With a friend visiting we took a quick road trip to a beautiful village called Hermanus a little further up the coast last week. It is really stunning and one of my favourite places to visit. Were it a wee bit closer to an international airport, I’d prefer to live there over anywhere else in SA, methinks! It has stunning views with mountains tumbling into the sea, there are opportunities to see whales up close and personal at the right time of year, and it just has such a relaxed, great feel to it.

Mark took this shot from our hotel room last year. We stayed in Hermanus when we were visiting Mark’s family in South Africa last Christmas (as in Christmas 2008). Who wouldn’t like this view every morning?

Along the way to sunny Hermanus, we stopped for a view of Turtle Rock. Well, I have named him Turtle Rock. Mark thinks he looks like Sid the Sloth from Ice Age. We are waiting for Sarah Wood and Rory Macdonald to settle the debate for us. Sarah, Rory, if you please…

Scott was kind enough to take a moment to pet Turtle Rock. I doubt he gets many visitors.

Another cool thing about Hermanus is these interesting little creatures (and you know I love interesting little creatures) called Dassies, or Rock Hyraxes. Apparently their nearest relative, in terms of their genetic make-up, is the elephant. Coulda fooled me…I think looks like a Nutria from Lake Mattamuskeet! (Sorry that was really eastern North Carolinian. It’s getting late.)

If you do decide to come for a visit to Hermanus, just beware…the Dassies can get up to mischief. You don’t want to explain the birds and the bees to your kids any sooner than necessary.

I hope that made you laugh. Now back to the real reason Hermanus is great — here’s one more slice of how beautiful it is!

There are paths to walk around these beautiful cliffs that line a lot of the coast of Hermanus. At the right time of year, the whales actually come into the harbour, just to the left of those rocks (to mate, actually — what kind of post is this turning out to be?) but you can stand right there and see them up close!

So that’s one of my favourite travelling spots in this neck of the woods. Beautiful, hey? Happy Trails — I hope the road rises to meet you wherever your journey takes you next!

It’s Travelling Tuesday!  I know all eleven of my blog readers are excited! I thought this week I’d introduce you to lovely Bloemfontein, South Africa, since I’ve been mentioning it so much lately. Even among South Africans, it’s not a very well known city. (Or better said, people know of it but know nothing about it.) It has a reputation for being a place where you “cry when you get here and cry when you leave.”  But I absolutely love it!

Here are a few Bloemin’ Facts:

Name: Bloemfontein is an Afrikaans name, literally translated “Flower Fountain”

Location: Just east of dead centre if you look at a map of South Africa, in the Free State, formerly known as the Orange Free State, which is along the Orange River.

Population: 349,000 in the city, and even more in the greater municipal region (Way bigger than my hometown!)

Claims to Fame: It’s one of SA’s three capitals — the judicial capital. J.R.R. Tolkien was born here, as well as several famous South African athletes including Zola Budd (such a sad story!), Ryk Neethling, and Hansie Cronje, a famous Cricket player whose biographical movie was released in 2008.

Home to:

• The Free State Cheetahs, a Currie Cup winning Rugby team. (That’s like the South African Rugby Super Bowl).
• At least three lovely shopping malls, one of which is situated on a man-made lake called Loch Logan. I continually refer to it as Loch Lomond.
• One of the most active soaring (or gliding) communities in the world. (That’s the sport/recreational activity where pilots fly unpowered aircraft using rising air).
• Lots of incredibly beautiful gardens (including my mother-in-law’s), in a surprisingly arid region of the country.
• Some serious dust storms. That can sometimes turn into serious thunderstorms. Which makes it feel a little like home.

These days exotic ‘Bloem’ is also home to…

The neighbours’ pet tortoise. I don’t know if he has a name so I call him Pedro.

Exotic Birds.

Okay so that’s actually just a dove that flew into the house and Mark caught him. (In case you’re confused, please check out this post so that I can confirm for you that my husband is not the Croc Hunter.) There are other, slightly more exciting birds in the garden as well! Masked Weavers and Bulbuls are some of my favourites.

One ferocious Bear. Who is only ferocious when I try to get him off of his little car, even if he’s been on it so long his toes are being rubbed raw. (I’ve since started putting his shoes on when he goes out for a ride).

This is perhaps my favourite picture of late — look at our sweet sixteen month old!

Here is what happens to the car the gardener just washed when a dust storm is immediately followed by a thunderstorm.

Poor Mr. Potato Head!!

I suppose you’ve now realised that Bloemfontein is not particularly exotic. I was kind of hoping you’d figure that out. I thought it might be good for some stereotype-breaking-down. No lions in the roads…No elephants on the outskirts of town. Just pretty birds, shopping centres and stuff that makes it feel a lot like America or Britain. I’m sorry to say I don’t have more pictures that can capture the essence of Bloemfontein — especially the crazy dusty-coloured skies I’ve seen the past couple of days! I hope we can capture a few more good shots of the place to give you a better feel for it in the days ahead.

In the meantime, I hope your days are merry and bright (though if you’re in the northern hemisphere, they’re not likely to be as bright as ours right now!) and that the road rises to meet you wherever your travels might take you next!

My humblest apologies that all has been quiet on the blogging front for a few days now. I was SICK SICK SICK! One of those crazy 24 hour things that makes you despair of life and wonder if it’s really worth going on. (Don’t worry, my one reader with emetophobia, I won’t go into detail!) Fortunately, I am on the other side and incredibly thankful that (yes I did the math) I’ve lived well over 10,000 days so far, and I’ve only had one like that. One in 10,000 — no cause for complaint!

Anywho, after that lengthy introduction, it is Travelling Tuesday! As promised, I have some stories and shots from our travels up to Bloemfontein, where we are spending the holidays with Mark’s parents (and his sister when she arrives!) The roads are very busy and therefore a bit dangerous this time of year, so we decided to come early to avoid the traffic, since we can still do a lot of our work getting Samaritan’s Feet started from here. Modern communications are a wonderful thing! We thought breaking the trip up over three days (staying overnight in a couple different places) would make it an easier journey with the Bear. We were wrong. Yes, it was still cheaper than flying, but dern, it was a lot of travelling! I don’t think the Bear enjoyed his tent being pitched in a new spot each night or finding himself in the car seat again each morning. So next time we’ll probably do the 10+ hour journey in one day. As they say in the South, we oughta just git ‘er done. Lesson learned!

As mentioned, these travelling adventures brought us face to face with many dangerous wild animals. This is Africa people! We stopped off in a place outside Oudtshoorn called Calitzdorp the first night. And just outside our little self-catering hut we spotted a big, scary…

praying mantis!!!!

Okay not so scary. Still, a little creepy. You’ve heard how vociferous the females are, right? Well then, we went for a walk, and we came face to face with a huge, and very dangerous…

Farm-raised ostrich!!!!!!!!

Behind a fence.

But if he got near the fence…and we were too close…seriously people, they can kick like ninjas, beware!!  Then it got really dangerous. I’m not even joking this time. We came face to face with a grumbly…grizzly…

Wild Bear!!

You’ve given up on me, haven’t you? Africa’s not as wild as you were hoping, mayhaps? Let’s give it one last try.  The final creature to give us a fright appeared as we were journeying to Nieu Bethesda for our second night’s stay along the way to Bloemfontein. And you do not want to come face to face with one of these. It’s a big, scaly…

Om… likkewaan!!

This creature kind of looks like a gila monster…and was probably like 4 ft. long! The Afrikaans word for it is likkewaan, pronounced LOOK-a-vahn, but the English word is leguan. I wasn’t familiar with either, but the Afrikaans is more fun to say. Sure, I took this picture from the window of the car, but still, he could’ve gone T-Rex on us at any moment! Grrrr. We actually think maybe it was a her…do you think she looks preggers? I didn’t ask because I didn’t want to hurt her feelings.

Well, that’s a taste of our dangerous travels from Gordon’s Bay to Bloemfontein with Calitzdorp and Nieu Bethesda in between. Thank the Lord for Mr. Potato Head safely navigating our passage and never stranding us in the wild among these dangerous creatures!

Happy Trails to you, wherever the road takes you!

Top of the Tuesday to ya! I hope your week is off to a great start! It is Travelling Tuesday again! (Forgive me for bailing last week when I was a grumpymuggins and not feeling well.) A few weeks ago Mark captured what I considered quite a stunning shot of some clouds coming over the Hottentots Holland Mountains. Here’s the backstory.

The Collie Clan went for a stroll at a nearby wine farm a few weeks ago, on a lazy Sunday afternoon, and, as she often does, adventure caught up with us there. We encountered a big beautiful peacock on his way to the cheesery. Delightful!

I would’ve thought he’d have gone for the chocolate shop but, to each his own.

After a while, the Bear got tired of being held and did some of his delightful and mischievous crawling around, here there and everywhere. At one point, he was just a short distance away from us, and we both simultaneously turned to look at him, because the wind picked up, and the outdoor umbrellas, which were closed, looked like they might still be blown over. Not two seconds later, down one comes and — surely it’s not going to hit him on the head — yes, the huge umbrella bops him on top of the head.

It was like it happened in slow motion — the umbrella s-l-o-w-e-d down just before bopping him — as if an angel happened along just in time to hold it back. He got the fright of his life (maybe besides his circumcision) and kind of crumpled over. We ran over to pick him up and I cuddled him for ages, but after forty-five seconds it seemed like he’d totally recovered! He is very brave. He didn’t have a bump anywhere on his head — just a couple of tiny wee scratches on his face from his landing. And ya know, I think mother’s intuition warned me about those umbrellas but I thought — surely not, you’re being overly protective! I will listen next time!

The staff who saw it happen felt absolutely terrible, and gave him a HUGE chocolate lollypop, which he proceeded to devour in two, yes two bites. He still only had one tooth at the time (a few more are on their way in right now!) … how did he do that? In the end, I think he decided the mishap was totally worth the treatment afterwards. Here he is, struggling to keep his mouth closed with a huge bite of chocolate inside:

And afterwards, in a chocolatey stupor. (He refused to share, mind you.)

Finally, just before our departure, Mark captured some shots as the clouds began to pour over the Hottentots Holland Mountains. It is so beautiful to watch the clouds move like this… cascading and pouring over so gently and so quickly. It seems like it happens a lot in this part of the world, but I’d never seen it before I came here.

So that’s this Travelling Tuesday! Happy Trails, wherever the journey may take you!

Top of the week to you again! We’ve decided to add a new feature to the site, with more posts about visiting South Africa. We have several friends planning to visit us over the next few years — including some coming quite soon. And, a ton of people will be piling into SA in 2010 as the FIFA World Cup gets underway in awesome venues all around the country! Look for a new page and some great changes coming soon!

We thought we’d begin to prepare our friends (and folks we don’t know) for their trip. Even if you’re not sure when you might be making your way ‘way down South’ we hope you’ll enjoy the photos and suggestions, with some good humour thrown in. Hope to see you here soon!

Photo Courtesy of Waynne Meintjes

Top Ten Things You Should Know About “Going on Safari” in SA

10. You are going to have to go to a national park or a game reserve to see a lot of the animals you probably want to see. I am sorry if this news disappoints you. Elephants and hippos don’t walk through town as often as you may have imagined.

9. It is good to know that whilst in South Africa, you should say you’d like to go “game viewing” or “go see some game” or “go on a game drive” instead of “go on safari.” When in Rome…try not to be a touron.

8. Some folks will be excited to know you can see game on horseback in some game reserves. I, on the other hand, rue the day I thought this was a good idea. The leisurely two hour jaunt was actually three hours, I still have a scar on my hand from holding the reigns so tightly because my horse was a ninnymuggins, and I walked like a cowboy for the next three days.  It’s an idea, I just don’t know if it’s a good one.

7. There are some game reserves relatively close to Cape Town (a lot of folks would like to kill two birds with one stone and see Cape Town and the Big 5). You will still most likely need to rent a car to get to any of them. Most of the best game reserves, however, are in the northeastern part of the country, near the Kruger National Park. You might therefore consider flying into Johannesburg, seeing some game at a reserve nearer to there, and then taking a domestic flight (Kulula and Mango are good options) to spend some time in the Cape. Problem solved. Alternatively, there are tour groups that do trips to certain reserves, like Aquila, from Cape Town. This is also a good option.

6. All game reserves are not created equal. Pay attention to their websites and what animals they boast on their properties. And then go to Trip Advisor and see what other people thought. A lot of the reserves are like big zoos with tame animals that you have to drive to see.  This is okay and will give you pretty pictures, but it’s not quite the authentic experience. To get the authentic experience, you need to go to the big reserves in the north east of the country, or pay the big bucks at the posh reserves in the Cape.

5. The best time to view game is actually during the winter, when the bush is lower and less verdant, and the temperatures are cooler. In the summer, the bush is high and thick, making game viewing more difficult. The game spend the hottest part of the summer days sheltered in the shade, and normally out of sight.

4. South Africa is in the southern hemisphere! So spring and summer run from September to April, and autumn and winter from May to August.

3. Malaria is only a concern in the northeastern part of the country. If you fear malaria, pay the big bucks and go to the posh reserves in the Eastern Cape. However, you can take malaria medication in preparation for your trip, and you should really be fine. Medical Care in South Africa is very good, in case you’re concerned.

2. You have the option of going on a field-guide led trip, where you’ll be taken on the back of a Land Rover and driven around, or on a self-driven game drive. Guide-led trips are often the popular option because the field guides are usually in contact with one another by radio, and so have a good idea of where the game is at a particular time. A self-driven trip will be less expensive — you should find information at the entrances of most reserves as to what game has been seen in which areas of the park. You’ll miss out on the knowledge of the field guide, but you’ll save the cash. I’d recommend doing at least one game drive with a field guide. You don’t have to stay on a reserve to go to the reserve and see game. If you decide to do a self-driven game drive, please see the next point for very important details.

1. If you go on a self-driven game drive and the signs say Don’t Get Out of the Car, then Don’t Get Out of the Car. Seriously. Many Asian tourists have lost their lives trying to make a peace sign beside the lions. Actually, this is a good rule of thumb, whether there are signs or not: On a game reserve, Don’t Get Out of the Car. Remember, this is Africa. The Cats don’t meow. They roar.

This week’s Travelling Tuesday is another shot from Mark’s library. “Hole in the Wall” is a place on the old Transkei (pronounced Tran-SKY) Coast. It’s now generally referred to as the East Coast, but most South Africans will know it as the Old Transkei.

This shot was taken during a 4 x 4 trip up the Transkei Coast years ago. Mark took this shot as the sun was rising with his grandfather’s old old camera, a Zeiss Ikon Contaflex — it was one of the first mass-produced cameras available in South Africa where you could manually advance the film. So this is a film – turned – digital vintage! The camera just loved to capture colour, but Mark also slightly overexposed it to capture a bit more of the glory of the hill at sunrise.

To give you an idea of the amazing geographical feature which is “Hole in the Wall” and so that you’ll understand why it’s called “Hole in the Wall” here is another shot of the island that you’re seeing in the picture above, also taken by Mark a little later in the morning. Pretty cool!

Hope you enjoyed this Travelling Tuesday! May the road rise to meet you wherever your travels take you next! (I hope you’ll come for a visit to South Africa soon!)

Top of the Week to ya! Since lots of folks seemed interested in my last post about South Africa, I decided to write another SA post…perhaps for those of you planning to be here for the World Cup next year! This amazing country is a melting pot of cultures, languages and of course, some delightful idiomatic expressions…which are my favourite things to learn, in any language. If you’ll be here for a visit anytime soon, here is my guess at the top ten most important words for you to learn, which might not be native to your version of English. Now mind you, I am not a South African, but married one, so I must give the disclaimer of saying these are second-hand understandings, with some first-hand opinions added in.

If you want to speak South African, this is a good place to start:

10. Robot – you might picture a metal box of arms and legs that can dance or run the Hoover for you (a la Rosie on the Jetsons), but in South Africa, a robot is a traffic light.

9. Gatvol – Pronounced HUT-vul, when you’ve “had it up to here” or are past the point of being incredibly frustrated, you are “gatvol.” Eish, by the end of that rugby match, I was gatvol with the Cheetahs. Maybe next season, hey?

8. Bro or bru – An abbreviated term for brother which rhymes with “row” or “chew.” Hey bru, it was a lekker party last night.

7. Eish – This term sounds like ‘ace’ with an ‘h’ on the end. It means ‘wow.’ It’s sometimes used in sticky situations: Eish, bru, I’m sorry. I didn’t even know it was your birthday.

6. Eina – Ouch! Or when something is sore. This is a long ‘a’ sound, followed by a ‘nah’. Might be used instead of a southern ‘dern’ when one stumps one’s toe.

5. Jislaaik – This one is pronounced “Yis-like” and means “gee” or “wow.” It’s a useful exclamation for when something is surprising. Jislaaik, those are tight jeans. She must’ve jumped into them from the top of the cupboard.

4. Boerewors – This tasty treat is literally translated from Afrikaans, farmer’s sausage, ‘Boere’ meaning farmers, and ‘wors,’ sausage. It’s pronounced (at my best attempt) “boo-re-vors” with a bit of a trill on the first r. It should be comprised of mostly minced beef, and is sometimes mixed with a bit of pork or lamb. No braai is complete without it! (See Number One).

3. Howzit? This lovely and useful term is simply “How’s it going?” but nicely abbreviated. You can imagine it like a South African Joey from Friends saying, “Howzit, Rachel?”

2. Lekker – You can’t visit South Africa and not hear this term a few times. If something is lekker, it’s nice or good, depending on the context. (Lekker is pronounced kind of like ‘lacquer’ as in the stuff you might coat wood with.) Eish, it was a lekker party until she showed up in her tight jeans. Then we were gatvol and left.

Eish, this looks like a lekker braai! Those spirals of meat are tasty boerewors!

1. Braai — rhyming with “try,” this is perhaps the most important word in the South African English Language. It’s both a noun and a verb. You might call it a barbecue, or “grilling out.” The pastime of the braai is an incredible art — many South Africans are choosy about what type of wood they use, others might use charcoal or briquettes or (less often I suppose) a gas braai. The timing of putting on the meat, the heat and size of the fire, and the amount of wind you might be dealing with are all factors to consider which can make or break the perfect braai. And from my experience so far, a true South African will always say the braai they’re enjoying could’ve been just a little better if they’d just …

I highly suggest coming to South Africa for the World Cup next year, or just for a visit any time! So howzit, bru? Come enjoy some bakgat boerewors at a lekker braai or two! You’ll pass through a few robots, and be here just now, hey? Eish, the trip might be eina, but you’ll be gatvol if you don’t.

Here are a few extra tips for good measure:

• Avie is slang for afternoon, pronounced “AH-vee”
• Bakgat - this is an Afrikaans word used fairly often by English speakers. Pronounced “BAHK-hut” with a nice thick ‘hhh’ on the hut. Bakgat means ‘fantastic.’
• Lots of folks, especially from Johannesburg (also known as Jozi or Joburg), will end their sentences with “hey?” Warning: this can rub off on you VERY quickly. (I picked up this habit when I lived in Scotland and had a roommate from Southern Africa!)
• Ja – pronounced “Yah” is a common way of saying yes, and people will often start or finish sentences with it.
• Alternatively, people more often begin their sentences with “No…” in answer to a question, even if “no” isn’t actually the answer to the question, and even if the question is not a yes or no question. So keep listening until you get the whole answer!
• If you’re teasing the person in the centre by not giving them the ball, you’re playing “piggy” (not monkey) in the middle.

Here’s another great site where you can learn to “speak South African” in preparation for your visit!

One of the biggest challenges I’ve found when trying to get settled in a new country (based on two experiences now) is trying to understand the value of the local currency. I was reminded this morning when Mark and I went out for a cup of coffee. We ordered a couple of pots of Rooibos tea (which I was amazed to see has now been introduced at Starbucks in America! Weird reverse culture shock moment to see Rooibos tea in America and say, “What are you doing here?”) Anyway, I wanted honey with my tea and so requested it. The waitress made an apologetic face, and said it would be 6 Rand. Because I’m not exactly aware of the value of currency yet, and was thinking something like, “50 cents” in my head, I said, “Sure that’s fine.”

Of course, as it happens, after she was halfway across the restaurant, the conversion actually sunk in and I realised what I’d just done and looked at Mark and said, “That’s like a dollar!” And I was totally offended to be paying (basically) a whole dollar for a tiny bit of honey to go with my tea. I wanted to go back and say “Nevermind, nevermind, I’m not paying a dollar for honey! I’ll have sugar!” Mark said, “That’s okay, we’re still learning” and told me not to worry about it. Shocking!

I think the really difficult thing, is not just learning to convert the currency you’re working in to an amount you understand. The challenge is actually learning the value of the currency you’re working in. Although 7.5 Rand = 1 USD in terms of currency conversation today, I think I can buy more with 7.5 rand in South Africa than I can with 1 dollar in the US. And of course certain items are going to be more expensive in one country, for example if they’re manufactured there, than they will be in another. We were looking at camping chairs for our balcony today. Is 120 Rand a good price for a camping/tailgating chair? I think $16 would be a great price for one, but around here it sounds like I should be able to find one for even less.

Buying food is an even greater challenge. Walking into the Pick n Pay is such a daunting prospect that I almost dread making a shopping list and preparing for the journey. The cheap and tasty meals I used to do in Edinburgh are suddenly not the cheap and tasty options here. I grapple with these types of dilemmas at the moment: Why is spicy cooked sausage so stinking expensive, suddenly?  How will I do my cheap and cheerful stir fry without it? The other day I spent ages staring into the butter section looking at choice after choice and examining prices and sizes. Asher was tired of being in the grocery cart, and my brain was fried. Finally, a very healthy-sized Mama came along and stared into the case for a moment before choosing her butter, and I thought, “Well she looks like she knows what she’s doing” so I chose the same one and was on my way!

So the adventure continues, even when it’s just an adventure to the grocery store to figure out what’s for dinner. If you have any tips on the value of the South African Rand for me, they are most welcome.

Instead of warning about drunk driving, South African wine bottles sometimes warn you of a different danger.... (which does take lives every year)

Top of the week to ya! If Wednesday is hump day, I’m thinking it would be the “top” of the week –yeah? Anyway. I’m getting settled in South Africa pretty well. It helps to have visited a few times before the move. But I’m at the stage where if I walk out the front door, I’m likely to see something that will surprise me every day. Really fun. It’s good to learn new things.

Here are a few fun facts, so you can join me in the cultural immersion!

Top Ten Things You Probably Didn’t Know about South Africa (Unless You’re South African)

10. South Africa averages less than one fatal shark attack every year. (For humans anyway). I would’ve thought it was more with those crazy breaching great whites!

9. Most shopping malls have a supermarket or two in them, and some other big department stores that have everything from games to coolboxes (coolers) to dishes, food and pool floats. Lots of people get shopping carts from these stores and push them around the mall. I am struggling to get used to getting sidelined by a grocery cart hurrying to a sale at the other end of the mall!

8. South Africa is roughly twice the size of Texas! Yee haw! We have a lot of trails to explore and I brought my cowboy hat.

7. English is one of 11 official languages in SA. The list also includes Afrikaans, Xhosa, Zulu and Sesotho. Well, you may have known that if you read this blog the other day. There are five languages in the South African National Anthem.

6. Pic-n-Pay, a shoe store in the States, is a supermarket here! I especially like the Greek Yoghurt, and that you can buy milk in plastic bags instead of plastic cartons. (see example, below)

5. While South Africa was constitutionally obliged to fight with the British in WWII, the Prime Minister, Barry Hertzhog, preferred to either remain neutral, or be Pro-Axis (as in, fighting against the Allies.) Hertzhog was deposed, and Jan Smuts returned to power as Prime Minister, and declared war against Germany. He fortified the country against sea invasion because of its strategic positioning. The leaders of the Ossewabrandwag, a pro-Nazi South African movement, were jailed for the rest of the war after committing acts of sabotage!

Asher's Full Fat Bag o' Milk

4. Cape Point, near Cape Town is not the most southerly point of Africa, as is often thought. That accolade actually belongs to Cape Agulhas, which is 90 miles/150 km east-south-east. Cape Agulhas is also the generally agreed upon spot where the Atlantic and Indian Oceans meet.

3. J.R.R. Tolkien was born in Bloemfontein. (That’s the writer of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, in case you were born yesterday!) And that’s Mark’s hometown!

2. There are six unique floral kingdoms in the world, one of which, the Cape Floral Kingdom, is only found in the Western Cape Province of South Africa. It has 8,700 plant species, and 68% of them are only found in this tiny bit of South Africa!

1. The world’s first heart transplant was performed in Cape Town, South Africa, by Dr. Christiaan Barnard in 1967.

So here’s to learning more about a great country with a lot of heart! whaa-wha-whaaaa…

Asher wasn't sure he wanted to leave the comforts of North Carolina behind...

Flying from Johannesburg to Cape Town was a peaceful two hours. Looking out the plane window, you first see the clay-red rooftops of the houses in Joburg fading into the distance, along with the tall shiny buildings of the city centre, the phone lines, and the blue of the backyard swimming pools. And then sometimes, for as far as your eye can see, it’s just this clay-red-brown earthy colour in every direction. It is beautiful. Lots of people say it’s Mama Africa’s red dust. Once it gets under your skin, into your blood, you always want to return. At some stages the clouds might space out below you like the circles on a Twister game. Perfect little round pillows stretching into the distance in white cotton rows. And you see mountains, one after another, some rough and rocky, some green and lush and verdant, and you wonder if anyone knows the names of all of them.

Then the wilderness turns into busyness again, as you arrive in Cape Town. The cape flats that sit behind the mountains of Cape Town stretch out for what seems like ages. The mountains are so beautiful you want the plane to slow down so you can stare at them a little longer. And then as you fly in, you often get to see Cape Town’s famous Table Mountain and the range that runs, and spills into the beautiful blue-green water. The beauty here is unmistakably wild — it’s hard to explain what I mean. If you visit the Lake District in England, it is also beautiful, but it seems tame. There are cute bunnies and ducks and swans and signs to beware of squirrels crossing the road. Here the mountains just seem so vast and expansive and rugged and rough — so beautiful you want to get closer, so rough you’re not sure you’ll do well on the climb. And the road signs don’t warn you about squirrels.

Our arrival at the airport was relatively uneventful. We picked up the rental car and the nice gentleman who helped us pack up the car taught me a few things to say in Xhosa (thank you and God Bless You). I absolutely struggled to convince my tongue to make some of the sounds he made, and I still don’t have it! I took his picture and thanked him for being my first friend in Cape Town. Then we were off to find the accommodation we’ve booked for the next three weeks. You might feel like this place is just like North Carolina, or anywhere you might call home in the states. Then you pass Khayelitsha, a huge and sprawling township of tiny shacks squished beside each other, with their four walls made of tin roofing, almost built on top of each other. You think about what it must be like to live there. You’re traveling at sixty miles per hour and the shacks seem to be never ending. As they’re sprawling along beside the highway, it feels like they’re running along with you, and then off into the distance. I remembered that the gentleman who helped pack our car lives there. And we wondered how we might go about arranging an opportunity to give people there shoes.

This is Africa. The beauty is great. The need is great. Our God is great. We hope He’ll let us be a part of what He’s doing here.

We’re currently staying in rented holiday accommodation while we look for a place to live. I think we have found our place to live now! I’ll share pictures as soon as I can and it’s for sure! Getting set up in a new country is challenging, but God is making smooth paths for us. Not having a credit history around here makes making anything happen a bit tough, but it’s coming together!  Thank you for your prayers, for your encouragement, and many of you, your financial support. Without it, we couldn’t be here!

This is the gentleman at the airport writing some words for me in Xhosa.