadily towards sunrise in the Limpopo province.

We arrived at Mapungupwe before noon and and set off to find our camp, which like so many camps in ZA, was much nicer than most of the places I've ever stayed. Our camp, a well-appointed grass-thatched rondavel featured electricity and running hot and cold water, king size bed, a kitchen (stocked by us, "self-catering" as they say), and a nice lapa (porch) with a braai (barbeque). Of course, a braai is not really an amenity here, it's a necessity. The view to the valley beyond revealed a scrubby veld grass landscape, enclosed by sandstone cliffs. Looking carefully we could make out the silhouettes of BABOONS perched on the cliffs peaks.

After hours in the car we decided to explore the camp, one of a few select areas where walking around is permitted. Climbing steadily up the ridge, Piet introduced us to the some of the signature species of the area including the Mopane tree, a fragrant favorite snack of elephants, several hardy and thorny Acacia, majestic baobabs (fondly familiar to Baba Djibo), the SHONGOLOLO (centipede), and the green dove, which Veronica learned to recognize by its distinct call. The girls were intrigued by the discovery of bleached bone shards on the rocks, perhaps Zebra.

A much needed rest in the cool of our rooms, (it was several degrees warmer up north), reinvigorated our sleep-deprived bodies and we decided to drive about in search of ELEPHANTS. While we saw nary a one, we did pass several impala of both hornless female and horny male variety. Violet is an enthusiastic game driver, “Look mama! Kudu!” she would shriek with delight, while Djibo kept making Biltong jokes. We topped off our first night with a boerwors and lambchop braii, red wine, and a dazzling starry sky.

Saturday morning we awoke to the sound of lions roaring nearby. We took a guided group tour of Mapungupwe itself, a designated World Heritage site within the larger game reserve. Ascending a newly added staircase, we explored the remains of the first kingdom of South African and Greater Zimbabwe area. The people of Mapungupwe inhabited the area between 1320-1390, and in that time built and rebuilt their huts, with changing moods of the rivers and the spirits. Mapungupwe is situated at the confluence of the Shashe and Limpopo rivers. The Limpopo forms ZA's northern border for quite a ways, and the Shashe forms the border between Botswana and Zimbabwe.
It was amongst the king’s quarters on top of the hill that a small gold plaited rhino was found, as well as pottery shards, gold as well as glass beads, game boards, grain pestles, indicating an advanced civilization reached by Indian traders from the eastern shores. The Mapungupweans moved onwards probably having depleted the area of firewood, to a neighboring site, and then on to the Greater Zimbabwe where their descendants kingdoms flourished for generations.

We picnic’d at a hilltop spot overlooking the confluence, which was running near dry and then returned for a nap after which the girls splashed in the chalet’s pool. Later that afternoon, we returned to the connected boardwalk decks featuring vistas towards Zim an Botswana, for a proper south African sundowner (a round of drinks at sunset). Having started the coals earlier in the afternoon, the OXTAIL poitje was well underway upon our return. Marinated in red wine and spices, the poitje was rich brown and sumptuous, a feast conducive of only the most bizarre bushvelt dreams.

Sunday morning the lions were busy again, and before setting out in earnest to find some elephants, we decide to explore the canopy walk. This boardwalk, designed by one the youngest UP architecture professors Nicholas Clarke, ambles through the riparian canopy, connecting a series of perches. It culminates at a bird hide from which we could spy an array of birds including the saddle-billed stork, a large CROCODILE across the banks, and vervet monkies. Returning from the canopy we hit the game drive for one last tour.

Well, despite our relentless tracking from one end of the expansive park to the other, one of the earth’s largest land mammals and its relations, managed to elude us. Were we disappointed to go all this way and not see elephants? No, really it adds to the incredible magic of the wilderness that is Africa. But just as we were straining to look deep into the bush on either side of the road, having sighted a giraffe in this way- across the undulating hills, where it was browsing and minding its own business. Just then with all eyes including the drivers off at the edges, there appeared in the middle of the road A GIANT RHINO! “Look mama, rhino!” and off it loped.

Happy Birthday, Cousin Chase!

Here's a special message for our Cousin Chase in Ohio. Veronica says she and Violet are at the left, and you are on the right.

Here's my crude rendering...
Lots of love on your special day, buddy,
The Zanzots in ZA

Walter Sisulu National Botanical Garden

With the Benz out of the shop, and after a lazy day indoors yesterday, we decided to go on another weekend adventure. This time, we set out for the third of the seven national botanical gardens in ZA, the Walter Sisulu NBG, which is just a little west of Jo’burg, not so far from Maropeng, in the suburb of Roodepoort. We set off after a light lunch to stimulate napping in the young ones during the drive, which was only about 45 minutes from Pta. So we decided to extend the nap by exploring another nature reserve on the map, the Ruimsig Entomological Reserve. This is only about a five minute drive away from the Botanical Garden, and is a large enclosed meadow, dedicated to the protection of a rare butterfly, the Roodepoort Copper (Aloeides dentatis: Lycaenidae). There is only a sign to indicate what the large open space is, and no entrance, gift shop, café, etc. So we admired the large hole in the middle of some very choice real estate, and headed back to the Garden in time for the girls to wake from a full hour’s nap.

I was a bit wary of visiting another botanical garden after Kirstenbosch, which claims to be the most beautiful garden in Africa. But this garden also has much beauty and I was not disappointed. We wandered about the useful plants garden, and the succulents.

Another highlight of was the waterfall, which has about a 70 m drop, and is quite impressive. This waterfall is near the headwaters of the Crocodile River, which if I’m not mistaken runs east through Nelspruit, quite a ways away.

Some rare black eagles have made their aerie right next to the waterfall, and there was a spotting scope so we could look in on a mother eagle.

We decided to drop in on the café, which was experiencing a power outage, so there were only drinks for us to enjoy, but we were able to get some limited edition cricket crisps (Caribbean onion and balsamic vinegar flavoured) and also some chutney flavoured crisps (or as Violet says, “chuntey”).

After settling up for our drinks, we headed towards the wilder side of the Garden, with some typical highveld vegetation, and over to a dam (most lakes in ZA are referred to as dams, as that is how most permanent lakes in ZA are formed) with a bird hide so we could spy on a cormorant for a bit. Winding our way back to the entrance, we wandered through the nursery and back to the Benz for the cruise home.

Not much going on recently...

Last weekend was pretty subdued. Mostly just hanging out in Pta. We took the Mercedes in for service, and needed to get the clutch fixed. It needed to stay in the shop for a few days, so we were back on the buses until Thursday. It's been a bit warmer, more typical winter conditions for ZA, and a couple of days where it was t shirt weather in the afternoon. I've been in a workshop on phylogenetics this past week, and learning little bits about 12 different computer programs. My brain is a bit sore from that. That's the latest, but we'll let you know if anything comes up.

Vrystaat Adventures

If you are anything like me, and I know you’re not, you may have wondered why there was a place in South Africa called the Orange Free State. What had citrus ever done to this place? Was this the home of the “I Love My Scurvy” Club?

Now, in the new South Africa, this province is known only as the Free State (Vrystaat in Afrikaans), as the name of the House of Orange which once ruled the Netherlands is considered too much of a vestige of Apartheid. It was the Free State because for a time, it was a sovereign state from the Union of South Africa, controlled by the Afrikaaners as the British pushed forward in the Anglo-Boer Wars. Also, the borders of the Free State are partially defined by the Orange and the Vaal Rivers (hence, the area north of the Vaal is called the Transvaal).

The Free State has been referred to as the “Iowa of South Africa” by one anonymous ZA’n who would know. There is a lot of agriculture there, as we discovered, but also much natural beauty and other features that (apologies to IA), Iowa lacks.

We were invited to visit the eastern Free State, near the Drakensberg Mountains by Frans, Aldia, and Daniel, who we know through the Architecture School here and with whom Jossie and the girls trekked to the Vaal River.

Frans is retiring from teaching at Tuks, and will be moving to start a farm near his sister, Hanna in Bethlehem, Free State.

We drove up on Friday night, and managed to find Bethlehem with only modest periods of being lost on back roads in the dark. The girls slept and were tucked in snuggly as we stayed up chatting and sipping wine.

On Saturday we explored the farm, getting acquainted with the lambs drinking their morning milk, pigs eating whatever we threw to them, cattle, horses, ducks, dogs, cats and people.

After a hearty Free State Farmer’s breakfast, the caravan us Frans et al and the Zanzotmobile took off for an adventure. The girls napped as we headed toward the Drakensberg Mountains, and the Basuto Cultural Village. We could see the high Drakensberg and Lesotho to the south of us as we drove past the former Qwa Qwa Homeland (part of the 13% of land in ZA allotted to Blacks during apartheid).

At the Basuto Cultural Village we got to see how the Basuto People lived traditionally. We saw homes in the style of the pre-16^th century and forward, as different influences crept in.

The houses became a little more ornate in each cluster,

until the 20^th century houses, which were beautifully decorated inside and out with bright, colorful paint.

After the BCV, we drove on through Golden Gate National Park (not to be confused with the Golden Gate National Recreation Area or Golden Gate Park), which featured lots of beautiful landforms. And on to the small town of Clarens, to have some coffee and pancakes and catch the end of the Rugby Super-14 Final. The Free State is right between Gauteng and KZN, so the crowd was pretty divided between Blue Bulls fans and Sharks fans. It came down the wire, with the Blue Bulls winning on a kick after a try in the final seconds. I’ve been told that the Sharks outplayed the Bulls for the entire game except for that last try, which may just have been sour grapes, I don’t know. Folks here in PTA are pretty jazzed about it though.

We made it home in time to warm up some bobotie for dinner, and I personally called it an early night.

Sunday was a day for riding things. After chasing the lambs around and feeding them milk again, the girls got the chance to ride on one of the horses.

And V and I got to ride on the four-wheeler.

In the afternoon we went to see Frans, Aldia, and Daniel’s farm, a short way down the road from his sister’s. They plan on raising cattle their, and will need to build a house and really get the place set up. But they do have some lovely views.

After a “light” lunch of boereworsrolle (ZA hot dogs), it was time to head back to Gauteng.

It's really cold!

This week has been particularly cold in ZA, with many temperature records being broken. Most homes here have no central heating because it's usually not necessary, but most homes also have space heaters, ours included. We're thankful that we packed some nice toasty things since we left the 'States in the winter!

Rugby Super 14 Final

I must tell you about the Rugby Super 14, which is a tournament of professional rugby with teams from Australia, New Zealand, and ZA. Well, actually, I should note that as of last week it was only NZ and ZA (Sorry Ozzies, you may have the top cricket team but you didn’t quite make the grade in rugby this time around). And as of last week, the two semi-final games were played, and the two teams headed to the finals are both from ZA! Loftus Versveld, the local ball worship castle (rugby and soccer) is just down the street from our flat, so we got to see the tailgaters getting their braai on and heading to the match with the Blou Bulle (Blue Bulls) which are our local team and the Crusaders, a Kiwi side playing in one of the semi-final matches. The Sharks, from KZN (KwaZulu Natal) played the other semi-final match. Both of our teams won! Hurrah Blue Bulls, Hurrah Sharks! Whom to root for in the final? As you may have gleaned from the conspicuous absence of rugby news on this blog, I don’t really care! But folks at work will be having it out. Most of the locals are Blue Bulls fans, but there are a good number of Sharks fans around too. It will be a proud ZA final, and that’s all I care about. Okay, I favor the Blue Bulls, because they're more local, but the Sharks have a cooler brand IMHO

Maropeng Mother’s Day

After a lovely birthday party at the Italian Café around the corner from us on Friday evening, we settled into another weekend of relaxation and adventure. Last weekend was fairly quiet, nothing to blog home about, to turn a phrase. But this weekend featured MOTHER’S DAY! As elements of the Pizza Party on Friday were a surprise to me, so too did I try to make our Sunday adventure a bit of a surprise for Mma Jossie.

So, Mother’s Day. I thought I’d surprise Mma Jossie and take her to the Cradle of Humankind, a World Heritage Site which is only an hour or so west of PTA. They have a restaurant there, as do all the major attractions around here, so I thought we’d take part in the Mother’s Day buffet as well as a crash course in paleoanthropology. The main attraction in the Cradle is the Maropeng Visitor’s Centre, which is a pretty neat museum built into the earth in the form of a tumulus, or earthen hill.

The museum has a lot of information about the history of humankind and neat exhibits, which Jossie put on par with the Exploratorium in San Francisco. The Cradle of Humanity is the site of some of the oldest hominid fossils in the world. Mrs Ples and Little Foot are two of the most famous ones.

On the outside of the tumulus are several lovely vistas

And we had loads of fun...