Grahamstown, South Africa

9 - 10 March 08

Thorn Kloof and Kasouga game farms

Meyrick and Denham then drove us to an old ruin of a farmhouse that used to belong to an Afrikaans farmer before William Monkhouse Bowker bought Thorn Kloof in about 1840. In the fields we saw both white springbucks and black springbucks, which are quite rare. We have seen many springbucks since we arrived in southern Africa but they are generally tawny brown with a dark stripe along each flank. We also saw bonteboks. Denham and Meyrick told us that their grandfather Frank the second had helped to save them from extinction in 1948.
Time was short, as we had to stop in Grahamstown on our way south to visit an optician’s shop and order some new reading and driving glasses for Angela to replace the ones that were stolen from her handbag the last evening in Stellenbosch. We reluctantly said goodbye to the Bowkers who promised to come and visit us in Switzerland soon.
In Grahamstown we had a quick but excellent lunch at the Yellow Piano that we remembered from our visit there in December. Then we ordered the glasses from Davies opticians with instructions to send them by special courier service to us at the Quatermain Hotel in Jo’burg where we would be staying from Friday to Sunday.
Next we drove on to Kasouga farm (1500 ha) on the coast west of Port Alfred where we were welcomed by Angela's third cousin Walter Currie and his wife Jenny. Walter's father Jeffery took us on a game drive and, amongst other antelopes, we saw the rare oribi. Then the Curries invited us to dinner with Jeffery and his wife Joan. Pam and Andrew Bowker invited us to spend the night at their house just down the road from the Curries. It was rather like coming home as this was our second visit to the Bowkers at Kasouga.

Thanks to:

the Bowkers at Thorn Kloof and Water Fall farms, and

the Curries and the Bowkers at Kasouga.