With the Apples now getting ripe, the baboons became active again, as they come down from the mountains to get at the fruit.I am too scared to walk down to the river, as the previous year I had a bad encounter.
 I usually went down with a flask of tea and something nice to eat, and this day I was sitting with my back against a huge poplar tree, reading, when there was a movement in the thick undergrowth, and I was squinting to see what it was, my heart pounding at a run away pace, when a big male baboon came into view!
I scattered book, mug and sarmie, and ran!
The males when standing up straight are about the same height as me, and although they are not vicious by nature, they are very dangerous when cornered, but luckily this one decided not to follow me up the slope, but I didn't know this until I was safely behind my safety door, and nearly expired after sprinting like a bally hare over brush and rocks!The ones living close to towns and houses had become very clever, and can even open screw tops to get at the food. In Rooi-els, a small seaside village near the Strand where I lived, the baboons were so clever, they knew that one of the houses's windows could be opened by rattling it, when the gadgets holding it close shifted, and  they could open it easily.
As Jan was away to Johannesburg so much, and the kids with me by night, the baboons were coming to the house late in the afternoon when Berty had left, and nobody was around, and they make such a mess as they just tipped the rubbish bins if they found something in there to eat, and scatter the refuse all over!
Our situation so far out of town was becoming quite hard, as I coul not just pack up and go visiting, or working when I liked, because of Jan having to go away so much for his work. Just before Nina died I had gone to the doctor with a bad cough that wouldn't go away, and he had sent me to a cardiologist after listening to my heart.
I was in Capetown still when Nina died, waiting to go into hospital for tests, but had to put that on hold until  a later date. The hospital however had now let me know that I was to be admitted on a certain date, and as Jan had to go to Johannesburg during that time, he had to find one of his friends to look after the kids when he was away.
He was talking more and more about going back to Denmark, where he could get a job immediately, and as their childcare institutions were excellent, it would not be so hard on him. I also think that the house was getting him down, as he was quite depressed again, and was getting thinner by the day.
In the meantime, one of the houses that was owned by Steve, a man working as a ship's captain in Scotland, was sold to Jacque and Mitzi, two lovely young people. They however still lived in germany where he was working, and would be in Sout Africa only for four months in the summer. I was very glad, as my house is so far from any neigbours, and now at least I could see them moving around!