RI7ER JOURNAL POSTS

It was a long, hot day waiting here at Blouputs for Brett and Ine - spent the morning swimming and moving around as the shade shifted.

At about 2 p.m. I had had enough and walked up to the local village of Vredevallei. I had heard that there was a little shop up there, and a cold Coke was calling.

A short 20 minute walk, and I met a fellow named Daniel. He had lost the arms of his sunglasses and had replaced them with rek (a thin section of cut-up bicycle tube). On his back a homemade pack of hessian with a rope shoulder strap - full of catfish he had caught that day and was going to sell in the village. We chatted on the way in - his English perfect - strange to hear in an Afrikaans-speaking area.

The little huiswinkeltjie (house-shop) had a pool table and a few plastic chairs. Sitting down, relaxed, sipping on my Coke, all of a sudden there was a noise from inside,  the intro to a movie.

I was invited by the family to join them on the large five-seater couch. I bought another 2 litre Coke, a few bags of chips and the five of us watched Pirates of the Caribbean for the next 2½ hours.

We laughed at the funny scenes, guffawed at the impossible scenes, and all sat quietly through the credits.