Day 4 - Letting Our Souls Catch Up With Our Bodies

There is an often told story about an expedition taking place during the 19th century somewhere in East Africa. The European leader on that trip became impatient with his progress through the bush to his destination. He insisted that the porters move more quickly, and he pressed his expedition for the next several days. Finally, after three grueling days of cutting through the African jungle, striking camp each morning before sunrise, and not settling down until after dusk, the porters remained motionless the next morning. The impatient leader told his second in command to get them moving but was told a firm no. The native guide explained he couldn’t …… that the men were “waiting for their souls to catch up with the rest of their bodies”.

There’s a lot to be said for that story. And today was one of those days where we needed to allow our souls to catch up. So morning breakfast began a little later, and our group moved a bit slower than usual. Our faithful YL Cape Town leader, Stha, left after breakfast to join her team at the retreat center along the coast in Simon Town, while the rest of us had a more leisurely quiet morning. A group played golf, and the rest of us caught up on our reading, correspondence, and work.

The golfers set out early, and played nine holes on the course outside Stellenbosch, guests of our host, Willem. Kathy Virtue, and Alexis Kwamy played a best ball tournament against Matt Ward and Chad Edwards. Well, none of us can verify that this is true, but it is reputed that our senior vice president for southern Africa managed to lose 12 balls in only seven holes. Fortunately, he was able to rely on the generosity of others to finish the match. Kathy, no stranger to golfing, played her first round on the African continent, and carried her team to an eventual tie with the more experienced Kansas/West Virginia powerhouse duo of Matt “Rory” Ward and Chad “Tiger” Edwards. A 15’ putt into the cup silenced the already celebrating opponents. ) Hmmmm. Does the Proverb “Pride comes before a fall” have any application here?

Back at the farm, our host Willem took a group of us on a tour of the working farm property, showing us in detail the many aspects of farming that people don’t see behind the idealized image of farming…… but is critical in order to bring food to our tables. There is much risk involved, and the introduction of new product lines or fruit products can take years, and some cases as much as a half-decade. Farming in today’s global economy is not for the faint of heart, nor for people without the sufficient capital in order to make the investments in what will hopefully improve out to be a profitable venture. In our business world, it is called a “long cycle business“.

So ….. the next time you go to Whole Foods or Costco and ponder why you can always find fresh blueberries, table grapes, apples and bananas, literally anytime throughout the year, realize that that is because farmers and their entire support industry are focused on the global year-round production of food, as well as its delivery fresh to your grocery at an affordable price. And all this at a speed not contemplated even just 10 years ago.

A busy afternoon is planned with a city, historical tour of Stellenbosch, as well as a special winery tour of one of the old family-owned wineries nearby. Our group enjoys a quick lunch at a coffee/deli in town, and then we meet up with our tour guide at 2 PM.

Johan, our tall lanky Afrikaans tour guide, is everything you would want a tour guide to be. A local, whose grandfather was the minister one of the large Moravian churches facing the city park, and who was raised in a family with an older brother of mixed race was able to see all of the negative aspects of Apartheid during its heyday. We learned a great deal about the founding of this city, the second oldest city in South Africa. We also learned about the rivalry between the Dutch settlers, and the Dutch East India Company, which controlled Cape Town. The beautiful white Dutch Reformed church at the end of the church street has stood there since the early 1700s, and today seats nearly 4000 people. We learn other subtle nuances about the history of this old city, including the location of its brothels, as well as a few ghost stories involved in a historic hotel built over a cemetery, and the second oldest operating pub in south Africa, which is reputed to be the location where blacks and whites collectively agreed to break the race barrier for the national rugby team in the mid-1980s. For those of us who love history, we were in heaven.

Following the city tour, we visited the family owned Overgaauw winery, located southwest of the downtown. Hosted by the owner/head vintner host, David Van Velden, we had a absolutely fascinating tour of his winery, enjoying the history, visiting with his several dogs, and even got to meet a special family pig At the end of the tour, we were treated to a special wine tasting, while David opened up bottles ranging from 2022 to going all the way back to 1987. It was a generous time of sharing, and many of us were ready to order cases for shipment back to the US. Current international politics regarding tariffs, have some of this up in the air a bit, but we are hopeful that we will be able to order one in time for the Christmas holidays this year.

Leaving the winery, we enjoyed dinner at one of Willem’s favorite restaurants in Stellenbosch – “The Fat Butcher”. Our tables quickly divided up into a “guys table“ and a “girls table“. Conversation was ample and much laughter was heard coming from both locations. With the evening getting late, and needing to rise early tomorrow for a 6:30 AM departure - no one wanted to miss the “SaySo” at camp tomorrow morning - so we chose to skip desert, and head home. I don’t think any of us will miss the calories.

-Bob Voyles