South African Country Life – September 2019

CONGRATULATIONS

Grahame McLeod your letter has won

you two cases of De Krans wines valued

at R2 190. De Krans Wine Cellar outside

Calitzdorp is widely known as one of

South Africa’s leading producers of Port-

style wines. This Klein Karoo cellar was

the first in South Africa to produce

a Touriga Nacional as a dry, red wine, and

made the first pink Port-style wine, as well

as the first Moscato perlé wine in South

Africa. For more information dekrans.co.za

WINNING

LETTER

AloesForever

I readwithmuchinterest

yourarticleRegiments

ofRed-coatedSentinels

(July2019).

In south-east

Botswana,Aloemarlothii

(pictured)is,likeAloe

ferox, a verydistinctive

plantandis commonon

rockyhillsidesandin flat

country,whereit occurs

oftenin largegroupsorcolonies.Uptofourmetrestall,it’sa single-stemmedaloeandstems

arebeardedwithdryleavesforhalftheirlength.Aswithmostaloes,thelargesucculentleaves

forma denserosetteandhavesharpreddish-brownteethalongtheiredges.Theleavesarealso

coveredwithsmallspines.Butunlikemanyotheraloespecies,theorangeflowerspikes,up

to 50 centimetresin length,growmorehorizontally.Floweringin winter,Aloemarlothiiadds

a welcomesplashofcolourtothedrab,brown,winterlandscape.

Thisaloeis especiallycommonin andaroundMolepolole,a largevillage 50 kilometreswest

ofGaborone.Thisvillageis hometotheBakwena,orPeopleoftheCrocodile(theyareoneofthe

Setswana-speakingtribesin Botswana).Heresomeofthelocalshavefounda useforthisaloe

andhaveplantedit ashedgesaroundtheirhomes.

Thereis a storythatin 1850theBoerscrossedtheLimpopotopunishtheBakwenaChief

SecheleforbefriendingDrDavidLivingstone,whowaslivingnearMolepololeat thetime.

Onenight,theyapproacheda villagenearMolepololeandmistookthehundredsofaloesthere

foranarmyoftallBakwenawarriors.Theyfledin hastebacktotheTransvaal.(edited)

GrahameMcLeod

PrideofPrieska

It’ssosadto noticethedeteriorationof once-

prettyvillagesandtowns.Whenmyhusband

suggestedlastyearthatwevisitPrieskain the

NorthernCape,I wasn’texpectingmuch,but

onarrivalcouldn’tbelievehowcleanandneat

everythinglooked.Wewerebookedinto

a guesthouseandit wassomewhattrickyto find

it becausetherewerenostreetsignsandwe

passedtheguesthousewithoutevennoticingit.

Atlastwefoundit. It didn’tlooklikemuch

fromtheoutside.Butgreatwasoursurprise

andreliefwhenweenteredandnoticedthe

shiny,woodenfloorsandthecleansmellof

freshlypolishedfloors.It tookmebackto

whenmygrandparentswerestillalive– my

grandmother’shouselookedandsmelledlike

that.Whata wonderfulwelcome.

Theguesthousehada stoepoverlookingthe

bakeryacrossthestreet,andwesatthereafter

anearlydinnerwatchingthebakerpreparedthe

doughforthenextday.It wassoinspiringto see

withhowmuchpassiontheypreparebreadfor

Prieskafolk.

ThatvisitwasindeedmemorableandI wantto

thankthepeopleof Prieskafortakingpridein their

town.Nowwhenwedrivethroughsmalltowns

thathavebeenneglected,I closemyeyesand

thinkbackonourvisitandsittingonthatstoep.

It givesmehopethatothertownswillfollowsuit

andthateverythingwillbeallright.(edited)

CharlottePretorius,Klerksdorp

being green comes from Rudyard Kipling’s

The Elephant’s Child in which Kolokolo Bird says,

‘Go to the banks of the great grey-green, greasy

Limpopo River...’ If so, the river in question is

clearly the Limpopo and not the Zambezi. (edited)

Ann Donnelly

Thank you for pointing out the mistake and

for keeping us on our toes. - Editor

It’stheGrey-greenLimpopo

I enjoyedLizMcKenzie’sarticleonherRovosRail

tripto VictoriaFalls,butwouldliketo pointoutan

error.Shewrites,‘Ondaytwowearriveat the

Beitbridgeborderpost...andwerumbleacross

therailwaybridgeovertheZambeziRiverthat,

yes,is indeedgreen.’Saywhaaaat?TheZambezi

is a longwayfromtheBeitbridgeborderpost.

I’mguessingthatherreferenceto theriver

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September 2019