The drum beat all night long. Normally you wake to roosters crowing, traffic in the distance, singing from the church and children's voices but not this morning.

“Does the white person talk?”

“Does she eat?”  The 4 year old has only ever seen a white person on TV, Bongi explains.

It’s hard to describe what I feel here.

There’s just gardens and gates, or red rutted roads. There doesn’t seem to be any middle ground in anything here in South Africa. It is truly a country of stark contrasts.

”When will you be back?  Where are you going?” the children at the mission all clamoured to ask us as we walked the grassy path to the car.

One of the first things an African does in the morning is open the windows and the top half of their dutch doors later if they think it’s become warm enough. Oh, how sweet to this Canadian!

For the first time in his memory, Jacob is immersed in people of his own culture and colour on his own continent-I can’t imagine how that must feel….

She is frantically and frenetically scrubbing and cleaning. She has already washed floors and bedding and linens all week long.

Looking back to 2002 when I first came here, I see many changes, mainly the apparent population growth. More people, more cars, it feels like more of everything........

From behind the door came two people. There she was pushing a walker ahead of her but I knew the voice before I even saw her. She looked exactly the same. She looked wonderful!

It’s a very long way from Pinetown to Hluhluwe Game Reserve on the north coast, quite likely comparable to driving from Brockville to Toronto.

Is there any bird louder than a hadida? Man, can they banter back and forth in dynamic ear bending chatter at daybreak!

Tomorrow is Zoe’s 90th B’day. Her family made a plan to surprise her, including me, at her party on Sunday. Who knew that when I randomly sat beside her in church here in Hillcrest in 2002 that she would become my African Mom! I love this lady…

Johannesburg is not my fav. Pretoria is much better. Indeed Cape Town is lovely but Durban, or Drbs, as fans call it, is my pick by far.

Back here in Jolivet, the mission seems so quiet compared to noisy Pinetown. I must admit, the nights are chilly here now but the daytime, by afternoon, is perfect. I’m not sure how many more wee epistles I’ll be writing.

Just a few days out of Africa, it all really seems like I’ve been dreaming.