THE BEND IN THE RIVER: Adventures on a Limpopo Ranch Through Three Generations

This is the true story of my American father from Boston who, after being released from his kidnapping in Mexico, was sent by Herbert Hoover to manage the Musina Copper Mine in remote South Africa at the start of World War 1. In 1928, Gus Emery bought a wildlife and cattle ranch on the banks of the Limpopo River, near the isolated copper mine, and identified my charming mother as suitably brave, resilient and capable to share his adventures on the ranch. Margie Emery was 36 years younger than Gus, and bore two children - me, Chester, and my sister. For the sake of remembrance, my firstborn child, Jane, and I, decided to add to the many stories we persuaded my mother to self publish after the ranch was sold in 1975. Some of Jane's favourite memories are sitting on the large velvet cushions in my mother's lounge and listening to her bushveld tales about being stalked by lions and leopards, hunting impala on horseback for black tie dinners under starry skies, and being sprayed by elephants who found our outdoor bath tubs. For our edition, we found a multitude of forgotten photographs that helped paint these stories, and have delighted in adding our own adventures on the ranch while celebrating a woman who was a pioneer in her day!