My vreugdes en frustrasies

A - Z (2016)

W: Water

Namaqualand wind erosion

For everyone reading my blogs it must, by this time, be blatantly obvious that water plays a huge role in my life. I love having the ocean, rivers and estuaries in my immediate vicinity. I can never get bored with looking at water or swimming and fishing in it. I drink water straight from the tap and without adding flavors. This is, in fact, the only drink for me – I do not drink tea, coffee, sweet drinks or alcoholic beverages, only because nothing else can ever taste as delightful as water or quench my thirst the way water does. Whether I am at home looking through the window, hanging over my balcony or walking on the beach, my eyes are always on the water all around me.

Today, however, I will not bore you more than I’ve already done with photos and tales of our life in a coastal town. Instead, I want to show and tell you why water is so important to me.

I was born and grew up in the arid region of Little Namaqualand, which forms part of the Northern Cape Province of South Africa, and is situated south of the Orange River – the border between South Africa and Namibia. This dry, hot region is classified as a semi-desert. The average annual rainfall can be as low as 100mm in certain areas and the water tends to be brackish. Growing up, we were taught that water is a precious commodity and we learned to use it sparingly.

Despite the lack of water, the region has its own charm.

However, we used to call this part of the country “God’s Garden” and the “Grateful Soil” because when- and wherever a few drops of rain fell in winter, natural flowers would sprout with the first arrival of spring.

These photos were taken during a year when rain was not plentiful, but there were still a few flowers to be seen:

In the years when the region has a good winter rainy season, wildflowers spring up across the landscape like multi-coloured carpets, and tourists arrive from all over the world to take photographs of this wondrous sight. Google the key phrase “namaqualand wildflowers” and look at the images of the wildflowers – they will blow you away.

Huge parts of South Africa are currently still in the grip of a severe drought. This is a huge problem in a country where access to running water is not a given in every household. Water points have been set up to provide much-needed drinking water.

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PHOTO ABIVE: Residents of Nongoma, north-west of Durban, that has been badly affected by the recent drought, prepare to collect water from a free water point sponsored by concerned citizens on November 9, 2015. AFP PHOTO/MUJAHID SAFODIEN / AFP / MUJAHID SAFODIEN

See more at: https://africacheck.org/2016/02/03/frequently-asked-questions-about-south-africas-drought/#sthash.OAtKVR39.dpuf

Dis vir my amper ongelooflik om te sien dat mense in hierdie dag en datum nog hulle drinkwater moet gaan haal by ‘n sentrale punt en dit gebeur nie net in droogtetye nie.

Elke keer wanneer ek ‘n kraan oopdraai om water te tap, onthou ek hoe kosbaar water was in my kinderjare en ek dink daaraan dat daar steeds nie veilige drinkwater beskikbaar het in alle gebiede vir alle inwoners nie. Waterbesparing is ‘n aksie wat in elke huis in Suid-Afrika toegepas moet word, in alle dele van die land, om ons kosbare bronne te berskerm.

Ek skryf hierdie blog terwyl ek hoopvol uitkyk vir reën. Ons het min watertjies gehad die afgelope paar weke en ek hoop dat almal van ons binnekort weer lekker nat gaan wees.

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22 Comments

  1. Jy is so reg!! Water is sekerlik die kosbaarste komoditeit wat vir ons gegee is! Selfs hier is daar mense wat daai punt nie kan of wil verstaan nie! Hulle dink omdat dit uoit die hemel val dat hulle ‘n reg het om dit verniet te kry!
    I often say to folk here they should go live in SA and get to learn to appreciate every drop… then they would stop expecting it as their right to open a tap without concern for where it comes from!
    Baie mooi geskryf… ek het dit geniet om weer die droeë Namaqualand te sien! 🙂 Dankie!

  2. Water is so belangrik. Ons kannie daarsonder nie. Ek het vir verlede Vrydig se skryfgroep juis n stuk gelees wat ek in 2012 geskryf het oor water in SA. Ek het toe nog bygevoeg dat dit werklik droog is. Hier glo hul nie dat daar droogte is nie, Baie is so gewoond aan water dat hul net onverskillig is daarmee.

    • Comment by post author

      Selfs hier waar droogte ‘n werklikheid is, mors mense met water en herstelwerk aan pype word te lank uitgestel.

      • Dis n bose kringloop waar mense meestal betrokke is. My buurvrou glo vas daar is genoeg water en sy hoef nie die waterbeperkings te volg nie. Sy mors vreeslik water. Ek word party dae so fies vir haar as sy die sproeiers(wat ons nie mag gebruik nie) aan los en gaan slaap. Ek klop haar sommer op en sy weet al as ek in haar slaapkamer staan en haar wakker skree dat dit die water is wat aan is!( Sy sluit nie haar deure nie en sy is n strawwe drinker dis hoekom ek tot in haar slaapkamer haar moet opklop!Ha ha)

  3. In eerstewêreld lande besef mense nie altyd hoe skaars water in sommige lande is en dat daar nog plekke is waar mense nie lopende water tot hulle beskikking het nie. Australië het ook ‘n water tekort en van ons bure laat loop hulle sproeiers twee keer per dag (vroegoggend en laat aand) op hulle toegelate dae (‘n mens mag net een keer per dag, twee dae per week jou sproeiers laat loop). Die Namakwaland is darem maar mooi.

  4. drkottaway

    (typo alert, missing an l in rainfall 4th paragraph)

  5. drkottaway

    Beautiful post. Water is precious precious precious…. And I love living by the Puget sound and beaches and mountains too….

  6. Ons het juis vanoggend droë krane en dit laat mens met ‘n skok besef dat water nie vanselfsprekend is nie.Eintlik behoort elke buurt twee dae ‘n week sonder water te wees,sodat mense kan leer om nie te mors nie.Jou foto’s is pragtig en ek geniet elke inskrywing!

  7. Baie mooi blog… soos net jy kan!

  8. Anuscka

    Jaaa…. baie mooie blog, en ik vind het ook zo’n baie mooie taal: Afrikaans. Mooie woorden over water. Hier, in Europa, is het ook zo vanzelfsprekend dat er altijd maar (drinkbaar) water uit de kraan komt… En wat een prachtige omgeving waar je bent opgegroeid. Ik las vroeger veel boeken van Wilbur Smith en droomde dan dat ik in Namibia woonde… 😉