Today we headed south from Bloemfontein to the southern coast. The grassy landscape gradually became more mountainous and greener. We passed through Olifantskop (elephant head) Pass and into the area occupied by the Addo Elephant Reserve. This is absolutely gorgeous country, all green and full of trees. Unfortunately, when we stopped to photograph it, we discovered that our camera had stopped working. We saw hillsides covered with blooming aloes of various kinds, and among all the hardwoods were interspersed various large succulents and cacti. In the US we have “century plants” [View Full Entry]

---

---

We called a Bahá’í friend named Ghirmay, drove into Bloemfontein, got lost, and called him again. His wife Flora was in Zimbabwe and expected to be gone for a month. He turned out to be a tall, lanky, Eritrean structural engineer with a kind and quiet demeanor. He immediately offered us a place to stay. He was very warm and welcoming, and he asked Bob if he would like to help him that night during a Bahá’í Ruhi Book #1 class. While I was napping and trying to rid myself of a cold, Bob helped Ghirmay with the class. Because Afrikaans, [View Full Entry]

---

---

Today Lesotho celebrated its 40th anniversary of independence. This small kingdom has had a rough history in recent years. In 1998, the political parties in the country contested the national election, and riots broke out, primarily in Maseru. Instead of supporting the government in efforts to restore order, the army also began to riot. Unable to find local resources to quell the chaos, the government invited several neighboring countries to come in and restore order. South Africa, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Namibia sent troops in to stop the civil conflict and managed to restore order, but not [View Full Entry]

---

---

One our first trips into the country was to visit Thaba Bosiu, the hilltop fortress that was used by King Moshoeshoe to resist the Zulu invaders in the 1820’s. Moshoeshoe was a great ruler and diplomat who welcomed and offered assistance to all of the varied peoples who sought refuge from the invading Zulu. Within a short period of time, his small band had expanded to a considerable number, which he united under the Basotho banner to form Basutoland, later called Lesotho. The site at Thaba Bosiu repelled many assaults, at first from the Zulu and later from the Boers. Moshoeshoe’s [View Full Entry]

---

---

On September 25 we left Johannesburg and began driving southeast out of Gauteng Province and into the vaal, or great grassland of the Province of Free State. Later that day we entered the Mountain Kingdom of Lesotho, pronounced Leh-SUE-too. We were invited to stay in the home of Kal and his family, a very successful Bahá’í businessman who has been in Lesotho for 33 years, in the capital city of Maseru. Kal was born in Central Asia and raised in the United States. A couple of years ago his wife passed away and he remarried Thato, a young Basotho woman who [View Full Entry]

---

---

We went to our first African wedding yesterday, what a treat! The bride, Nthabiseng, works in the office of the Bahá’í National Center. The groom, Mandla, is a young man she has known since childhood. We learned that African weddings don't require an invitation, you simply attend. The food at the reception was a combination of traditional African and Afrikaans. The wedding was a Bahá’í ceremony with many Christians attending, so the prayers came from both faiths. During the reception, it is quite common for a guest to beginning singing to the newlyweds and everybody joins in and be [View Full Entry]

---

---

History doesn’t repeat itself, it rhymes. (Mark Twain) Greetings from South Africa. We are still in Johannesburg, for a week as of yesterday, and it is beautiful. We have been busily looking for opportunities and trying to talk with people, even with the internet down for 3 days and the cell phone snafus. Our phone can apparently receive international calls but not make them until we switch from a prepaid service to a contract service, which requires an address. Also, the service is spotty in this country. We plan to use Skype for international calls (phone calls [View Full Entry]

---

---

Pioneering is not moving from one place to another. It is moving from your old self to a new self. (Horace Holley) Bahá’í pioneering is when a Bahá’í moves to a new place, makes it his or her home, and proceeds to serve the Faith there in whatever way possible. It is not missionary work in the traditional sense, because there are no paid missionaries in the Faith, nor paid clergy at all. It is more like emigrating with the purpose of serving God by serving humanity. Our goal is to be Bahá’í pioneers. All of this weekend the NSA of [View Full Entry]

---

---

After spending almost three wonderful days in Amsterdam we boarded the long flight to Johannesburg and arrived in the early hours of Friday morning. This time I gave up trying to sleep and watched several movies - but don’t ask me what they were! The Virgin Atlantic flight was so much better than US Airways in cleanliness, quality of food, and service, it was amazing. Watching the sun come up as we approached Johannesburg was really beautiful. The dust that sits in the African atmosphere was lit by the sun and created a bright orange belt and streaks of brilliant pink [View Full Entry]

---

---

We left the Clock Tower in Rockford in a downpour, taking the bus to O’Hare Airport. The trip took almost twice as long as expected due to the rain, but we still arrived in time to go through security and get on the plane to Philadelphia on the way to Amsterdam. When we left the ground in Philadelphia, tears came to my eyes - not really tears of sadness, but tears of realization of the big changes we are making. We flew US Airways for both legs of the trip; the overnight flight to Amsterdam included dinner, which was not good [View Full Entry]

---

---