South Africa, Nov’22 – Dullstroom & Connemara Trout Lodge

It was time to depart the cities of Pretoria and Johannesburg to venture into the hinterland. In this case, heading east-northeast past Witbank, the coal and energy capital of South Africa to Belfast and Dullstroom (Dull Stream), the fly fishing capital of the country. On the way is an interesting gas (petrol) station (petroport) called Alzu. For our American friends, attendants fuel up your car, while cleaning windows and check your oil and tire levels. It features numerous restaurants and a impressive game reserve with the largest herd of Eland (oryx) that we have ever seen. Also spotted are Cape buffalo, springbok, zebras and ostrich among others.

We chose to stay at the Connemara Trout Lodge 15 kilometers (9.3 Miles) from Dullstroom. This 168ha Trout Farm boasting 5 substantial dams and 2 weirs in a lovely secluded valley, offering total privacy. The name is derived from  the name of a respected fly for fishing, not the famous Irish marble used since ancient times as decorative stone. We stayed in Ouma’s Huisie (Granma’s Home), a quaint and comfortable cottage with 2 bedrooms, small shower, basin and kitchen. We watched our host DeWet manage his herd of sheep and his wife Hetta manage the business while fog rolled in over the hills. As we came to realize, wonderful folks in many ways…

Leaving the farm, we had a major mechanical breakdown on the Audi about ten miles (16 kilometers) away. The clutch and clutch pate completed disintegrated. We were stuck next to a herd of cattle and a koppie (hill) as a landmark, on a dangerous road we were warned not to stop irrespective circumstances. Well, a call was made to Hettie at Connemara, who called local farmer Ferdie Diederiks, who abandoned his farming activities on the spot. He then called his son-in-law to bring a perfect vehicle transport trailer to start the fixing process. He spontaneously handed over the keys of his workhorse vehicle with the instructions to ‘continue our vacation and not to worry about the Audi. Negotiations can come later’. Long story short, Ferdie went over and above to get our car professionally fixed. Yip, miracles happen and good people still exist.