We left the bustle of Johannesburg's city life for the openness of Harare, Zimbabwe. In addition to training meetings we also viewed two humanitarian projects set in green countryside amidst rolling hills. A village medical clinic is now providing services with a new electrical transformer, water tank and upgraded water pump; and a village school received a grinding and dehulling mill. Baby chicks eat chaff which falls to the cement floor under the mill and they are later sold as chickens to help pay for school equipment and supplies and upkeep on the mill.
Arriving in Cape Town, South Africa, in early afternoon we viewed Table Mountain from Signal Hill with Robben Island in the bay in front of us. Cape Town is a beautiful seaport city from which we departed the following morning.
From the airplane we viewed rich farmlands which bump up against the mountains framing the vast openness of South Africa's interior with isolated towns seen here and there.
Nearing Johannesburg is an area known as the Cradle of Mankind. Long grass and scrub bushes hide ceilings to caverns into which ancient hominids occasionally fell. Now their fossilized remains are being discovered in caves throughout this pastoral region.
Our arrival in Maputo, Mozambique, completed our one day's flight from the Atlantic Ocean to the Indian Ocean. Arising just before sunrise, Ron and I quickly made our way down to the beach to collect a few seashells along the shore and feel the waters of an ocean new to us as we walked along the sand. Maputo has a warm, tropical setting. By noon we were on a return flight to Johannesburg.
The final leg of our journey took us to the southeastern area of Democratic Republic of the Congo. Lubumbashi, a teeming city of 2 million people, has only one tarred (paved) road which includes the main street and is part of the two hour drive out into the bush to Likasi. People walking, bicycles, van-like taxis, cars and semi trucks all share the two lane roads. The air of both cities is perpetually filled with fine dust.
Unique to this semiarid area are hundreds and thousands of vacated termite mounds which literally dot the open landscape. These mounds of compacted residue are cut into bricks and used as building materials. As seen in this picture with four termite mounds, when ground is cleared for new construction these mounds are left for ready access to the bricks.
Viewed from the air, a few hills and trailings from mining endeavors create random spots of elevation. Red dirt roads and meandering rivers cut through the flat interior of the country.
In all four places our favorite memories are of the friendly, resilient residents.
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