Well we had quite a trip from Maputo, Mozambique to Manzini, Swaziland in the Ewulini Valley. We rode in one of those mini busses I mentioned previously. The first row of the 5 has the driver and two money collectors. The next three rows have 2 fixed seats and one fold down seat (for 3 a total of 3 people in each of these rows) and the last row is a fixed seat. This last row would be great if it were for 3 people but for whatever reason it is supposed to hold 4 people and we were all crammed back there. Also the seat is quite high off of the ground so that my head was hitting the ceiling constantly as the roads are all potholes and the minibus has no shock absorbers to ... read more

Hello hello! It is hard to believe we have been in Mozambique for a whole week! I cant report that we have done anything specifically profound. One afternoon we went to the fish market (pix to be posted to this blog eventually) and got fresh fish. It was a bit of a hustle market though so we were not free to browse or roam. Still it was a good experience. I got a large kingfish and a small tuna for 100 meticais (3 bucks) and they cooked and cleaned it for another 100 met. Laura got a plate of prawns aka shrimps. We have been enjoying working on Laura's vehicle safety blog although the wireless internet is hard to find here. Weve been staying at Fatimas backpackers and def recommend it if anyone is thinking of ... read more

Well tonight is our last night in Johannesburg at the Ball and Kicka Soccar Fan Village. Laura and I got a much smaller more private room tonight sharing with just one other couple instead of the usual 16 in two rooms. So this will be nice. In a bit we are heading to Melville, a nice area of Joburg to watch the last football match of the day. So the last few days have been some of the most fun while here in Johannesburg so I'll get right to it. APARTEID MUSEUM: Really I think people would have to just go for themselves but it really lies out a the history of South Africa from the arrival of the Boers (Dutch) to the arrival of the British and both of their interactions with the local people ... read more

Hello, Well its been about a week since my last post. We have been back in Johannesburg for a few days now. I am at a public terminal now so no pix for now but I will post them later to this blog. So we spent about a week outside of Mokolodi Nature reserve at a backpackers campground. We had a hut for a few nights and a tent for the others. I loved that in the evening the servants bring a plastic waterbottle filled with hot water for us to put at the end of our beds. It warms your feet during the cold nights which are just above freezing by the way. I didnt think it would be so cold here. We are bundled up anyhow. After a few rest days at the camp ... read more

OUTSIDE OF SOUTH AFRICA: Well we decided to spend a few days outside of South Africa and have escaped just over the border to Gabarone, the capital of Botswana. It has been a fairly uneventful last few days as we have been resting up in our chalet, catching up on our interneting, and planning out our future travels. Today we hiked up Kgale hill. It is only 4000 feet up but offers a great view of downtown Gabarone. We had to avoid several baboons though on the way which was scary. They are only the size of small children or teenagers but I am still not sure what to do if attacked by one.. kick them in the jaw? I really have no idea so I am glad we were not attacked. The pictures you will ... read more

Also, I forgot to pass on, Laura's travel blog is up and running! http://www.asirt.org/TravelBlog/tabid/285/EntryId/1/From-A-to-B-Safely-A-Transportation-Travel-Blog.aspx Pls take a look as I am really proud of her for doing this :-)... read more

Hello! I am finally getting a chance to blog a bit. We are going to Botswana later today. Johannesburg has had its ups and downs. Since it is approaching the winter solstice here the days are very short and white tourists are not allowed at night due to the high level of violence. It is not a law but a strong recommendation. In fact the other night Laura and I were in downtown Johannesburg and it got dark really fast by about 530pm when we couldnt figure out what taxi was a one going in our direction. You cant tell the taxi driver where you want to go, he tells you where he is going! There are 15 people per taxi and it costs just about 1 dollar and after you get in, the person sitting ... read more

An enthusiastic top of the morning to you! Laura and I are sitting in the Batavia library updating our travel computer that we will be using to blog. Laura is doing a professional blog on vehicle and traffic safety issues and I am doing this blog for fun. Although I do not have anything specifically revolutionary to blog about it is nice to sort of diary along and I am sure it will be interesting to read these old blogs for Laura and I next year. So on Wednesday we were up at 8am but didnt manage to depart Roanoke until past 11am! We made it to Rissa's by 4 and then on to Pam's by 5.. only Shlomo (our cat) did not want to be stuffed into his cat carrier and got vicious with us ... read more

Sadly we left Eric's place in Arlington and decended southward to the home of the parents of Laura. We had a wonderful past 24 hours starting with our farewell party in DC. We sucessfully were able to finish the Ben and Jerry's Vermonster ice cream sundae. This is 20 scoops of deliciousness! We then went to the Brickskeller, in Dupont, home of more than 3000 beers from all over the world. Thank you to all of our friends who bid us farewell. Our friend Lyssa flew in from Italy to attend our farewell party and to drive the last half of our stuff to our storage unit, aka the basement of Laura's parents home. Today we started the day with a 3 mile run, then a trip to the local vineyards, then to the local county ... read more