Le blog de Haywire

Die Verbindung daheim is immer noch unterbrochen also ganz gschwind ein paar Worte aus der Delegation. Wir gehen heute Nachmittag fürs Wochenende nach Nyanga in den Bergen nahe der mozamikanischen Grenze. Dort gibt es ein Reservat mit Antilopen, Giraffen und so weiter aber keine Löwen und andere Grosskatzen; so kann man zu Fuss durch den Busch gehen und die Tiere aufpirschen. Wir sind im Inn on Rupurara bis Sonntag und hoffen viel zu entdecken. http://www.innsofzimbabwe.co.zw/inns/rupurara.html
Am Sonntag ist dann hoffentlich die Verbindung zum Netz wieder ok, denn wir werden sicher viele Fotos haben und auch viel zu erzählen.
Als Trösterli, hier ein Bild aus der Umgebung von Harare im letzten August mitten in trockenen Winter. Jetzt in der Regenzeit is natürlich Alles grün.  T 

 
Wieder einmal komme ich zum Schreiben, und in der Folge werde ich es immer dann tun, wenn ich so Besonderes, wie gestern Sonntag erlebt habe. Das Dorf Tengenenge ist eindrücklich durch seine Lage und den Garten, der durch die vielen behauenen Steine zu etwas ganz Besonderem wird. Für mich Schweizerin etwas nie gesehenes! 250 sehr junge, ältere und sehr alte Menschen (Der älteste ist 92 und noch voll am Steinhauen) beiderlei Geschlechts, die in Eintracht zusammen arbeiten, sich freuen wenn Besuch kommt; und sich freuen, wenn die Kollegin- oder der Kollege etwas verkauft hat. Natürlich kommen 2 kleine Skulpturen mit mir ins Rivendell. Thomas hat nun nochmals seinen Garten, mit diesen speziellen Stücken zum Leben erweckt. Es wird wohl nicht gehen Tengenenge nochmals zu besuchen. Unser Programm die nächsten 4 Wochen ist eben voll. Aber zu Hause wird das ganz speziell in meinen Gedanken und in meinem Herz, Zeit haben zu wachsen. Es muss einen Gott geben, der alles fügt wie es sein muss, danke!

Marie-Lou, Andreas und alle Andern, die nach Harare kommen, sollten dieses ganz spezielle Dorf besuchen, Eure Susanne

28.02.09 OK, so the two ladies left Saint C. at 8 am a week ago. Today they are already quite aclimatised to Harare. We went shopping at the Spar, got a few knicknacks at 'Inside Out' and finally went to lunch with Aude and Pierre whose beautifull house and garden have been a regular port of call fof mine for the past few months. That is because they have a 'mine' of stones of all colours and produce a wealth of beautifull cuff-links with them... Ok they also make a 'collier', broche and ring or two ... but more importantly it is because I have come to thoroughly enjoy the chats with Pierre over a coffee and the fun with Aude and Sieglinde over picking stones and messing around until they come together as something beautifull. I am privileged to have met them. We had a really nice time and Susanne can't quite get over Aude and Pierre's collection of orchids, several hundred of them, not least the one that kept wafting chocolatty scents across the lunch table. Of course the three orchids that stand in front of my guest cottage don't quite measure up to that performence. So since I had forgotten to take a camera you'll get the pic of a flowering tree in my garden rather than a Catleya in bloom in Aude and Pierre's little bit if paradise.

Once back home I felt obliged to remedy the picture-less situation a bit more. So while Susanne was having a snooze and Annie was hunting birds with the binoculars, I tried to capture a look or two of 'Gecko Ridge', my house and garden with my birthday camera.
And here's the guest cottage, Annie's temporary home:















Tomorrow, together with a few of my colleagues, we are off Tengenenge 150 km north of Harare and we will see whether the Shona stone sculptures they make in that village catch the imagination and whether the LandCruisers, let alone Susanne and Annie's suitcases will manage to carry the weight of Serpentine we may want to bring back with us .... T

...today. And some people even go as far as sending stunning flowers to our temporary abode at Rutland Lodge. Thanks Nic! They are beautiful and they were a wonderfull surprise upon coming back from a tour in the wine lands. My gratitude to old Linlithgow.

We had a fun day! First we went to Stellenbosch where we tasted the great wines of the historic Meerlust estate. Then went on to the, as historic*, Rust en Vrede estate for a light lunch accompanied by a glass of the simply unbelieveable 2004 Estate Wine. Bordeaux go eat your heart out!

*They ARE historic! Both of them date back to over 300 years and the arrival of the Hugenots here who fled France with a few select 'pieds de vigne'.











Of course the day couldn't end there so we went and had a real Afternoon Tea at the Mount Nelson Hotel, Cape Town's very own colonial Grand Hotel, and very grand the 'Nelly' is indeed! They even parked the car for us. We are sad, however, to report that the Nelly no longer is home to the famous cat who had been a permamnent fixture in its salons and bar for many years.


The day ended at our wonderfull guest house, Rutland Lodge, with a glass of local Rosé Champagne on the terrasse and a chat with Derek the co-manager who had plotted with Susanne to have another bunch of flowers waiting for me at the Mount Nelson.
Tomorrow very early we are off to Joburg and then Harare. The blogging will become dependent on my erratic phone line but we intend to keep it up. Meanwhile, I wish you all a good night and thanks for all the kind thoughts and wishes, T