Saturday 9 January 2016

Back to the village

With a bit of luck, in a few weeks time, we'll be back in one of our most favourite places in the world. I'd almost come to the conclusion that I'd made my last trip - health problems, the losses of close friends and family, despair - all seemed to be conspiring against me and yelling 'Grow up, be sensible, look, you can't get insurance, stay at home, you've done enough.' The voices were inside my head, none of my family or friends uttered a word!
So, here we are again, on the edge of another adventure. The insurance was settled, TC came up with a generous baggage allowance, donations of cash and kind arrived and there was no reason not to book a flight. So, the flight's booked, the spare bed vanishes again under the mound of things that must go to the hospital and clinic and school.
 So, what can we look forward to? Friendship - sitting and talking with lovely people, eating wonderful food (ladyfish/captain fish/benechin/domoda ...), watching bats catching mozzies, star-gazing, candlelight, laughter, children, problem-solving, warm weather (!), kora music, haggling, renewing friendships and making more friends, learning, teaching, helping, accepting help and advice ... and being of some use on the planet.
People talk about finding their roots (remember the books of that title?). I'm convinced that my roots grow firmly in in African soil and I'm proud and happy to descend from those original people of genius who first inhabited our glorious Earth.

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