SA Forestry magazine

Last month I was on the road again, scouring the land for interesting forestry stories.

First up, I went to visit the Matriarch Equipment team in Richards Bay. The Bell boys, Gary and Justin, are following in the footsteps of their entrepreneurial family by launching their own manufacturing business and developing a timber/sugar loader and several grapples.

Thereafter, I headed for Badplaas in the Mpumalanga highlands via the N2 north which skirts the Swaziland border and goes through Pongola and Piet Retief. What a wonderful drive, with scenic views of the Jozini dam and the Ubombo mountains. After Pongola, there were several stops due to extensive roadworks which was frustrating, otherwise it was a good call.

I arrived in the late evening in the middle of a gigantic thunderstorm and checked into Florence Guest Farm on the N17 near Chrissiesmeer, organised for me by my hosts, Bosbok Ontginning. The hospitality was excellent - clean, tasteful and comfortable. You couldn't ask for more. The dinner and breakfast were excellent.

The following day, I spent the morning with Koos and Danie of Bosbok Ontginning. who are busy doing mechanised harvesting for York Timbers. Once again they went out of their way to make me feel comfortable and welcome. I got to sample Annali Scheepers' melktert - very nice indeed.

Why do I go on about all this? Well it got me to thinking that country folk are just so hospitable. I've heard it before and it is true. They are so polite and considerate and it makes one realise that us city folk just don't get it.

The drive back all the way home, leaving at 2pm, was a bit of a nightmare. I went via Piet Retief, Paulpietersburg, Vryheid, Dundee and Ladysmith onto the N3 and home to Hillcrest, near Durban. It started raining hard around Vryheid and never let up. In fact, as I passed Pietermaritzburg it just got harder. Driving in such conditions is never a good idea - especially when you're a bit tired.

Next up was George in the southern Cape. Too far to drive, so I flew and hired a tiny Atos that felt like a toy after my nimble and tough Subaru. I'm also quite tall, so the knees were up around the dashboard. This time my host was Jaap Steenkamp of the NMMU Saasveld campus who showed me around. Once again the hospitality was awesome. Jaap has developed a phenomenal planting machine that may just revolutionise the land prep and planting process in forestry on flat terrain.

Jaap insisted on taking me the scenic route wherever possible, so we tested out some of Thomas Baines' roadbuilding expertise on the steep mountain passes around George. We stopped at a roadside farmstall one time and Jaap bought me a very big koeksister which was delicious. I think he wanted me to sample the ware - Suid Afrikaner cuisine. Once again, the country hospitality was top notch. I was put up at Saasveld's guest house on the campus, quaintly named 'Pampoenkraal'. It is comfortable, old Dutch style and very nice - though pretty quiet and spooky at night when you're the only soul in residence.

While there I also visited PG Bison's plantation near Sedgefield where I saw a thinnings operation with mules doing the extraction. I heard the contractors operating the mule team shouting "Mandela this, Manslag that %u2026" and wondered what they were going on about. Turns out the animals names were 'Mandela' and 'Manslag'. Interesting %u2026

Thereafter I visited the MTO forestry team and took a drive with them out to a plantation near Mossel Bay that was intriguing. My hosts bought me lunch afterwards and I was chilling on the stoep with a nice view. Being a roving SA Forestry journo is pretty damn cool - beats the hell out of sitting in the office and bashing away at the old computer.

The plane trip home to Durban was via Johannesburg, which was a bit of a strain.

OK, almost there! I squeezed in one more road trip to Weza in the Kokstad area, and accompanied Merensky forestry manager Marius Jonker to the Singisi plantations. Crikey this is stunning country, with rolling hills and forests disappearing to the horizon. We made it to the top of a mountain where a lonesome fire watch guard scans the surrounding plantations for signs of smoke day after day. I kind of envy him that job, but maybe after a few weeks I'd go nuts.

I couldn't help wondering, as I drove back through the winding Umkomaas valley between Ixopo and Richmond, why humans swarm around the cities with their traffic jams, queues and high rises when there's so much empty space in between?

Next trip ... the Cape of Storms (beginning of March).

Chris Chapman