African Swansong - Chapter 3

 African Swansong - Chapter 3

Monday, March 25th, 2024

A provincial map of South Africa. Saint Francis
Bay, Port Elizabeth and East London are 
all in the Eastern Cape on the coast.

We are up today at the crack of dawn. Roxanne, our B’n B host, has agreed it is fine to do us a 6am breakfast, as our shuttle is picking us up at 7am.

Roxanne proves to be a genial host and as we chat, we find we have lots in common. Her kids are at Woodridge school where Doug and Kim’s kids have all gone and where Annie, their daughter, is still a weekly boarder. It turns out that one of her daughters probably knows Annie. Small world.

Our shuttle arrives a bit early. They have their full team on duty today – Francois, the owner, his lady friend, Cynthia and Claude the driver. Along for the ride is Lynette, a friend of Cynthia’s who is visiting and keeping them company for the day. At this point, the thirteen seater minivan, has only one paying passenger, Christa, who is on her way to visit her daughter in East London. Everyone is 70 or older I reckon. There is no baggage space in the van so our luggage needs to be loaded onto the back four seats. Cynthia, takes charge and sees to the loading. There was no room for more than one to do that job, and I was stuck outside, so couldn’t offer. I did wonder why Francois or Claude hadn’t offered to help, but there must be a reason. Finally, we are loaded up, introductions done, and we hit the road for East London, about a four hour drive east, mainly along a beautiful coastline. The bus now has three paying customers. 

PE has a long waterfront, which should be beautiful, but too much of it is taken up with disheveled, dirty equipment and dockside railway lines. At one point, we noticed what had once been a steel fence, which had only the upright cemented posts left standing. The rest of the steel fence had been stripped bare. The bad guys steal the metal and sell it for scrap.  Crista overheard us commenting and remarked, “That’s nothing. Nowadays, they are starting to steal the traffic lights”. This sounds unbelievable, but these types of stories abound. For a time, when Covid came around and the trains weren’t functioning because of lockdowns, scavengers came into rail stations and stripped them down to the concrete platforms. The materials are either sold for scrap or used for building materials for the squatter camps that spring up in the cities wherever there is a piece of unoccupied, unguarded land. Sad, but true. How can a country function with this kind of behavior going on?

Welcome to the 
Sunshine Coast

Cher and I had driven this coastal route many times. It is now referred to by the Tourist Board types as the “Sunshine Coast”. I really enjoyed being a passenger, as normally I am the designated driver. I could relax, look around and take it all in. Once we got clear of PE, the road gave way to lovely farmland. There has been a fair amount of rain, and the farms were looking good. Eventually we came to the Great Fish River. It was here in the late 1700s that the white Afrikaaner settlers, of Dutch origin, first came into contact with the dominant Xhosa tribes. This became the Border Area and was the scene of numerous skirmishes and mini conflicts over the decades. 4000 settlers were brought in from Britain in 1820 to try and settle this area to solidify settler control. My Mom’s side of the family dates back to this group. They were sent to create a buffer zone between the Xhosa tribes migrating south and westwards and the Afrikaaners, who were spreading north and eastwards.

Many of the town and river mouths, west of the Great Fish River have names that reflect their colonial heritage – Grahamstown, Alexandra, Kenton on Sea. There are also a fair share of Afrikaaner names, Boesmansriviermond (Bushman’s River Mouth), Kleinemond (Small Mouth) and so on.

Once we were east of the Great Fish River, we were into a part of the country that had never really fallen completely under colonial control. Under the apartheid years, this area was called the Ciskei and it was a separate country under the control of a Xhosa speaking government. The place and river names reflect the Xhosa influence. Now we had cool sounding names like Mgwalana, Mtati, Mpekweni and Birah. The Xhosa pronunciations are a treat to hear. They have some rather distinctive clicks which can be difficult to replicate.

A stop along the way at Boesmansriviermond
to pick up another paying custormer. 

Our halfway, washroom and coffee stop was in Port Alfred. Port Alfred sits astride the Cowie River. During my Scripture Union days in this part of the world in the 1980s, I once led a teenage canoe camp up this river. I had warned the teens to pack light as space was limited. Well of course they ignored my advice. We set off packed to the gunnels with barely three inches of canoe above the waterline. One should preferably plan one’s departure up the river for when the tide is coming in, so that the tide pushes one upriver. However, where the downcoming river meets the upgoing tide, there is potential for waves as the two competing forces meet. Well it took about five minutes and all of our canoes were under water. We spent half an hour recovering our various belongings which were floating downriver. Needless to say, it was a great icebreaker, and we had a great camp.

As we progressed, the land gave way to undeveloped bush. It was great to see miles of undisturbed African bushveld for some time. After a while, rural housing began to dominate. Thirty years ago, when we left SA, these houses were primarily built of mud or flattened metal drums. It was very basic. Nowadays most of the houses are upgraded and built with concrete bricks, and corrugated iron roofs. Many of the properties have one or two extra “houses”, on them, for an extra wife or two. There will also be a thornbush enclosure to shelter the goats and cows overnight.

South Africa has tradeitionally had a migratory labor system. Young men from the rural areas would head to the cities to find work and then send money home to the rural area where the wives and kids were engaged in subsistence living. The men would come home once a year to visit their wives and work on the next crop of kids. It isn’t unusual for a man to have a wife in the city and one back home in the rural area.  

Vote for Julius Malema of the 
Economic Freedom Fighters - a 
populist who appeals to the masses. 

We are starting to notice election posters. The next general election is in two months time.  The party of choice, since apartheid has been the ANC (African National Congress), the party of Nelson Mandela. Unfortunately since he has moved on the ANC has given way to serious and serial corruption causing great hardship to the country.  Unemployment is between 30-40%, the educations system is abysmal and the leaders grow richer and fatter. The competition is fierce, but some of the contenders are not very savory characters either. In North America, politics is fierce, but in Africa it tends to resemble a fight to the death. In South Africa's favor the press is still free and so far elections have been fair. 

Finally, we arrived in East London. I have always considered East London to be South Africa’s best kept secret. They have gorgeous beaches, excellent schools and it is a pretty little town. Unfortunately, the local municipality has not done a good job of keeping standards up and too often, there is garbage lying around, broken sidewalks and so on. I threaten to come back and stand for Mayor every time I visit. So far I’ve resisted the impulse. I am sure it could become the jewel in the crown of South Africa.

We were greeted by Lynne, Cher’s sister who took us back to her apartment in a wonderful Retirement Village complex. Lynne had baked me a slightly belated birthday cake for afternoon tea and invited a very good friend Alison Horsfall to join us. It was great catching up.

Lynne has made the decision to move to UK to live close to her son and family in Wales. She is leaving in a week’s time to spend six months in her new flat in Swansea seeing to renovations and beginning to settle into what will become her new community. It feels a bit strange for us all, to think that this chapter of our lives in Southern Africa is drawing to a close.

Tuesday March 26, 2024

Beach Break - a legend to those who know it

Today we were planning a visit to the Beach Break. This beachside restaurant is a closely guarded secret amongst East Londoners. It is in a space carved out of the thick tropical bush situated under the trees just behind the beach. It is shady and has an atmosphere that could not be replicated easily. Up until recently it was common to have monkeys in the trees. They would eye the various food choices below and then would occasionally launch a kamikaze attack on something they fancied. The African staff would come tearing out of the building with those large industrial size water pistols and fire at the monkeys who would then retire to the trees to enjoy their ill-gotten gains. It was great fun to observe when this happened, unless of course one was on the receiving end of an attack. I think someone must have finally “dealt with the monkeys” as I haven’t seen them for a while. I once saw a snake slithering along a branch a couple of feet above a man’s head. It gives me the heebies, just thinking about it.

How's about that for a natural Jungle Jim? Our
grandkids have climbed in this space and 
thought they have died and gone to heaven. 

Unfortunately it was raining so we had to go to the Reef Café around the corner and up the hill. It is perched high above the sea and overlooks a 180-degree view of the coastline. On a good day, one can see forever. Lynne’s friend Barbara had joined us. She and Lynne normally walk the beach on a Tuesday morning and have breakfast at the Beach Break. Barbara has been a good friend to Lynne over the years. She got quite teary eyed when the discussion about Lynne leaving came around.  

Rob with Martin Tibbit

After breakfast Lynne and Cher were planning to work on dealing with decades worth of family mementos and making some drastic decisions. I decided I didn’t want to be part of the inevitable wailing and gnashing of teeth that would accompany this exercise. I decided to go and visit Martin Tibbit. He is the brother of my brother in law, Roy Tibbit in Peterborough, Ontario. Martin is 84 and lives in a retirement village. His wife passed away a year or two ago, so he lives alone. Like us, he grew up in Zambia. He and I chewed the fat and reminisced for a couple of hours over a cup of tea before I made my way home to Lynne and Cher to see how they were doing. I found them thoroughly engrossed in photos, letters and trying to decide what to do with piles of old photo albums. We can all identify. They took digital photos of  the final selections and then they did eventually face the inevitable. We piled a shopping trolley high with old photo albums and books and took them to the central garbage area for disposal. It was good to get that job done, but sad to see a lifetime of memories being so unceremoniously dumped

It had been another tough day in Africa. We watched a couple of episodes of Blue Bloods and headed for bed.

Wednesday, March 27th, 2024

Tyre service on the go. 

The Operation Mobilisation ship, the Logos Hope was in town, so we decided we needed to pay it a visit. Most things in Africa start early, so we figured if we got down there around 9ish that would work fine. When we got there, we were told it was only open from 11am. Lynne said we could kill a bit of time by going to see some of the houses she and her husband, Glenn, had lived in. 

We were just on our way, when Lynne’s car computer told her she was losing pressure in one of her tires. Lynne said she must have picked up a nail or screw and we headed off to go and have it seen to “the African way”. This was new for us. We took the car to a service station where one of the service attendants runs a puncture repair business on the side. He directed us to the back of the building, presumably out of sight of his boss. He quickly found the nail and extracted it with a pair of pliers. He then cleaned up the hole left by the nail, with a hand held tool and in short order inserted a rubber plug with another large needle. It was quite amazing to watch him work. The whole exercise took about 15 minutes and it cost R50, which is about $3 (Cdn).

East London has a large Mercedes plant. When
Nelson Mandela was released the workers made
him a personalised vehicle as a gift from them. 

We spent the next hour or so touring some of Lynne’s old houses. Outside one of Lynne’s ex homes she recounted how in the good ole days, they used to have milk delivered daily. One morning she happened to spot the milkman doing his delivery. She watched with horror as he unscrewed the lid of one of the bottles and took a swig before carefully returning the lid to its previous apparently pristine state. She bought her milk at the store from then on.

It was nice to re-live that bit of history. While en route we passed a church that I remember we had run a Scripture Union Holiday Club at. It was at that club that my daughter Julia won a prize for the “most enthusiastic singer”. She deserved it. We also passed George Randall Primary School and I was reminded of the schools that I used to visit in my role of Area Director for Scripture Union. In most schools I would have complete freedom to deliver biblical messages in the daily school assemblies. We had SU clubs in virtually all of the English speaking schools and were just getting going in the Xhosa speaking schools when we left South Africa in 1991.

Solar rules. 

While driving around, I was reminded by the panels on roofs, that solar power is really taking off here in SA. The power company, Eskom has the monopoly on production of electricity throughout the country. Eskom has excelled itself in its levels of corruption and ineptitude for decades now. The result has been that most of the country now has daily blackouts of up to 12 hours. The rich folks buy generators. The smart ones are putting in solar panels combined with a bank of storage batteries. Spare power is put back into the grid which Eskom pays a discounted amount for. We have met a number of people who tell us they are now free of blackouts as they live off the grid. This is a rare instance in which corruption and negligence are actually leading to a positive development for a country. 

The Logos hosts the
"largest bookfair in the world"

We were back at the Logos a bit early. While waiting for the ship to open up, I went and took some photos of the docks. The next thing I noticed a guy in a bright yellow reflective top approaching me on his quad bike. He informed me with a nice smile, that photos of the dock area are not allowed. I wasn’t surprised. This is quite common in African countries for them to be twitchy about security around their airports and ports. He was very pleasant and didn’t ask me to delete the photos I had taken. Just another reminder that we are in Africa. 

The Logos was interesting. They visit ports all over the world with volunteer young people who share the gospel with whoever will listen. They claim to have the “largest floating bookshop in the world”. It is large and they have an amazing assortment of books. We came away with some books in hand, despite having been determined that we wouldn’t be buying.

Guardians of Hope - a blessing to the hopeless
kids in the area. 

On our way back from the Logos we popped into Guardians of Hope (GOH) for Lynne to say goodbye. This is a home for babies and small children who have nowhere else to go. They have been abandoned, and often arrive damaged healthwise and mentally. They have no hope. GOH currently has about 28 kids who are being looked after. Guardians is run by a lady called Elaine and her husband Dirk who is a police officer in the canine unit. Elaine, who is in her forties, is well on her way to a well-deserved sainthood. She and Dirk have personally adopted four of the kids. Elaine has come from a very troubled background herself and seems determined to help these kids have as good a start as possible in life. She does her best to have the kids adopted out, with modest success. She struggles with cancer and is not in great health herself. GOH is completely self-financed, with no government support. Elaine somehow raises the necessary funds. She has recently upgraded the GOH building. Everything is now modern, state of the art and immaculate. These kids have the best that money and lots of love can provide. Lynne is the official “visiting nurse” who attends whenever needed, to help. I always leave GOH with a mix of feelings of guilt that I’m not doing more myself and awe that one person, with a mind to, can move mountains. Thank you, Lord, for people like Elaine. They are an inspiration.

 

Lynne with Elaine's four adopted  kids

We visited Boots, named, appropriately, for his large feet, and Ali Horsfall for afternoon tea. They are friends from when we lived here over 30 years ago. Our kids all used to attend Scripture Union camps and school clubs together. They are in the throes of trying to decide on their future. They have a grand old house with large rooms and a gorgeous garden complete with swimming pool. Their only daughter, Jen is now living in the USA having married Jeff from the Lancaster, Pennsylvania area. They have other family in Cape Town, so there is a natural tendency to gravitate there. The problem is that property is not selling in East London and the market is hot in Cape Town. It’s a bit like selling in Moncton and needing to buy in Toronto. It’s a tough call for them.

Thursday, March 28th, 2024

Nahoon Beach - a calm day at low tide. 

We had a slow start to the morning and then decided a walk at Nahoon Beach followed by a trip to the Beach Break was called for. Nahoon Beach was looking as pristine as ever. The tide was out a long way and there were not too many folks out enjoying it. As we got down towards the end, there are some rocks uncovered by the low tide. Lynne, who being a midwife, has witnessed many of the births in East London, bumped into one of her ex-customers. They were busy chatting when a young boy, of about 7 or 8 ran up carrying a brand-new fishing net. He approached us quite confidently and began to chatter about his new net and how he had discovered some rrred fish on the rrrocks. His emphatic rolling of his r’s told us he was from an Afrikaans background. He soon took off, happily jabbering away. It was a pleasant interlude.

Beach Break was it’s usual charming self. This outdoor restaurant is cut out of the thick bush, just off the beach. It is wonderful to sit outdoors, with lots of shade and enjoy a good coffee and an even better toasted sandwich as an early lunch. It’s difficult to visit the Beach Break without bumping into someone we know, but this time we managed it. Our plan had been to have brunch here with Boots and Ali on Saturday morning, but the owner let us know that she is closed for the whole Easter weekend. With shock, we realized this would be our final visit to this wonderful gem – another one of East London’s well-kept secrets. Long, may that be true. Once the mob discovers it, it’s charm will be overwhelmed.

In the afternoon, Lynne and Cher went to Lily Kirchman, next door. Lily K, as it’s known, is the mid care section of the retirement complex that Lynne lives in. Cher and Lynne’s Mom had lived here for 4-5 years before her passing last year, so they know a lot of the other residents. Cher and Lynne went to say goodbye to some of them. Cher came back a bit heartsore at these farewells. We are thankful that we will see many of these folks on the other side. Death, where is your sting? Swallowed up by the victory won by Jesus on the cross, which we celebrate this Easter. Thank you, Lord.

Stirling Presbyterian Church - built under
the leadership of our good friend and 
ex Pastor, George Anderson. 

We attended the Tenebrae service at our old church, Stirling Presbyterian, in the evening. We bumped into our long time friend Denver Stoltz. We have known Denver since our Scripture Union days in East London, almost 40 years ago. Denver was a very practical guy. He had recently come to the Lord and was always ready to volunteer for whatever needed doing. Twice a year Scripture Union ran two big mini camps which included about 120 kids and about 30 mainly teenage team members. We had to put up these big, heavy old army tents to sleep everyone. My back used to ache just thinking about it. Denver took charge of this and my back pain eased off a bit, for which I was grateful. Denver used to help our pastor George Anderson and Cheryl to run a Friday afternoon kids program, called Adventurers. Denver is still going strong. He now pastors the Presbyterian church on what’s called the West Bank of East London. This is a very economically deprived area. A person with a servant heart is needed for a job like this. Denver is the man. We won’t see him again. What a privilege to have worked alongside such a humble servant of the Lord.

A Tenebrae service is a wonderful way to begin the Easter season. The service begins with eight lit candles and included some washing of feet and communion. Its main content though was the solemn reading of eight passages telling the story of the last supper and Gethsemane. After each reading one of the candles was quenched, leaving the room almost completely dark by the end. Finally, the candle representing the hope of Jesus is lit and we all file out of the church in silence with the instruction that we do not stay to chat but rather remain in silence until we get home. That solemness is a wonderful way to enter into the seriousness of the Cross and prepare our hearts for the Good Friday commemoration.

Friday March 29, 2024

Cher in the remembrance cloister.
It has been lovingly kept

First order of this day, Good Friday, is the commemoration of the Cross. We arrived at church, once again in silence. Chris Moore, the pastor gave a very memorable message. At the end of the service, we spent a few moments at the wall of remembrance alongside the church, where the ashes of Cher’s and Lynnes parents and Glenn, Lynne’s husband are. The wall of remembrance is so well done. It is a cloistered area, which includes the wall and a lovely private garden. There are two benches decorated in beautiful tiles where one can sit and contemplate and remember one’s loved ones.

L-R from the top - Toby and Daphne Tobin
(Cher's parents), and
Glen Paterson (Lynne's husband) 

Back home for a late breakfast before Kerry and Russel arrived for a coffee. Kerry is Lynne’s daughter and Russel her husband. Russel has been the gym instructor/chaplin at a private school in Zambia. Kerry has an online job with an international HR company, so she can work from anywhere. They have been living in Zambia for a few years, but Russel’s job in Lusaka is drawing to a close, so they are now back in East London area until they figure out where to next in terms of Russel’s work.

Cher and Lynne, enjoying a quiet moment
by the bird hide in Lynne's back garden. 

In the afternoon we took a stroll to the bird hide at the bottom of the property. Lynne’s retirement village borders on a large chunk of virgin bush. Some of the residents have developed a bird hide on the edge of it. It is a lovely spot to sit and watch the rich bird life. Southern Africa has about 900 bird species versus North America’s 300, so bird watching is quite a rewarding exercise in this part of the world.

Saturday, March 30, 2024

Old friends. Many wonoderful shared memories
L-R Lynne, Ali, Cher, Boots

We had booked to have brunch with Boots and Ali at the Reef Café. It was a glorious morning. We had an “only in Africa” experience. Our waiter had delivered most of our food and we were just about to give thanks for the meal, holding hands of course. As the waiter arrived with the rest of the order, he noticed we were about to pray. Quite naturally he said, “Don't stop, I’ll join you” and promptly joined hands with Cher and Ali, whereupon we all gave thanks for the meal. That was a fun and refreshing first.  

We went for a walk on the boardwalk after brunch. The beauty is quite breathtaking. As we gathered at the end in the parking lot to say goodbye, we noted that tomorrow it will have been 34 years since two of Boots and Ali’s three kids, Diane and Peter, had been killed in a tragic car accident. Boots had nearly died too but had pulled through. It was a tearful moment and we decided to pray for one another. None of us have any clarity as to when we might see each other again. We said our goodbyes with heavy hearts. Lord, we all look forward to a gigantic reunion in heaven one day. Thank you for the assurance of that.

Cher, about to attend to
the best burger in town

In the afternoon, we popped in to see Peter and Penny, friends from when we lived here. They have also been part of the small group which we had started in our living room almost 40 years ago and is still running under Boots and Ali’s leadership. In the conversation it came out that Peter is suffering from pancreatic cancer and his chances are not great. He is quite matter of fact about it all and says he knows where he is going and that’s all there is to it. It was quite wonderful to witness such assurance in action. 

Sanook - a world beating burger formula. 
Only available in East London, SA

W

We had saved the best for last on this day – a trip to Sanook for dinner. Sanook offer the best burgers we have found, anywhere. Their menu includes about 30 different varieties of burger. If one wants to really go the whole hog, one must order the burger on a mushroom base instead of a bun. It was slightly off warm last night, so there was a fraction of a chill in the air. The waiter arrived and gave us each a blanket to put around ourselves. It is quite the experience and not to be missed, if in East London. It is a sad day thinking we may never do that again. 

Sunday March 31st, 2024

Today it is Easter Sunday and Christ is risen. He is risen indeed.

The church was full today as it should be on Easter Sunday. Lynne was given a bit of a mention today by Chris Moore because of her imminent departure for UK in two days’ time. She will be gone for six months to settle into her new apartment and then will be coming back to do a final pack up and leave by the end of the year. Lynne and her deceased husband, Glen, joined the church about 40 years ago, around the same time that we did. Glen passed away tragically in a small plane crash in Port Perry in 2008. Throughout their time there, they have both been key members in the life of the church. It was nice to see Lynne get that recognition. Chris gave a very good Easter message.

  

Russel and Kerry - they live in a lovely spot

After the service there was the mandatory celebration around Hot Cross Buns and tea and coffee. It was a chance for us to say our farewells to folk, many of whom we have known over all those decades. Life moves on and we have no doubt that if we don’t see them in the flesh again, we’ll see them on the other side.

Kerry, Lynne’s daughter, and husband Russell had invited us for lunch and the afternoon out to their house at a smallish beachside community called Sunrise on Sea, not far from East London. Kerry and Russel have recently returned to this area from Zambia and are figuring out what to do next. We had lunch and our mandatory Sunday afternoon nap and then popped over to Russel’s sisters house, nearby, for a cup of tea.

Cher and Lynne, out for the count

Russel’s sister is Kim and her husband is Pete. They have a charming house almost on the beach which they built and have lived in for 25 years. They are an interesting couple. They are both hard core adventurers. Pete has done some remarkable feats including rowing the Atlantic from South Aftica to the Caribbean, once single handed and once with a buddy. He has also done an expedition to the South Pole. He now makes a living doing 60 – 70 motivational speeches per year all over the world. He tells me he has one more big adventure up his sleeve and that is to do the Tropic of Capricorn, by whatever means he can devise, sail. Bike ride, run…the mind boggles. 

It was fun to be in the company of folks 
who live life differently. 

Russel’s sister Kim also gets up to some interesting exploits. I recently read her book which tells the story of her ride, run and paddle around the outer perimeter of South Africa, thousands of kilometres. It was quite a feat. When we started to compare notes, we found something in common – I had been the Scripture Union Director in this area, when Kim was on her high school SU committee. I would have visited her group and I probably met her. Small world.

In the evening we played Rummikub and Lynne put Cher and I in our place, leaving us in no doubt as to who carries the crown in this regard. Early to bed, as its been a full day.

Monday April 1st, 2024

We are preparing to leave tomorrow so we spent the morning doing laundry and catching our breath.

This iron wood man, from
Zambia weighs a ton. 
He comes with quite
a story. Lynne has inherited 
him, and planning to dispose of 
him, but rightfully he belongs
to me. I want him back but 
my wife won't let me have him. 

L-R Primrose, Busi, Lynne, Rob, Cheryl

At lunch time we took the two ladies, Busi and Primrose, who helped care for Cher’s Mom for a number of years, to lunch. This was as a thank you to them for the stirling job that they did. They would care for Mom every day from 6am to 6pm and would share the job three days on and two off. They were both very loving and we knew that Mom was safe in their hands. Primrose would always doll Mom up with make up and a fresh picked flower in her hair and then would take her on walkabout, in her wheel chair, to go and visit other residents. Neither of these ladies are very well educated but they excel in the things that matter. They both now work in the step down, recovery wing of the retirement home on a part time basis – no full time jobs available. They manage, but life is challenging.

Our time in East London is drawing to a close. It has been a poignant time. We have taken this part of the world so much for granted for so long and now it’s a done deal. We are grateful for the friends, family and experiences we have been part of in this part of the world, since 1985. Ah well, such is life. Time for a new chapter.

Tomorrow we fly to Cape Town, one of the world’s most beautiful spots. Stay tuned.