Left home for the coastal town of Hermanus to have breakfast at the Saturday morning Waldorf organic market. Lots of freshest veggies; all kinds of breads, cheeses, honey, soaps, flowers, plants, pottery, and among others solid brass replicas of maritime instruments such as an astrolabe. Nice, jolly people all around make it a pleasure to browse through the stalls and sit down at the clean-scrubbed pine tables for a mug of coffee, scrambled eggs on rye bread; German sausages with fried onions and sauerkraut squeezed between a Portuguese roll; pancakes with sugar, cinnamon and a squirt of lemon juice; pumkin fritters and other lovely things. Interesting people , moneyed people walking about, supporting the cause, loosely but well clad, understated, with casual elegance. Black African people do not come here except as accompanying child minders. It’s not their thing.
Meeting at the Waldorf organic market
Hermanus is also jokingly known as “Stellenbosch-by-the sea” because of its many retired Stellenbosch University professors. The climate is good. Extensive walkways along Walker Bay keep you fit and from June, July onwards up to Oktober, November the bay is filled with whales to stay here with their calves and to find new mates before migrating south again. They are the main tourist attraction during that time.
Section of the Hermanus waterfront
We walked along the waterfront, visited the roofed market, watched the Marimba players perform and met some interesting people and listened to their stories.
Marimba players. Lovely soothing melodious sounds. Often used in church to accompany choir singing. They were selling their music as CDs at Rand 100 each.
On most markets you will find many more wild animals on display than there would be in their natural habitat.
Fitting ankle beads.
A Zimbabwean immigrant family: he works as a driver for a recycling company, she teaches at a school and their daughter looks after one of the stalls in the market.
Roy, waiter at a waterfront restaurant, another immigrant from Zimbabwe.
Nadja, a German student, voluntary worker at Camphill, an organization caring for the handicapped.
Two people, very happy to be in South Africa – the one driven out by a ruthless dictator, the other one happy to give love and care to people in need and keen to be in a world very different from her own home country.
Zimbabweans shine in a very special way. They are content in what they do here, they are friendly, smiling, polite and well educated. Unfortunately for Zimbabwe, they are emigrating in droves to neighbouring countries – Zimbabwe’s loss is our win. Their education is of a high standard, their work ethic outstanding and they are not corrupted. No wonder that our local people are not too keen to have to compete with them.
Nadja, the student from Germany, doesn’t want to leave again. She does not look German at all – Egyptian, her father is Egyptian.
Isn’t it lovely to have such a wonderful mix of people in this country?
Adieu for now.
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