“ JILLY – ONE OF A KIND. (5.11.52-4.12.2014) Jilly was born Jill Penelope Aplin in London to George Aplin an officer in the British army medical corp, and Joanna De Vries from Namaqualand whos parents farmed Karakul sheep in springbok on the 5th November 1952. She always told people that met her for the first time that she was born on the same day that comemmorated GUY FAWKES. I think this perfectly epitomized her fiery character . She lived and was schooled several parts of world, because of her fathers profession in the army including Germany, Kenya, Zambia, Zimbabwe and lastly South Africa. But it all only really started with her very first trip to Kenya she fell in love with Africa, its people ,traditions but mostly for the wildlife. Her earliest experience with wild animals began with POACHER, an orphaned elephant who was only days old when its mother was killed. She was only 9 years old at the time andwas told that POACHER would almost certainly die. That was a challenge she could not resist and with a lot of pleading, the Kenya parks officials conceded and decided to give her a chance. Poacher survived with Jill feeding her and providing the surrogate mothers support by sleeping and comforting her. This was unheard of at the time ! DAPHNE SHELDRICK now famous for her rearing of infant elephants only became famous much later on for doing exactly that. They frequently communicated with each other. Jilly then returned to England which she loathed , because of its grey and depressing weather ,but more importantly because there were no wild animals .She was enrolled in GOUDHURST COLLEGE- a private girls school in CHESHIRE. She recounted an incident to me when she had been threatened with suspension ,because on her first day she appeared at school barefoot. In Kenya she was accustomed to not wearing any shoes at all and her feet could not fit into any regular shoes. When Jill was only 11 years old she was awarded a scholarship to attend the ROYAL COLLEGE OF ART. Unfortunately for her she never managed to enroll because her father was reposted abroad. All this time though her mother and father s marriage had started to disintegrate and this ultimately was to have a significant affect on her life. Next destination was PADDERBORN -Germany. Here she was permitted to keep rabbits Within a short period of time she was doing experimental breeding and paving the way for her later breeding of cats and dogs. Jill had an innate knowledge of genetics, which later stood her in good stead with all of our animals,and her breeding intersets. Much later in life and after we had moved onto LETAMO GAME FARM she noticed with delight that we had Leucistic Zebras on the farm, much to the denial and surprise of some EXPERTS. She named the first leucistic foal TWINKLE. I have to mention that Jill was rarely wrong about such things and she never lost an argument on a technical point about animals. A lot of highly qualified people were intimidated by her vast knowledge and expertise. Unfortunately in todays world because she did not have letters after her name ,she was always at an unfair disadvantage, but she was invariably vindicated. Any way after yet another sojurn in England the family moved to ZAMBIA , where her dad was seconded to the Zambian army. She was finally able to indulge in one of her true loves- Horses. Of course she had always loved horses from an early age . She found work as a groom in England during school holidays. So in lieu of part of her wages she was allowed to take the owners horses out on a hack. Naturally she could not have a horse of her own with her father moving constantly. But for the first time in her nomadic life KITWE ZAMBIA was a permanent posting for her father and she managed to persuade her father to buy “MOONRIVER “ The first large animal love of her life . I never fully comprehended the extent of this affection until I met other people that knew her at the time . Her horse returned all the love and care Jilly could give and with MOONRIVER she developed into a top grade show jumper at the age of 14 . And ageed 16 she was chosen to represent ZAMBIA internationally. She always insisted on travelling with her horse by rail whilst her father drove by car. No ways was she going to leave her horse, to the vagaries of Zambian railways. She also got to buy and own her very first dog- a liver and tan Doberman for the princely sum of 15 Guineas ,which she named CRISPY. Crispy like all her animals , developed into a devoted pet and never left her side . She was even granted permission to take him to school with her while at KITWE GIRLS HIGH SCHOOL . He would lie by her desk until classes had finished and then accompany her to the stables afterwards. When her parents finally divorced she became separated from him, when she ran away from her her mother to RHODESIA . Unbeknown to her, her mother had reneged on the assurances given and gave away CRISPY . She never forgave her for this . Soon afterwards word got to her from her Mothers new partner that Crispy had been poisoned whilst at his new owners and was barely alive. Rushing back and fearing the worst she managed to nurse him back to health, in a way only she could. Sadly CRISPY succumbed to his injuries a few months later. With her emotional life now in complete meltdown , her parents having separated and forced to leave school prematurely , she decided on emigrating to DURBAN RSA, with her best friend KATHY . She was not keen on the humidity and the sea, but enjoyed the bohemian lifestyle with the gay fraternity ,and was a regular patron of the STARDUST club – a male gay club . Jill was made an HONARARY member . Ironically I was also living in Durban at the time ,but we did not meet until my 21st birthday several months later in JHB. Jill wowed me from the outset and not just because she was the one of only a few who could convincingly dance to JIMI HENDRICKS . But with her disarming modesty, obvious intelligence and joie de vivre we clicked immediately . When I was out of pocket, which was often, she would raid her parents fridge to bring around a packet of chops and spuds . We cooked together often, and despite her telling others that I taught her to cook , I think that was just her being modest. In fact Jill was an excellent cook , as anyone here who has eaten her dishes will attest to. Perfection was always her goal and her curries in particular became legendary. Her early introduction to gourmet food , was at the EDINBURGH hotel in KITWE where the crepe Suzettes were the house speciality. This interest rubbed off on both KAI & TRISTAN, and in time motivated TRISTAN to begin his own catering business. I still think of their first job together. They had a job to prepare a three course meal for 150 people right here in our tiny kitchen . Up early at 3 oclock in the morning and fuelled on KLIPDRIFT AND NICOTINE throughout the day they managed to deliver. I first experienced Jills consummate love of animals at first hand when I collected her on a journey to Durban for the DURBAN JULY from her parents house. Her canary RINGO had just died and she was sobbing with grief . That was JILLY ! I must recount a story here when on the trip down to Durban, Petrol rationing was in force at the time and we had run out of petrol . You couldn’t buy petrol at night then without a permit ,and not wanting to miss the JULY , we hiked the rest of the way, even winning a little on the day. She always betted on GREYS and they mostly won! I think what had attracted Jilly to me was the stable upbringing that I had enjoyed growing up and also the longterm friends I enjoyed ,which she never acquired because of her fathers career. Anyway shortly after meeting I was forced to return to RHODESIA in order to get my residents permit legal. Two days before I was due to leave, I asked her to accompany me. I phoned her from a TICKY box in HILLBROW at midnight after watching LONG WALK HOME , a true story about a dog and a cat in America that had become separated from their owner . She told me promptly that she had already resigned her job and was all packed to go. WOW -That was Jilly. Once she made up her mind she never changed it . We bought a 2nd hand 1960 VW beetle for R200.00 and named her SARTORIA. So off we went and arrived at the BEITBRIDGE border where an armed convoy was to take us to FORT VICTORIA. There had been an attack on some tourists the previous week . In the intense summer heat though the car broke down en route and we had to be towed the rest of the way. Good start .The terrorist war in Rhodesia was rapidly escalating and within a few weeks I received my call-up papers. Soon afterwards Jilly was pregnant with KAI and she went into labour during a rugby game between Rhodesia and the USA. Her timing could not have been worse , but we did get to watch the end. When the BSAP realized her obvious plight they immediately offered an escort to the hospital. But not before Jilly decided that she must as a matter of absolute necessity get a take away curry on the way. So everyone including our police escort enjoyed curries from the BOMBAY DUCK curry den. KAI was born in the LADY CHANCELLOR hospital – the same hospital that I was born in, and with probably with the same matron and Midwife-in attendance- who knows. When she was ready to leave the hospital there was another girl with her new baby, who just happened to be the daughter of the minister of Finance at the time. We were invited to join her at the ministers house for tea and cake . This all co-incided with a the news of a FLAME LILLY viscount plane that had just been shot down full of holiday makers over the Zambezi valley, by JOSHUA NKOMOS ZIPRA fighters. All the passengers were killed. Whilst I was away defending the motherland jilly started breeding Siamese seal point cats and promptly became a champion breeder, now how surprising is that ? Our first dog together was TAO a Doberman to replace her beloved CRISPY. One memorable day when I was away on installing early warning farm radios in INYAZURA, a contact was taking place on the adjacent farm. With bullets flying all over the place, we received an emergency message on the radio from the fireforce commando controlling the skirmish in an ALOUETTE helicopter ,that there was a mad woman driving a blue Beetle with a Doberman in the back and looking for her boyfriend OTTO. She was almost arrested, but everyone was so dumbstruck , that after a lot of pleading she was only given a stern warning. That was Jilly ! Mad days and an even madder woman – what was I thinking … Jilly joins the civil defence . Let me quickly digress here briefly . When I wrote this eulogy - I almost made the gross error of writing the word defence with an S – like the Americans do. She would never have tolerated that . She often reprimanded me when I got my spelling wrong. She subsequently qualified as a heavy duty truck driver ,and was immensely proud of that fact because it meant that she was playing her part in the war. Although neither of us agreed with the war , we were in it until the end. During a visit in the SELOUS area we befriended a farmer who had an orphan lamb- and did we know any-one who would like to raise it- Yes we did what a stupid question! We took him back home to Salisbury with us and quickly named him HAPPY LAMB because of his habit of locking both his hooves into the glove box for support , so he could stick his head out the of the window whilst travelling - Just like SNOOPY . He insisted on coming with me whenever I went for runs with the other dogs. Soon word got out and the blacks in the neighborhood would converge at the end of the road and watch him galloping behind me with shear amazement and laughter. We survived the war years, many good friends did not, and after only one year of independence decided to officially emigrate to RSA. We left with $ 1000.00. Jill travelled in the beetle with two dogs, seven cats and a leopard tortoise, whilst I flew , because Jill told me there was no room for me, and she wasn’t leaving her animals behind. That’s final. We moved to HALFWAY HOUSE - now MIDRAND and Tristan was born . Immediately Jilly started breeding cats again , but this time the new love of her life is CORNISH REXES. After only 2 years she wrote the international standard and won the cat of the year show with HARLEQUIN at SUNCITY -which incidentally she also was instrumental in organizing .This was a first for SOL KERZNER I can tell you . Jill I must let you all know had a talent for this. I think she inherited it from her father who was also a very methodical and organized person. S later on she was awarded a commendation from the mayor in honour of her contribution to the MIDRAND community . Then pony club days started. Kai was a very active rider with a natural ability and this pleased her immensely. Neither TRISTAN or myself were trainable in her estimation a lthough we often went on hacks together .Jilly eventually became the DC of MIDRAND IRENE PONY CLUB, with the club wiping all the competition before them. Here too We were fortunate to meet some of our best friends . Not to be content just with just PONY CLUB , She also held the first MOUNTED GAMES ,in SOUTH AFRICA and cofounded the MIDRAND TIGERS FC. This gave TRISTAN the impetous to become an outstanding footballer at all levels of the game. MTFC started at the primary school with 15 players and expanded eventually to 350 players of all ages. During this period she studied for and qualified as a game ranger. She was estatic as she passed with top marks. This was JILLY. –not content with just an ordinary pass .If she was to do something , it had to be done properly, or not at all. BEACHBUM one of our horses ,a chestnut gelding ,developed a serious case of blowfly in both eyes and our vet DR CHRIS HENDERSON informed jilly there was no realistic chance of a cure and that he would have to be put down eventually . DON’T ever say something like that to Jilly. So for 3 weeks every 3 hours around the clock she treated him with intramuscular injections and eye treatment. All this time the horse had to be confined to his stable and shut off from any light. At night she would get TIP-TOP our other pony to lead him around the yard for exercise. I have never in my life seen such dedication to a cause .But Her devotion paid off and he made managed to make a complete recovery. Dr Chris was astounded and promptly wrote a paper about it. Nobody had ever achieved that before as far as he was aware of He suggested that Jilly should start up an animal clinic .We had a very happy stay in MIDRAND until it started losing its character. Jilly like me, didn’t like the frenetic development that was taking place. So we decided to move. We moved across the JUKSKEI river westwards and found LETAMO GAME FARM still very much in its infancy. This looked like a great place with its open spaces and resident wildlife ,and it wasn’t long before we both got involved in the farm. For a while it was heaven on earth for her . Jill had this remarkable gift of identifying even the smallest problems with animals by studying their mannerisms and gait. She was able to sit for hours and just observe them .It was deeply rewarding to her on a spiritual level .Whenever her batteries got low, she retreated to the bush environment. This always restored her equilibrium . A few years ago in LETAMO we experienced a massive storm and several baby weavers were knocked out of their nests. Jill rescued them and started their recuperation and upbringing . As usual she gave them all names, after-all these were not just tiny creatures, but individuals with their own distinct and unique characters. When they grew old enough to be released She decided to tag them, but because she had never done this before she contacted the ornithological society who sent around one of their experts. When he arrived he asked Jill where the birds were because there was nothing in the cages.She told him not to worry as they were in the surrounding shrubs and she will call them . He looked dumbfounded. So she called them by their names, down to the cage where they were promptly tagged. He remarked that in all of his years he had never witnessed such a thing. This was another of gods gifts to Jilly. Her ability to communicate with animals was a thing to behold. During our stay here , Jill joined also the MULDERSDRIFT BUISINESS WOMENS ASOCIATION . A group of like minded women who dedicate their time and efforts to the selfless upliftment of the needy in the local community. Once again Jilly threw her heart and soul into this new interest like no-one else could. During the football world cup, the AUSTRALIAN football team were resident in a lodge in the area. They were officially adopted by the MBWA and give a fanfare on their arrival .We have made many more wonderful friends , and a lot of them are here today to pay tribute to one of their own. A carer of the lions at the JHB ZOO, I was once told , that amongst a fifteen large group of FRIENDS OF THE LION one lioness immediately singled out Jill, and promptly presented his head for a loving carress . Jilly became increasingly spiritual at this stage of her life ,and was deeply inspired by CREDA MUTWA a highly respected SANGOMA who subscribed to the belief that all Lions , particularly white lions were uniquely and highly evolved spiritual creatures who held the key to many ancient riddles and solutions to our world. If we would only take the effort to heed them. Jills eulogy simply cannot be complete without me making mention of her beloved MALAIKA . Her Ridgeback which she bought from a warder in KRUGER park . She named her MALAIKA, which means ANGEL in SWAHILI. In fact she gave most of our pets Swahili names ,no doubt because of her love of KENYA. MALAIKA became the new love of her life and when she died after a short life , I think a part of JILL also died. She was inconsoleable with grief and without the support of some very good, and compassionate friends, she would have struggled to reconcile this loss. Then totally unexpected ,NAO a male ridgeback puppy was made a gift to her by a really fantastic breeder, hence the name NAO which means gift in TSWANA. Nao is a great guy and she loved him too. But everyone who experienced the bond between MALAIKA and Jill will have witnessed a very special relationship. Often they would go to the MOTHS SHELLHOLE in Muldersdrift to amuse the old folk there at Christmas with tricks that jill had taught her. Everyone told Jilly that Ridge backs are untrainable.WellI can tell you all that they are with the right owner. Jilly was now on a crusade and focused all her time and efforts on the plight of wild lions and the also odious practice of canned hunting. It could make her physically ill with the unbearable thought that in her lifetime, lions in the wild could become a thing of the past. She considered it her duty to inform the largely ignorant public of their true plight . She made several appeals to EDNA MOLIWA ( minister in office ) and soon became an ardent activist on their behalf. No doubt her love of lions was fostered at an early age during the exploits of ELSA and GEORGE ADAMSON. Most people did not realize that Jill suffered with SCOLIOSIS from her late teens, but she was determined to defy all the doctors, who said she would probably be wheelchair bound by age 40. She never complained to anyone about her condition and stubbornly resisted its crippling advances, despite on occasions being in exquisite pain. And that was also Jilly-stoic to the end. She didn’t want any sympathy . In short Jilly gave infinitely more than she ever took. Although her passion was animals ,she loved people too , although only genuine people. She resented phoneys and quickly saw through them. I must tell you of a story during the RUGBY WORLD CUP in 1995. We had an AMERICAN exchange student staying with us who became An ardent SPRINGBOK RUGBY supporter. On the morning of the final, Jill got in her bakkie early morning and drove downtown to ELLIS PARK to buy a SPRINGBOK jersey from a street vendor. It was presented to JUSTIN just before the game. That was Jilly too-unselfish in her actions. Although She rarely watched movies , as she was naturally more interested in the wildlife and cooking programmes, There were two films which she particularly enjoyed - DIRTY DANCING with Patrick Swayze and OUT OF AFRICA, with Meryl Streep. Only an actress with Meryl streeps ability could faithfully capture the essence of IZAK DINESENS love of Kenya, and this she could identify with. She cried without fail every time she watched it. The last two years were particularly draining for her, She lost her baby sister JANEY, to a long illness, EWEH our tabby cat and MALAIKA. These events coming close together were tough on her. In short JILL Y was truly one of a kind and we are all the poorer for her parting. I have lost my life partner,TRISTAN and KAI- their mother, JOHN his sister, and JANNA -her aunt, and many , many more a good and faithful friend, The thugs that took her life have robbed us all of a truly remarkable human being. I could easily write much, much more but Jill insisted that rather than be maudlin we should all party instead, and that is precisely what we are going to do. So in that spirit ,I am asking all of you all to do that in the best way possible- with a KLIPPIES and COKE and some HEAVY ROCK music ! How easily I bleed, but not in vain I have your legacy to remind me Ill smile in memory, till we meet again. SAFARI NJEMA- ( HAPPY JOURNEY)
Posted on: Tue, 16 Dec 2014 10:44:53 +0000
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