SOUTHERN AFRICAN JOURNEY 1968
Having arrived at the College in September 1968 with not even a smattering of knowledge about farming in the sub-tropics, somehow during that first term I managed to engage with the students and keep them interested. In a lecture on the second day of term one of the students asked me if it was alright to feed poultry manure to poultry? I hadn’t a clue and I sensed that they were testing me. I had the option of guessing……..with a 50% chance of getting it wrong; or saying that I did not know and losing face. I chose to say that I did not know and would find out – which I did and shared my findings with them at the next lecture. They thanked me both for the information and also for my honesty. An important lesson learned.
Living on a campus three miles away from the nearest shop and twenty-five miles from the capital I needed wheels. What to do? I had no money and already owed my prof £100 (£2,300 today) for my pre-travel costs. One of the staff was Merynne Watson, a confirmed bachelor who taught biology. Shortly after I arrived he invited me round for tea and asked me what I was going to do for transport. We discussed options and agreed that a pickup would be most appropriate. Anticipating that I had no money he handed me letter already addressed to Barclays Bank in Mbabane, asking them to lend me £2,500 repayable in monthly instalments over two years and that he would guarantee the loan. Stunned, I took the letter to the bank, negotiated the loan and purchased this Toyota Corona “bakkie”[1] – with its three-passenger bench seat and gear stick on the steering column.
When the term ended, having been in Africa barely three months, I learned that one of the British volunteers was looking for a lift to Durban for Christmas – some 525 km away. With nothing else to do I agreed to drive him there and, on arrival, decided that rather than drive back to Swaziland I would drive the 1,800 kilometres to Cape Town, travelling along the coast and pass through “The Garden Route” with its stunning beauty of beaches, forests and flowers. Arriving in Cape Town I contacted a friend of one of the college staff, whom I had never met but who graciously put me up. Mary was a brilliant pianist and hearing her play I decided that I needed a piano in my bachelor pad back in Swaziland. We went into a piano shop in town, where she was clearly known. We looked at different pianos on which she played excerpts from assorted piano concertos and decided on a Yamaha upright with three pedals – loud, soft and silent! As I had no money she suggested we went home where she explained the situation to her Mum who – sensing my enthusiasm – offered to act as guarantor for a credit agreement with the piano shop. The next day we drove into town, signed the credit agreement and loaded the boxed piano onto the back of the bakkie. I set off on the 1,700 km and 20-hour journey to the college. Now with three loans to repay, and accompanied by two of my loaned assets (the bakkie and the piano), I parked by the roadside in the Karoo Desert and slept on the bench seat before setting off the next morning for Swaziland. Back at my house, as the sun set that evening, I called on my neighbour to help me get the piano off the back of the truck into the house and unboxed it. To my surprise, and delight, the piano was still in tune!
[1] A pick-up truck to you and me
