The other day, we were walking to Kalk Bay to get some birthday icecream. There, right by the path, are TIDE POOLS! The family were a little surprised at my excitement, but I’ve never lived by the coast. And none had told me that Muizenberg had tide pools!!! The next day I returned and spent ages hoping about on the rocks, finding cool creatures and having a ball 🙂 Here are done photos with minimal commentary, for your enjoyment.

There were sea stars (starfish) everywhere! I got excited by the first one, much to the confusion of a child who gestured to the other pools positively overflowing with the beasties.

Tiny shrimp, fish (klipvis), snails, anemones, molluscs, urchins… So much life!

I’ll be there again soon, and you can expect some enthusiastic posts when I find the mythical nudibranches, but for now I’ll restrain myself for the sake of your internet bandwidth. I leave you with this Cape Lappet caterpillar from our garden, a little gift from heaven

Genesis 1:21 – So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living thing with which the water teems and that moves about in it, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.

A week ago I arrived in Cape Town, having worked a day in Joberg on the way down. Discussing the woes of Zimbabwe and Nigeria with my Uber driver whiled away the drive to Muizenberg, where Ellie and I will be living for the next month or two. The discussion, and the rapid transition from Joberg (which I loathe) to Muizenberg (which I love) brought up all kinds of feelings and questions. Why choose Zimbabwe? What would life look like here in SA? What are we doing constraining ourselves to a choice of terribly managed countries? Could they get better? Is my driver correct in his gloomy predictions of the future?

Muizenberg for me brings such feelings of peace. This is where I’d take a break from University work, rest, spend time with family and read in a hammock. This is where our honeymoon started and ended, and where various family ‘staycations’ have filled our time with joy. Days often begin with a walk through the village to the Real Bread Co to buy some fresh muffins and tasty rye bread, or a stroll around the vlei. It does wonders for my soul.

It’s jarring to remember that just a few km distant, the Cape Flats ripples with gang violence and trouble. For most people in Cape Town, life is definitely not Muizenberg life. Muiz is like the “Burbclaves” of Stephenson’s Snowcrash, where private security create an enclave of calm in a crazy world. And even here in Muizenberg, my brain is still in SA mode: only carry what you need, no walking alone at night, phone backed up in expectation of potential mugging… I’m told the trains are too dangerous to use these days. This is one aspect of Zim Ellie and I love – the feeling of safety. Weeks on end without thought or dream of being robbed.

It’s weird trying to reconcile things. We can live here in a happy bubble, but beyond that are so many problems and I don’t know how we could help. Zim is similar in a way – there too we live in a bubble, our lived experience very different to that of the larger population thanks to adequate funds and a bit of foreign income. And there too some problems (such as bad governance) seem beyond control. But the key difference? In Zim, I feel like we CAN make a difference, and a large one at that. Simple, everyday actions that support local businesses or create a bit of employment work wonders. A bit of kindness or help to a friend under stress is so appreciated. Community works together as we all struggle with the economic hardships, and even a well placed cup of tea can be a vital ministry. Plus, there are ways that I can use my skills for greater impacts with so many little organizations and passionate people working to build in spite of the government.

This time in SA is a good opportunity to think more about why we want to go back, and about what we can do when we get there. Ellie described it as our “civilization break”, which I think is perfect – some time to enjoy the conveniences of life with power, water and fuel available 24/7 while we plan our future.

Hmm, I’ve gone a little off topic! Muizenberg is full of Joys, and I praise God for the blessings of family, friends and beautiful spaces. I guess I’ll have to summarize all three in a picture so that you can share my rejoicing 🙂

The LORD is my chosen portion and my cup; You have made my lot secure. 6 The lines of my boundary have fallen in pleasant places; surely my inheritance is delightful. 7 I will bless the LORD who counsels me… – Psalm 16:5 onward

We’re in South Africa for the next few weeks, so this post will be the last Zimbabwe-themed one for a while (unless Ellie shares done more taxi pictures). The topic of this post? A final happy outing with family 🙂

Lion park, formally known as “lion and cheetah park” (sad), is located 30 minutes outside Harare. The trip out took us closer to an hour, since we were lucky enough to find a fuel station serving petrol!

The park has two main areas. One contains lions in a large enclosure that you can drive around in, while the second had some cages, a restaurant and a game reserve with some less dangerous game.

We were met on our arrival at the restaurant area by a tortoise of note, who made Ellie’s day by enjoying a neck-scratch and letting us admire him:

The cages are never my favourite thing, but it is always interesting to see more reclusive animals up close.

Tour of the cages complete, we entered the game park – the part I’d been waiting for. This is always a good place to see some fun animals – giraffe, zebra, eland, warthogs… And this beauty:

Also these beauties:

Good birds, lovely trees and a welcoming landscape with a mix of grassland, woodland and rock outcrops. This was a fine spot for our picnic and a bit of a walk.

Psalm 15: Lord, who may live in your holy tent? Who may dwell on your sacred mountain?

We’ve mentioned Chivero national park before. Well, inside the park is a large dam/lake. Apparently people sail there! So our friend Scott invited us to go sailing this weekend, as part of an event that his sailing club was hosting. So yesterday morning we packed sunblock, hats, lots of water, and headed out for a day by the lake.

We carpooled with Alex and Jed, who had also been invited. By ignoring the route suggested by google maps, we arrived half an hour early. We explored a bit, and then sat down to wait for Scott.

The lake was beautiful. We saw a few cool new birds, including a tiny Kittlitz plover and a rather large Whiskered Tern. Off to the side, the organisers of the event were starting the potjie lunch for after our sail.

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The plan was to go for a 2km walk on the beach, then an hour-long sail, then a 4km run in the forest. None of us were too keen on the run, but that was a problem for later. We set off on the walk with a mixed crowd of kids, older people, and us. There were probably 15 kids from ages 6 to about 11, and they took the lead shouting for us to “hurry up!”.

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Once we got back, it was time to sail! Scott took Johno and I as crew, while another nice man put up with Alex and Jed’s attempts to capsize him. Unfortunately, we left our phones on shore, so I didn’t get any pictures of us sailing. Several tiny boats manned entirely by kiddos also set out. I was so impressed by the tiny sailboats. I can’t imagine a better thing than having your own sailboat as a kid. One of the young crews managed to follow us all the way across the lake!

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So we sailed all the way across the lake. What a feeling! Leaning back over the edge of the boat to make sure it didn’t overbalance. Pulling various sheets(ropes). On the other side of the dam we saw a croc, and some ostrich, and Zebra and baboons and a bush pig. It was marvelous.

After the sail, we went on a birdwalk in the forest, while everyone else ran or biked. I had a bit of a headache, but I really enjoyed getting to see Johno walking and chatting with his three lovely friends.

We returned to a massive potjie (or three!) for a late lunch.

Finally, after a glorious day of sun and wind and water and friends, we headed home.

This post has now been delegated to me. Since our primary readership were all present on said holiday, it may be mostly pictures with captions rather than a coherent story. But for the rest of you: Ellie’s family came to visit us in Zimbabwe for a week, and it was wonderful 🙂

We whisked them away to Nyanga, staying in a cottage at Conomara and wandering the hills like hobbits.

Fish were fished, walks were walked, views were viewed and card games were well and truly gamed. Meals were decadent, and our cottage was cosy and fire-warmed to take the edge off the chill.

Brother David was also back, and it was nice hanging out with him and catching up.

I think that’s all I’ve got to say in this post. Slideshow available on request. Bye 🙂

I’m writing this from a hammock, looking up into a flowering bohinia tree. Flashes of yellow (African Yellow White-eye) and red (Miombo double-collared Sunbird) flit about the flowers. A sharp whistled chirp signals a rarer visitor: a beautiful black male Amethyst Sunbird, his titular violet head patch only visible if it catches the light just so.

Today I agreed to carry on the work I’m doing for the rest of the year. To celebrate, Ellie and I walked in the botanical gardens before lunch and tasty treats a ‘Classic Deserts’. Here’s E up a tree:

We haven’t posted much of late. Some photos of the Nyanga trip with the Ker family will no doubt appear soon, but since we seem to be procrastinating that post I figured I needed to share a quick update. We are happy, we are well, and we will post more the next time something noteworthy passes into our blessed schedule 🙂

Ephesians 6:10-end. Stand firm in the Lord…

On the 29th of May, Johno and I had the chance to help out on the set of Gemma Griffith’s new music video. The theme was feminist afrofuturism. The location was an empty warehouse. The experience was amazing! And now I finally get the chance to post these pictures, because the music video has just come out! You can find it here.

We weren’t really sure how much help we’d be, but over the course of the day we did a lot. Johno helped climb high and wobbly things, provide electricity solutions when the power went out at a crucial moment, and generally just ran around being useful. I ended up as the official body painter for all the women in the video (see if you can spot my work in the final product!), repaired costumes, made tea, and held a baby among various other bits and bobs.

But more than that, it was SO much fun meeting all the wonderful women in the video, and watching the whole thing come to life under our eyes. In the back room, a team worked like mad to make everyone’s hair, faces, and costumes camera-ready. The videographers had everything planned to the minute, to ensure they got the perfect lighting for each shot. And despite the frantically busy backstage, everything went off like a charm.

The rest of this post will just be a blurry photo gallery description of the day. Enjoy!

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And that’s all folks! Go watch the video. It’s pretty cool. And was so cool to be a part of.

We got to hang out with our good friend Scott yesterday. Over lunch, he mused that we should try to be like Thoreau: work one day to support ourselves, live minimally and enjoy nature. ‘Scott!’ I yelled, as epiphany hit, ‘I already do that!’ I work 8-10 hours a week, walk around in nature and live in a cottage on someone else’s land (well, I did until we moved over to my folks house). Needless to say, I am smug with this particular revelation 🙂

We have had no power since Wednesday, which made for an interesting dinner party on Thursday. But plans get made and life goes on. We have been visiting Clare to get work done and enjoy the social and entertainment of that household as a wonderful side benefit.

I’ve had fun finding flowers growing out of old TV cases, weeds climbing over broken fridges and creepers covering ancient PCs. All this in a hidden nook in our garden where I used to hang my hammock and enjoy some solitude. Trash, so quickly being claimed by nature.

That’s all I’ve got for this random little update. We’re happy and healthy, with lots of time to relax. We might have some exciting news soon. We have lovely family and friends. We’re looking forward to being joined by more family soon! Cheers for now.

If our blog posts are more spaced out, it is because our lives have settled in a happy pattern and/or we’ve forgotten to take nice photos. Fortunately, we broke both trends this Sunday when the family BUNKED CHURCH (!) and went on a spontaneous trip to Lake Chivero National Park.

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Chivero is a lovely park, with lots of wildlife on display. We see White Rhinos almost every time we go, and this time we came across a little baby! We followed our standard Chivero plan: drive around, find a spot for tea, drive around some more, walk around Bushman Point, scan the shores for birds, establish ourselves in a picnic spot and have a tasty lunch, amble back towards the gate and head home in time for mid-afternoon tea.

The park has a birdlist of 400+ species, but most are migrants that are only seen infrequently. That said, we still saw >60 species, including 12 that were new to our year-list (and Ellie’s life-list!). Not to brag, but miombo specials like the White-breasted Cukooshrike (which make visiting birders drool with envy) are becoming familiar and ‘old hat’ to us these days. There was one super-special sighting though – the Cranes pictured above. I shared the photo with a birding group, who are all very excited; the last time these birds were seen in this particular park was ~10 years ago!

There was one other sighting that got the blood pumping in a different way. It’s that time of year when ostrich are especially uppity. The males have neon pink shins and the fanciest of plumage, and the lucky ones might already have some eggs to guard. So when one appeared out of the reeds nearby and started in our direction, the family retreated to the car to cries of “Run faster! Don’t look back!”. A wise choice, but one that entertained some nearby fishermen on the lake no end.

Other news:
– We’re staying with my folks while our previous hosts have guests
– We made another new friend, who is visiting Zim and happy to find people interested in showing her all the fun places. Our perfect job description!
– I’m now lifting Ellie to her workout class, which leaves me with just enough time to go for a run at ART Farm. I say “run” – I take my binos and stop to look at interesting birds. I may or may not find lots of birds interesting when I need to catch my breath. On Monday I found a Hottentot Teal chilling in a river and unperturbed by my gasping noises – score!
– My work is going well, and should mostly wrap up by mid June. Holiday plans are afoot, and I’m starting to plan a new project to fill my days. Stay tuned.

This blog post the product of an unusually early morning wake-up. Here’s a happy verse from today’s reading from Ephesians 1:

17 I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better.
18 I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, 19 and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, 20 which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, 21 far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come.
22 And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, 23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.

We’ve been pretty busy, but ‘we should do a blog post’ has reached critical mass 🙂 This last weekend, we took a break from our relaxed lives and relaxed in a different setting for a few nights with my parents and a whole lot of nature. This trip was a present for Ellie, who is now officially older than my for a whole three months. We stayed in a cottage on Conomara lower dam, courtesy of a friend of my dad’s. As a sign of gratitude to them, I’m not going to brag with photos of the trout dad caught… instead, here’s the biggest thing I caught:

Walks around the dam, birding, fishing, messing about in boats, good meals, fires and books. Lots of books. We read ~4 books each? Partly because Ellie and I have discovered Jon Scalzi – a prolific new author whose works range from classic action to sci-fi to “buckwild”. Anyway, enough about that trip.

We’ve done some painting:

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We’ve had lots of time with friends, including Potjie/bonfire:

We’ve been to Mukuvisi a lot, seeing baby giraffes, going with friends, watching birds

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We’ve seen a lot of my parents, and played a fair bit of ping-pong. They have an orchid:

We’ve introduced some friends to ‘Swoggle”, a game invented last Christmas at the Ker household:

Work is getting more busy (in fact this is procrastination) but with bad power and internet the last few days, I haven’t done much. This evening we have life group, tomorrow a breakfast, tomorrow pm dinner and sokkie plans… It’s tough fitting everything in 🙂

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, ² fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith – Heb 12