"Bring my terug na die ou Transvaal"

The title is Afrikaans for: Take me back to the old *Transvaal. Thought a translation necessary for all the non-Afrikaans speakers among you. I'll be quick to clarify that there is no insinuation here to return to an apartheid South Africa, as is sometimes implied by these words from a traditional Afrikaans song's chorus. But instead, a yearning for all that is good and wonderful about the land that gave us life. It is sad to have to leave one's home and people when forced by circumstance out of your control.

At quiet moments when a familiar song, thought, picture or phrase stimulates a distant memory my eyes well with an explosion of emotions. I see black faces with broad bright white smiles and the welcome African handshake. Fragrant multicoloured curries both Indian and Cape Malay and their sharp wittiness. A jolly boer (farmer) peppered with good humour and a foul mouth (Donderse Bliksempie!). An old colonial gin-and-tonic-Pom (Englishman) drinking Rooibos enjoying a hot South African afternoon with a hint of a smile. We are Africa, it is in our blood and pulses through us with a steady African rhythm.

"Africa gets in your blood", they say. Once you've delved into the abyss of African splendours, you are bitten and find yourself compulsively drawn back to satisfy that African craving. How much more then are we, those born on that conflicted land, then famished, needing our Africa - my old Transvaal.

OK, so ***Quantum leaping back to Dallas Texas!***, the following video just won the 2007 YouTube awards. It was shot in the Kruger National Park, which is in the province of Transvaal, South Africa. It is spectacular and is deserving of any award coming its way. It embodies the spirit and power of unity - the hope of Africa.



*Transvaal became the province of Mpumalanga (place where the sun rises) in 1995 after the fall of apartheid. Both harbor memories and sentimentality. Remembering what was good, looking forward to what good is to come.