Part 11 of Transvaal Blue Skies: 1929 July 31 | A Month Walking to the Kiymbi River

1929 July 31 | A Month Walking to the Kiymbi River

And so they walk for a month, setting up the tent and folding it every other night. Further and further in. Every day, new trails, new marks and samples. Always on, further on! Guide in front, machete in hand, a flintlock on a strap. Beaters upfront each side of the…

1929 July 1 | Porters and Trackers | Transvaal Blue Skies

1929 July 1 | Porters and Trackers

On the main square, François sits in the shade with the Chief under the squat hut awning. He is on a smaller seat, as protocol and manners dictate, leaning forward intently, scrutinising a line of local candidates standing at rest in the sun. The griot/féticheur/ healer stands behind the Chief…

1929 June 29 | A Rain of Stars | Transvaal Blue Skies

1929 June 29 | A Rain of Stars

Now – Eternity. Oak trees tower over long forgotten trails. Olive trees twist and turn in frozen dances. Palm trees hang out over weary pools.
Rocks and stones, hieratic and solemn; witnessing, recording, remembering. Fleeting millennia pass by, shadows forever rushing to the next horizon. And youth, always trying to grow…

1929 June 25 | Sunrays on a School in Fizi | Transvaal Blue Skies

1929 June 25 | Sunrays on a School in Fizi

The Sun is up, searing. Suzanne strolls on her way back to the school, with a few vegetables for tonight. She woke up a few hours ago; François is already up in the hills with his team. He always leaves early, when the Sun is not yet a murderous welding…

1929 June 14 | Tea Set in a Mayaliwa Evening | Transvaal Blue Skies

1929 June 14 | Tea Set in a Mayaliwa Evening

All of it hers. Well, theirs. But mostly hers though. The kitchen towels, the mugs, the plates, the cutlery, the pans, the pots, the taller pots, the coffee pots, the teapots, the porcelain cups, the sauce jug, …. Wait, the sauce jug?? Oh well, appearances are everything, is it not? You…

1929 June 13 | Ferry Over the Mutambala | Transvaal Blue Skies

1929 June 13 | Ferry over the Mutambala

Ferry was a misleading name, perhaps. Two tree trunks tied by a collection of mismatched planks, nails sticking out and the largest collection of hemp ropes, that was the “ferry”. It was presently nicely splashing across the ochre waters to the far shore. The only truly reassuring thing was that…

1929 June 9 | A Town Called Baraka | Transvaal Blue Skies

1929 June 13 | The Truck

She was trying not to be, but she was impressed. The squat truck literally growled, a predator waiting to be unleashed. Technology had usually little to no interest for Suzanne. Men and their toys, right? As a man, François was duty bound to pace around it, follow the station quartermaster…

1929 June 9 | A Town Called Baraka | Transvaal Blue Skies

1929 June 9 | A Town Called Baraka

Sun like a hammer, streets like an anvil. But for the blessing of the breeze blowing in from the lake. Dusty shade inside, sliced by the sunbeams of Persian shutters. The suitcases are by the bed, unopened, as yet. Suzanne stares at the floor of the hotel room. Bare wood…

1929 June, Kigoma in Tanzania, I Am Here! | Transvaal Blue Skies

1929 June 4 | Kigoma in Tanzania, I Am Here!

The small train gives one final shudder, then finally stops. The clanging is replaced by the hissing of steam. A cloud envelops the platform, just long enough to allow for the actors to set the scene properly. And as it drifts off, the station master coalesces in the mist, to…

Suzanne's Time-lapse, from 1903 until 1991 | Transvaal Blue Skies

Suzanne’s Time-lapse

40 years ago, Claviers in the South of France. Suzanne sits in her chair in the living room. She sits straight upright. As always, as proper. 90 degree angle between spine and thighs, that is what Mother has said. No slouching. That is not ladylike! Rather more frighteningly, this is…