Missing the Point

So, we had a great time at the coast last week. No doorbell, no internet, none of the usual daily hassles. Just ocean sounds and eating and sleeping when we wanted to. But when you’ve been going full steam ahead for quite some time, it’s a little hard to suddenly go “no-steam”. So yes, I did do a little work while on holiday. But just for the first few days.

I know, you’re not supposed to work on a holiday. But if you think that in order to REALLY enjoy a holiday you must only eat, sleep and do nothing, you’re missing the point. The point of a holiday is to do the things that you enjoy…things that leave you feeling recharged afterwards. And this is where you have to know yourself fairly well.

The place we stayed at had a small veranda that faced the beach, so on the first morning we sat there, binoculars in hand, and sipped our coffee. The tide was particularly low and we watched as local residents streamed past toward the reef. This is usually a fairly quiet place at this time of year, so we wondered what was up. Once on the reef, they started hacking at it with huge knives. (I didn't get a zoomed in shot, but Dwight counted almost 200 people out there.)

I guess the low tide exposed more of the delicious sea life that lives on the reef, and this was a free for all! My scuba diving family has educated me on how a reef is a living and fragile treasure, so watching the hacking was a bit difficult for us. But, these people were likely hungry. How do you weigh preservation against human hunger? Thankfully, it was just the one day. For the remainder of the time, the beach was almost entirely abandoned and peaceful.

Here are a few photos:

This is Spot. (We nicknamed him this for obvious reasons.)

Spot was a very friendly doggie who came to visit, play, and beg a little every day. He was also a very good guard dog and he barked at the guards regularly.

This is Fluffy. (Also our nickname.)

He was at the beach one day with his family and he was very friendly. He was also a tireless shore bird chaser.

Oh yes, then there was the rat who was a bit too bold for his britches. The first night, he snuck in and ate a nice, ripe tomato. The second night, I caught him sneaking in and yelled at him and chased him out. But I guess he missed the point. The third night, he came back WHILE we were eating supper. So sad--your "bad", buddy.

This was our kitchen, lit up by candle light, gas burner light and a flashlight, during the customary power outage.

But that was all last week. This week, we picked up a trailer to take back to Moz with us.

It’s a robust farm trailer that will be used for transporting everything from soil to cattle to fruit to goodness knows what else. Here it is loaded up and ready to head north with building and irrigation supplies. (I see many hours ahead at "customs and immigration"...)


We had to pick it up in Johannesburg, and on the trip, we stopped at a new roadside place for lunch. We were pleasantly surprised to find that the restaurant has huge windows that face an open plain where some wildlife range, including rhino’s.


Recently, there has been a serious spate of rhino poaching as their horns are used for "medicine". These rhino’s however, had been de-horned in an effort to save their lives from poachers.

Turns out that sometimes, missing the point can be a good thing.

ttyl