78 Blessed years
I am thankful for the 78 years, the memories, the friends, the beauty of this Earth and especially my family. All thanks to God.
I spent my 78th birthday up in the most magnificent hills of Malolotja , ESwatini. (Swaziland). From these hills, on a clear day, it is possible to see the tops of at least 13 mountains into the distance. However, on my birthday the day had started clouded and slightly chilly with mists right down into the valleys but cleared up to a warm, perhaps a hot day, but the earlier contrasts of the hills covered by the mists were simply beautiful.
It is the norm for a group of ladies to gather once a week and walk at least 10000 steps at high speed within one of the many incredible game parks we have here in ESwatini. There are certain parks which offer the big five but for obvious reasons this was not one of them. Malolotja has Zebra and a few species of buck, a few Rock Hyraxes (Dassies) which are the closest relation to the Elephant. Let’s not forget the prize looking Lizards in their handsome oranges. So, all safe to walk. Some ladies are like mountain goats and can simply drop us in the distance as they seem to glide over huge rocks, climbing to the peaks of some challenging mountain tops without heaving and hanging and puffing and panting as yours truly might do. So we unfortunately, have to part ways on occasion and meet up later at some fabulous picnic spot.
The most enjoyable part of the day are the plants we come across and unfortunately, by the time we were there for my birthday most of the super incredible ones had already gone to sleep again. The magnificent pink Brunsvigia bosmaniae, as seen with me in my delighted exuberance, were nearly all gone but for one or two, the reason for my happiness at finding one still in its full glory. I could list so many plants, but I will simply mention a few of my favourites. The Red Hot Poker or Torch Lily is a definite, as I grew up with them in my garden at home. Then there are the Watsonias of which there are 52 species and are endemic to South Africa, Lesotho and ESwatini (Swaziland), which were on full display as well. They simply lift your spirits when you are walking through rough grass lands and suddenly you are greeted by a bright Watsonia proudly holding its own amongst the tough landscape.
We were not so good with the walking on this trip as it was my birthday picnic and therefore a very good excuse to indulge in some excellent offerings and Champagne as well as a lot of humour. The temptation to pick a few plants for transplanting at home is one of the ‘thou shalt not steal’ commandments and the decency to not denude the area of its precious plants for future generations.
There are estimated to be about 2000 species of plants at Mololotja. Eswatini is believed to have over 3500 indigenous species with at least 25 endemic to the country.
What a wonderful way to spend a birthday.
