Africa35years

Fishing for Whale in HERMANUS

2010-02-08T05:04:00.000-08:00

For those who don’t known where is HERMANUS, it is in South Africa on the Atlantic Ocean, and it is famous today for the Southern Whale migration bringing hundred of them to give birth in those warmer water. Because of a very unusual topography, watching the whale from the cliff surrounding the town it’s unique and unforgettable. Besides, at the foot of the cliff, the sea is deep and the whales can swim very very close, bringing tourists from all over to enjoy this unique spectacle. For the sea and history lovers, HERMANUS is also famous for the tragedy of the Birkenhead “ Women and Children First “ and the chivalry of the British soldiers who drowned rather than disobey.
That particular day - sometimes in 1982 – My friend and I we were fishing from the cliff and eventually I fall asleep to be awaken by my friend asking me If I was using a big hook We were normally using big hooks and strong line - just in case - so as I reply Yes, He insist How BIG ? I then realise maybe some sharks were around or a dolphin perhaps. As I look down, I saw this big Whale swimming peacefully where my line was…..

A couple of big Kabeljous

2010-01-24T03:34:00.000-08:00

As we were sipping our first coffee in the early morning, one of my friend rod went down in one extremely strong pull, sure sign of a fat Kabeljou living at the bottom of the river. I knew the procedure quite well : lift and pack my own rods, pull the anchor to let the fish do his own things freely, including pulling the boat if he wish, prepare the hook and the net and while I was busy, my friend second rod went down same way, same pull… an incredible feeling. All of a sudden he was fighting with two fishs, one on each hand, making sure that the lines won’t get caught together. I am sure the fight last over half a hour, and suddenly the first one gave up and come gently to the side of the boat to get hand-hooked by me, lifted and promptly slide in the floating net…. what a fish !! wider than my thigh, longer than my whole leg, a 34 kg specimen. The second one was less of fighter and as we could see, not so big (30), so fifteen minutes later he was also in the floating net. We use to have this type of big kabeljou before and my friend particularly knew well how to handle the situation, but two big boys in a row never happened before to us and as far as we knew to anybody else. To keep the fish fresh, and in saleable condition we then pack everything and went back home in Cape Town, ending this short fishing week.

Fishing (Big) from the Breede river

2009-12-26T08:10:00.000-08:00

In my previous post : Fishing from the Bredee River I describe the apparel we normally use on this rather muddy but deep channels and with a very strong current either down/upstream. I used to fish with one my friends by day only, but we decide once that it was time to try a fishing campaign of few days and nights sleeping in the boat on the river.
The boat was a small cabin cruiser with two bunks on each side and in the front between, a simple covered anchor and chain trunk. My first job was to design and build a simple mini-kitchen (sink and stove) made of plywood and resting permanently above the anchor trunk. We knew the river quite well, so for the daily hygiene, we found a nice piece of land to set a small tent to be used as a base camp. The weather was originally fine and we enjoy the very first days and even the first uncomfortable nights spent mainly outside fishing with live baits (mullet) caught with a hand throwing net, just hoping to bring some night feeder fish such as elf (actually we did). Very funny memories: me, the fry pan in hand waiting for my buddy to catch some elf, immediately filleted, fried and eaten. Or by day wrapped in aluminium foil and grilled on the coal with few sweet potatoes. I could not remember all the fish we bring in , because there is plenty fish in the river and during the week out of season, very few fisherman, so we did well until the rain come. We then decide to pause, but very early this particular morning we did enjoy a fabulous catch (To be continued ….. )

Fishing in South Africa

2009-12-22T03:48:00.000-08:00

Between Swellendam (The Garden route in South Africa) and the mouth in Witsand, the Breede River is wide and in some place very wide. There is no bridge after Swellendam, and the only way to cross over is the “pont” in Malgas. This pontoon is a simple barge manned by few blacks attendants pulling from a steel cable crossing the river at the most narrow place. Just before the mouth, the river is over four hundred meter wide, almost a thousand meter at high tide and probably over twenty meter deep in the main channel.
Because of the perpetual current, the fishing can only take place from boat, rarely trawling and mainly from the rear platform with the boat anchored facing the current. Normally two fishing rods are cast from both side of the boat. The assembly is quite peculiar to this river: a solid curved hook, a steel tress, the line and from the tress, sliding along the line, a round or oval shaped heavy sinker. There is many reasons for this assembly : The current will drag the line to the muddy bottom, the sinker will hold but the line can slide easily preventing the fish to feel any resistance. Some fish have strong sharp teeth capable of cutting the line in no time, and there is monster fish over one hundred pounds caught on the regular basis. A favourite bait is a strip of frozen sardine sliced lengthy and attached to the hook using a length of rubberised string to avoid small fishes shredding the bait. Alternatively you could use a fresh live prawn which are sucked out from the mud at low tide, but the fishing trip is now an expedition as you must time the tide, the wind, the current, the location. The reward is a more pleasant fishing experience as the fish are different, not so massive but fighting one.
More about fishing stories soon….

The Whale of St Sebastian Bay

2009-12-13T07:22:00.000-08:00

The mouth of The Breedie River is located in South Africa, 40 km from the national Road 2 (The Garden Route). One village on the hill is Witsand (White sand in Afrikaans) and the sea view from the village is superb as well as the view on the river.At low tide, one can see from the hill, the numerous sand banks that make the mouth a bit treacherous, not really dangerous as there is no rocks on the way to the river, but very shallow in place. One day, this is where a whale was stranded accidentally andincapable of swimming back to the sea. This man from Witsand – or should I say this character - was fishing from his boat and having realised the situation, manage to push pull the whale to the main stream and soon to freedom. The story only start now because each time our fisherman was at sea on the same boat, the whale will suddenly appear from no where and gently welcome him. He then grab this unique opportunity, to take tourists for a whale tour (prohibited without permit), so despite the detractors and the law enforcement officers, everything went fine until this fateful day when the strong normal current and the rather unusual strong wind were facing each other making the water extremely choppy and dangerous. In trying to help some foolish fishing boat to reach shore (and succeeding) , our fisherman boat capsized, and believe or not our man drown.
Incredibly our hero could not swim. On his request, his body was cremated and the urn given to his son with a mission to disperse the ashes at sea in the bay. The whole ceremony was videotaped from the boat and completely out of season, our whale appear all of a sudden and when the weeping boy release the ash, the photograph could capture one tear rolling down from the whale eye, and she was never be seen again. (true story)

The Cape of Good Hope baboons

2009-12-07T10:48:00.000-08:00

The scenic road from Cape Town to the famous Cape of Good Hope is mainly use by local or international tourists visiting ‘The end of the world”. The spectacle is really worst it. On top a hill there is a parking lot famous for the visitors “ the baboons”.Despite numerous signs prohibiting baboons feeding, everybody do it anyway.
Just in case, you want to respect the rules, they help themselves in such way that many incidents rather funny have been recorded. Personally I remember once, a baboon jumping on the bonnet of the rented car, and refusing categorically to live.I decide then to take him for a ride in the downhill and curvy road, making sure to negotiate every curve sharply. In despair the monkey grip the radio antenna and suddenly we notice a change in colour: the baboon became grey in terror. Immediately, I stop the car and the monkey jump out, leaving on the bonnet a small mountain of stinky poo. Another time, coming back from Kimberley (see my previous posts), we were seating in the car all windows locked up (I knew!) to watch baboons surrounding a car, then enter by a open window and laugh at the occupants screaming and abandoning the car in terror because those baboons are aggressive and quite dangerous as their bite could be infectious

From Kapama to Kimberley

2009-11-29T04:28:00.000-08:00

There are a few hundred of kilometres between the towns and the landscape is changing drastically from luxurious green pastures and field of bananas and mangoes trees, to the dry and rocky setup that one can expect from a mining terrain.
The amazing story of the “Big Hole” start in Kimberley in 1865 with the discovery in a field nearby, of the first South African diamond the “Eureka”. Later more and more were discovered on the top of a hill not far, then the diamond rush start and the hill was so deeply mined, that he becomes the Big Hole. One should really browse the Internet to check the story and the photos of this time to have an idea of the work involve by thousand of very small concessions (36 square feet roughly), each of them equipped with a winch driving a small wagon. This “jungle” of steel cables was an amazing sight. The miner village has been re-build and the whole visit is fascinating. Besides the fortunes of few – De Beers, C.Rhodes, B.Barnato, the future of the country also start here.

The Matriarchate

2009-11-25T05:57:00.000-08:00

Suddenly we spot a herd of elephant grazing peacefully. For whatever reason, the ranger instructs us to leave the jeep for better quality pictures (Which is against the rules because of the real danger of being stampeded). Every year, accident occurs as the elephants could be moody and irritable. but this time we discover too late 2 young calf’s and the mother was immediately enraged : scratching, blowing, flapping ears, almost charging us. I was watching carefully the reaction of the tracker still sitting and the ranger in front of us. His riffle was armed and one could visualise the pressure of the finger on the trigger. They were both very concern about the tourists (their priority) but also about the mother. We then back walk very slowly toward the jeep while the mother was still menacing and marching on us.
Being a safari photo, the only noise was the sound of the shutter and film driver. As said before, we are in 1996 and digital equipment is inexistent or too advanced. Actually the clicking noise was too much for the ranger which instruct us rather abruptly to stop.
Myself and the party we were still shaking when we spot – but this time from far- a family of lions adults and cubs. We just observe from far as you could sense the agitation of the mother.

The Encounter

2009-11-21T05:18:00.000-08:00

On that particular day, we all went on a typical Safari-photo, with a tracker, one ranger and a picnic basket for everyone, as the search for the big five is a long day.
We must remember that it is not a zoo visit and therefore one had to found the animals in their habitat.
This is the job of the tracker sitting on a special forward and low platform where he can spot tracks and excrements from animals, without obscuring the view of the ranger driver. We sit at the back of the jeep, peeping trough open sides. Our journey start with the spotting of a black rhino horde, but we stay quiet and static while the ranger explain to us the basic rules of wild animal spotting (many tourists in the region have lost their lives
by ignorance or stupidity). Rhino and elephants have a poor sight, and therefore they view us as one group, the bigger the “image”, the bigger the risk for them, so no one must part from the group and walk alone,
thus forming a smaller image to be charged and stampeded….
Being a safari photo, the only noise was the sound of the shutter and roll engine. As said before we are in 1996 and digital is inexistent or too advanced. It was not too important for the rhinos, they were just annoyed, but later in the day we meet with the elephants, so their attitude was different...

Then...the morning after...

2009-11-18T05:22:00.000-08:00

After a very noisy night including also the regular scratching of the tent fabric (who ?), morning came along. First the boys wake me up, while preparing the “donkey” early, to make sure that we all have hot water ready at sunrise (remember the hot water tank system…).
Then, the monkeys came for breakfast. We were warned not to leave anything around because they are used to steal any food parcel with big fights and big noise. I could not recall all details but I think we share our extremely copious breakfast (rather a meal) with them, just to enjoy the show and make some photos. Breakfast was served early because in our day program, a safari was planned to see some of the Big Five (Lions, Elephants, Rhinoceros, Buffalos). There are no Hippos in the lodge or they were not available due to lack of water. It was on that particular day that we did have a memorable encounter with an Elephant horde driven by a rather irascible female (because of few of young calf). For the photographer, I will mention on my next post, the particular noise problem caused by the camera (no digital yet, we are in summer 1996).

My first night at Kapama Lodge bush camp

2009-11-16T04:40:00.000-08:00

Earlier in my blog Africa35years, I did mention the setup of the bush camp; An open area with the “Lapa”
(a thatch covered open sided construction, used as dining room, meeting room or whatever).
In the middle, the camp fire - a hole in the ground with local stone all round – and a few wooden blocs for the spectators. Near by, there is the thatched roof bar and a sitting room from where various path goes to the “rooms” – huge luxurious tents – made of a strong fabric.
Each tent is built on a large wooden platform with private gangway and private ablution block.
The furniture’s are all African themed, and the overhaul atmosphere is warm and so nice that
we just want to laid down on the bed, eating the exotic fruits in the basket near by.
After a sumptuous buffet in the lapa, we were entertained by the staff chanting and dancing around the camp fire. Before we retire for the night, the ranger mention the possibility of some disturbing noise that we may experience during the night.(As a reminder: no electricity, not even gas lights)..and we did as a horde of buffalo came by, roaming scratching the soil and rubbing on the tree trunks. Quite frightening actually because the whole platform is moving…then all sort of unidentifiable noises and then another surprise in the early morning…..

Few days at the Kapama lodge bush camp

2009-11-12T06:23:00.000-08:00

Coming back to the welcome we received at the Kapama lodge, the first good impression was friendly ranger and hostess. They first take us for a show with an incredible Video about Lions and Elephants.
Filmed by night, this production is very touching as the Lions follows the Elephant herd, just hoping that they could grab a calf. Obviously the mothers knows that so they force the youngsters to walk between their legs and the trunk is here to recall the most audacious. Because of artificial lighting, we do not really see the lions in the background, just the red pupils. At this point of time, I was breaking up with my South African wife and I did have a fairly good idea of the power of maternal instinct. Few day later, we had an encounter with a group of elephants and their calf, and again we experienced this maternal instinct quiet abruptly…. After the show, we went to our night accommodation in the most luxurious tents build on a wooden platform between few enormous trees trunk. I said luxurious mainly because of the furnitures and exotic decorations, but also the commodities like the hot shower.
With no gas and electricity (but a lot of manpower) the hot water production system come from the local South African farms (the donkey) : a water tank build on columns – steel or stone - under which the labourers maintain a good wood fire, set early in the morning. The whole week was an experience but what about the night in the bush……

A Safari photo in South Africa

2009-11-09T02:09:00.000-08:00

Talking about my blog Africa35years , I just use the update opportunity, to chat about

An experience that takes place in the North of the country, near the Kruger National Park and for change,
it was not about work, but entertainment.Suddenly, my Canadian daughter decides to visit me for two weeks with her best girl friend. The Idea was : Can I organise, a safari-photo for them ?. Forget about the Kruger National Park as you must book a year in advance. Besides I was looking for a more intimate experience as I see my daughter once in a while. I did have a few weeks to look for one of that place you see on films or TV programs with a Bush camp on a tree platform, the jeep with a tracker sitting forward, the campfire and the dancers, and I found one !! This Camp is called KAPAMA Lodge and is located alongside North of the Kruger National Park, near the town of Hoedspruit. We were coming by car from Nelspruit, via Kimberley and Cape Town. By now I do have a feeling that all private camps are organized the same way, but we were really all seduced by the welcome, the rangers, the setting, the land rover (not a jeep) and the luxury from hot water (in the middle of the bush – no electricity) to accommodation, food and wine. In my next post, I will talk about this incredible stay at Kapama.

Surviving the assigment....the key to next mission

2009-11-06T21:55:00.000-08:00

My blog Africa35years is about 35years of missions in Africa, from North (Tunisia, Libya, Morocco)
to extreme South (South Africa), with some of them in Egypt, Ivory Coast, Gabon, Mauritius Island.
Duration of commercial assignments (mainly looking for business opportunities) normally range from 2 days to one week, where support missions could last months or even years when living conditions were good , such as South Africa.
Actually, I was mostly involve in technical assistance to third countries type, either on behalf of the Client or the Contractor, where working and living conditions were harsh.
I manage to accept all and survive it, just because – for the sake of my family - I have to come back home, alive and preferably well, where a few of my colleagues did not make it.
I do have a good selective memory, so I can only recall the many incidents rather funny.
The locally made bread – no yeast - was so hard, that I lost most of my teeth in Gabon on
the Tshimbele’s dam.
The human scaffolding made for me at the Tabriz power station, was so inefficient that a big patch of my hair is now glued forever on the ceiling of the demineralised water tank.
Many years later I still have food poisoning sequels from Egypt (“la tourista”),so you should rather do :
Data Entry from Home https://paydotcom.com/r/40669/chelmii/25972701/

To South from North

2009-10-17T02:34:00.000-07:00

SOUTH AFRICA : 30 YEARS SOON

16Th October1980. A most beautiful afternoon. The plane from Johannesburg is landing at Cape Town International airport. From the sky, my first impression is tidiness. Also the acacia trees are in full bloom; what a pleasant first feeling, for a man more used to poverty and associated dirt and neglect.

I feel very tired as my journey to Cape Town start yesterday morning in Provence at Marseilles airport.
More over I do have a funny feeling about this new mission in a completely new country.

How could I have guessed that thirty years later I will be around and alive.?
Since I do have few relatives and no friends overseas, I will probably die here. Strange fate for a ”titi” Parisian
born seventy years ago in the heart of the French Capital, just before the German invasion. I am a Technical assistant and I help local companies involved in big projects such as Power stations, Dams, Airport, Harbours, mainly for repairs, maintenance or protections. Normally assignments are short lived: few days to few weeks. But now 29 years later I am still in the Cape Province, simply because I did enjoy the climate, the sea the people, and more generally the quality of life.

I did start this career in Paris in 1958, and I am now retired, just helping a handful of faithful clients with custom design programs for their maintenance tasks.
The Cape Town nuclear Power station was built by an international consortium, and – in theory – a two
weeks mission for me, Yet, I stay around for 6 years with new assignments for the French builder, mainly Technical programs development, tested locally. During those years, I was also involved in various African projects such as Libya military airport, the Tabriz Power station in Iraq, Uranium mine in Gabon, the University of Alexandria and Mauritius island; all short missions. Despite the interest, my heart was in Cape Town, and I always came back here with new stories good and bad (meaning funny and sad).