Through the Big Karoo...
Into the desert-like Freestate. Instead of huge 'mielie lande' (cornfields), we were greeted by a desert...
...and sandstorms.
The friends we visited have exotic game on their farm. Besides having a baby Springbok and hedgehog in their house, they have 'Gemsbok', white 'Blesbok', and golden wildebeest. They also have horses, which the boys enjoyed enormously. Video of Maarten's horse riding skills (and a crazy Springbok).
In Potchefstroom, mom and dad had a lot of work to do and thus weren't seen too often. TG Krüger Real Estate Agency, a 70 year old family business run by my grandpa, dad and uncle was closed down, and it's been quite emotional. The business building was sold, and a lot of stuff stored there had to be driven away and sorted out.
We also had to (literally) fish out our 2016 schoolbooks from the storeroom in our own house, which was quite a mission since it was not planned to turn out this way...
Mom stood outside shouting instructions and titles....
....while we wriggled/climbed to where the bookshelves stood and searched for the books.
We stayed at both of our grandparents, visited friends, helped 'ouma' Elna (who recently had a neck operation) in and around the house, spent a night in Pretoria, had family dinners, a family dentist appointment, got new swimsuits, delivered one of Nassie's kittens to his new owner, and a host of other little things. Mom also had a homeschool talk on home education in Pretoria.
A lovely breakfast with a work associate of my mom's to celebrate the finish of one of their projects - an Afrikaans learning program.
Temporarily named Borris the Animal, this kitten was safely delivered to his new owner.
We love you ouma and oupa Venter.
On the way back, we put on our tourist hats in Bloemfontein. We drove to the top of Naval Hill, saw the Christiaan Rudolph De Wet statue at the Council Buildings, and visited the National Women's Memorial ('Vroue Monument') and Anglo-Boer War Museum.
View from Naval Hill. I could almost feel the ghosts of English and Boer soldiers there.
Christiaan De Wet with the Raadsaal behind the bushes.
The Women's Memorial, dedicated to the thousands of women, children and elderly people who died in British concentration camps during the Anglo-Boer War (1899 - 1902).
