Courtyard Suite -Pretoria-

... s, dont stop for cop cars , dont attend 'fake' accident scenes on the road, dont wipe off the paint using wip**s if dropped from bridge (latest tactic), and dont buy from sell**s - they see a bag and phone their robb**-buddy at the next junction giving car details. With the exception of the car rules, all oth** cautions you would apply in the UK, I felt safe so far, especially in my home. I have a bar grill (but it just looks like a normal iron style door), then my normal door ...

... to remembering what the previous generations fought for. What happened to humanity........ For an example of the latest clashes in this area, visit the BBC news site: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/740759 2.stm (Strange that today I stood in line at the Department of Home Affairs with all the other immigrants, openly applying for a visa, to stay in country that seems to hate everyone who is consider 'their own'.)

Arrived in The City of Gold and did some last minute shopping for the trip... I have about 8 or 9 caps in my cupboard but did I bring any???? Off to Cyrildene (the new China Town) later for some dimsum. You can't really get good dimsum in Cape Town at a reasonable price. China Town really is interesting, much like the dodgier parts of China Town in London, only difference is there isn't a not-dodgy part. Some of the ...

... We saw a bunch of other significant Apartheid sights as well as peeking in on the current homes of Winnie and Nelson Mandela. It was a pretty packed day of sightseeing and we saw a lot of different things, both good and bad about Joburg. In the evening we got together at an African-themed restaurant with a bunch of Steve's co-workers who were all anxious to meet me and Sora.

... I ate. I am glad I did. The food tasted better than it smelled. It was a delicious South African curry with beef, raisins, and several other traditional ingredients. Stomach full of delectable South African cuisine but still upset from earlier, I went to bed. "I don't know what this funk is in my stomach. I hope it feels better in the morning," I thought to myself as my head struck the pillow. "What did I do to myself?" The journey is still unfolding. More to come.

... will be able to take a hold and the healing should begin. We'll follow it up with antibiotic cream and antibiotics. When you come back tomorrow, we'll stitch it up and put on a sterile dressing and hopefully it will be healing within a short time.' 'Can you feel this..... or this.....or this.....' he said as he slapped my hand around on the table. "No - although I can still move my hand, the nerve sensations have gone." The scalpel went in deep ...

... great! That was last night.<br><br><br><br> I am now in Nelspruit which is near to the Kruger Park and will be travelling shortly to Swaziland. I am staying in a hostel that looked really nice in all the guide books, and has a really nice room. However they seem to have a load of pet dogs that are everywhere you go - including the bathroom and they all smell of wet dog! Not very pleasant, but I'm ...

... cream at the gas station opposite. I coast on home, back to Shoestring, which is a very cool place 2' from the airport, free brekkie, and Rob's a darling. Safe area for walking, a rarity in Jo'burg, cheap laundry and a store down the road. Like I said, very cool. Before going to the hospital, we the Enkosini volunteers visit a crafts market where I finally got two of those very neat elephant hair bracelets... an advance treat for my trip to the hospital that I knew then I wouldn't get around.

The flight from Arusha to Johannesburg was the hardest for us to book since tickets for the airline, Kenya Airways, cannot be booked from the USA-only from Africa. We made a quick but spectacular trip back to Nairobi. We finally got to see Mt. Kilimanjaro, from the air. It is huge and we could see the snow that is permanently found at the top. We flew on to Johannesburg, arriving (late) at about midnight. We had a reservation at the Holiday Inn Garden Court ...

... and that was you had to have at least two people for the trip so we were feeling cautiously optimistic! The guide showed up the next day with a nice little 8 seater VW van. Not the cool 60's one the more efficient 2000 one. The good news was that we were the only people on the trip so we basically had our own personal tour guide and van for around the same price as a trip to Galway for a long weekend so we were understandably stoked. The bad news was that he was ...