Okey so my world came crashing down on me, and I got completely side tracked... My tribal range is currently on hold as it is and this is the reason...
First of all, that new job I took just completely took over my life. I am not complaining I am still getting to do what I love ( being around sewing machines and fabric) but it just got so business-like... all serious and stuff, which I am only learning now is the fate of the average working class girl, yes Average! So apart from a whole list of things dramatic and weard that happened in the past few weeks I will tell you only about the main peanut, the big one...So, this beautifull little town I live in got hit by the side of a syclone that was heading to Mosambique and this just opened a whole new chapter in my little world. I got a rude awakening on 17 or 18 Januarie? I know its all still a blur, My dad woke me and said in a very serious panicky voice that I have to get up, someone phoned to ask for help at one of my dear friends's houses, they were stuck in thier houses in the middle of a quick rising Blyde River. It was pooring down hard that day... So not to be too dramatic, we went there, almost everyone got out safely, including their two dogs, and a meerkat called GRAATJIE. I was in shock that whole day, we were stranded between a flooded bridge and a closed road ( obviously due to a flooded stream crossing the road). So I spent my whole day from 07h00 to 14h00 in the rain walking barefoot staring at the horific scene of these masses of water streaming down like a angry monster, demolishing everything in it's path....The little town called Hoedspruit as most of you know, was declared a disaster area, my dear friends among a lot of others, lost their home and the only known sanctuarty I had here, their beautifull adventure camp, that was situated on the banks of the Blyde river. Obviously the whole river flooded and took everything with it...Including one of my dearest animal friends called Valiant....
Let me tell you a little about him...If you ever had the pleasure of knowing this amazing animal you would be blessed with the freedom he had. He would roam free at the camp every day, eating his way through the grass, wild figs, lunch boxes, leftovers, we even found chocolate wrappers in his droppings! He was a free spirit! I would feed him bread or sugar and braid his hair, putting feathers in it, he would look like a true Indian horse, I think he liked it a lot... Sometimes I would just play dress up with him, putting his main up in a ponytail, or putting my scarf on his face to make him look like a Desert Arab!!
The week after the floods, we were all still a bit shacky and I was very happy and blessed not to have lost any of my friends or my house for that matter. But the only bad news was that someone saw a horse in the main stream of the floods and a few days after posting messages and pictures of him on facebook, Valiant was found, but he did not make it...
I realise for a lot of people this is probably so stupid and they might think I am crazy... but Valiant was my dear friend, he would always bring me joy and happiness. He had this free spirit that could not be tamed. I was inspired by his freedom. I am sharing this with you because he ment a lot to me, and I want to honor him in the only way I know... by telling his story and sharing a bit of his spirit...
I am going to miss you my dear animal friend. I will never forget you. Have fun in horse heaven, I am sure you are now more free than you could ever be. Love Nicola
