She said: “I had to phone you when I received this invitation because I immediately thought of you. Of all the people I know, I’m sure this will be a dramatic turning point in your life.” When a friend calls to tell me this, I am interested; I’d go so far as to say I [...]
Studying the shape, horns and colour patterns of Nguni cattle is like palm-reading the history of Africa. For Nguni cattle have always been, and will continue to be, the symbol of wealth, status, spirituality and political power in Africa. Exceptionally fertile and disease-resistant with unmistakable, multi-coloured hides, the widely beloved Nguni breed has evolved in [...]
“I can’t believe I’m seeing Saturn and the craters on the moon!” a visitor on the night sky tour at the Astronomical Observatory near Sutherland gazes through a 16-inch telescope, operated by astronomy guide Glenda Stoffels. The same visitor asks Stoffels if she is an astronaut, but it matters not in the infinite wonder of [...]
Oblivious to the precariousness of our place on the planet and on the human family tree, us ‘modern humans’ are the masters of the grandest, most misguided belief in our own invincibility. “We are tottering on the brink of extinction and still we don’t see the danger,” says Donald Johanson, one of the most eminent [...]
“I did not want to be a builder,” Hamilton Wende explained as he leapt onto the arm of the couch in his writing den and reached up to the pelmet to retrieve a photo of an Afghan soldier in the mountains of northern Afghanistan. The photo and Wende’s lack of desire to become a builder [...]
Muthi & Myths from the African Bush contains fifty-two compelling tales that will lead you on a journey of discovery of the African continent. No ordinary journey, it tracks the ancient grail of traditional African medicine or muthi. Along the way you will discover more about yourself and about life as a human being. The [...]
Harpuis is a species close to my ‘hearth,’ for one of its many species grows on our farm in the Sneeuberg mountain range on the Great Escarpment of the Karoo. Should you happen to see me running across the veld here, brandishing a burning bush, please understand I am not performing some netherworld ritual, nor [...]
An onion is a lovely thing,” he told me, freshly plucked onion in hand. He was a farm labourer and he was heading back to his cottage on the farm to make a stew for his evening meal. I have never forgotten what he said about the onion, and I now repeat it in the [...]
If you find yourself thinking negative thoughts and talking negative talk you’re not alone. But that doesn’t mean it’s okay. Highly negative speech, whether it’s spoken to yourself (self-talk) or to others, holds you back, drags you down and can destroy your dreams. ‘Women tend to be inclined to negative speech, thoughts and self-talk because [...]
When you raise the subject of “stem cells”, a hushed silence often follows as people imagine brains, hearts and limbs cultured from embryos. While this is certainly one type of stem cell (known as the pluripotent stem cell), there is another altogether different type known as the committed stem cell, which has been saving lives [...]
