To put our trip into perspective.
My maternal grandmother’s 3 sisters emigrated to South Africa in the late 1800’s (Cape Town and Jo’burg) but my grandfather wouldn’t go and didn’t ‘allow’ my grandmother to visit her sisters.
My mother, an only child aged 13, spent a year with her aunts and cousins and held very fond, vivid memories of her time there.
When my grandma died, my grandpa went out and I have the letters he wrote at the time.- from those I suspect there is some kind of family ‘drama’ of which I am unaware.
Our trip is a kind of ‘pilgrimage’ to where there is a tribe of relatives, only one of whom I’ve actually met – Jean Doyle of Doyle Art (see her website under ‘links’ – and who I will be meeting on our visit.
As my mother, father and I were only children, there are no aunts, cousins etc over here, and although I doubt we’ll be meeting any more relatives, this trip will feel memorable in that we’ll be visiting areas that my mother did and of which I have some photos.