Our group ready to descend into the Bultfontein Diamond Mine in Kimberley

THE KIMBERLEY DIAMOND MINE IN SOUTH AFRICA IS NOT FOR THE CLAUSTROPHOBIC

It was in the Bultfontein Mine with a group of others, that I made a jaw-dropping descent for 3 ½ minutes into absolute darkness.  We were entombed in a small Otis elevator like so many sardines in a can.

Our transport rattled alarmingly as we dropped to the 825 metre level. Equipped with a lamp, dressed in blue overalls, and wearing a white helmet, I had a Cesar Hoya (“Help me to breath”) contraption strapped to my waist. The Cesar Hoya was guaranteed to give me 45 minutes of oxygen should I need it!

As rock rushed past us and we plummeted deep into the earth, my imagination kicked into high gear at the thought of getting ever closer to a sea of molten lava.

Exiting the elevator, we made our way along rock tunnels guided by a red line. It is easy to lose one's sense of direction underground we were told. As we walked, the massive boom of explosions echoed through the caves. The air seemed heavier and much hotter as we moved further into the mine.

A 'Refuge Chamber' where people could come for food supplies, first aid and fresh air should there be a collapse loomed up beside us. Need I say I was pleased to see it.  Up to 50 miners could survive for up to a week in this chamber with its separate air system. My fast beating heart slowed somewhat when I heard that it had yet to be used.

When we reached the rockface where mining was underway, a film of dust blanketed everything, wire netting was nailed overhead to close off caverns containing the diamond bearing kimberlite pipes. I was sweating in my overalls and on looking up into the darkness from our eerily lit cave, I saw a man standing high above us watching. Why was he there I wondered.  Why was he watching.  It was creepy.

This is a tough if profitable industry. It takes 10 ½ tons of rock to yield only a handful of diamonds and these would sell for between $1,000 a carat to $100,000 a carat, depending on the quality of the gem. In this same mine, the largest diamond ever found – a 616 carat yellow diamond – was discovered by a native miner. For his discovery he received the maximum reward of $10,000 and a home for his family.

South Africa is still the top producer of quality diamonds in the world and De Beers has absolute control of the world's diamond marketing. Australia's Argyle Mine is the largest producer of diamonds, but 98% of their diamonds are industrial stones.

While listening to the tour guide's story about South Africa's diamonds - as fascinating as it was - I decided that this would be my last ever descent into a mine.  And then suddenly, in this intimidating, foreign environment, where to be quite honest I felt an oppressive fear, I heard the melodious tones of an African miner singing.  Deep in the bowels of the earth his beautiful voice echoing along rock passages, imprinted on my mind an experiences that not only soothed me at that moment, but will live with me forever.

Photos copyright Anne Gordon

Posted by Anne Gordon on Sunday, 26th December, 2010

http://www.sa-v

Kimberley's Big Hole Diamond Mine

KIMBERLEY'S 'BIG HOLE' IN THE DIAMOND-STUDDED MANTLE OF AFRICA.


If you travel to Kimberley you can't help but see The Big Hole. It is a great black pit that cuts through the rocky diamond-studded mantle of Africa. The Big Hole at 215 metres deep is the largest man made hole in existence.

The first diamond discovered in South Africa in 1869 was found in the walls of a farmhouse in nearby Bultfontein. Needless to say the house soon bit the dust and the diamond rush was on. Just over a year later, diamonds were discovered in what is now Kimberley and the excavation of the Big Hole was underway.



A representation of all the diamonds mined from the Big Hole during its lifetime

 At times there were 30,000 men working in the Kimberley Mine, each with a small staked out claim linked to the surface by a spider web of cables and ropes. As the hole got deeper the conditions became more chaotic. It seemed that there was a limitless supply of diamonds. Affluent diamond-diggers in a flamboyant display of wealth lit their cigars with bank notes and their lady friends bathed in champagne and enjoyed the pleasures of wealth. Today travel to Kimberley is an experience in historical and mineral exploration combined.

Photos copyright Anne Gordon

Posted by Anne Gordon on Sunday, 26th December, 2010

Ancient Bushman Paintings in Zimbabwe

THE ANCIENT BUSHMAN PAINTINGS OF ZIMBABWE IN AFRICA

These fantastic Bushmen paintings that I discovered in Zimbabwe may very well date back over 1,000 years. There are some rock paintings estimated by carbon dating to be more than 25,000 years old, a figure which I find incredible.

This is the work of San bushmen probably migrating south under pressure of the Khoikhoi bushmen following close behind with their long-horned cattle. This latter group with their long-horned cattle were called Hottentots.

A fantastic find - Bushmen paintings hidden for centuries
The pictures depicted are a small part of a wide stone “screen” perhaps 30 feet (9 meters) long to a height of 4 ½ feet (1.3 meters). It was an excellent place for these accomplishments. They are sheltered from the sun, the rain and generally everything.

The enormous parent rock lay upon the earth, in shape like a weather-worn brick running east/west. It was liberally pocked by the elements; rain, sun, lightning and wind, frost and great heat for 10,0000 years and more; lichen, rust and grey/green encrusted patches on the exposed surface.

The so-called screen was the result of a freak of nature. An enormous block of granite rock had simply parted from the parental section about half way down and along the full length, leaving a clean smooth soffit that extended four feet (1.2 meters) to the paintings. The piece that had split and dropped was probably the same distance down so forming a perfect platform from which to execute the art work.

Surrounding this wonderful natural studio was a thin woodland of trees of which the co-dominant genera were brachystegia and Isoberlinia. The face on which the paintings were done appeared to be relatively fresh but probably some thousands of years old. This site could well stand for thousands of years – if people don't destroy it with hammer and chisel.

The  San people of Africa
The San are hunter/gatherer people of short stature. The men on average grow to be 5 ft. 3” in height. As I knew them, some were almost naked and others had aquired tattered European clothing. The children were always naked, and all wore ornaments made from skin and hand-made beads of seeds and bone and ostrich shell.

The women in particular had a large deposit of fat in the buttock region – a provision designed to offset lean times. There is among the San a division of labour and the most notable is that men are the hunters while the women, with their grubbing sticks, dig out edible tubers and bulbs, collect fruit and berries and tote their children along wherever they go. With bows and arrows the men go out into the semi-desert areas to hunt animals, even to the size of giraffe. The kill is not caused by deep arrow penetration, but by relatively shallow piercing of the animal's skin and the introduction of a deadly poison from grubs dug from beneath the soil found near certain Commiphera trees. This is applied to the sinew that binds the arrowhead to the shaft. Expert stalking is needed to get close to the proposed victim.

Details of the painting shown
There is much to be seen in the picture, an ambitious array of people, animals and objects. Using the tiny stout bushman figure directly in front of a large Sable antelope as a radial centre, one sees this figure racing towards the antelope with its fancy striped face and backward curving horns. Its lower hindlegs appear to be hidden by the big Kudu antelope still further to the right. Directly above the antelope's head can be seen the figure of a man striding vigorously with a bag slung from his right arm. Halfway from the centre figure towards the top, one sees a warthog and then higher up at the very top is what may be an Impala doe. Particularly enigmatic is the picture between 6 and 9 o'clock. The woman seems to be toting a child. The man carries his bow and arrows and a bundle, suggesting to me that the couple are moving home with their scant possessions. Behind the couple is a long cylindrical object that is probably a tunnel, dug assuredly by an antbear or aardvark clearly visible towards the wide circled end. Halfway along the tunnel, possibly a much earlier picture, is a lion on his haunches facing towards the observer. One needs to look very carefully to see this (I tremble). Beside the lion I discern with difficulty and imagination an object like a cage or big trap. Perhaps on second thoughts this represents stakes pushed into and across the tunnel to trap the antbear. A man crawls down the tunnel on his belly, and further up is another man on hands and knees crawling up. Such tunnels are occasionally used by the true honey bee to build a hive. Smaller tunnels provide shelter for the hive of the distinctive and minute stingless bee, called in the Matabele lingo “gongonchani”. The stingless bees hive is a conglomeration of small pea-like orbs containing an amber honey with a distinctive slightly herbal tast. There are many varieties of stingless bees. They can be maddeningly irritating when they enter by the score ,every exposed origice on one's head in search of moisture.

Near the bottom of the Bushman painting one can see a prone figure with arms stretched towards a bundle. Most peculiar.

One other particularly complex group is very interesting but obscure, and these are two large entities at 9 o' clock.

Post by guest blogger, James Gordon

Photo copyright James Gordon

Posted by Anne Gordon on Sunday, 26th December, 2010

Restaurant Aux Anciens Canadiens, Quebec

       
     A JOYFUL FESTIVE SEASON TO ALL
         FROM ANNE GORDON        
    "WORLD TRAVEL WITH ANNE"





Mennonite woman selling fruit juice at St. Jacobs Christmas Market

OLD ORDER MENNONITES, A POWERFUL PRESENCE IN ONTARIO'S ST. JACOBS CHRISTMAS MARKET

As the festive season rolls in with snow laden skies and the gentle drifting of snow flakes on a crisp winter’s morning, the muffled clip clop of horses hoofs on powder heralds the arrival of the Old Order Mennonites at St. Jacobs Christmas market in Ontario, Canada.

A black buggy, the first in a retinue of buggies drawn by sprightly hi-stepping horses, is the traditional conveyance for black-bonneted Mennonite women, their husbands and children. On their way to the market no-nonsense parents sit upfront, and small girls, arrayed like flowers in a row, sit demurely in the buggy’s sparse interior.

For those unfamiliar with a religious order that has lived and farmed for centuries in Canada’s Waterloo County, their arrival appears as a clip from an old time movie.

Laden with freshly baked bread, cookies, pies, apple butter and sweet maple syrup, Mennonite wives move briskly to their individual booths. Their succulent wares are five star items at the Christmas market.

Horses are securely tethered to hitching posts. Children; mischievous boys and blonde girls with neat braids, are hustled into the warm confines of the great market barn. Before long, home made treats: pickled eggs, pickled cauliflower and pickled garlic in a glorious colorful assortment are stacked neatly in a wall of gleaming bottles. The ladies are ready to sell.

Images copyright Anne Gordon

Posted by Anne Gordon on Thursday, 23rd December, 2010





Michael Gordon arrives to shop at St. Jacobs Christmas Market

CHRISTMAS FESTIVITIES FOR MENNONITES AND LOCALS AT ONTARIO'S  ST. JACOBS MARKET

Summer sausage at St. Jacobs

In spite of the strong Mennonite presence at the St. Jacobs market this is not exclusively a Mennonite event. Local farmers and market vendors from far and wide gather here throughout the year to sell what is reputed to be the most scrumptious produce, the tastiest summer sausage and the finest melt-in-your-mouth cookies this side of the Niagara river. Here in a barn that hums with Christmas activity, urban shoppers from Toronto and surrounding towns mingle with country folk in a heady atmosphere of Christmas bustle.

On the periphery of the market barn, the more hardy vendors have set up al fresco stalls. Out here where a fresh wind whips roses into the cheeks of outdoor vendors, the festive season is not yet evident.

Marcello Didiano, an Italian fruit seller, has the right idea. A rollicking hubbub of foot-stomping Italian folk music blares from a van parked on the edge of his tiny selling space.

The irrepressible Marcello keeps time to his music – probably in an effort to ward off freezing temperatures - by dancing up and down and waving his arms. Marcello’s neighbor who is selling honey is equally lively. Close-by, a sweet-faced Mennonite woman muffled up in coat and black bonnet, stacks courgettes and spreads new potatoes on a frost-rimmed tray. She smiles politely, but refuses my request for a photo.

Roses for sale

Today, on the cusp of a Canadian winter, both shoppers and vendors are clad in padded coats with fur-lined hoods, bright scarves wrapped around lower face and neck, woolly toques pulled low over forehead and ears. Gloves and fur-lined boots protect extremities. As thousands of shoppers trudge in from the cold, they come face to face with two hundred and fifty vendors.

There is no place quite like St. Jacobs Market. For foodies it’s paradise. For vendors, their booths crammed with delicacies, its a welcome addition to the Christmas purse.

I’m a pushover for cookies, and ‘Gracies Christmas Cookies’ smell, look, and taste delectable. A notice propped up on a tray filled with ‘temptation’, alerts me to the fact that Gracie is not providing samples that day.

Gracie's Yummy Cookies

But Eileen Martin, one of Gracie’s charming Mennonite cookie sellers, agrees to answer some of my questions about life as a Mennonite woman. Spoiled as we are, we often don’t realize that there are communities that reject modern technology. Mennonites generally don’t have electricity in their homes – no washing machines, no electric stoves or fridges, no hair dryers and … no computers! Old Order Mennonites don’t have cars, but some branches of the faith allow car ownership, as long as the car is black with an absence of chrome or ornamentation.

Leaving Eileen with customers clamoring for her attention, I head for “The Fritter Company”. The line-up for steaming hot apple fritters stretches forever.

Cheeses of every variety are on sale at ‘The Little Cheese Company’ booth. Their specialities include Goat Milk Cheddar, Goat Milk Cranberry cheese, Goat Milk Herb and Garlic cheese and a spicy Goat Milk Jalepeno cheese. For the peckish, schnitzel on a bun is a popular midday snack. Darlene Dunn wearing a perky Santa hat wanders among shoppers, stopping intermittently to hand out samples of pork schnitzel on a toothpick. We chatted awhile as I sampled liberally her pork schnitzel handouts.

Even canines are catered to in this festive season. Massive bones – guaranteed to keep a cantankerous hound happy for days - are arrayed in a macabre display on a meat counter. The bones are going for $10 apiece.

For a bird’s eye view, I visit the upper echelons of the barn where retailers of every description do a brisk trade. There are jewelery sellers, crafts of every description including unusual Christmas tree decorations, a stall with sheepskin hats, “sheep skin, not cheap skin” as their advertisement implies, and a hat stand selling ‘hats with bling’. Nearby one can browse for undiscovered treasures in a flea market, or shop for high-end furniture made by Mennonite craftsmen at ‘St. Jacobs Furnishings’. There is something for everyone.

Mugs for sale at Full of Beans coffee bar

When too tired to walk another step, you can either visit the ‘Full of Beans’ coffee bar, or sit on a rough-hewn bench at a long table with dozens of other diners and enjoy a meal from the flavorful ‘Sausage Express’. Failing that, venture out on an old-fashioned horse drawn wagon tour where children are invited to participate in a Santa scavenger hunt along the way.

Each December, as vendors, Mennonite and modern, work side by side in the warmth and sumptuous fragrance of St. Jacobs Christmas market, one can’t help but be immersed in a joyous mingling of Christmases past and Christmas present.

Images copyright Anne Gordon

Posted by Anne Gordon on Thursday, 23rd December, 2010

Kigusiutnak's dogs

'HUDSON BAY QUEST' IN CHURCHILL, MUSHERS PREPARE TO RACE

In the midst of the canine clamour of close to 150 dogs, Philip Kigusiutnak, a 72- year-old elder from Nunavut, sits immobile on top of his laden sled awaiting the start of the Hudson Bay Quest race. Close-by his dog team crowd together, strangely silent as they looked on at the madness surrounding them.

Philip Kigusiutnak, Inuit Elder

Like the horse whisperer of movie fame, Kigusiutnak has a mysterious technique for managing these notoriously excitable dogs. With a limited English vocabulary, Kigusiutnak manages a forceful “NO” when asked by a fellow musher to teach him the secrets of Inuit dog whispering.

In contrast with Kigusiutnak’s quiet demeanor, Ed Obrecht, a musher from Quebec, has a vastly different disciplinary style. His voice carries clear across the assembly ground. To my uninitiated eye his dog team - crazy with excitement - seems out of control.


. “Don’t touch the rope”, he yells at his dogs, his prose sprinkled with expletives. “Don’t chew the harness. Is that too complicated for you?”

Weaving my way between parka-clad onlookers, I call out “Are they scared of you?”

“No”, he bellows. “Do they look scared of me?” And who are you? I only pose for Vogue”, and he bursts out laughing.

Just minutes later I turn my camera on him, and Mustang, his lead dog, is planting a wet kiss on Obrecht’s face.

“And whose the boss around here” I ask.

“Mustang, he’s my number one man”, says a proud Obrecht.

Miriam Koerner, only woman in the race

Amidst barking, yapping and yodeling dogs, Miriam Koerner, originally from Recklinghausen in Germany, is the only woman in the race.  Sitting on her komatik (an Inuit sled) she pulls on a pair of embroidered felt inner boots.  Padded to twice her normal size, once attired, this delicate slip of a woman emerges as a powerful figure in  traditional Inuit clothing.

Tours: Frontiers North Adventures, Winnipeg 800-663-9832, http://www.frontiersnorth.com/ 

Photos copyright Anne Gordon

Posted by Anne Gordon on Sunday, 19th December, 2010.