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December 30 2006 - The Romance Of Africa
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There are many things I love about Africa: the monkeys, the landscape, the people and a way of life that has eluded me in London. Africa still has an elegance, style and romance that disappeared from London as the 60's swept away a way of life that had somehow hung on since the Edwardian era. The change had begun at the end of the Second World War. Huge country houses no longer had the staff essential for the maintenance and running of such estates. Many of the men had been killed in the war, and the women no longer wished to remain in service when opportunities for employment in shops and offices presented themselves, and one can see their point. In the 50's business was still conducted from Victorian and Edwardian offices, businessmen wore three-piece pinstriped suits, bowler hats and carried furled umbrellas and copies of 'The Times'. People still formed orderly queues at bus stops and on the whole good manners still provided the glue that held the fabric of society together. I caught the tail end of this era and felt very comfortable within it's confines. People still dressed for the theatre, travel was still exciting and gloves and hats for women continued to make appearances on formal occasions. Trains had 'Ladies only' compartments and the red glow of the coal fire provided warmth in countless station waiting rooms. Smoke belched from majestic steam trains as men heaped shovels of coal into the open mouths of devouring furnaces, and to be a train driver was the dream of many a small boy. But by the late 50's and early 60's all that began to change. Tower blocks replaced the rows of Victorian and Edwardian cottages; central heating provided warmth, and the fireplace, always the focal point in any sitting room was replaced by the television set. The 'pill' liberated women from unwanted pregnancies and provided them with a sexual freedom that had previously been afforded only to men. Plastic and Formica replaced wood and tables and chairs no longer required skilled craftsmen for their manufacture. The disposable society was well and truly set in motion and has continued to this day. Stockings were replaced by tights, corsets became a thing of the past (to the relief of a great many of the fair sex) and unisex successfully blurred the previously defined roles of masculinity and femininity. And so it continues today. Yes, it is still possible to have the elegance I am drawn to like a moth to a flame, but at what cost? It is still possible to dine in elegant surroundings, surrounded by 18th and 19th century furniture, glassware, silver etc., but only if one is mega rich, which alas, I am not. I'm not even remotely rich, my bank balance teetering on the verge of red as opposed to a healthy black more frequently than my bank manager would like. But, in Africa... In Africa, all the elegance and romance that I require still not only exists, but is affordable! For example, on the night of my birthday, several of the girls whisked me off for the most wonderful time. I was taken to a five star lodge, (lodges being much more common here than hotels) and found myself surrounded by every comfort my hedonistic heart desired. The food was divine, the wine superb, the staff attentive in their black bow ties and crisply starched white shirts, candles provided a soft ambiance and the absence of musak filled my jaded heart with joy. Now, three - excellent - courses plus cheese and coffee with a very perky glass of port, and two bottles of delicious South African wine came to a total of £25,00 per head! I saw into some of the rooms and wanted nothing more than to spend the remainder of my life ensconced in one of them. Huge antique beds, massive open fireplaces with wood stacked enticingly in copper baskets beside them, heavy velvet curtains and claw footed baths in marble bathrooms combined to make me dizzy with desire! This was a very welcome interlude in what has proved a very difficult situation for all us gals from the Home Counties. I am referring to the weather, which is nothing short of a nightmare. Heat combined with intense humidity saw us staggering around like zombies, and culminated for me in a quite spectacular collapse on the kitchen floor of the house on the Sunday prior to my birthday. I find the heat intensely claustrophobic, because there is no escape from it - unfortunately our tents lack air conditioning - and the nights bring little relief. When we finally had a massive storm the day before my birthday, the air remained as hot and steamy as it had prior to the downpour, and it was then that I lost the will to live! My beloved Sandy packed me off to the Tzaneen lodge for the night where I slept for almost 24 hours and remained there until she and the other girls collected me for my birthday supper, refreshed and restored, albeit temporarily. O! The joys of air-con, a comfortable bed and room service. Just before Christmas, my baby Angel was rushed up to the sickbay where Arthur (our primatologist) will work his magic and hopefully be able to save her. She hadn't been feeding properly and was losing what little weight was on her tiny frame, and yesterday I discovered my precious Felix with a huge rip in the sole of her right foot. One of the bandit monkeys had managed to open the door of the enclosure during the night and bitten my girl badly. I flew with her up to the sickbay and managed to remain conscious while Arthur sedated her and sewed her foot back together. Thank God, if anything happened to that little creature... Christmas was another working day for us, -the Sanctuary, like a hospital never closes - but at 10am one of the girls arrived with a tray of bloody marys (bliss) and when we had finished cleaning our enclosures we all settled down to watch an episode of Blake's 7 which has proved to be an enormous success in tent village. When we finished our shifts, we went up to the house for a quite delicious vegetarian dinner, a lot of alcohol, and despite the searing heat a good time was had by all. I'm now back at the Lodge for the night - it being my day off - and reviving myself with air-con, a comfortable bed and room service (all for the princely sum of around £27.00 per night!) thus enabling me to return to the inferno that is tent village and work another week before collapsing gratefully into the Lodge yet again in order to repeat the process in its entirety. I hope you all had the happiest of Christmases and take this opportunity of wishing you the happiest of New Years. Whatever your dreams, may they all come true for you in 2007. My thanks to you all for reading my blogs, and for all your emails; it means alot.xxx
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