Home on the plaas

Ma and Pa Gevaar with JD on the eve of his departure
see all photos »

As he awoke to the smell of koffie brewing on the fire and the dulcet tones of Ma Gevaar singing as she went about her daily chores, little did our favourite Afrikaans superhero know that today was to going to be a big day, greater even than the Great Trek in which Oupa Gevaar lost his left foot to Aardvark.

"hmmm" thought Gevaar, for he was often given to introspection early in the morning, but his thoughts never progressed any further than that for at that moment Pa Gevaar called up to JD in his bedroom “Johan Dewalt Gevaar, jou luigat, jy’s laat vir die melkery”. Life had certainly become a lot more mundane since he had given up superheroing and moved home to the plaas in Boksberg to look after the cows.

An adventure looms

Gevaar saying goodbye to his wild bush rhino, Gehardhus
see all photos »

How he longed for the sweet smell of adventure rather than kooi pooh but since his retirement after the glorious ’05 season on the Scandinavian circuit, Gevaar had seen about as much adventure as an Englishman. But this was all about to change with the arrival of a letter during lunch, from England nogal….

“Dear Mr Gevaarlikman” it started “It was with great sadness that I heard of your retirement from superheroing. But I have a very special request for your help in solving one of the most perplexing quandaries of the modern era, the unexplained disappearance of Colonel Fawcett, the last known exciting person to come out of England. You see, he was my great grandfather on my mother’s father’s mother’s side, but unfortunately he has been missing for about 80 years. Last seen somewhere in the heart of the Amazonian rainforests with a band of angry pygmies on his back and a spear in his left leg, it is possible that he is dead but we cannot be sure. Of course, I would go myself, but unfortunately I am English and was thus born devoid of any sense of adventure whatsoever. You, however, know danger like a brother and are the only man brave enough to take on this perilous task. Thus I beseech thee, please go and find what has become of my relative, I have enclosed a ticket for you to Brazil to begin your quest, England will not forget you….

Thanking you in advance

Yours sincerely

Henry Archibald Roger St. John Fawcett-Jones”

Being Afrikaans, Gevaar of course understood absolutely nothing of this letter and immediately burnt it, thinking it was from Reader’s Digest. He had however taken out the airticket and for lack of anything better to do on that particular day decided to see where it would take him, for as Gevaar always said “’n man moet avontuur reg in die oe kyk” and with a kiss and a pat on the bum, Ma and Pa Gevaar watched as their favourite son disappeared in a ball of dust with the cries of “Op, op en weg!” still ringing in their ears.

Gevaar’s rucksack contained the following essential items:

- 14 pieces of biltong, one for each month

- his favourite veldskoens (plus veldskoen cleaner)

- a comb (a superhero without a centre-part is not a superhero at all)

- Willard Price's "Brazillian Adeventure"

- An English dictionary (for Gevaar had decided that he might as well learn how to communicate with the locals in Brazil, plus it had been given to him for free by Reader’s Digest)

- A bottle of Mampoer to 'woo' the local tribes, for Willard Price had said that they could be fierce

- Khaki socks, khaki shorts, khaki shirts, khaki hat and khaki cape

- Toothbrush (Ma Gevaar had suggested this)

- Yellow fever inoculation certificate to get a visa for Brazil