Open Writing

It was a delightful hot midday at a watering point south west of Satara and the wife and I were watching some warthogs and giraffes lolling about.

Suddenly, a two-eyed Land Rover rushed up next to us. "There's a whole herd of elephant coming, they'll be here in a few minutes. I'm just moving off, close by, to get a better position!" said the excited driver. He was accompanied by a lass. The two eyes were two 6 inch telephoto lenses peering out of the side windows of the Land Rover.

Fifty metres from us was a ground-level concrete watering trough and thirty metres to the right of the trough was a mud hole. The warthog family were at the trough and hovering in the background were about six giraffes some one hundred metres behind them, each of the giraffes standing some twenty metres from each other. Behind the giraffes and a further two hundred metres behind them, slightly to the right, was a green painted concrete reservoir. The top edge of the open reservoir was about four metres above ground level. It was very hot with no nearby shade for animals or viewers for that matter. The scene was set.

The elephant herd, numbering about sixty, appeared around the reservoir and the larger adults could easily slake their thirsts, using their trunks over the top of the reservoir wall and occasionally wastefully spattering the dozen babies with a few drops. After about ten minutes of this the herd started moving towards the trough and mud hole. Within a few metres the taller of the babies espied the water trough and as one, the babies ran helter-skelter to it. This sight of a stampede of baby elephants, made our day. The giraffes stood aloof. After drinking, the babies joined the herd at the mud hole and great fun was had by all.

An hour later the elephants and warthogs moved off. A lone lioness appeared but that is another story. The Land Rover pulled up next to us and the couple introduced themselves. They were professional wild life photographers from Colorado, USA. I invited them for drinks at our braai at Satara that evening.

This was during the first week in November, 1987, and storm clouds were gathering on the South African political landscape. Later that evening Charles Summers joined us for a drink. I shall never forget his name. Here was an American who could speak Afrikaans fluently, in fact, he introduced himself to Afrikaans speakers as Sarel Somers. He was a frequent visitor to our shores. I asked, "Besides your photography, what brings you to South Africa?" He replied, "The best beer in the world, at 5 dollars a case!"

He asked me what we were going to do about the South African political situation. I replied, "The political power is at present vested in the Afrikaner. He went on the Great Trek of 1838 to rid himself of British rule and maybe also to perpetuate slavery. He will have to go on another trek. The only virtually unoccupied land left is the Antarctic but it is damned cold down there. If he went there he would probably find gold, coal, diamonds and all the rest as is his wont. As this idea would again bring the wrath of the world upon him, once again, he only really has one option left and that is a "Great Trek of the Mind".

This Second Great Trek was indeed inspanned on February the Second 1990 in Parliament in Cape Town and today the Rainbow Republic exists. Some Afrikaners still do not accept the fact that their identity is not one of land but of the mind. This is the unoccupied territory in which they can find the real Gold of Life.