BURNING WOOD AT
TENTED CAMP
APRIL 2009
“4 tin plates, 4 forks, 4 knives, 4 spoons,
sauce pan, water kettle, gas bottle, bottle opener, can opener, toilet paper…”
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Around November 2008, my youngest sis, Carla,
surprised me – she and her boyfriend, Jan, were coming to South Africa
for a 3-week visit, arriving on Wednesday, 29 April 2009. We haven’t seen each other for 3 years.
They wanted to spend 3 nights with us, so I’ve
booked us into a tented camp in the Borakalalo Nature Reserve (www.borakalalo.co.za) – 60 km North of
Brits – about 2 hours’ drive from Johannesburg, with no cellphone reception at
the camp. Remember, we were there in June 2008.
And so my lists started – on post-it notes, on
my computer, in my notebook. Lists of
what to take along, when to book the trailer, reminders to fill the gas bottle,
etc. And wood – lots and lots of
wood. Because of the tragic fires in Australia, fire
bans made it impossible for them to braai with wood.
Tuesday, 28th April 2009 dawned crisp and clear. Nobody knew that we’re leaving for Moretele
Camp today – I wanted it to be a surprise for Carla & Jan. Hein still had some meetings to attend the morning,
so I started to pack our plastic crates.
It was quite daunting, having to pack all the basic kitchen
necessities. Frying pan, saucepan,
cast-iron pot, herbs, chopping board – things you normally take for granted.
Halfway through my packing, Hein phoned and
told me he’ll leave early. He still had
to buy the booze and fetch the trailer, so now we might be leaving before
12! In a rush, I finished my packing,
showered and waited. When Hein arrived,
he was quite angry at the Rent-A-Venter guy.
First the guy gave him a Venter with an expired license disc. Then we were given a Venter with the spare
wheel inside the Venter – which meant
less space to pack. And it was dusty and dirty inside. Luckily, we had some carpet off-cuts which
fitted nicely. Our crates were traveling
‘softly’.
We left home just after 12 with a chock-a-block
full trailer. Rissiepit (our Pajero) was empty to fit in Carla & Jan’s
luggage. At the Petroport on the R28, we
stopped for fuel and lunch. Hein had a
cheeseburger-pie and I had some lovely spaghetti bolognaise.
When you’ve passed through Brits, the driving
becomes slow – speed bumps prevent anyone from speeding through the small
villages. We arrived at Borakalalo gates
at 2pm.
2 Tents were booked next to each other. Sadly, we saw some deterioration in the
tents. Zips weren’t working, shade nets
were broken…. And when we checked
everything, the gas fridge at Carla’s tent didn’t work, the rubbish bin wasn’t
emptied and the shower had no hot water.
(Sigh.) Oh dear! But otherwise, the tents are very comfortable
and the river view…..
While Hein drove back to the gate to report the
broken fridge and fetch the much-requested wood, I unpacked and settled
down. Moved the 2 single beds together,
secure the mattresses with a king-size fitted sheet and settled down with a
cold drink. On the island across the
river, I saw this HUGE bird – a crane.
Hein came back with 16 bags of wood! Will this be enough?
Gazing over the river, we felt the city-stress
slowly dissolving. And then we heard it
– the fish eagle. Aaaah! What a sound!
Before sunset, we lit the fire. The smell of burning wood and river-water
were so intoxicating. When the hunger
cramps started, we moved the grid onto the coals.
But there was a hitch – the grid had no ‘stop’,
so the height could not be varied.
Hmmmm, what to do, what to do … Hein improvised and took 2 of his empty
beer cans and voila! We had a braai grid
at perfect height. (When our beer cans were thrown away, Hein
& Jan just had to empty 2 more cans for the braai grid.)
Dinner was boerewors with rolls and a tin of
Spanish Style Tomatoes – heated in the tin.
When I took my second bite of my boerewors roll, we heard this ‘hallo’
out of the darkness behind me. I swirled
around, nearly dropping my roll – but it was only Robert, the security
guard. He walked around every night,
checking everything’s fine. After a busy
day, we went to bed early – because the next day was Wednesday – the day Carla
& Jan arrived at the airport.
Wednesday 29 April 2009
Our battery alarm clock went off at 03:00. After a quick shower, we left the reserve at
04:00. The plane was due to land at
05:00 and Borakalalo is about 2 hours’ drive from the airport.
On our way, Hein and I both saw a green
shooting star – and made a wish. While
we were driving, the smoke smell was quite strong. I looked around, but couldn’t see any fires
or villages. Hein said it probably was
because every village hut has a charcoal heater…
I pondered this for a few moments … and then
asked him … so how does a charcoal heater works? I could feel him shaking as he laughed –
‘konka’ he said. Jeez, sometimes I’m
really quite blond. A ‘konka’ is a drum
with holes in the top half. Then they
use wood or charcoal to make a fire inside the drum – a ‘charcoal heater’. Most
villagers uses it for heat.
Just before 06:00 we parked the car at the
airport. While looking around for Carla
& Jan, I rushed to the Mugg & Bean for some coffee. Walked to the terminal, didn’t see them
there. Our arrangements were to meet
them at the Mugg & Bean, if not at the gates. They didn’t have a sim card and airtime yet
for their phone, although they had a R10 note for a quick call. (I told Carla that R10 note is unusable now –
we now have a R10 coin, silver one side, bronze the other. She believed me for 2 seconds. Hee-hee.)
Returning to the Mugg & Bean, I saw them
there. It was great to see them after 3
years! Greeting their friends, we walked
to our car. When Hein paid for the
parking, he paid with a R20 and told them to watch out for the ‘new’ R10
coin. (Usually the change is given in
coins.) So we’re standing, waiting for
the ‘cling’ of the coin – when Jan noticed the R10 note, hanging out of the
‘note slot’. Well, that was a first.
All their luggage fitted nicely in the back of Rissiepit. We told them we had to pick up the
trailer. And continued with that story
all the way back. Carla is used to a few
small meals a day, so although they had breakfast at 03:00 on the plane, we
stopped and bought them orange-chocolate muffins.
Stopping at the tents around 9am, Carla asked
about the tents. I promptly took out
their key and told them: “We’ve been
here since yesterday, and yes, everything’s unpacked.”
A fire was promptly started – Carla & Jan couldn’t
get close enough – although that meant smelly clothes, of course.
Brunch was boerewors rolls with Castle beer
for Hein & Jan and ‘Klippies & Coke’ for Carla. (A glass bottle with a mixture of Klipdrift
brandy & Coke).
My system was dipping, so when Hein took them
for a game drive, I had a nap. The
weather was hot with no wind, so I awoke sweaty and went for a shower. The geyser had to be lit every time and I
didn’t pay close attention when Hein described the procedure to me – so I just
had a cold shower. Undressing and
dressing is a bit tricky.
The entrance of the ablution block faces the area right in front of the shower – so I tried to dry and dress
in the shower area. The area has a gap between the reed walls and
roof, so you can see the leaves and branches while you shower. There are no doors – only a chain with a ‘no
entry’ sign. Can snakes
read?
Marinated chicken pieces, smash and tinned peas
were the dinner menu. They arrived back,
having seen giraffes, ‘klipspringers’, baboons, warthogs and all kinds of
buck. They took lovely photos and were
thrilled to bits.
Carla showed us her party trick. She bought Savanna to drink and showed us how
to open it – with her flip-flop. When
she bought the flip-flops in Perth,
the lady asked her about the bottle opener.
Carla thought she meant she’ll get one for free. Then she was told to turn her flip-flops
upside-down.
Stoking the fire, we listened to the fish
jumping out of the water. Huge
ones. They would try fishing the next
day. From jet lag and excitement, Jan
developed a massive headache. I
suggested that instead of chicken, we made some cowboy food – quick and
filling.
Hein fried onions, heated up tins of bully beef
and added baked beans. Sliced bread was
toasted on the ‘improvised’ grid and soon our plates were filled – and
emptied. Everyone agreed on an early
night.
Waking up with a start in the middle of the
night, Hein and I was frozen stiff – what was that sound? It sounded like a herd of animals splashing
through the river. Going from right to
left. You could hear a slap, branches
snapping and lots of gurgling. It went
on for quite a while. Did we zip the
flaps properly?
Thursday morning 30 April 2009
We awoke at 5.30 am. While boiling water for coffee, Carla said
they got up and had a look with their torch.
It was fish!!!!! Apparently huge
ones, jumping out of the water (slap sound), swirling around in hundreds. Wheeeh, what a relief. Although we were quite disappointed we didn’t
see it.
I searched on the Internet for an explanation
and mostly myths and possibilities could be found – no definites. A few funny ones were: a) They are trying to loosen the eggs in their
skeins prior to spawning or 2) They are trying to rid themselves of sea-lice or
3) To check the time by the angle of the moon to see if their coffee break is
over yet. In the end, it was decided by
scientists that fish jump because they can. Because it feels good. It's that
simple. We shall wonder no more!
Hein and I had quick showers, then had coffee
and rusks. Now – I LOVE my coffee. If you’ve read my previous reviews, we
normally pack our coffee machine for weekend breaks. With no electricity, that’s not an
option. My mom used to make coffee by
dropping 2 coffee bags (Koffiehuis) into a flask, filled it with boiling water
and let it steeped for a while. I
browsed the coffee shelves for coffee bags with the least amount of chicory in
it. The chicory has a taste I’m not
crazy about. Pronto bags were the
winners, with the least amount of chicory and our flasks were packed. I decided however to get myself some sachets
that’s 3-in-1. Real coffee, creamer and
sugar. Not ideal, because I normally
drink my coffee black, but better than the Pronto bags.
And then Carla made a very simple remark: ‘Why didn’t you pack a coffee plunger with
real ground coffee?’ I stared at her for
quite a while – absolutely stunned and speechless. Well I never!
It just didn’t even occurred to me – and yes, we do have coffee
plungers. My camping list has now 2 more
‘must-have’ items.
The previous day, Carla asked a guy for a
pamphlet on buck. They didn’t have
any. And I didn’t think of packing
one. We saw a big number of bucks –
wildly guessing if it was an impala, waterbuck, kudu or bushbuck.
Arriving back at the camp around 10, we were
all starved. It was decided that we’ll
braai the chicken pieces meant for the previous night, ‘braaibroodjies’
(sandwiches filled with cheese, tomato & onion) and ‘skilpadjies - of lewer
in netvet’. This is calf’s liver covered in caul fat (which is the fatty
membrane that surrounds the kidneys.)
Normally the size of a meatball, it has to be grilled and is very rich,
but so yum!!! It was one of Carla’s
requests.
When we opened the chicken pieces, they were
bad. So we ended up eating the
‘skilpadjies’ and ‘braaibroodjies’.
Delicious!!!
Relaxing in our tents, I started to read a book
called ‘Twilight’ by Stephenie Meyer. Not usually my style, but it has taken the
teen-world by storm and I thought I’ll see what the hype’s all about. The story is a ‘teenager-vampire-love
story’. I did finish the book, but sold
it back to our secondhand bookstore. Not
worth keeping.
For dinner, we decided on a lamb knuckle-curry
pot. Hein bought these amazing herbs –
‘Curry Rub’ from Melissa’s Shop (available at some Pick ‘n Pay stores.) Only 5 tomatoes were left to use for the pot. Not quite enough. I offered a tin of tomatoes, but was stopped
with a ‘cookers frown’. How dare I
suggest that? We offered him 36 tomatoes
(in a plastic bottle – All Gold), he just ignored us.
While Hein started the slow potjie process,
Carla & Jan were fishing. Or trying. They caught branches, leaves and hats – no
fish. For a cocktail, I bought a big
Consol jam jar. Filled it with vodka and
Mixed Berry juice, plopped 4 straws in and Carla & I quenched our
thirsts. It’s quite a novel idea, ‘stolen’
from Primi Piatti Restaurant. They
normally mix in Cane, Rum & Vodka and fruit juice. And it’s normally 1 jam jar per person.
Some of the camp staff arrived and brought us a
small book on different buck species, complete with pictures and footprints. We thanked them and could immediately
identify some.
The smell of the curry pot was swirling all
around our camp. Hein usually starts a pot
with hot oil and then onion slices. Chopped
tomatoes next (usually more than 5!!!!) and then the meat, in this case lamb
knuckles with the ‘curry rub’ spices.
The pot simmers slowly to entrap all the flavors & juices. Then he will add the potatoes (if baby
potatoes, whole, with the skin on – if big potatoes, cubed with the skin
on). Next the carrots and lastly some large
green broad beans (or sometimes baby cabbage and/or asparagus.) He doesn’t add any water or sauce.
Not wanting to bother with cooking rice, I
bought some KOO tins of Samp & Beans.
Cut them open and warmed them in a pan.
I’ve found that samp is a lovely ‘soaker-upper’ for potjiekos.
Our stomachs were growling with hunger and when
we finally dished up, we almost ‘inhaled’ the food. Oh my gosh!
It was sooooooo good!!! And the
Samp & Beans were nicely heated and soaked up all the curry gravy. The curry wasn’t overpowering, but subtle
enough to make a thick, flavoursome gravy.
The beans were still slightly crisp, the meat was oh-so-tender and the
potatoes & carrots soft and filling. We went for seconds.
Watching the bright stars in the sky, we talked
about Australia
and their life, about camping and about LIFE.
To live life to the fullest …
The nights were balmy. Although I’ve taken extra duvets, we only
needed one.
Friday 1 May 2009
We only woke up at 5.30 am.
After coffee and rusks, we went for another
game drive. The rhino’s were nowhere to
be seen, although armed with the little book, we now could identify the
different bucks.
At the little kiosk, we bought more wood and
ice, some ice creams and headed back to the camp. Hein and I went for a nap, Carla & Jan
kept the fire going and lazed on the grass.
They had instant noodles for lunch and we snacked on Rice Pringles.
Carla bought several gifts along with
them. For us, an Aussie CD &
DVD. For my Pretoria sister & husband, also an Aussie
CD & DVD. For their 3 kids, soft
toys. Are these toys not too cute?
For my mom she bought a Kangaroo purse (forgot
to take a photo) and for my dad a Didgeridoo (pic left). A wind instrument of the Northern Australian
Aborigines. We’ve tried to make a sound,
but failed miserable.
People arrived at the camping site, about 30
metres away from our camp. They were
quite noisy. The weather also threatened
to rain, so we decided to braai lamb chops early. We haven’t even finished eating the chops
from the braai, when a few raindrops came down.
But they were over quick.
When Robert, the security guard, made his
rounds, we asked him why the fish didn’t bite.
He asked what we used for bait.
When we said ‘honey corn’, ‘banana corn’ and ‘flavored bread’, he
replied: ‘The fish like super white
bread.’ When he walked away, we just
giggled. Super White indeed.
With the mature steak on the braai, we opened
tins of Peas, Kernel Corn & Kidney Beans.
Again, after we’ve finished dinner, a few raindrops plopped down. The campers played very loud music and we
were pleased to leave the following morning.
All of a sudden we heard the clank of bottles behind us. With our torch, we saw a small ‘nagapie’ or
‘bush-ape’ or ‘night-ape’. It’s a very
small ape with huge round eyes, jumping (I kid you not!) from tree to
tree. Unfortunately, we didn’t take
photos, but it was so cute.
The music continued till 11 that night –
(sigh), why do people bother with nature if they can’t keep their music
down? We went to bed early.
Saturday 2 May 2009
Adamant to find the rhinos, Hein took Carla
& Jan for a last game drive. While
packing, a soft rain cooled down the morning hours. With everything packed into the crates, I
went for a shower. Realising too late
that I still didn’t know how to light the geyser. So I just showered with cold water. Halfway through, I heard voices – a man with
2 children. Scared that they’ll pop into
the ablution block, I was relieved when they passed by. The man explained to the children that this
(the ablution block) is a bush bathroom.
The boy exclaimed: ‘Cool, a bush
bathroom. Does the animals come and poo
here?’ I just giggled.
Waiting for them to return, I realised that
we’ll get hungry on our way back. With 1
packet of frozen boerewors left, I pondered how to cook it. The frying pan was at the bottom of the
crate. Then I spotted our water
kettle. Normally used either on the fire
or gas bottle. Washing the ice from the
boerewors, I broke it in smaller pieces, put it inside the water kettle with
some water, closed the lid and put it on the gas. Some
cheese was left, so I made some cheese sandwiches. The boerewors came out very nice. Carla was just wondering how my next cup of
coffee will taste – well, boerewors and coffee go very well together.
After we’ve packed everything, we drove back to
the gate, scanning the bushes for rhinos.
Nothing.
We dropped Carla & Jan at my Pretoria sis &
family, had a quick cuppa and headed home.
There were 2 bags of wood left …
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