Day... I've lost track at this point...
Sorry it’s been awhile… we’ve been out of wifi range for a couple days. And it was, I have to say, very refreshing.
This weekend we travelled up to Winterberg in the mountainous countryside of South Africa. It was about a four hour drive, and the first time I’ve ever gotten carsick… Lots of gravel roads, winding along the cliffs, and a driver who, frankly, tossed us around like a sack of half rotted discount poultry made things a little rough. However, when we finally made it, the real fun began.
Before we got to the farms, we stopped at the Grahamstown Music Library to speak with Andrew Tracey, who was an encyclopedia of musical knowledge on the traditions and instruments of Africa. We got a great interview with him, as well as getting to play some genuine African instruments and music. We played pan flutes, marimba, drums, I was in heaven.
When we arrived at the farms, the group was split between staying at two farmhouses. One belonged to a couple named Winnie and Manis, the other to Francóis and Rita. These two were POLOR opposites. Winnie and Manis were two very fun loving, hospitable, and extremely generous people. Within our first five minutes of being at the house, we were stuffed with delicious food and amazing coffee/tea. We took a brief tour of the farm where we fed two Elids (antelope type animals), played with chickens, and some of us milked cows. I say SOME because… well… for the first group, it didn’t end well. I’d actually say it was pretty crappy for them. Way to take one for the team guys!
After the tour, we sat around a bonfire on Winnie and Manis’ back porch, where we were served a HUGE chicken dinner, incredible wine, and South African Brandy. We had great conversation with the farmers, our tour guide, Chris, and had a great time just having a bonfire in the woods.
Now, I say the two were so opposite because Fancóis and Rita were VERY formal and somewhat rigid people. Not to say they weren’t just as hospitable and friendly, they were just very strict in how they wanted us to conduct our business. The boys split off for the night to stay at their farmhouse a few miles up the road, and holy CRAP they had a MANSION of a house. We were staying in the guest house… not guest room, guest HOUSE. This little building on their property was bigger than my entire apartment, and came fully equipped with a kitchen, huge bathroom, and IT EVEN HAD A PIANO!!!! THAT WAS IN TUNE!!!! It was very hard to not just live on that thing all weekend. BUT, things to do.
Saturday morning, we all piled into the back of the trucks and took off for the fields. And no, I don’t mean a nice little closed in jeep with seats and all that nonsense. Nope, we stood in the back of a flatbed and got carted around with nothing to hold us but some iron railing in the back. I was hanging off the back for the majority of the ride, and it was AWESOME!!!
And the mountainous backcountry was, of course, breathtaking. We saw a bunch of cool animals, got a good lung full of fresh mountain air, and then… we got to the third highest mountain in South Africa; which we proceeded to climb.
Yeah, that climb was a beast, no doubt about it. However, when we got to the top, we found it to be well worth it. You could see for MILES, like, I could see Grahamstown from where we were standing, which was about 200 Kilometers away. Obviously there are pictures, see Facebook (some may hit the Tumblr page as well). The other plus was that Francóis promised a bottle of his family’s wine to the first person up the mountain. Guess who was drinking FANTASTIC wine that night. THIS GUY!
After braving the climb back down, we moved back to Francóis’ house for a lunch of Kudu sausage and fresh fruit. Manis and Winnie came back to join us, and seriously, Winnie is like that typical mom. She constantly kept telling all of us “You haven’t eaten enough! You need more food!”. I. Have. Never. Eaten. So. Much. Food. In. My. Life.
The rest of the afternoon was pretty chill. We got to shoot rifles with Francóis, who is very passionate about hunting. He showed us his trophy room where we had mounted a ton of trophies from his hunt. I couldn’t help but think back to that Ace Ventura movie. “Why no, this is a lovely room of death. Take care now, bye bye then”. Other than that, we just hung out, played the piano and had singalongs, played tennis, and walked in the gardens. Remember how I said Francóis’ house was like a farm mansion? His garden was giving the Palace of Versailles a run for it’s money. Hell, it was almost beating it!
I think the coolest part of the night was when we piled back in the flatbeds with spotlights and drove around the fields in the dark. We followed some Kudu around, saw some neat birds and field animals, and most importantly, the stars… THERE WERE SO MANY STARS. If I didn’t love the city so damn much, I’d buy a farm TOMORROW, just to see those stars again.
Sunday morning, we woke up for breakfast at Winnie and Manis’ house, where we, once again, were stuffed with incredible food by Mama Winnie. We packed up the trailer, loaded in the flatbeds again, and headed for the waterfall.
Now, I don’t like diving into strange waters, but I have to say that this was pretty cool. We drove down the mountains into a wooded area, where we hiked a bit to a small river. There, we jumped into FRIGID. COLD. WATER. to swim to a beautiful waterfall. Now, I hadn’t originally planned on getting in the water because, you know, not a fan. However, when I saw my options were swim or get in a dinky canoe where, lets face it, I would’ve gone in anyway, I stripped down to my boxers and braved the waters.
I do have to say, it was well worth it. The waterfall was beautiful, the overall experience was really neat, and despite the mild hypothermia, I actually kind of liked swimming around in the river; despite the eels.
So yeah, this one was another novel, lots of ground to cover. It was definitely an awesome experience though, and I’m happy to have made some new friends out in Winterberg. Manis was happy to open his home to us whenever we want to come back, and I’m definitely not dismissing the idea of returning one day.
As far as the documentary goes, with the interview with Andrew, the actually shooting in South Africa is officially DONE! Now we spend the week doing all the cataloging and post-production we can before I take the camera to Europe for the second half of shooting. This was definitely a very cool and memorable weekend, and we still have a few more days of memories to make!
