Minki's First Run In With A Spitting Cobra

Seconds after I hit the "publish post" button for my post about our brunch today,another spitting cobra made it's appearance on my back porch! Minki went for it and got spat in the eyes... Thank heavens she wasn't bitten.

Her eyes are incredibly sore,the vet said to take her in the bathroom,close the door and wash her eyes out thoroughly with a hand held shower...

Did she learn her lesson...being a jackie...I doubt it!!! For today she will leave the snakes..tomorrow is another story altogether again!

My baby is feeling so sorry for herself.....

What Did You Have For Mother's Day Brunch??

We had Mozambican Tiger prawns,Nieu  Zealand green lipped mussels,garlic loaf and litres of excellent wine!! and you???

The Ghost And The Darkness (Something Different for Today)

On reading my post about growing up in the Kruger National Park and chatting to their Grandma who still lives right by one of the main entrances to Kruger,namely Kruger Gate (Phalaborwa) The  kids wants to go visit Kruger Park this coming weekend.., I don't. Any of you watched the movie "The Ghost and The Darkness"...?  I have a overactive imagination!! I have watched that movie once too often!  Just a mere couple of years ago a refugee who had been stalked by a lioness, thought he was safely through the Park and, exhausted, fell asleep behind a shopping mall in the town of Phalaborwa.....only to be pounced on and eaten by that same lioness right there behind the mall!!!  She was shot by VERY shocked and shaken policemen....Sound far fetched? Google it...!

 We have heard many stories told about lions; lion attacks,man eaters,encounters with lions in the bush, but today my thoughts are channelled specifically along the lines of the Mozambican refugees trying to escape atrocious  circumstances by making a run for South Africa. The only way out is through the Kruger National Park and it's ferocious man eating / opportunist, lions... Many of them make it, no-one truly knows how many doesn't...As a child I can remember seeing the police vans filled with Mozambican refugees that were caught in the Park, on their way to the police station in Phalaborwa (which was where we went to school). Never did it cross my mind as to what those refugees must have lived through, as from the very first night they crept under the 3 000 volt electric fence which was the border between RSA and Mozambique.

 Occasionally we would overhear something the adults would be talking about, but overall we were protected from the gruesome realities those poor people suffered. During the bloody war in Mozambique it was either starve to death,be killed by militants or cross the border and go to Joni (Johannesburg) ,the land of milk and honey(so they thought). Anyway, I came across this fascinating piece written in 2003, So I ask again..,have you watched "The Ghost and The Darkness?" If you have you should feel a tingling down your spine about now...if you feel brave, read this very interesting article here

Update On Guinea Chicks

Two of the chicks have fallen prey to snakes, the remaining four should be strong and canny enough by now to survive.....

We were given a mature pair of guineas which we will use to produce eggs, then place the eggs under broody hens, so the guinea chicks will be tame and stay around the house.

Already the racket the babies make at bedtime (just as night falls)  is like food to my soul...

The poor hen is having her work cut out to keep up with them, they are busybodies and run hither and dither after insects all day long.....

A very curious bystander...

As Happy As A Pig In Mud....

Howzit bra? (South African slang for "How are you, my friend?")  

The wa....hmm  mud's great! Come..., jump on in!

Hey, what you got over there....?

Nothing, nothing, just tilling the ground.....

My Mama taught me to till the ground if there's food there somewhere....

Twins!

These were born yesterday. Aren't they the cutest things!

Brother and sister.

Mielie babies!

Their mom is an old hand at birthing babies. Thank heavens!

"Take my pic too,pretty please?"

I did place a pic of you, all covered in gunk, when you were born the other day!

We don't want them to have a low self esteem, do we?

We don't breed modest babies here on Stonecroft Farm!

Childhood Memories Of Growing Up In The Kruger National Park

I thought I would share some childhood memories of growing up in the famous Kruger National Park with you today. Excuse the quality of the pics,they were taken in 1975-1981. Many,many thanks to Jeanne Newby who gave me permission to use them!

 This elephant was the well known tusker Letaba,there were seven huge elephant bulls who where all named for their territories in which they reigned. All of their tusks can be viewed today in a museum in the Letaba Camp. This was how all of our fences looked...You didn't just pop out of your yard to go and play with your friends,had to have a good look around for elephants and lion in particular! This particular bull formed such a relationship with Jeanne's mom,Lettie Newby that he would allow her to spray him with a hosepipe as she was watering her baberton daisies in her front yard! Please do not try this when visiting Africa!

This young bull was getting stroppy and mock charged. His ears are flapping,when an elephant pins his ears close to his head and charges...he means business! I had had a few encounters like those with elephants chasing my Dad in his truck and recalls my Dad reversing at speed with a very cross elephant chasing us.

Walking to the bus stop in the early mornings,you never knew what animals you might encounter! We had sightings of leopard,lion,cheetah,Buffalo,kudu,wildebeest,baboon,hyena...you name it! The game rangers would ensure that the way was cleared for us kids if there were any sightings of dangerous animals in the mornings!

Letaba offering a clear view of his magnificent right tusk, the left one was broken off..

My Mom had a hilarious encounter with a lioness one morning when she set off to walk to work(she loved walking to work) and as she walked out of our yard she found herself face to face with a lioness who had just been chased of a kill in front of our yard by the rangers and was trying to escape into our yard! Both the lioness and my mom turned and ran thinking the one was chasing the other...My Dad,who saw the lioness running off ,held our door closed from inside the house as my poor Mom was trying desperately to come in...! Needless to say, I learned some pretty neat swearwords that day.

My Dad had also had one particular incident where he came home from a night out with his buddies and waved the "dog" away from the gate as he was coming home...the footprints of a huge lion told it's own story late the next day when my Dad remembered his encounter with the "dog" and went to investigate...

A tourist who didn't obey the "do not cross" sign at a low water bridge during the floods....

That is his vehicle floating down the river...

I don't know why the quality of these two pics are so bad but the others are ok.

 Don't worry the park mechanic,game ranger and other personnel would save your car from the river in no time!

And out they come!

Few people can say they grew up like we did!

We were born in and lived in Kruger Park our whole lives until my Dad retired!

Thank you Mom and Dad.