Getting ready for the last hoorah

Good morning everyone. 

We have had one or two emails recently, missing our blog and/or worried because no one had posted.  Rest assured, we are fine & safe.....we just had a busy last week along with slow internet connection & other work to do on the computer.

A brief update to tide you over.  We have now moved out of the cottage at Baylor in Mbabane & have been staying at Mac & Nancy's house since Friday night.  Mac picked us up, as usual, late Friday afternoon & then we all headed off to get Nancy from work.  They both teased us that it's kind of like getting the kids from boarding school - only this weekend they don't have to return us - they have to ship us off instead!

In any case, we've had a lovely weekend so far.  Nancy made us delicious chocolate mousse from Toblerone bars (it's very simple & delicious - not too sweet - and we will be sure to make it when we're back in the States).  We had it for dessert on Friday, and I've eaten it at least once a day since then. 

On Saturday, we drove to the northern part of Swaziland & did a little bit of shopping before driving out to an old mining town to look at the cable-lines that were used to take ore over the mountains to South Africa.  The lines are still standing but not in use - it makes Mac a bit sad as it's all on its way to a rusty-ruin (though it's apparently the longest running cable line in the world).  The drive out there was bumpy, but it was interesting to see - and we also got to see a bit of the timber industry in progress as we passed through the mountains.  After that little trip, we went to Malalotja - another nature/animal reserve in Swaziland.  It is more known for its hiking trails & nature than big animals, though we did see a few wildebeest, warthogs, & some other impala/antelope family animals.  We did/attempted a hike to the waterfalls.  It was supposed to be a loop though about halfway in we heard the thunder moving in & found the trail poorly marked, so we saw the falls from that point & reversed back to the car.  We got back, tired & sweaty, rested on the benches for a bit, & were back in the car just as the first few drops fell.  It didn't turn out to be much of a storm, but it wasn't worth taking a chance of getting caught out in the park on the trails.

After the hike we headed home for hot showers (possibly one of the best showers of my life-helped by the fact that Mac & Nancy have a huge, beautiful shower).  We cleaned up & then met Dr Stephanie (our supervisor at the clinic) as well as the new visiting scholar (a family med resident from New Mexico) for dinner at a traditional Swazi restaurant just outside of Mbabane.  Mac & Nancy were a bit nervous about exactly what that might mean, but it turned out to be delicious (no green tripe - which is essentially uncleaned tripe, to Nancy's relief).  The woman who owns & runs the restaurant was great, & we had a lovely time.

Yesterday (Sunday), we took our time in the morning & then headed out for the last round of souvenir & gift gathering.  We returned to a few places for a few more gifts, had lunch, & then stopped back in Mbabane to see Sibebe Rock - a huge granite face just outside of the city.  It's apparently the second largest such rock face in the world (after Ayer's Rock in Australia) - it was quite impressive.  I will try to post pictures a bit later (sorry, this will be a words-only update).  Then we walked along a little stream & falls to stretch our legs before coming back home for a braii (the Swazi term for grilling-out).

This morning finds us having a particularly relaxed day - doing laundry & cleaning up.  This afternoon Nancy will drop Carter & I off at Mkhaya game reserve, an animal/nature reserve here in Swaziland.  We will spend 24 hours there - going on 2 game drives & 1 game walk.  We are hoping to see more rhinos, elephants, and such.  We're not positive they have lions though they are supposed to have leopards (the latter of which we did not see at Kruger).  In any case, it's going to be amazing.  They feed us (apparently) delicious meals after each game drive/walk, & we will spend the night in traditional-style stone huts (that are somewhat open on the sides - I'm secretly hoping a giraffe sticks its head in though Carter would not be so pleased!).

We'll let you know how it all goes soon - the next update may be while we are still in Swaziland (or it may be en route home).  We're not anticipating any travel difficulties due to the Icelandic volcano ash as we will fly directly from Jo-burg to Atlanta, thus staying south.

Also, for those of you who remain curious about the medical-side of things, I have a list of thoughts & comments to make, so I will post those soon as well. 

Have a good week, we will see/talk to you soon!