It had been five years since I was last in the gorgeous Matopos Hills.  Two weeks ago, I made a trip back to what still feels like home to me.  I truly think the Matopos are one of the most beautiful places on earth.  It felt so good to climb about on the rocks again, although I know I'm a lot less agile on them than I was as a child!

 

 

 

For those of you who are also familiar with this gorgeous part of the world, I'm sure you can tell how badly they need rain.  The cattle's bones are all too prominent and the dam is very low.  On my last day there, we did get some rain, but they will need much more to last through the year.  If only some of the rain from Hurricane Sandy could be sent to Zim!  Please, keep praying for rain for Zim. 

It has been odd to read about and see pictures of the effects of Hurricane Sandy on the East Coast and yet continue to enjoy the summer heat in Moz.  Our thoughts and prayers have been with and will continue to be with those of you on the East Coast. 

I am gearing up for another transition.  I have less than two weeks remaining here and I'm afraid the return to PA's winter might be a real shock to my body!  My four months in Moz have passed quickly and I have loved my time here.  My memories of Mozambique will be softly colored by sunlight and smell of the ocean. 

This lovely fellow is a Mangrove Kingfisher.  I love his colors!  The other day, he was flitting around the trees in our garden while I enjoyed the breeze and spent my quiet start to the day. 

 

And of course, I'll miss my little gecko friends.  We have spotted a new little one inside the house, but this fellow below is on our walkway between the carpark and the veranda.  

 

I recently came across a comment by Richard Fuller, who was an engineer and architect in the USA.  He said, "There is no such thing as a failed experiment, only experiments with unexpected outcomes.”  I rather liked that observation. 

Trees

I have four favorite trees.  Jacaranda, Baobab, Acacia, and Gum trees rank among the loveliest trees in my opinion.  It is incredible how the sight or smell of a tree can awaken so many memories.

I may not have listed flame trees specifically among my favorites, but the blooms are too pretty not to share!

Travel in Moz

October has been a busy month!  As I've spent some time on the road here in Moz, I've snapped some interesting pictures.  I wish I could capture the roads in a picture, but you truly have to feel the bumps to know what it can be like!  In some areas, the roads are being repaired very well.  Other sections of road have gaps in the tar ranging from potholes to asteroid craters.  

Regardless of the jolts, bumps, and lurches, a road trip offers a number of fascinating sights.  In the picture below, the middle truck is overtaking the truck on the left.  I'm not entirely certain what the motorbike plans to accomplish.  

Here is a fine example of a bush gas station.  These should only be used in cases of extreme desperation for the sake of your vehicle. 

Often children are sent to collect water for the family, once or even twice a day.  They use the yellow containers to carry them and if they are lucky, they will have a bicycle to help them haul the water.  I think the saddest sight I have ever seen was a little boy using a metal cup to dip water from a muddy puddle into his yellow jug.  

I do not know how these goats got onto the top of the truck!

Butterflies on Bougainvillea

I have always loved bougainvillea.  We have three different colors blooming in our little corner of a garden: purple, a dark reddish pink, and a very beautiful orangey red.  As I sat on the veranda reading, I noticed two butterflies flitting around the blossoms.  

I think every African garden I've been in has a magical capability to slow time.  Maybe American yards have the same affect, but I suppose we don't sit in them long enough to feel the effect.  It takes me back to my childhood to sit on a camp chair in the shade, feel the hot breeze, and believe that this day will last forever.  

The stillness is a little deceptive, because it's only the larger creatures that stay in one place.  Butterflies fly from one flower to another and the wood borer bees disappear and reappear from their holes in the support beams.  Geckos and other lizards scurry around on the support beams, floor, and walls, and dash under the shade of ferns.  Doves, bronze manikins, bee-eaters, orioles,and the occasional coucal visit the birdbath in the corner and retreat to the shade of the bushes.

A garden is a grand place to wake up slowly.  I am savoring the days when I can crawl out of bed, make a cup of coffee, and sit in the quiet.  Oh, it is not entirely quiet, given the school children, air con, and traffic on the road in the distance.  But is a good place to think, observe, or just be still.  I saw a lizard drinking water laying in a puddle under our air conditioner.  I don't think I've seen a lizard lapping water before.

Summer is arriving in Mozambique.  The grass is getting a sun bleached look despite the best efforts to water it.  Temperatures are rising.  Last Saturday, we slowly baked in 36 (96 F) degree weather, with a heat index of 46 (115 F).  Most days are not quite that hot, but the typical temperature seems to be in the thirties.  Mosquitoes are becoming bothersome.  Deltaprim and mosquito nets are once again a part of my life.  I don't mind the mosquito nets though.  I think mosquito nets took the place of a canopy bed in my childhood fairy tale princess dreams.  

And now it is October.  I have thirty nine days more to savor the Southern Hemisphere.