The Best 4X4XMassia Figson by far!!!

So we’re back to sandbagging. Hopefully by the end of the week we can get another hundred or so into the river and continue our ‘land reclamation’. Have however discovered a disturbing bit of erosion on another part of the bank that is going to need some attention before the next rainy season. I don’t think sandbags are going to be an option though considering the bank at that point is three metres high. A concrete ditch is also not a good idea as the water will just undercut the sides of it (and it’s ugly!!). At the moment I think a bit of chicken mesh and rock is about my best option. But I’m open to any suggestions??

Haven’t had the greatest week with the boys either. They seem to have taken to a go-slow. Don’t think they’re too chuffed with the idea of hauling sandbags. Rampaging doesn’t appear to be the best remedy either as they just switch-off when I go into a spin. So have decided that as a last resort I’ll threaten downsizing and suspension. I have noticed at least some of them picked up the pace this afternoon when I flew into a rage and reversed the car at a million miles an hour with them on the back. So perhaps violence is an option to consider?? ....hahahaha!!

The afternoon did take an exciting turn however when I was summonsed by the neighbour to do some banana truck recovery after the idiot driver took his fully loaded truck through one of the plantation roads thinking it’d be a shortcut and got himself into a bit of a sticky situation. Nothing like a tractor/Landcruiser combo to do the trick!! Did a bit of a number on the clutch at first but some common sense and a bit of low-range 4X4 put a stop to that and we had the 5tonner out in no time. Quite impressed with my winch cable!! I’m more impressed with the maximum roll angle of the truck. At one point it was ‘diff deep’ on the passenger side and the tree it was leaning against was all that was stopping it from toppling over. Big up Mopani!!!

For expert vehicle recovery call 1-800-commodore now…..;))

Floats like a butterfly... stings like a bee-yach!

There may not be any decent tigerfishing to be had down here in the Cape, but there's still plenty to keep one occupied. Summer is still in full swing and that means plenty of sunny weekends, although the first few cold fronts are beginning to creep up form the south, which has meant some windy days. Since a patch of the pesky 'flu kept me off my bike this weekend I decided to try a bit of kiting - an activity that I have sadly neglected of late. The conditions at Noordhoek beach didn't fail to disappoint the blue skies and a the wind a steady 20-25 knots, so it was with a bit of trepidation that I unfurled the 'Angry Bee' - 4.8 sqm of brute force and not a whole lot of forgiveness for careless flying.

As always, getting it up was not much of a problem, but staying in one spot on the beach was not that easy. Nonetheless, kiting seems to be a bit like falling off a bike once you've done it a couple of times you don't forget and I managed to get in some good skiing and even a few decent jumps, while managing not to take out any kids, dogs, horses and other bystanders who never seem to realise that standing downwind is NOT actually the safest place to be. The session ended a bit ignomiously with an emergency landing in the surf whne the wind picked up and it looked like I may be heading for deeper water, but all in all a good outing. It made me realise though that I think I really do need to get a bigger kite and a board. Skiing on the beach is fun for a while, but the open water beckons...

Two days later, and what I didn't realise just how buggered I'd be. Bloody hell! 40 minutes of hanging on to onto a few square metres of the south easter and I can't even walk up stairs without flinching and I'm certainly not going to be doing any heavy lifting for a while. It just goes to show, one form of exercise is not neccessarily equal to another. I'm open to any massage offers...

Meanwhile, also in the Cape, I wasn't completely crippled and have managed to make some further improvements to the blog. Keen fans can now subscribe to email updates - just fill in the form on the right hand side, above the archive and whenever we publish something it will be delivered straight to your inbox and... cool huh!

Right, I'm off home to have a discussion with my good friend Voltaren... laters.

Meanwhile's, And's & Also's???

It’s that time of the week again. And today, The Intrepid William Walitoompa has left no stone unturned to bring you this little gem.
Also from a couple of years back, I couldn’t find any follow up to it but it is a fine example of the ‘meanwhile’ article I was talking about where we get two seemingly unrelated stories for the price of one!! The connection here one can only assume was Mr Makuyu.
The best part of this type of article is that the animals are always portrayed as evil villains intent on massacre and mayhem!!
Enjoy….Willy WaliT

Hyenas terrorise East villagers

POLICE and Zambia Wildlife Authority (ZAWA) officers have been sent to Simon village in Chief Mpezeni’s area in Chipata where hyenas are reportedly terrorising residents.

Eastern Province police chief Humphrey Makuyu who confirmed this yesterday said that seven people spent a night at a police station on Sunday for fear of the animals.

Mr Makuyu said police and ZAWA officers were now busy hunting for the beasts to ensure that no life was lost and that police were committed to protecting the public in the area.

“I can confirm that we have sent our officers to Simon village where the hyenas are terrorising the residents and we are hopeful we will deal with the situation for peace to return to the area again,” he said.

And a 32-year-old man sustained body injuries after falling from a moving truck in Chipata yesterday.
Mr Makuyu said the accident happened on Kapata road after the man fell from a truck before he was run over by another vehicle and sustained a right fractured leg. His condition had been described as serious.

'Who Let the Dogs Out'

So after a weekend of ‘Visitas’, it’s a new week…..And Hooray!! The gerbils seem to have disappeared into thin air.

For a weekend of fishing, we did little more than get a tan. Although Friday afternoon was ‘hot’ and promised a wild weekend, things went into a bit of a tailspin after that. That’s not to say we didn’t catch, but trying to follow the boiling water of Furious Friday was a bit of a tough act and we even came off the water early yesterday afternoon out of despondency. I even tried a spot of drift-baiting over the weekend in the hope of enticing something into a bite. But alas!! It was an unpleasant reminder of why I don’t like bait fishing.

On an even more negative note! The Zimbabweans are back!! The only explanation I have for the things they get up to is an utter lack of intelligence or GDFD. Kids squealing and splashing on the edge of a sandbar at sunset accounts for the stupidity part and the carefree, 500dB soundtrack drifting 'a half-brick lob' in front of the boma for most of the day does the GDFD part. The saddest thing is that the day one of those kids disappears off the sandbar, they won't even notice through the beer-haze until it's time to go home. And then, they'll spend the next three weeks shooting any croc they see.

The ‘Elephant Express’ had quite the opposite this weekend. Friday and Saturday, the jumbos were as elusive as only elephants can be, but the weekend was rescued by a young bull who put on quite a show for them yesterday afternoon. I’ll see if I can get hold of a few of the photos, which are well worth a look.

Off to Lusaka again today to finalise things on both ‘jetty delivery’ and of course ‘simply wild’. Pretty excited about both.
;))