NGURGURU

Dad had been on a long trip, way down to Vila de Manica near the Moçambique border and arrived home early on Saturday morning.  He gently woke the children telling them to hurry and get dressed as he had a special treat for them.  The girls were up in a flash, but Mike and Don dragged their heels a bit, waiting for Dad to come back to them.  They knew his trick of dripping drops of ice water on their faces if they did not more.  They lay with baited breath for him to come in so they could pretend to be surprised and to hop out of bed squealing.  Meantime Mom was packing bread and eggs into Dad’s scoff box and making a couple of thermos flasks of hot tea.  She also took care of Buck, the youngest member of the family.

Soon the children were all snuggled up together in the back of the old Ford Tourer.  It was an exciting drive in the dark.  There were no street lights so all they could see was the car headlights cutting a swathe of brightness through the dark.  After a while they were able to discern the vague outline of trees and the bush.  They went on through the early dawn passing through the sleeping town of Selukwe and were winding up the Wolfshall Pass.  The pass was mountain on one side and a deep drop on the other.  On into the mountains and down the other side, the children loved the windy road even though they could not see much.  Finally they turned off onto a bush road, which consisted of faint outlines of a double path where a car had been before.  Dad had this knack of finding a road no one else could even see.

Finally they came to stop at the bottom of a huge barren rock kopje.  Dad said it was called Ngurguru and that we were going to climb to the top.  Mom stayed behind with Buck and Pat as they were too small to climb far.  The children started climbing up the rock in their leather shoes.  Well, they slipped and slid all over the place and finally Dad said, “Take your shoes off; it will be easier in your socks.”  Just a well Mom wasn’t around to hear that one!

Eventually they reached the top and sat shivering in the grey early morning light.  Dad was pointing out various things to them, different trees and little animals on the mountain, then he told them to look toward the East.  There was a faint pinkish glow, and as they watched a huge, orange sun came up slowly changing the colour of the trees from black and grey to various shades of green.  The children sat quietly, entranced by what they were seeing.  


When they could finally feel the warmth of the sun, Dad said, “Let’s go,” and they slipped and slithered down to where Mom was waiting.  She had made a small fire and had eggs frying in the pan.  We all enjoyed fried egg sandwiches and hot tea from the Thermos.

Soon we were on the way home having been taught once more of the beauty of the bush and God’s creation.  Dad went to bed when he got home as he had been up all night traveling.  He really appreciated the natural things in life and loved to share them with the family.