Life in a Rondavel

A multi part post about life in a Rondavel

Part One: A History

Since the first part of November I have been staying in a Rondavel. So here is a multi part post about what it's like to live in a Rondavel. For starters, some of you are probably wondering, "What is a Rondavel?!" A Rondavel is a traditional South African style home. Pre colonization, they were the widely accepted standard across a vast majority of the African continent.

Unlike most western syle houses, they are round. Why round you might ask? The round shape of a Rondavel allows for great protect against the weather, namely wind. There are times when 70-80kph winds can come out of what seams like nowhere, throwing sand, dust and almost anything in its way all over the place. Flat walls wouldn't be nearly as effective or stable against such strong winds.

The next step: if you have time, take out a piece of paper and a pencil. Now try and draw a perfect circle. I don't know about you, but my circle doesn't look very "round". So how is it that people make Rondavels so perfectly round? Either with a stake, or a companion if one is available, one would pick a center point. From the center point, one then chooses the desired distance they wish for the walls to be from the center point. With your stake or companion held fast at the center point, one attaches a string from the center point, and with a stick attached at the other end of the string walks/draws a circle in the dirt. Pretty slick huh? On average, a Rondavel is usually about 10 meters in circumference. Sizes can vary though depending on the specific needs.

Once you've drawn your circle it's time to begin construction. Before you can do that you need to gather your supplies though. Decent sized stones, dirt, cow dung, and water. With the dirt, cow dung, and water one makes a mixture that very much resembles concrete or mortar. Once your mortar is ready you can start placing stones in the position you desire and filling the spaces with the mortar, much like one builds a wall out of bricks. Most walls are generally 2-3 meters tall.

Your walls are done, time for a roof. This means you need more supplies. This time you would be gathering, various sized sticks and A LOT of grass. The larger sticks are used to form trusses in a complete circle around the walls, meeting at a pitch in the central point of the home. Using your smaller sticks, one now makes rings that connect to the trusses starting at the walls and working upward towards the pitch. Each ring is roughly 30cm apart and becomes smaller each ring closer to the pitch. Now it's time for the grass. There are various techniques, but in some way, one needs to attach the grass to the rings you just built. Starting closest to the walls and working once again towards the pitch, layering grass on top of itself.

One last step! So we have walls, and a roof, what else could we need? How about a floor thats not going to continually be brushed away, muddy or dusty? In the truly traditional Rondavels the dirt is dug down a few centimeters and then replaced with the dirt, cow dung and water mixture. It's much more durable and easier to keep clean then just leaving the floor as dirt.

Stay tuned for more on life in a Rondavel!

Peace

*written January 27th