The old nursery rhyme,
Mary had a little lamb,
has special meaning on a guest farm in South Africa's Karoo where Maggie Fourie's sheep
follow wherever “she is sure to go”.
“Come, Madeleintjie,
come. It's supper time.” Maggie Fourie, owner of the Oudemuragie
Guest Farm near Oudtshoorn in the Western Cape, calls a recalcitrant sheep that has
stopped to graze at the edge of the road.
The ewe's ears prick up
and she comes dashing towards Maggie and the group of sheep with
her. It is sundown and the flock has been waiting for the
black-headed ewe to catch up. Maggie pats her head, talks quietly to
her and they set off again, the sheep trotting obediently behind her.
It's a curious scene. Most
shepherds drive the sheep forward from behind. Maggie walks ahead.
She knows the names of every one of the 18 in her flock and when she
talks to them they come running. They're a motley lot: some with
black heads, some with patches of brown: certainly not with fleece as
white as snow but certainly determined to remain close to Maggie.
As we head towards the
enclosure where they will have a supplementary feed and spend the
night, she outlines the history of each.
All have been rescued in
one way or another and have bonded with the woman they regard as
their mother. In fact, she has become something of a female Dr
Dolittle, that literary character famous for talking to animals.
Others, however, view her as more of a “sheep whisperer” while
virtually everyone in the area sees her as the ultimate animal lover.
When she is not preparing
meals or making beds for expected guests, she's in the farmyard
making certain her sheep, hens, geese, ducks and pigs are being well
cared for, chatting to each creature as she moves around. And close
by is her ever loyal Staffordshire terrier, Toks. She even has time
to place a rose on Tallie's grave, another Staffie that died, aged
15, some time ago.
Children who visit the
farm with their parents follow Maggie around, as entranced by the
animals as she is – and very keen to help with the chores. They
love the stories she tells about her farmyard pets.
They meet “Kippie”, a
tame guinea fowl whose mate was taken by an eagle. To protect her
from a similar fate, Kippie was reared indoors. She joins the fowls
in the run each morning when people are around to shoo away predatory
birds with evil intent.
At sundown Kippie heads
to her roost in the family room. She stretches her neck, flaps her
wings and flies to the top of the door and waits for the TV to be
turned on. She watches with the family until 10 pm when she tucks her
head under a wing and goes to sleep.
Maggie even has a gay
rooster who adopted a hen's brood of four chicks when a hawk robbed
them of their mother.
“His name is Wit Haan
and he has a decidedly feminine side,” Maggie says. “He's always
willing to look after chickens. In fact, most of the farm's fowls
are part of his family.”
Then there's a little
brown hen who was rescued from the jaws of a genet one night. She was
so comprehensively spoiled thereafter that she will lay her eggs only
in the house where she knows they will not be snatched. There are
silky hens and ducks, geese and piglets, each with story of their
own.
But it's the sheep that
Maggie has a soft spot for – and which visitors to the farm most
enjoy.
“They are no ordinary
sheep,” Maggie explains. “Madeleine, for instance, was left for
dead when she was born one bitterly cold winter's night a few years
ago. She was still in her uterine sack when brought to the farmhouse
but I was determined she would survive so I got her breathing and fed
her milk with a doll's feeding bottle. She made it, with a lot of
loving care.”
She relates the history of
each sheep as she walks among them. Some newborn lambs had been
caught in thorn bushes and left to die. Some were abandoned because
they were undersized and considered to weak to survive.
Some of lambs are now
wethers (castrated rams) but she steadfastly refuses to send them to
the abbatoir. Nearly a dozen have grown into healthy ewes that have
delivered healthy lambs. She has a special affection for Cassie, one
of a twin whose “sister” was born spastic but who was cast aside
because he was no bigger than a white rat and not expected to live.
Another had crippled front legs and tried valiantly to walk on his
bent joints.
“My husband said it
would be a kindness to put him down but I refused,” Maggie says.
“The lamb tried to keep up with the other sheep by running on his
'knees'. Eventually, his muscles strengthened and he was walking
normally.”
A guest, impressed with
Maggie's devotion, found a lamb abandoned on the roadside when she
left for home. She returned to the farm to give him to Maggie.
“The lamb wasn't ours
but I checked with the neighbours and they did not want her so I
reared the tiny creature,” she says. “I named her Elfrieda after
the visitor. She thrived and recently had triplets of her own.”
The most famous sheep is
Baffie whose image has been snapped by proud parents from round the
world with their child on his back. He's the one sheep who does not
mind playing “horsey” with youngsters.
Though the livestock on
the farm is obviously her passion, Maggie is also an accomplished
cook who focuses on traditional South African food. Most of her
guests want to experience life on a Karoo farm and stay a week or
two.
“When the Soccer World Cup was
on in 2010, several guests complained they had had no opportunity of trying
South African food,” she says. “One guest told us that in Los
Angelos it is possible to have a South African meal, but the same
experience is apparently not easily available here.”
With Maggie the focus is
distinctly on local fare with fresh fruit and vegetables always on
the menu. Bobotie is a favourite dish, followed by quinces cooked in
port wine or hot malva pudding. So are her hoenderpastei
(chicken pies), frikkadels
(meatballs) and Cape curries.
There are five self
catering cottages on the property and guests can either cook for
themselves, dine with the family or order dinner delivered to their
accommodation. The choice is theirs.
According to Maggie,
spring is a great time to visit the Karoo. The mesembs start blooming
in August and are at their best in September. They come in all
shades of pink, purple yellow and even white. The aloes – red,
orange and yellow - flower earlier but often linger until September.
For three months of the year the Karoo is a riot of colour.
The Oudemuragie Guest farm
is at the foot of the spectacular Swartberg mountains: the perfect
environment for guests who like hiking (the sheep are unlikely
to follow) . There are three trails on the farm that criss cross
mountain streams. Two take 90 minutes, the other about an hour, plus
there are a good many further afield. With no less than seven
waterfalls on the farm, the scenery is exceptional.
As if the domestic animals
are not attraction enough, there's quite a bit of bird- and wildlife
on the farm. Tortoises and mongoose, duikers and porcupines, baboons
and even the occasional leopard or genet can be seen.
Oudtshoorn is nearby and
so are the Cango Caves, South Africa's oldest tourist attraction.
Legend has it that they were discovered by a farmer who went in
search of a ram in 1780. The stalagmites continue to impress visitors
from round the world. There are ostrich farms to visit, the Karoo
wine route to experience and even a wildlife ranch where crocodiles,
cheetahs and Bengal tigers are on view.
The cottages on the farm
accommodate from two to ten guests and vary in price from R400 a unit
to R1250 a night for the largest. All are fully equipped with
microwaves, fridges, irons etc.
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