The Canyonman

What a year this has turned out to be!   First the broken heart of losing a partner and lover after 25 years, then the healing process, Selati and the medicine my beloved nature offers and finally... a new love in my life.   Someone to build another 25 years with, or hopefully even longer than that.   Someone who accepts me as I am, a bit crazy, very, very busy, and once again, full of life and full of adventure spirit.   And how wonderful things have turned out for us.   Geraldine, my love, you are a tonic!

 

We have now settled back in Cape Town and have bought a lovely home into which we will soon move. Establish a new nest for our children, a place where we can love and be loved.   We now also own two lovely restaurants in Cape Town, both huge challenges, but also have huge potential.   More about these once we are in operation.

 

The best news is that we did not sell our Namibian paradise, but sold one third to our neighbors who will take the business to the next level.   We are now three equal partners, Gondwana, my ex and myself.  

 

I want to thank Him who has guided me through all of this and given me the courage to continue and start writing a new book of my life.   Thank you Lord.

A story I have to share...!   I recently spent 28 days in the Selati Game Reserve, a privately owned Game Reserve of 33 000 ha.  I was there to do an Eco Training 1 course, as well as to write my FGASA 1 exams.  Very intense training, what is normally a 1 year course, we did in 28 days....   When you're in your 50th year, it ain't easy, but I did it with honours!  My 13 years of guiding hikes in the Fish River Canyon gave me a slight edge on the younger students.

 

During our course we did many game drives.  The Reserve boasts with the big 4, being Elephant, White Rhino, Lion and Leopard.   There is one pride of Lions, and recently the owners introduced a new male, Mopani, to introduce new genes into the pride.   The older male, Shaka, is a beautiful speciman, but is now breeding with his own offspring, not good!   When introducing a new male, there is always a huge risk.  It can get into a fight with the existing Alpha Male, and be killed...!  Nature has to follow it's own rules, so during our stay, the owners opened the gates of the holding pen where they kept Mopani.  Let nature do it's thing!   Let's hope for the best.

 

Well, he decided to explore his new territory that night and ended up..... 20 m from our tents!  Woke up all of us with a mighty roar.   Awesome!   When you sleep in a flimsy little tent and hear an adult male lion 20 m away, you feel mighty small and insignificant.   It was unreal!   It was 03h30 at night, and I simply had to share this moment with someone, so I sent an SMS to my son, 16 year old Wynand, who recently had 9 lion encounters with me in the Kalagadi Game Reserve.  Needless to say, he did not enjoy the moment anywhere as much as I did.....

 

A week later we were fortunate enough to find the two males together!  They formed a coalition; nature was kind to Selati...   They had made a substantial kill the night before and were gorged with meat.  A male lion can eat as much as 50 kg of meat in one sitting.   Hell, the two of them can finish all of me in one sitting.... not a nice thought!  Imagine being turned into lion poo!   Ouch!  We were on an open Land Rover when we found the two 'blood brothers'.  Lions are incredibly lazy when they have a belly full of protein.   The digestive process for pure protein gives off a lot of heat, so they have to be very still as not to overheat during the hot daytime.   Thank God for that fact!  We ended up 8 m away from the pair with no obvious escape route, and they were huge and impressive.  

 

On the front of the Land Rover we have a tracker seat.   Just an few minutes before discovering the lions, I was on that seat.  Boy was I glad to have swapped with Paul, one of my much younger classmates.  At one point, Mopani stood up from his protein induced sleep and walked straight towards the Land Rover.   I could sense Paul's tention as he tried to seem like a proper 'hood ornament' as trackers are usually called when they do not do a decent job of finding tracks.  He wanted to become invisible.  Fortunately Mopani took only two steps and once again flopped down in a spot with slightly more shade.   It really seemed as if they were not even aware of our presence.  I guess being watched by a group of human researchers on a daily basis has the males totally habituated to the situation.  I must confess, none of us were used to being less than 8 m away from two full grown male lions on an open Land Rover...  Not something you forget very easily, and one of the highlights of my 28 days in Selati!   I do hope that Mopani will sire some lovely young lions, and succeed in securing his own bloodline.

I have decided to settle in Sedgefield.  What a lovely little town with huge lake and stunning ocean.   A new beginning with a new partner!   The thing I will enjoy most is to go for long canoe trips on the lake, exploring the entire area.  Been long since I worked out the upper body, and nothing makes you fitter than a long, hard row in your kayak.  Can't wait!

 

The time is right for me to start fresh.  My ex is now in a serious relationship so she and my kids will be fine.  I needed that to finally let go and move on.  So...., here goes with the next part of my life.   Will it be as exciting as the first half?   I am sure better!

 

Oh, forgot to tell you, I now own a new little farm near Touws River, right next to Aquilla big 5 Game farm.   Will develop that property as a part time project while establishing myself in Sedgefield.  It will be known as The Thorn Game Farm.   De Doorns means 'The Thorns', from that I derived the name.  May end up to be the Thorn of De Doorns.   Sharp!

A great journey came to an end yesterday.  Unfortunately (or fortunately?) no sale of my property as yet.  Both parties very keen to buy but not yet convinced.  Well, two new players entered the scene and with all these potential buyers, sooner or later one will take the prize!

 

Lost my laptop during the travel, through a short circuit...   Will take it back to the supplier and hopefully get it fixed to download new pics.  I have some good ones to show y'all.  Thanks to all the new friends on my list.  Great to have you as buddies!

 

Lionheart

 

 

Hi to y'all

 

Travelled through our lovely country the past few days, wow!, it is still one of the most beautiful countries in the world.  In Sedgefield right now, revisited a favorite resort after being there last year during serious flooding.  Will add some of those pics later.  Off to CT to se the ex and my beloved children.  Missed them sooooo much.  One of the most painful things of divorce is not seeing them as often as I used to.  Will plan for that in future, may settle down in Sedgefield which is relatively close.

 

Next week I will visit my property at the Fish River Canyon and hopefully (but sadly) sell the farms to investors.  Another chapter done and behind me and looking forward to new challenges and opportunities.  What the hell, I LOVE adventure, and what is more exciting than starting a new adventure!!!

 

Ciauuu