Best Friends and Christmas Markets

A brand new parasol and two old friends. 

Retirement and a Big Truck

Since realising that I wasn't living my passion, I have become extremely interested in watching other people do what they love to do. It's almost as if I'm proving to myself that it's possible and then showing myself the many ways of how it can happen. 

When John and I went to Malawi I had more of these experiences, watching how individuals had created their lives along their own individual principles and values. I loved meeting fellow travelers and finding out their story, how they got to be where they were right now and what happened along the way. I also couldn't help but think that we had crossed paths just at the right moment for me to see and learn something new.

In Cape Maclear we met three sorts of travelers, the Peace Corp kind who live for a year in a village with the locals, the Dutch kind who have taken their kids out if school to travel Africa for a year, and then possibly by favourite, the retired British kind, who are travelling the world in their huge overland truck. 

The third of these travelers came in the form of a lovely couple, who at retirement bought their huge truck and began their travels, which have taken them all over the world. Of course I was struck by all the places these two have been, but mostly I enjoyed their bravery, their openness and their belief that the world was a good and friendly place. Indeed, this was how they had experienced it, because as John had suggested, they were kind, friendly and open themselves. They were just as interested in our story as we were in there's, and there is nothing better than a conversation that goes two ways. I don't think I'll ever forget these two individuals, and I'll never forget their story of being invited for tea and cake at the Turkey/Iranian border. 

I wish I had taken their details and asked to be put on their mailing list - I'd love to know where they are now and what they are doing.

 Which country have they stopped in and where are they drinking their morning tea?

 What do they see through their windscreen as they follow the roads of the world?

Our two brave friends and their big truck.

Holding Flowers

This gorgeous little girl was holding some bougainvillea flowers on the shores of Lake Malawi. It seemed like a perfect photo opportunity and she gladly posed for me. Her younger sister took one look at me and my camera and burst in tears. The girl with the flowers thought this was quite funny. 

We loved that dog.

Today Sarah and I wandered to a hiking spot in the Magaliesberg. One always feels good after a morning hike in greeness and fresh air and a bit of sun. This wasn't what made this morning special though, today was the day Sarah and I met Ozzo. A very happy and lovable Jack Russel who decided that he would be our companion and guide for the morning. 

We first met Ozzo with a pack of his equally joyful friends. They soon left us, but not Ozzo! He stuck around for the entire three hours. At first we dubbed him Jock, a very suitable name considering the bushveld we were surrounded by. Eventually however, after his epic slide down the side of the valley -while we took the ladder - we checked his name tag on his collar. OZZO. 

It was reassuring having a very knowledgable new friend with us. He definitely had done this hike a good few times before. At one point we lost sight of the yellow footprints that were our path markers and so decided to follow Ozzo instead. We soon realized that a dog was not always the best navigation captain and Sarah took over after we saw that Ozzo was more interested in exploring than following a well-trodden path. 

With the excellent navigation skills of Sarah the exuberant presence of Ozzo, we finally found our way back. Ozzo proved to be very faithful all the way to the end as he followed/led us all the way back to the car. 

For three hours, we loved that dog. 

Ozzo and Us - by Sarah and her wowow phone.