Fam and Friends,

Things are wonderful in Africa. The weather is growing downright cool, which is a lovely change. Everytime I'm outside it makes me happy. I went south to Sabie over the Easter holiday and even witnessed some leaves falling from trees, it's a truly amazing wonder of God. Some of the other volunteers and I hiked from Sabie to Grasskop along the Fannie Botha Hiking Trail. The hike at it's longest is five days, but you can tailor it to your desired length. I opted to tailor mine to four days because I was weary. Some of the other volunteers managed to stretch the hike into six (crazy folk). I thought I had been hiking before. I thought Fotenell Forest and Mahoney State Park were relatively good preps for whatever South Africa could throw at me. I was wrong, but I really enjoyed the hike any way. It was like an intense extreme sport with tons of climbing over rocks and crossing rivers. I only fell into one river, but I jumped into a couple pools with water falls falling into them. It was a good bonding experience for us all. The weather was mostly overcast, which is good for walking outside all day. On day four we were met by a storm that rolled in and spat hail on us for about half an hour, but I think I came closer to God through the experience. At least close enough to ask him why he was trying to kill me as I hiked down a sixty-five degree decline in rain and hail, and with thunder crashing all around me. After that the sun came up and dried us nicely before we reached the hut. I should have trusted. This is a photo of Kelsey and I taken to commemorate surviving the hail.