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Published: October 8th 2008
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Our hostess
Frances Hyson, Hueglin's Lodge proprietor SOUTH AFRICA SIDE TRIP
Our group of five left Lesotho for three days at Hueglin's Lodge in White River, South Africa, to visit with Rotary acquaintances of the Olsons who own the four star lodge. Brian and Frances Hyson met us at Nelspruit Airport, designed to appeal to the many safari tourists who land there. It is an impressive thatched roof, log beam structure that feels like Ernest Hemingway should be lounging in the bar to share stories with adventurers.
Frances had visited Tacoma in 2006 leading a Group Study Exchange Team of young professionals on a tour of our Rotary District. They stayed with our club for five days. Rick and I had hosted Francois, but spent time with the entire team at Rotary events, social evenings and tours of Tacoma attractions. One of the team was a HIV AIDS nurse from Swasiland. She gave us the first glimpse of how HIV AIDS was ravaging the continent. Swasiland, Botswana and Lesotho share the grim spotlight of areas with the highest percentage (almost 1/3 of the populations) of HIV AIDS affected individuals. Her presentation was stuck in my mind when the Global Neighbor Project was formed to reach out to
Breakfast at Hueglin's
A lovely breakfast room and lounge that provided great space for our Global Neighbor Project team to debrief. Sekameng, Lesotho area where 900 orphans and vulnerable children live, often in child headed households. So we had contacted Frances while making arrangements for our trip to Lesotho to add a side trip at the end of our World Vision Field Trip.
Frances and Brian met us at the airport and whisked us the short 15-minute drive to their lovely establishment. After settling us into cottages, we were treated to Sunday supper South African style -- roasted chicken, fresh vegetables, green salad and the first potatoes we had seen in our trip. It was refreshing to see their landscaped grounds in first spring bloom with a large expanse of lawn where their three dogs frolicked happily.
White River is a fairly well to do community with large homes in roomy subdivisions behind iron gates and electrified fences. Purple jacaranda trees in bloom mingle with gum trees, banana tree groves, macadamia nuts and many fruit trees. The largest man grown forest stretches across the hilly region. Another Rotary couple from Poulsbo arrived Monday morning, joining our group for a tour of the area, including Lisbon Falls and God's Window with a lunch and shopping stop at Graskop. We would
What a Panorama
Rick Olson at God's Window above Glaskop, SA pass through the black residential areas enroute to Kruger Park. Bus service takes blacks to jobs in the forest industry, town services and working the plantations and orchards.
We attended the White River Rotary Club meeting Monday night and planned an early morning departure for Kruger National Park on Tuesday. It was still dark when we loaded into two vans with Brian and Frances as our drivers. Brian's Nissan was packed with coolers, coffee thermos, dishes and goodies for a coffee break and barbecue lunch in the park. Rick and I loaded into the Nissan along with John from Poulsbo. His wife Ann joined Bob Bowen, Michelle Cox and Julie Nordlund -- our World Vision trip partners-- in the larger van Frances had borrowed for our visit.
We had made good time on the road to the park entrance and had pulled up waiting for the gate to open at 6AM when Brian's cell phone rang. It was Frances, telling us she had rolled the van. The last stretch to the park gate through the black residential area was downhill and she had lost control swerving to miss a dog in the road. The van landed on its
The Christmas Card Shot
Rick and Kathleen at Lisbon Falls left side, narrowly missing a deep culvert. Bob had been riding in the front passenger seat, and he sustained a laceration on his hand while kicking out the shattered windshield. He also had a whiplash. The ladies in the back were bruised, but no injuries.
Frances second call that fateful morning was to her friends Judy and Ricky, who made record time to the accident scene. Judy hopped in Brian's vehicle and Ricky loaded the ladies into his van to continue our journey to Kruger. Bob returned to town for medical check up. They glued the laceration and gave him a neck brace and hot pads. We had met Judy and Ricky at the Rotary meeting the night before. We were amazed at their willingness on a moment's notice to jump out of bed and spend their day touring us through the park. That's Rotary for you. Their son had been a Rotary Youth Exchange student in the United States, and is currently working a summer job at Yellowstone National Park. So they insisted that it was their pleasure to become our guides.
Impala and elephants were the first animals we sighted enroute to one of the park's
Banner Exchange
White River Rotary Club receives Tacoma 8 Rotary Banner. Bob Bowen presented Bellevue Breakfast banner and Rick Olson represented Tacoma Sunrise. The couple from Poulsbo, Ann and John rounded out the entourage, giving the club 7 visitors from four clubs -- a record for them. commercial camps (restaurant, store, gift shop, camping, lodging in a compound that is gated at dark) where we set up a coffee break in the day picnic area. Spring buds were just coming out on the trees, so we had very good visibility minus the summer foliage to sight animals.
Our list: Kudu, elephant, rhino, warthog, zebra, waterbuck, Impala, Duuiker, Meyer's parrit, Baceleur Eagle, crocodile, Yellowbill, squirrel, Stembock, giraffe, ground hornbills, gnu, guinea fowl, hippo, velvet monkeys, white headed stork, monitor lizard, babboon, skink, fish eagle, bats, and a large herd of African buffalo. (See first blog entry).
The river drive we took was amazing. The area is still bone dry, so the river attracts herds of animals. We stopped at a picnic site for a ploughman's lunch cooked on a wok shaped propane barbecue. Ricky grilled ham, sausages, steak and eggs that were served with sliced tomatoes, fresh bread and lichee.
The cafe staff washed the grill and all of our dishes for 10 Rand ($1.25) and the leftover meat to take home. Great conservation with no paper or plastic tossed after the meal.
We had spoken with Frances a couple of times during the drive
Early Morning Departure
We loaded by flashlight so we could be at the gate when the park opened. Only so many guests are allowed per day and we were competing with commercial photo safaris for entrance. to be reassured that Bob was feeling better. In fact, he had taken Brian to lunch after the doctor visit.
We got back to the lodge about 7pm, in time to join the evening festivities celebrating Brian's birthday. A huge salad and a meat casserole were served, along with pear crisp. Frances had returned home after the crash and busied herself in the kitchen. Many of the Rotarians we met joined with some of their neighbors to create a lovely party. The birthday boy was toasted with South African Wine and Beer. No cake, which would be part of an American celebration.
Wednesday was Frances birthday, so we asked Ricky and Judy to join our group at the lovely Italian restaurant Bob had discovered on Tuesday. It is owned by Brian's brother. Most of us had wood fired Pizza, a real tasty treat. So that is how a group of Tacomans, Poulsbo residents and two South African couples ended up at lunch in White River, South Africa toasting new friendships with sparkling lemonade.
We departed Nelspruit for Johannesburg on Wednesday evening to begin our 24 hour journey back to Seattle.
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