Stories:

Watering hole – stories, sequels and simple truths – what happens at the watering hole stays at the watering hole; well that was when there was no internet.

1. Sarong, coconut tree and insanity

It was the summer of 2015 on the little island in Zanzibar, yes hot summers and warm waters is where this all happened. This is where 2 lady tourists were enjoying all that the island had to offer, from trying to converse with the locals to eating fresh fish. And so on this one particular day while they were feeling like locals that the heat of the day took over and insanity settled in. The one lady in particular who was never the adventure type decided after taking many photographs of the island boys climbing coconut trees, that she wanted to do this as well. Dressed in her purple costume and matching sarong, she insisted in that sweet manner of hers with a wide smile and white teeth showing, that she wanted to climb the coconut tree. Her friend insisted it was dangerous and that it was not an easy thing to try now at her ripe age, but she insisted with the argument that she had done gymnastics and she really wanted to do it. And she insisted that she could do it. She however did not mention the fact that the gymnastics she did was in her 5th grade many moons ago. She had a wild passionate desire in her heart that she wanted to do this, and after many hours of watching the movie Tarzan she believed that anyone could do this, it looked so easy and they got up the tree so quickly. Plus she loved drinking fresh coconut juice from a freshly picked coconut.

Finally after much debate and no communication of words, only by show of hands and a smile, she finally managed to persuade the gentleman with his traditional muslin hat to help her. He put the rope on her feet as he shook his head in astonishment and unbelief that he had decided to give in to this lady.

The local house girl sat by and smiled, thinking to herself that this is the first time she would witness a foreigner climb a coconut tree. The dishes and sweeping would have to wait till later, she was not going to miss out on witnessing the show.

The coconut tree was growing at a slight angle as it was trying hard to catch the sun. The back patio facing the ocean was quite high as the house was not build on ground level due to the slight slope.

The eager lady with only a sarong to cover her costume got on the patio and jumped on the tree in great excitement. She could not wait to get to the top of the tree and claim her coconut. So holding the trunk with all the strength she had she suddenly realized she how no clue how to get to the next level.  She was now a little scared, but would not give up yet. She jumped back onto the solid assurance of the cemented patio and asked in sign language again how to climb the tree. She had never noticed the rope on the feet of the locals who climbed the trees. The gentleman adjusted the rope on her feet going from under her soles and in a criss- cross action across her bottom legs. He showed her how to do this, again by show of hands. The language barrier was too big to communicate in words.

She jumped again from the patio to the tree and held on tight, but her arms couldn’t reach around the tree. Holding onto the tree with her arms and hands, feet and rope below on the trunk, she tried to jump to the top of the tree on the trunk, but was only able to jump 10cm higher. Holding on tight, she was starting to lose grip and the reality that she would not reach the top of the tree, let alone another 2 jumps, her arms started to lose grip, as she held on for dear life. Her body swayed to the side, and her feet were stuck in action, and without a word of caution went flying to the ground.

The muslin gentleman, who never took his eyes off her, saw what was going to happen, before the action took place, and as she fell like a ton of bricks, he reached out his hands to break her fall. At that very moment, the realization that he is not allowed to touch another woman and having the house girl see him including the cleaning girls from the Guest house next door watching from the second floor, he quickly let go and the lady in purple fell to the hard solid ground, covered in grass and sand, her sarong flying off her white body. Everyone in that moment roared with laughter. Tears were coming down the lady on the ground, not from pain but from embarrassment and relief that she had not broken a bone. The laughter continued with everyone who had just witnessed this crazy idea, rolling over with laughter and bending down to ease the stomach muscles that had never worked before. Finally after a good 15 min, the lady got up with the help of her friend, and in Victorian fashion adjusted her sarong to fit snugly on her body and downed a fresh coconut juice. This was a day to be remembered. She looked at her photos that she had taken of the men climbing the coconut tree with new respect and a reminder of her crazy idea. Never again would she want to try and do that again and feeling thankful that she had not broken a bone, and was alive to share the story.

2. When time is lost
3. That’s the way I roll
4. Olive oil shooters
5. Blood sweat and tears – boxing match
6. When you don’t recognize jellyfish
7. Density versus top ten
8. It aint over till you at the finish line – horse Vincent
9. Respect for Surfer girls
10. Hungry hyena never tyres
11. Sea urchins dressed for protection

Have you ever really taken the time to look at sea urchins and examine the beautiful rich colours of purples, blues and hues of green? We often see them on the shores of the ocean and washed on the sand, dead but still such a beauty in their mint green colours. Sometimes I have found them in dark olive green with still some bristles on the urchins and sand inside. Oh how I love sea urchins, but even more now when they are alive.

We did an ocean tour at De Hoop Nature Reserve one weekend. It was an early morning start and we manged to enjoy strong coffee before we met the guide to venture off to meet the rock pool family. We had a good sleep the night before and were excited for the day. We walked over large white smooth sand dunes till we reached the ocean and rock pools. It was low tide at 05h30 and we had an appointment with nature. Our guide was passionate and enthusiastic about the ocean and we felt blessed to have had her. We walked on the rocks as she showed us every tiny ocean creature and explained their character. Sometimes the waves washed back and we got wet, but we continued to walk as she spoke. We did not want to miss out on anything. The salty smell of the ocean embraced us and the sounds of the waves crashing on the rocks soothed our souls.

Finally we came to the sea urchins and looked for different colour ones, small ones and big ones. They lay on the bottom of the rock pool, some were settled in deep rock pools in groups. As the water gently rocked, we would see the antennas sway. They were so beautiful and looked so gentle, minding their own business .Then we learnt something so amazingly beautiful as the guide pointed out the shells on top of each sea urchin. Some shells on top of the sea urchin were small, some in pairs and some with big empty mussel shells. She explained the small hole in the sea urchin is its bottom, and as they lie on the ocean floor and in rock pools the beating sun bakes in the water and burns their bums. So to prevent their tiny tiny bums from getting burnt, they cover the little hole with an empty shell. Yes Mother Nature thinks of everything. I now know why I love them so much, they have an identity and a personality, yes the beautiful quaint Victorian sea urchins, dressed up for protection. So the next time you walk on the beach and gather the empty green sea urchins, remember they too had a heart and a mind. Treasure them alive or dead, their beauty will never die.

12. Fire starter

We often hear parents tell their children not to play with matches as they will wet their beds. Yet as parents we all know, children never listen. And so from little girl to lady, she became known as the fire starter. It all began when she was 12 years old, sitting in her dad’s garage and playing with petrol. She managed to start a fire and suddenly flames of red, orange and black smoke filled the garage. She screamed in a panic, fire, fire! Ash and debris was washed to the front of the garden as the firemen tried to save the house and put the fire out. She was cautious after that, but again she caused another fire in her later years.

This time in her own house, whilst making candles she needed to melt some more wax to fill the candles. As she was waiting for the candle wax to burn, she felt tired and decided to go and lie down a bit, forgetting the stove was on. She had not realized that the hot stove would easily melt the little candle wax quickly. She must have dozed off, and hearing crackles and sparks she snuggled even more into the blankets, thinking it was pouring with rain. The sounds of rain smoothed her gentle soul, and she loved the sound. She suddenly thought that it was actually a hot sunny day and now it was raining. As her mind drifted, she looked down the passage from her bed and was shocked to see red shadows playing on the wall. In a split second she jumped out of bed and realized the kitchen was burning. Her mind exploded from shock and panic and raced into the kitchen and managed to switch the stove off. Throwing caution to the wind, she took the dish cloth and pushed the pot off the plate. What happened in the next 5 minutes she could not remember as finally the flames started to die, as quickly as the fire had started was just as quickly she managed to control the flames. Her mind raced to her new born baby in the room, as smoke filled the house. The new microwave was burnt and the walls were black. With back doors and windows open she managed to get most of the smoke out. Now she had to phone her husband and explain the fire. She told him she had good news and bad news, the good news she and the baby were safe and alive, the bad news was she had burnt down the kitchen. Well let’s say that was the last time she made candles.