Day 6 - Die Dam (Philipstown) to Weltevreden (Richmond)

The morning brought with it a silence that was almost overwhelming.. Gert got up just before sunrise; and climbed the nearest koppie.. Completely astonished by the sight that met his eyes, endless open expanses slowly being presented to his eyes by the rising sun.. With the old cement dam reflecting the beauty of it all.. Two wildebeest and a big herd of springbok grazing quietly around the perimeters of the dry grounddam.. A while later oom Jan came round with a flock of sheep; accompanied by his ever-faithful pack of dogs; and not long after that the two wildebeest starting playing around, scaring away the sheep from their feed that they just got..

Mubarak and Zadok were treated with lush green grass in front of the old house; but half an hour later decided that they wanted to go exploring.. And they set off for one of the camps next to the shed.. Braveheart, meanwhile, was still in the “stable” where we put him to rest his leg; and after cleaning and dressing his wound, he put him out to graze the lush grass that the other two horses so quickly abandoned..

With the sun already high above the horizon and the heat setting in, he went down to the old shed; just as the others started to awake.. Slowly as everyone started to wake, we made breakfast and had cell.. For the rest of the morning we did all our washing; cleaning up everything, and just relaxing a bit again.. After lunch; JanPaul and Hans went on to go looking for a resting place for tonight, while Gert and Marais started to pack up everything..

We set off in the afternoon; after chatting to Bali and oom Jan, as well as Bali’s wife; also giving them Bibles and a ball for Bali’s unborn child.. We took up quite a decent pace; as the horses were well rested, the ambient temperature was going down, and our destination was a mere 20km away.. Once again we were greeted with the most beautiful sight as the sun went down.. And after that enjoyed the last stretch of dimming light, as we cantered up the last hill before the farm we were going to sleep at..

Oom Ettiene and tannie Kuku Du Toit generously opened their doors for us.. Tannie Kuku prepared us bobotie, rice and an extravagant salad.. After supper, we sat around the dining table drinking coffee and talking for hours on end.. As the clock neared midnight, oom Ettiene saw us fading, and called tannie Kuku’s chatter to an end; and we slowly made our way to bed..

God’s love is really tangible in this house; and the love these two shared very inspiring.. We can really learn quite a lot from our elders..