Monday, 28 April 1986: Getting to Kruger National Park

Halfway House & Lombardy East, South Africa

I just took a break from writing for a conversation with Joan MacGreggor.  She works in Johannesburg part-time and spends the bulk of her days here at the Hillcrest Community baking, canning, and caring for her family and farm animals.  She and Tony have lived with other people during most of their 17 years together.  Even though there appear to be no sexual involvements in the community (other than within committed couple relationships), members appear to spend a certain amount of time processing interpersonal issues.  They have no ideology other than everyone being responsible for their own feelings and communicating them to others.


Sunset from Hillcrest Community Farm, April 1986

 

In the early afternoon, Mavis Urmson and her mother (“Granny”) stop by Hillcrest.  Mavis tried phoning all morning but the line was busy. Seems someone here left a phone off the hook.  Mavis has just picked up Granny at Mavis’s sister’s home in Florida, a town west of Johannesburg.  Tomorrow, she is taking Granny home to Middelburg, a town about 200 km east of here.  She knew that I was wanting to head in that direction this week by train if my free plane tickets didn’t come through from South African Airways.  (It appears that won’t happen for another week).

I quickly packed up my stuff and now I’m back in Lombardy East with the Urmson family.  We leave tomorrow afternoon for Middelburg.  From there, I’ll take the train for another 150 km east Nelspruit at the south end of Kruger National Park.  I have phoned the SATOUR office in Nelspruit, and they are arranging to take me up to the park and help me find accommodations.  I’ll need to get the train back here next Sunday or Monday in order to meet a guy from the airline next Tuesday morning about the tickets.  

So far, most everything about my proposed travels around South Africa has been up in the air, but I’m managing to sort of go with the flow.  And of course, the whole country is up in the air these days.  Alexandra Township, where a good deal of the action has been taking place lately, is only a couple kilometers from Lombardy East.  Last night, the Urmsons were awakened by the noise of machine gun fire and a bomb.  They all seem to take it in stride fairly well.  Jonas, a very nice black guy who works for one of the people at Hillcrest, has had some difficulty getting to work from where he is staying in Alexandra.  When black organizers call for a “stay-away” in the township, people are threatened by roving gangs of youth and told not to go to work in white areas.  The penalty for failing to comply these days is a rubber truck tire placed around one’s neck, a dousing with petrol, and being set “alight” with a match.  Not funny.  Big demonstrations are planned for May Day.  Probably better for me to pay a visit to the lions in Kruger instead.    

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