Forgot!

I forgot to say....our one guinea pig went missing during our holiday! Both were still safe and sound till last week Thursday. Tony, our neighbour, kept an eye on them and in his note he left for us, before leaving for their holiday, both were fine. It must be a fox. We found some fur in the garden and it looks like there was a struggle. So, poor Ticky isn't anymore. Paint will get another friend today. We used to have hamsters, but I must say, that these guinea pigs have more personality than hamsters. The grass needs a cut! I wonder why Tony...from the chess site.....didn't come to do his job! Promises, promises, I will have to get somebody else to trust next time! Tony!!! stop playing chess, duty before pleasure! :)

Also forgot to say.... that the roads we travelled on in Mpumalanga ....Graskop, Pelgrims Rest, Sabie, between Sabie and the Sudwala Caves, from Middelburg to Swadini via Lydenburg, Middelburg to Groblersdal, were all VERY clean! But....if you travel between Johannesburg and Pretoria, that is a VERY big sore eye! Plastic bags alongside the roads! and the shacks! It is really not nice seeing it....but, the Government prefer spending R3.5 million (£2 500 000)to commemorate Samora Machel's death instead of cleaning up the cities. Priorities....lack of common sense.....

When we arrived at Johannesburg International....oh, I forgot...OR Tambo International...I was standing by the luggage belt waiting for the luggage. An official with a sniffer dog did their job and next.....doggie sat by my hand luggage! "Have you got fruit or food in your bag...", the official asked me. "Yes, three apples..." Clever doggie....she was so cute and still a puppy-in-training. I thought she was very clever. She sniffed and immediately sat as if she wants to say..."I'm not moving....not an inch....there is something in here and I know it!"... I, of course, handed over the apples and couldn't resist patting her for her cleverness. She got her reward from her trainer.

When we travelled from Middelburg to Lydenburg, we took a road to find Boschfontein Primary School....which my grandad started....and we travelled later on a dusty road with lots of farms. At one point, we were not sure if we are still on the right road, because we were told to follow a tarred road, we came across a farmer busy working along the road with two labourers. We stopped and asked him and asked him also about farming in the area. Sadly, he told us that all the farms we passed so far, at that point about 6, were bought from the original farmers - by the government - and given to "people in need" and that NOTHING is going on on those farms anymore. Where we stopped, just on our left, was a house, he said that there is no electricity in that house anymore, we could see that the windows were broken, he said that the wooden tiles inside were all broken up to use as fire wood.....we could see some of the roof tiles not there anymore.... we were told that a farmer in his 50's used to live there, he used to have crops and it was a fantastic place to see.... we only saw long grass and weeds....why can't some people not use common sense!! What will the people in the country have in about 5 years to eat....NOTHING! A second Zimbabwe.....here we come!