Into thin air

Sorry I’ve been slacking on the posts; things have gotten crazybusy here over the past few days, and I haven’t found myself with the time to respond to the flood of birthday e-mails (thanks for all of those, by the way!) let alone collect my thoughts and put them into an acceptable post form. The projects that I’m working on at the hospital and the clinic have really started gearing up, and there has been a steady stream of VIPs from Harvard and Partners coming through the hospital over the past few days – and while I don’t think I should name names, I definitely went out drinking with a cadre of them on my birthday Monday night (sweet!).

This weekend I’m headed up into the southern Drakensberg Mountains via the Sani Pass (there's a picture nice of it up at the top of this post), a well–known entry point into Lesotho from South Africa’s Natal Drakensberg Park. It’s apparently a very steep drive up – requiring a 4x4 to get through the pass – but exceedingly beautiful once you get there; I’ve heard the plateau referred to as the “Roof of Africa.” The intermarry for the weekend includes a stop in a traditional Basotho Village, hiking, swimming in mountain streams, an hour or two on an ATV (quad bikes they’re called here) and a drink at ‘the highest pub in Africa.’ Hopefully it will be as much fun as it sounds – and I might even need to wear a sweatshirt (*gasp*) for the first time since I arrived in Africa six weeks ago. Pictures of the excursion will follow, I’m sure.

Hope you’ve all been well, and hopefully I’ll get a chance to post again soon. Happy Friday.