South Meets South

Chapter 5

I walked over to the white Toyota that was parked near our chalet. Zipping my jacket up, I looked around to try and spot Anna after I noticed she wasn't in her car. Turning around, I saw her coming up from one of the other chalets with a basket in hand and a thin blue jacket on with jeans.

"Morning! How did you sleep?" She called out when she got closer.

"Well thanks and yourself?" I moved closer to take the basket from her but she waved me off and put the basket in the back of her car.

"I slept fine thanks for asking. Will most likely only get back into my sleeping pattern after this week though," she said as we got into her car.

"Sorry about that," I watched her as we drove off, a small smile on my face. She only smiled at me in return before watching the small road.

"So... What will we be doing?" There was some sort of music playing over the radio, occasionally an English song would be played and the presenters spoke English, but there was another language as well.

"I need to check my feedlot lambs like I said, I need to determine which ones I can load out next week," she said. We drove over a motor gate and whilst driving in the direction of the main homestead where we were yesterday, we took a small road that takes us past her parents' home.

"I know it's kinda personal, but what's wrong with your mother?" Anna went quiet and after a distance, she spoke up.

"I was playing a hockey game two years ago in a neighbouring town when my mother and younger sister went to town with my cousin. But whilst they were on the road, there was an interlink that jack knifed in the mountain pass. They didn't see it in time for my cousin to swerve out. My mother was the only one who walked out of the accident. But she had a serious stroke a month later," she said. I immediately felt bad.

"I am so sorry for asking. It's not really something we should be asking about so soon into our friendship is it?" Anna shook her head and gave me a small smile, "Don't worry about it. Many people we meet never know about it because we don't really talk about it, but it's fine."

I smile at her and get out of the car to open a gate for her to drive through. Getting back into the car she smiled and indicated out my side of the car, "Look."

Turing around I look to where she was indicating. There were some ostriches walking near us, amongst the larger, adult ostriches were some small ones.

"Well that's a different sight! How many are there?"

She smiled and drove further, "There are fifteen of them, the small ones included. We keep them to help prevent jackals and other predatory animals from catching calves and sheep."

"That's a really great idea! Do they work with other predators?" I look over the landscape as we drive along.

"They should be effective. There are some hyenas in the area from time-to-time and we have yet to lose any animals in the camps where there is an ostrich breeding pair," Anna said.

I saw some of the cattle grazing in the distance and made a mental note to ask her about the lots that were coming up at some point.

"Right, here we are."

To our right, nestled into a mountain, was a decent sized small stone home. Near the house were a few stables with horses grazing outside, a small barn and a stone corral.

"It's not much, but to me it's home," Anna said with a smile. I glanced over to her and smiled, "It looks great!"

Her smile broadened and we stop outside her house. A worker was busy taking feedbags to the corral from the barn. After greeting the worker, we went into the corral where there were quite a few lambs being fed for the market.

"I have some ewes as well, but I feed lambs throughout the year. I generally market the lambs three times a year over a two-week period," she explained. We walk around the corral and check some of the sheep. As she and the worker discuss some things, I keep an eye on her. She's clearly comfortable in her own skin.

"You up for some breakfast?" I ask James after we checked over the horses. He smiled broadly, "I could eat some breakfast yes."

I showed him into the kitchen and took out some bacon and bread to toast. Before I took the frying pan from out of the cupboard, a puppy's yapping was heard in the hall.

"And that's Morgan, my Rhodesian Ridgeback puppy," I say and watch as my puppy comes running into the kitchen. His brown nose was covered in the food he must have eaten just before we came inside.

"He's a cute one. I have seen the breed before but I am not all that familiar with them," James said. He came over to where I put some fresh water into Morgan's bowl and scratched the pup's ears after Morgan smelled his hand.

"I absolutely adore the breed. This little guy was a gift from my father," I told him. Putting the bacon in the pan and some bread in the toaster, I start setting the table.

"I had a cattle dog up till last year. Patches died due to old age," James said. I turn to him from where I was putting two glasses on the table and spoke up, "We get so attached to them. They are only in our lives for such a small period, but to them we are their world."

He nods whilst still looking at Morgan.

After a quick breakfast and clearing up, we decided on drinking some juice out on the veranda before heading back to the reserve.

"Is this the first time that you've come to an African country?" I asked James as we entered the nature reserve's grounds once more. James took a photo of the wildebeest that were running away from the car.

"I went to Egypt during my senior year in high school so taking that into account, this would be my second visit to the continent," James answered.

"I have always been fascinated with Egypt but I haven't gone there before. I've only been to Namibia, Lesotho and Botswana," I said. It was easy to converse with James.

"Would be great to see some more countries. Which types of wildlife are in the area, naturally?"

We chatted more about the area and the people before I stopped at his chalet, "I will see you this afternoon for the meeting. Enjoy lunch with everyone!"

"Thanks for a great morning, it was enjoyable," James said. He stood watching as I left. It was the first time in years that I felt so at home in someone's company.