Maputo

Just about caught up to real time here... *I am typing in the airport of Maputo, I wrote the body of this last night*

We are now in Maputo, and tomorrow morning we wake up early to catch a flight out of

here at 9am into Joburg for the last leg of our trip; the Game Reserve

This morning we woke up, ate and headed out of the village of Mukhatine. Our time with Pieter, just like the other 2 ladies we've been with (Perpetua and Sybil), has been remarkable. I could go on telling his stories for pages, but it's late in our fancy shnance hotel. *By the way, they messed up on our rooms so the 4 of us all have separate rooms. I have never been alone in a hotel room in my life*

Pieter was born and raised in South Africa, went to Med school to become a doctor, and did that for a good chunk of his life. He has devoted his entire life to serving the people of Chokwe through doctorate work, and now this village on Mukhatine. Recently his work with agriculture has stoked a new fire in him, and so, with a leap of faith he decided to leave medical work to pursue a new agricultural passion of his. It has really been a privilege to be in his company and spend time with him. The four of us have laughed harder in the past 2 days than I have in quite awhile...

Photos are: a fallen birds nest from the tree above our hut, (They are amazingly intricate-designed to keep snakes out). A great big fig tree at the mouth of the river in the village (according to Pieter crocodiles and hippos frequent it's banks, bummed we didn't see one). A dead butterfly. Dad pointing to the flood line on Pieter's house (Chokwe had a massive flood in 2000). The slums in Maputo. Scenery. And one of the many ridiculously overloaded trucks that you see traveling or most often broken down on the side of the road...