Adventure runs in the family
WHAT’s in a name?
A simple question that linguists have pondered ever since William Shakespeare wrote that famous monologue in 1595.
For those of you who haven’t read the famous play, the above question was asked by Juliet, wondering whether her family’s dislike of Romeo’s family was a sign that their love wasn’t as starcrossed as they initially thought.
Fret not, for this isn’t a recap of Will’s best monologues. We ask the question as genuinely and sincerely as possible. No hidden subtext, wrong answers or endless droning about the sweet smell of roses.
What’s in a name? Do you know where yours comes from?
We only ask because we recently spent some time with Dirk van Reenen. At first glance his appears to be just another South African name but there’s a lot of history attached to it. We’re especially interested in his surname, as it should be familiar to anyone who has ever driven down the N3 towards Durban.
We’re talking about Dirk van Reenen, as in the town Van Reenen, which later gave the famous pass its name.
Dirk’s great grandfather used to own large portions of the land in that area, on both sides of what we now know as the N3. In fact, he was the first person to erect a toll booth in the area.
Over the years, large chunks of the land went back into state ownership but the Van Reenen’s are still left with a significant chunk, divided into two farms. It’s 17 000 hectares and Dirk van Reenen has the sole mandate to this large piece of property.
On it you’ll find absolutely nothing, as in, nothing at all. No permanent camp ground, no ablutions and most certainly no roads. Dirk wants to keep this piece of land as quiet and untouched by humans as possible.
It’s only ever used
