Strange how I started off quite well and then data access just became a nightmare.
A warning to the romantic notion of wannabe farmers - you will become frustrated, anarchist in character
and slightly crazy if you are alone. Conversations with animals are quite normal, hugging then and kissing them is not strange, in fact it is quite comforting. Reminds me of the clan of the cave bear.
So much has happened since I began. Got very busy & it has not stopped. Qualifications needed for farming.
Depending on roads - In the eastern Cape a necessary skill is mechanics, vetinary science, pasture & soil science, pharmaceuticals, herbology, animal nutrition, Production systems, building,,, well the list seems to continue so if you havethe above skill set then I will continue the list if you want further advise.
What have i learnt - Bring in foreign reliable labour. Preferably from a country that has suffered under their newly independent same culture management for twenty years.No locals as they are all alchoholics and receiving government grants which results in mandatory shorter weeks after grant payouts and paydays.
Locals are vindictive and jealous of anybody having anything more than them. This has to be the most backward and uninspired group of people on the face of the planet.
A brief update of going-on's since arriving in July
As many will know my move down here was not uneventful. Two hundred Km's from Bloemfontein the gearbox on the Isuzu packed up & I barely limped into Bloem. I found Vissie & Piet from Isuzu very obliging in their druken state & they began organising a gearbox during the weekend. They dropped me off at the Hugenoet bed & breakfast where I spent the weekend with a couple that could not be from more different worlds. A Kiwi lady Jane & hubby a typical Afrikaans platteland se boerseun with dreams of sailing around the world - He also happened to be a farmer which started a very steep learning curve.
All this was post the other Isuzu burning out its engine as a result of a leak in the heater radiator - I had no idea they were even linked so Eddie,a friend of thirty years brought me down & we survived a weekend of braaing & gas heating water to bath in.
The house when I arrived had an electrical compliance certificate but no electricity & no water. The previous owner illegally took the pressure pump which pumps water from the tank to the house & so I had to get water shipped in @ no small cost - Next time I will buy bottled Evian & use the savings for Bath salts!!
Since then it is a bit of a two steps forward, one step back process. The thing about buying a big farm as opposed to a small holding is maintanence, This is two,sometimes three days of the week. The balance is developement. So when people ask what I have done I get a little "'woes "and take a deep breath. Things are moving along slowly.
I have a prize bull .. emphasis on prize as he is a prize fence jumper better than any I have seen.. he chases other peoples bulls & breeds with their cows leaving mine all alone. Generally he is a prize dick - no pun intended & a constant worry like a naughty child.
So I have some cows & some goats & a whole lot of game I don't really want like bushpig, warthog, Dyker , Vervet monkeys & Bushbuck. Lovely to watch but absolute thieves. I was warned to watch the locals when I got here. I did not realise they were speaking of the animals.
Then I rolled my other bakkie - new engine converted to a diesel. Thinking insurance would write it off I bought a land rover..in September which here in May has still not arrived due to mechanical this & electrical that - just one big bulldog headache. Fortunately for me insurance did write the Isuzu off so i bought it back & repaired it with some change to spare ( a good bit I might add)
Since then I have a R220K tractor which I have damaged already - but repaired - & a 2nd tractor which cost me ten thousand rand with a bushcutter which I prefer as it actually is good for most jobs - lesson - spend in haste repent at leisure.
New skill includes - driving my old mercedes bull nose truck @ speeds in excess of 90Km/h - it can only do about 85 but downhill in neutral it does more. I learned this fetching Macadamia trees from Levubu on the Zim border. With a thousand trees on the back I am sure I got 120 as I was overtaking cars in my way.. but cannot be sure. Thus I conserve my estimate.The trip took 55 hours up & 60 hours down.
Injections of any sort that are not on a vehicle I detest but in truth it is a regular part of my weekly functions. What they do not tell you about the coast is that animal diseases are more prevalent & therefore so is prevention. Dipping is not enough. So I now can perform intramuscular and sub cutaneous injections. Still working on intravenous much to the changrin of the goats.
Other new skills include building, concrete mixing, making bricks, rain water capture, express snake escapes & serpent murder, speaking goose (voetsak jou bloodie ganeese), removing ticks, chasing cows, rugby takling goats & several other unmentionables.
Oh I forgot to mention tree felling - not exactly a newly aquired skill -as I have yet to master it - but I will leave this for another episode. Hope you are all well and look forward to any contributions about your lives.
Gonubie Valley View
A landscape typical of the area
24 November 2008
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