Visit to South Africa

I just returned from a 2-1/2 week visit with Samantha and her children Oriah (5) and Kei (2- 3/4). Malcolm had just started a new job so he was not at home. They live on a farm called Zuvuya which was set up to be an intentional community for environmental living. It's located about two hours from Durban in an area of rolling hills and trees. The nearest town, Howick, is a half hour away over bumpy dirt roads. It was great to see Samantha and the kids again but I chose the wrong time of year to go. Being springtime below the equator, it rained almost every day so it was cold, wet and windy for 13 out of the 17 days I was there. From now on I will be going only during their winter when it's cold at night but sunny and warm during the day --somewhat like Las Vegas's winter -- and my summer when it's unbearably hot.



Since it has been a year and a half since my last visit, Oriah and Kei had changed considerably. I actually made the trip to be there for Oriah's 5th birthday. Oriah's speech is very advanced and talks a bluestreak like her mother and Grandfather Towles. She, like Samantha, had colorful dreadlocks but Samantha told me that Oriah decided the day after I left that she wanted her dreads cut so she now has a short cute hairdo. Oriah is tall and thin like her mother and father and loves to dress up. She has the prettiest blue eyes. Kei was just a baby the last time I saw him and he's now a solid tall little boy. Typically boy, he loves playing with trucks, tractors and other moving things. He's learning Zulu from Samantha's maid who teaches Kei and another three year old for two hours a day.



Samantha is living her life by her environmental ideals to save the earth by using alternative methods of energy. They are living in a house that Malcolm built but since Malcolm didn't know diddly squat about how to build a house, it is a makeshift affair without indoor plumbing, hot water or insulation which makes the inside very cold in the winter and very hot in the summer. She keeps compost to fertilize her garden, and has an indoor pee toilet and an outdoor poo toilet. The pee toilet empties into a bucket under the house which she then uses to fertilize non-edible vegetation. The poo toilet is in an enclosed-on-three-sides structure so that when you're doing your business, you have a beautiful view of the countryside. Since they live on private property, there is little chance of encountering anyone when doing your business. You flush by throwing a handful of sawdust down the toilet. Sounds like fun, doesn't folks.



The house has only one large room downstairs and a loft for sleeping upstairs in their A-framed house. I slept in Kei's bunk bed while the kids slept upstairs with Samantha. It wasn't the most comfortable bed I've slept in. Because the house is so small, I found it a challenge to walk around in it what with lumpy carpets on the floor, toys and clothes strewn about, and two dogs and two cats which lay here and there around the house. Another drawback to the house and living in the boondocks is the lack of good communications. Samantha's internet hasn't been working for weeks and cell phone connection is not good either. I felt totally cut off from the world without TV, a radio and an internet connection. The only entertainment is looking at DVDs on the computer.

We had a few outings during my visit. They live close to an area called the Midlands Meander. It's a route along which are arts and crafts shops, specialty stores, small goat farms selling cheeses, small B&B's, and a couple of little villages. We spent two days meandering on the route and staying overnight in a small B&B along the way. The following weekend Samantha had signed us up, including her mother-in-law Claire, to attend a women's retreat at the Buddhist Retreat Center. The retreat was led by a psychologist and the gist of the program was how we felt as women and how we connect with other women. The lodge where we stayed was spartan (we had to take out shoes off before entering and we had to practice silence while in the lodge), the food vegetarian and the camraderie fantastic. After evening medicate we had to be silent until after breakfast the next morning. Samantha is leading a retreat there in January focusing on how to live an eco friendly life. Lastly, we spent four days at Claire's house where we celebrated Oriah's 5th birthday. We did get to the beach on one of the sunny days.

Well, that's a wrap up of my trip to South Africa. I would like Samantha to live closer to home but that probably won't happen in the near future so I have many more 36 hour trips to look forward to.