Author Book Signing 21st February,2009

21st February,2009

We left early for Cascades. Donnette gave the parking lady 20 rand and asked her to hand out our flyers. We made quite a grand entrance. I was wearing a Ghanaian outfit with gold stole, earrings, shoes and handbag. Savanah (Donnette's ten year old daughter) was wearing one of Nuna's outgrown Nigerian outfits and her sister Clarissa , eight, had a kente stole over her shoulder. Everyone was looking at them as they offered the passersby the flyers.

Colleen at the bookshop had set up a table with a cloth and two chairs. I put a kente cloth over the table which immediately looked more interesting and spread out my copies of "Tales My Ghanaian Grandmother Told Me" as well as "Dance to Health". "Dance in Our Footsteps" and "Calling All Musicians".

My first sale was to a "white" lecturer in psychology from the University of KwaZulu Natal who had brought along a lovely young "black" MA student in psychology. She is doing her thesis on traditional African tales.When the book signing was over she came back to the stand and we did a recorded interview.

Donnette had arranged the signing to be as near pay day as possible. But it was clear that people were not going in for spur of the moment purchases. One dance teacher expressed great interest in "Dance to Health" and took my contact details. Some people were interested in the book but found it too expensive. One woman eagerly examined the book and then asked if I had copies in afrikans. When I said "no" she put it down. There are still Afrikaaners who do not speak English and the English speakers often refuse to speak Afrikaans even if they can.

Colleen took some books for "Bookworld" and didn't seem to think the price was too high. She will be in touch with Donnette when she needs more copies.

All in all the book signing was a success thanks to Donnette's extremely hard work and imaginative approach.

After the launch I took everyone for lunch. I was the one who asked the waiter for the menu, ordered and asked for the bill. When he appeared with it he carefully put it on the table where Donnette had been sitting. I don't think he had ever had a "black" African paying for a luinch party where everyone else was white.

http://www.strategicbookpublishing.com/TalesMyGhanaianGrandmotherToldMe.html Now available through Amazon.com
http://www.dance-to-health-help-your-special-needs-child.com
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I'm Not as Young as I Used to be

10th March,2009

This morning my back was aching so I adged two asprin off the lady who runs the gift shop. I went out on a game drive with six other people. A group of four women of Irish origin and a couple from Holland. We had a very close sighting of a rhino and her calf who was suckling. One woman was very keen to see the giraffes but our only sighting was from a great distance. we did, however, have a quite good view of the hippos in the lake.

There was a braai (barbecue) in the evening which involves huge quantities of meat and sausage accompanied by such dishes as potato salad. I had had enough of jolting around in the Land Rover and I didn't attend.
http://www.strategicbookpublishing.com/TalesMyGhanaianGrandmotherToldMe.html
http://www.dance-to-health-help-yur-special-needs-child.com
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Further Encounters with African Animals

9th March, 2009

This morning I saw a group of three rhino very close up - the mother and baby of yesterday plus a juvenile male. The ranger told me that the young male will be driven away when the female comes into season and the mature males appear on the scene .It was incredible being so close. Thus far I have seen a pied kingfisher, European swallows, pied wagtails, an owl, doves, red bishops, yellow-billed kites, pin tailed wydahs, a black widow, blacksmith plover, grey headed heron, Egyptian geese and African darta.

As there is very little chance of seeing hippos on land during the day my guide offered to take me to see them at night. At half past seven five of them were to be seen by the lake right near my room. They are enormous creatures as was demonstrated by the fact that a rhino was standing behind them and by comparison was of modest proportions.

I am now the only guest actually staying at the game reserve. I really needn't have bothered about clothes for dinner wear.

Encounters with Wild Animals Close Up

8th March,2009
On arrival at the Tala entrance (Tal means "Land of Plenty" in Zulu) it became clear that security is very lax inspite of the establishment having experienced a serious robbery. There was along line of cars and the security guard did not check details or note names and car numbers.

At reception the car park was chock a block with mainly 4x4's. We were in fact early as check in was 2.00pm although no one had made us aware of this. The receptionist was very perfunctory and instructed us to meet her at Paperback Lodge at 2.00pm. She seemed very intent on getting us to have the buffet lunch at 164 rand!! She praised the variety of the fare letting us know that there were oysters etc. etc. I had hope to treat everyone to lunch but by common consent we decided that this was not a good idea. Aiden eats mainly chips and River (Clarissa) and Donnette are picky eaters.

Instead we enquired if we could have a coffee. We were entertained for quite some time by a number of antelopes who stood close by watching us with interest.The Nyala is one of Africa's rarest and most beautiful antelopes. The coffee when it came was first class.

Afterwards we drove around for a bit on roads full of visitors. We saw large herds of zebra, some ostriches, wildebeest and warthogs.Donnette remarked that because the wildlife in the reserve was "managed" there were much higher densities of animals than one would see in the wild.Clearly things were hotting up for the mating season. The bird life is astonishing.

We drove to Paperbark Lodge. Paperbark trees are not indigenous but have been planted here to lower the water table. Each tree absorbs sixty eight liters of water per day.

One lodge was occupied by a crowd of raucous crowd of South Africans of Indian ancestry who were apparently using the conference facilities. Music was blaring and the guests were throwing one another into the swimming pool. We were wandering around looking lost when a lovely young man directed us to a reception area and offered us coffee and juice. When the receptionist finally appeared on time she marched way ahead of me to my room. I refused to be hurried along.

To my great delight I have a very nice room indeed. It is totally secluded and private with a little Patio surrounded by vegetation. The furnishings are made from beautiful hard woods and with hand printed and naturally dyed fabrics used on the headboards of the beds.The wardrobe doors have bamboo insets and the front door opens in two parts as in a stable.The bathroom has a free-standing claw-foot bath shower, .The bathroom door opens onto an enclosure with an outdoor All the ceilings are lined with bamboo. It's really enchanting.

I was just beginning to feel settled when to my surprise there was a knock at the door and there stood the receptionist. She said she wanted to talk to me as she had had so little time earlier. She turned out to be both friendly and charming. Apparently my room is quite exceptionally well suited to seeing the animals as they all pass close by my window on the way to the water morning and evenings. I should get very good photos just leaning out of the window.

My night drive was incredible. I saw a rhino with her baby as well as a hippo and her baby swimming in the lake. There were a group of young giraffes who watched us with interest. Apparently if you see a giraffe standing with its' head hanging down it's dead. I also saw many varieties of antelope including a rare Reed Buck.

My guide was a very knowledgeable man who had apparently been a cabin steward with South African Airways some years back. He also hold a private pilots license. He was lamenting the fact that most guides are white as few "black" South Africans have any interest in a career in wildlife.He had also worked as a counsellor helping people with HIV/AIDS. Tala donates a large part of its profits to a nearby orphanage.

Plants and their properties were explained to me. I was the only person on the game drive. Getting into the Land Rover is like getting onto a horse for e - not easy any more. There were raincoats and blankets in the vehicle.

At sunset we stopped at the lake and high quality refreshments were produced. I returned to the lodge to find that my picnic supper was awaiting me. Everything was contained in a smart specially fitted basket. There was an impressive array of tasty dishes and a selection of fruits in a special cool box.

http://www.strategicbookpublishing.com/TalesMyGhanaianGrandmotherToldMe.html
http://www.strategicbookpublishing.com/TalesMyGhanaianGrandmotherToldMe.html
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Dzagbe Cudjoe reading a story to children at a Primary School in Hilton, South Africa

Author Interview at Book Signing Part 2

Author Interview at Book Signing

Visit to the Crazy Duck and Other Places

As I hadn't given the children an outing I took us all off to "The Crazy Duck" where there are all sorts of animals, horse rides and a miniature train. Savannah was not with us as she had opted to stay with her aunt and cousin.

The Crazy Duck is clearly only really interested in generating income although they do run an animal rehabilitation centre. Many of the cages are very small, there are no informative notices about the animals and worst of all visitor safety seems to be a matter of indifference. Children could put their fingers through the metal fence and touch the crocodiles! No helmets were provided for children on the horse rides. A poor young lynx was in a tiny enclosure right at the entrance to the rehabilitation area. She was being teased by a group of Afrikaans speaking children. I told them nicely but firmly to stop.

It is a good outing for children as they can feed ducks, geese, parrots and numerous other birds. There are also rats, hamsters, guinea pigs, goats, snakes, tortoises, antelopes, ostriches, ponies and the afore-mentioned crocodiles.

The train ride was a complete rip-off and badly organized.

After lunch we went to the Albert Falls Miniature Railway which was constructed and is run by a friend of Donnette's father. I was persuaded to take a ride and it was great fun. There is a properly laid track and the train goes over bridges and through tunnels.

We then went to Albert Falls where there is an important dam. The cascades are beautiful but somewhat marred by the workshops right in front of them which are full of steel girders and abandoned machinery. We had bought lovely fresh mealies (corn) earlier and Donnette gave the workers enough so that they could roast them when they had a break. I thought that was a really nice gesture on Donnette's part.

http://www.strategicbookpublishing.com/TalesMyGhanaianGrandmotherToldMe.html
http://www.dance-to-health-help-your-special-needs-child.com
http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/Donnette