Tag Archives: artist

Oribi Mom

Oribi Mom: An Ancient Artist’s Palette in an Unlikely Place

There is beauty all around.

 PHOTO BY PIXABAYMarch 4, 2025

There’s a tree I love on the highway between Harrismith and Ladysmith. I have seen it since I was a little girl, travelling home. I lived in Northern Natal for a little while and played sports sometimes in Harrismith. Even after that, we’ve made trips up to Joburg to see family, embark on planes, or visit game reserves.

Every time we come back from the highveld to the lowveld, there’s a spark. I see that big flat mountain in Harrismith and feel a tingle. Then, I see the ‘Racing Car’ mountain, which my children insist on calling ‘Hippo Mountain’, where I look for bald ibises. The little spark of joy grows because I know the descent is coming.

You have to go super slow down Van Reenen’s. Driving at 60km/h feels like trudging through clay after a few hours at 120km/h. The police assure us it’s not meant as a lesson in patience; they want us to arrive alive. Before you get to Smelly-Truck-Brake Pass, though, there’s this beautiful tree. It’s huge compared to everything else in that location, so it stands out. It’s also right next to the road.

Look Closer at the Tree As You Come To This Ancient Place

I have no idea how this tree is still standing. For 30-plus years, I’ve taped it as absolutely ancient. It hasn’t changed. The tree of my childhood memories looks just the same. It’s a gum tree, but let’s skip over the part about it being invasive and water-guzzling. It’s dazzling. It stands straight up, towering above you as you come up the hill. You can see it from quite a long way off, and as you get closer, it touches the sky.

You can’t help but notice the phenomenal composition its stripped bark reveals layer upon layer. It’s like a bored artist has taken their palette and tried to get every colour there is onto one tree trunk – pinks, greens, yellow, blues, greys, oranges, and all the fancy colour names in between that I don’t know. ‘Rainbow’ would not even come close to it.

The ibises, cranes, and ducks get to enjoy it every day. I just catch a glimpse of it when I’m coming home. Is that why it’s so captivating? I hope to ask my grandchildren one day. Will they be coming home to beautiful KZN, too? To me, home is colours on a tree and the promise of the ocean.

What’s it to you?

Published here.

Kenya, Travelinds, Travelinds Faces

Travelinds Hero: Christopher

September 2016

Kenya is home to a vibrant throng spanning 42 languages that brings cultural diversity to the forefront of this interesting nation. One such character was Mr. Christopher Odinga.

His sand sculpture of a smiling lion rolling on the sand drew us in to his life story and he happily shared his tale of fortitude.  Sitting awkwardly next to his crutches, laid carefully beside him on the sand, he works the sand with his hands and a trowel, paying attention to each groove and surface as he smooths it, fluffs it, cuts it and moulds it. His eyes smile as he talks, vigilant of the waves nearby that will remove all trace of his work in a few hours’ time.20160905_153204

“I am a sculptor now, but I was meant to be a lawyer.  I had enough grades to enter law school but that didn’t work out.  Now I’m too old and I have a family to take care of – my wife can’t work, she has no education.”

When probed a little more, he shared the story of how he came to be here, a polio sufferer with minimal use of his legs, two small children and far from his birthplace near Lake Victoria on the opposite side of the country. “When I was three, I became sick, but my parents thought it was malaria because many people get malaria in that place.  They were illiterate and the walk to any clinic was three days away, so they never took me for any inoculations as a baby.  They left me to recover on my own but when I was too sick to move, they made the journey to seek help but arrived too late to help me.”

He looks a little sad as he describes the transition that he was forced to make as a little boy, sent to Kisumu to a ‘special’ school where others like him were educated and looked after by the Salvation Army.  Pride for his grades and his hard work despite mounting obstacles, he describes his academic achievements and how he was primed to enter law school and pursue his dream at a time when the newly independent Kenya was growing up.  His eyes flash as he indignantly says, “But then the Kenyan management became greedy and corrupt and they took all the money and ran away.  Me and many other people like me were left with nothing, no home, no food, no work and no future.  That is when I started to move towards the bigger cities, using some skills taught at school to create sculptures and oil paintings to make income.”

Me and many other people like me were left with nothing, no home, no food, no work and no future.

The sand lion has pointy triangle teeth and he seems to be grinning up at the sky, his tail bound to flick up at any moment.  Christopher starts to dig a trench around the base, perhaps extending the short life of the grinning lion before the tide sweeps him away.

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“It’s okay.  I met my wife and we have two children.  I make enough money sometimes to buy them clothes and food. But if you have any things you do not want to take home, please give them to me – toothpaste, soap, mosquito repellent for my children, anything.”

His hands stop and he looks down the beach assessing how hopeful his day’s takings look from the number of tourists heading towards him – there are only two.  One ignores him and keeps walking, the other looks at the sculpture, smiles and gives him a few shillings.

“I also do paintings.” He rolls out a small canvas from his tatty backpack.  It is a scene of zebra in front of Mount Kilimanjaro.  “Sometimes tourists can show me their photos and I paint it for them.”  He even frames it, he tells me, and the price is negotiable.  He will make it perfect, he says.  “I paint the picture from memory, in my home, and I will bring it back to you next day.  Pay if you like it.  I do oil painting. Do you have a photo I can paint for you?”

Yes, we did.  Our trip to the Masaai Mara is now forever immortalised by Christopher’s incredible talent – and he mashed two of our pictures to capture our memories in one beautiful piece with acacias, the plains, the wildebeest and the Mara River.  What a privilege to be able to support this man who “hates to beg” and takes pride in his work.  He may be a masterful storyteller, but he delivered on his promise and the look of appreciation in his eyes reflected genuine gratitude as we exchanged our painting for cash.20160903_125816

Do you have any photographs that Christopher can paint for you?  Find him on Facebook next time you are in Diani Beach, Ukunda!