Residents enthralled with visitor’s tales

Elphin Lodge and Ron Smith Care Centre residents filled the hall to capacity on March 15 to listen to guest speaker Ms Kate Turkington.

Ms Turkington has lost none of her ability to charm and captivate an audience.

She has been a popular talk show host on BBC Television in Britain and also on television and radio in South Africa.

Over the years, she has interviewed and met hundreds of people, including the Royal Family, the Beatles, the Burtons, the British Prime Minister and the Dalai Lama, among many others.

She is well remembered for hosting the three-hour call-in programme ‘Believe It Or Not’ on Radio 702.

Ms Turkington is still an author, broadcaster and travel writer. She also shares her expertise in training a host of mainly younger entrepreneurs on the skills required when being interviewed. She continues to travel to a variety of unusual places and regaled the audience with several stories of her magical journeys.

Only 10 days before her scheduled talk, she fell off a quad bike in the Namib Desert, breaking four ribs. Despite this, she did not let the village residents down with her promised visit.

She spoke of her adventurous mother setting an example for her, of experiencing the exciting world regardless of age or lack of means.

She said her four children and nine grandchildren all live successfully in Johannesburg.

“I believes that South Africa has so much to offer and is the best place for tourism. South Africa is virtually the only country in our sub-continent that can boast of freedom of the press and media. One negative word or criticism in other countries would no doubt mean prison or worse,” said Ms Turkington.

Prior to her talk, she enjoyed a cappuccino at the delightful Elphino’s Coffee Shop at the Elphin Lodge and also briefly viewed some of the on-site facilities at the Rand Aid Association village. She commented on the warmth and wonderful atmosphere she experienced there.