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Kaaimans Weir/Pumphouse

 
Created: 2023jun29thu


Updated: 2023dec21thu


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Maximum Altitude: 248m
Total Distance: 11.140km
Total Elevation-Gain: 235m

Specific Gradient: -20.8deg
Slope Length: 30m

Qualitative Danger: 0.5/5
 
It's an easy, relatively flat walk, with some spectacular scenery at the weir/pumphouse. There is a significant downhill-section of about half a kilometre with a slope ranging around 10 to 20 degrees as you approach the weir. Keep in mind that this will be uphill again, of course, on the way back.

The water is *COLD*; best enjoyed on a hot summers day, and/or with a wetsuit. Some flotation devices might also add to the enjoyment. Keep in mind that you will have to carry all of this gear, though.
 

The relevance of the following will only become apparent after having watched the video.

"Moose-a Nice" is a play on words from the Afrikaans "Moerse/Moer se 'Nice'/Lekker". When I was a kid, this expression would have been considered rudely expletive, and everyone I knew, would have frowned gravely upon its utterance. If I had talked like that, I would have received a good and solid hiding.

"Koffiemoer" and "aartappelmoere" refer to coffee grounds and seed-potatoes, respectively, as in the sense of being the origin of the coffee/potatoes. A "moer" [moo-r] can also be translated as a "nut", as in a female screw, i.e. the counterpart of a bolt. "Moer" can also be translated as "dam", a female/mother animal, as opposed to "vaar" [far] which is a "sire", a male/father animal. The association of these contractions with their apparent root words "moeder" [MOO-duhr] and "vader" [FAH-duhr], i.e. "mother" and "father" now becomes increasingly clearer... Curses such as "loop in jou moer, man!" (lit. "walk in your mother, man!" / return to your mother, man!) apparently refer to the accursed person's genealogical lineage, and also, literally, the "womb" from which they have been birthed. This is generally still considered as being a rude reference. (Equivalent curses involving "vaar" apparently do not exist in Afrikaans.)

However, "moerse lekker" is generally, paradoxically, interpreted as referring to something that is rather nice, quite enjoyable, and very pleasurable... to put it mildly. "Moerse", in this context, is figuratively interpreted as "very"/"much"/"greatly"/"superlatively", and literally as "belonging to mother". ("Se" is an Afrikaans adverb indicating possession. Although it is usually written separately from the preceding word that indicates the possessor, in this particular case it has, apparently rather ungrammatically, become merged/fused with the possessor word.)

Now you know. Civilised ladies and gentlemen do not talk like this in polite company -- or ever. It is actually rather uncouth, you know. Only uneducated, boorish boers don't know any better.

Lastly, a moose in Afrikaans is "'n Amerikaanse eland", literally "an American eland/elk". (Elks, apparently, occur in Europe.) The giant eland is the largest antelope in the world, and occurs on the savannah plains of Eastern and Southern Africa. ...and a moose is also not a small animal. So, yes, "greatly enjoyable" does seem to be the intended interpretation.
 

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