THE BOY ON THE MOUNTAIN AND THE BABOONS

Started by SandyB, June 21, 2009, 01:49:06 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Print
Go Down Pages1 2
User actions

SandyB

June 21, 2009, 01:49:06 PM
I have been  sorting through  pics and  things ..  I have decided it was high times I posted this bit of  now almost obscure  Oranjemund history .. Robert Bruce  was actually going to do this as a sort of  interview / recall  article as he was one of the then young O'mund  boys all waiting impatiently outside  55 2nd avenue  for the young "misadventurer"  to arrive back home  from  Cape Town after being discharged from hospital... The story would have  started off  with the impatient wait then seeing the beige  mercedes  ambulance arrive , their wait only being rewarded by seeing me  wrapped in blankets , whisked into the  house  by my parents ...  the speculation  about the baboons ..  Robert  is unfortunately  not available as he busy with  legal matters for his firm in UK .. It is commonly believed that I may have  after my fall  in the  quarry been sheltered on that cold night by the baboons ,, after all a  young one  unconscious and in distress  is a young one ,, animal empathy takes over ??  theoretically I should have been in a far worse shape   spending a cold windy  night  on the mountain  with minimal clothing ... anyhow i survived  my jaw was broken( got a nice chunk out of bottom right hand jaw  and an xray looks like a jigsaw puzzle )  and my right  cheekbone  damaged ( not the same shape  as left and   I had for many years  had fine bits of bone exiting through the skin  )
My recollection ??  I remember being on the beach with my brothers ,, suddenly blank ,, then I remember talking to people on  the road ,, told them I was taking "chickenshit road  home "  this  was the name i gave to the road  from our holiday bungalow down to the beach .. it was this very light stony kind of tar and looked liked  the floor  buildup one would get in a  chicken coop as we had  in those years ,,, Next I  remember battling my way through dense  bush ,,, crying but I  could not go back  only  forward .. ( makes me think of the picnic  at hanging rock story )  then  everthing very hazy ,, the "monkeys"   that I mentioned.in hospital ..then waking up in the  morning hearing my name being called ,, hearing the  ' monkeys"  nearby .. the  sailors  wrapping me in blankets, and taking  me  down the mountain again ..  my Mom and Dad crying with relief  holding me .. then the hospital stay .. and yes taling about the "monkeys",, even saying the one man in the hospital  reminding me  of  a "monkey" ...
My Mom told me many times  the only way  I would  get  a good recall is to go back there .. I have  tried many times , but  get into a  kind of fear ... the last time  I  did .. I went  to the beach  from where I went missing ... found the  spot ( hows that for recall remembered the rocks on the beach ) and looked up .. there's the quarry  virtually as the crow flies line .. .. yes I must go  back ,, still an unresolved  life mystery for me ... here are some saved  newspaper articles ... I have put them in picture format  so that they can at least be  scrolled  bigger ....
Now Michael  and all out there .. any old oranjemunders out there  that also have something to add to this  story ... ?  maybe Tommy Lawrie ..??? theres not many around still ...
To see  sometimes  requires that you  first believe .

Michael Alexander

#1
June 21, 2009, 01:56:32 PM
Wow! You were lucky.... did you just decide to go on a walkabout then? 4 years  old... must have been quite a stressful period for your folks....

OPS 1976-1982 : CBC 1982-1988

SandyB

#2
June 21, 2009, 02:05:32 PM
NEXT CLIP
To see  sometimes  requires that you  first believe .

SandyB

#3
June 21, 2009, 02:08:25 PM
OOPS
To see  sometimes  requires that you  first believe .

SandyB

#4
June 21, 2009, 02:15:13 PM
NEXT
To see  sometimes  requires that you  first believe .

SandyB

#5
June 21, 2009, 02:23:30 PM
NEXT THE STORY EMERGES .. SORRY FOR THE BIT BY BIT BUT SYSTEM SLOW TODAY
To see  sometimes  requires that you  first believe .

SandyB

#6
June 21, 2009, 02:25:30 PM
NEXT BIT ...
To see  sometimes  requires that you  first believe .

SandyB

#7
June 21, 2009, 02:28:04 PM
NEXT
To see  sometimes  requires that you  first believe .

SandyB

#8
June 21, 2009, 02:36:13 PM
Mike thats a hard question to answer ... I was always that  dreamy  child with lots of "invisible friends " so what took me on walkabout  I still have no answers . but when I saw picnic at hanging rock movie  it struck chords  and  makes  me think it was  just not an ordinary walkabout .. vis my comment ..  afraid crying but could not turn back either .. ..  also putting this  bit of me on site  and yes comitting it to cyberspace has been an almost catharic moment .. Like said  are there any old Oranjemunders with recollection of this happening .. Ricky Barron ?? Neil Selby .. they were older .. and also  yes Tom  Lawrie .. its now there   for all to  bring up memories ..
To see  sometimes  requires that you  first believe .

Leon Sumter

#9
June 21, 2009, 02:51:59 PM
Wow Sandy, and that was 49 years ago! I seem to re-call hearing this story when I was in OMD but here we have all the details.

SandyB

#10
June 21, 2009, 03:01:30 PM
Other  old oranjemunders .. Bob Molloy ??
To see  sometimes  requires that you  first believe .

SandyB

#11
June 21, 2009, 08:06:55 PM
Sad thing to say .. with the  limiited activity in the site .. this  story will be  just a curiosity ..  no old timers to add value ,, good thing is at least I have scanned the deteriorating   originals and copies ,, now digitally preserved ..  my preamble  digitally preserved ..  I will be doing  double preserving  ,, disc  .. and  planning to  get a plug in drive as backup ..  and thats where it stays ...   
To see  sometimes  requires that you  first believe .

Bob Molloy

#12
June 21, 2009, 10:40:16 PM
Hi Sandy,
               I recall this story well. I knew it happened to a member of the Buchanan family but didn't quite connect it to you.
I was in the UK on holiday at the time and only heard about it at third hand. Very pleased to get this very full update.
As for the baboon theory: it stands up well to other reports of small children being cared for by animals, mainly primates but - in at least one case - also wolves.
And what a personal memory to have. Certainly gives you a sense of personal worth.
Regards,
Bob.
Bob Molloy

Diana Rudd (Boehme)

#13
June 22, 2009, 09:03:35 AM
Thanx Sandy for that. I remember hearing when we were teenages that you'd gotten lost and were cared for by baboons but I never did believe it.
O.P.S -1969, Springfield Convent -1970, Holy Cross Convent-1972., Centaurus-1974
I got around.

SandyB

#14
June 24, 2009, 09:08:02 PM
No old timers yet  to add  to this ??  Mike  contact Tom Lawrie ..
To see  sometimes  requires that you  first believe .
Print
Go Up Pages1 2
User actions