Skukuza

Gardiol across the river from her old home in Skukusa

For Gardiol, SH2015 Gaza Gray was more than just a chance to participate in an archaeological dig in Kruger National Park. It was a chance to come home.

You see, Gardiol grew up in the village of Skukuza in the southern part of Kruger. Her father was the general practitioner for Kruger National Park and she lived and went to primary school in Skukusa.

Gardiol entertained us with many stories about growing up in Kruger. For instance, instead of "snow days" - days where school was cancelled due to snow - like we had in the United States, kids in Skukusa often had "flood days." The village was on one side of the river and the school was on the other. Too much rain meant you had a good chance of a "flood day" off from school.

Or how about the time she and her brother couldn't go to school because a lion blocked their path? I hate it when that happens!

And I for one am oh-so-grateful that Gardiol was on the expedition with us. When she found out we would be re-filling all the holes we had made during our two week excavation using only buckets, she flew into action. Gardiol used her familiarity with Kruger to commandeer two wheelbarrows for us to use to make the job easier. A miracle!

Gardiol was my "sifting partner" during the excavation and we worked extremely well together. She is kind, considerate, generous, very smart and has a wicked sense of  humor! And I have never seen a harder worker in my life. She simply could not be idle and pitched in to help wherever and whenever an opportunity presented itself.

In the future when I think of the best example of the finest South African Afrikaner woman, I will think of Gardiol.

Skukusa is also home to the Skukusa indigenous plant nursery.

Here was a chance to buy one of the Impala lily plants that Gardiol pointed out in bloom all over southern Kruger.


 

Impala lilies for sale!

I did buy one, but in the end I gave my new plant away to one of my fellow excavators. A mere four days after returning from Kruger, I would be setting out again for three weeks in Tanzania and Zanzibar. My new Impala lily deserved better attention than I would be prepared to give it in the early days of its adoption.