The beautiful face of Africa

Over the past week, Grant has had four back-to-back functions with his expat and local staff members. More about these functions soon. 

Three of these parties were held at the local pool bar. I'd never been there except for the school-leavers' do which we held with the Client in August. Of course, with me attending these evenings,  Grant had a resident photographer (LOL!);  I spent part of each evening taking candid and posed shots of the guests. 

On the last night before the proceedings started in earnest, I managed to get a nice photo of Rosie, the barmaid. Rosie also attends to the club bar that we visit on Wednesday and Saturday evenings. (Remember, this is when Ambrose manages to hack into my laptop and do his posts!) 

 The beautiful Rosie wipes my glass before pouring me a soda water on ice with a slice of lemon!

Now, bar tender positions are generally held by women - always young and highly presentable women. Because of the nefarious nature of this job and the fact that the girls have to survive on tips from customers with which to augment their minimum wages, cause them to use "easier" means to survive.

While I cannot speak for all people, over the past year, I have watched Rosie's body language when she goes about her job. And I can almost vouch that she is a really decent girl. Not only does she clean the club during daylight hours after which she goes home and looks after her family, but she's also doing extra studies of an admin course. This beautiful lady wants to better herself and I applaud her for it. 

You go, Rosie! 

I hope you're all having a great weekend already.

Sunrises and skies over South Africa

During our holiday in South Africa in September, after a week at home, catching up on family, friends and home life, Grant and I loaded the bike and set off on a tour. As usual I have my little Sony Point and Shoot camera in my leather waistcoat which enables me to take photos while on the back of the bike.

I have many photos of this trip and hope to post them soon. But for today's meme, I thought I'd share these "sky" photos with you.

Sunrise on the first day on tour, taken between our home town, Marquard and the nearest city, Bloemfontein

Sunrise on the last day of our tour, taken just outside Somerset East

I love mountain passes (well, Grant, like all bikers, does too!) But I love to take photos as the bike enters the beginning, I feel hear Grant drop a gear and then he's in his element. He never wants to stop but I've learned to keep my eyes peeled for the signpost at the top of the post depicted the name and height of the pass. And I keep clicking!

Ascending Carlton Heights Pass 

 I didn't straighten the skyline as this is how you "do" a mountain pass on a motorcycle

 Wow, I managed to get the board while we whizzed past! 

 

For more beautiful sky posts, please click here

Scary trip to Mwanza

Many readers will remember the many trips I made to the nearest (160km one way) town of Mwanza. I always used to do the grocery and market shopping for the Guest House. Fortunately, now Chef Paulo is taken to Shinyanga by Driver William where they do this with greater ease and for more rewards (I did it for the love of...)

However, as this post is aired, William will be driving me and Grant to Mwanza. This time it's for Grant to visit the dentist. He is very nervous of dentists and has postponed this visit for so long but now the time has come! I, of course, am going along to hold his hand. 

Once I've made sure that Grant is in the dentist's chair and being examined, William will take me a short distance across town to visit Dr Mawaluko. He forgot to stamp the kitten's vaccination certificate books last week and has promised to do it tomorrow. 

I also need to consult him about neutering/spaying several feral cats which my friend, Amanda is feeding in her garden. Every day I send left-over scraps from our Guest House kitchen to help her do this. But while it's kind to feed hungry strays, these  cats are getting stronger, tamer and more fertile by the day. So with the Client management's approval, we're going to try and solve this problem. (Watch this space!)

I hope you're all having a better day than Grant is!