During the month of May, Colin was away from home more than a third of the month for a few reasons. The beginning of May he traveled to Durban South Africa for a major tourist operators gathering called "Indaba". He traveled with Mark Spicer, Tim Schubert, and our flight scheduler Melly, all pictured below together.
They spent the days at the gathering meeting with different companies and explaining all that FMS is doing in the way of aviation.
They were able to get accommodation at a well maintained B&B, that was on a hill over looking the city. The food was quite good also.
Colin outside in the B&B courtyard. It was cold and rainy most of the days they were there.
At the event there were many attractions, and below is just one of the many traditional dance groups that preformed for people passing by.
Another reason Colin was away so many nights in May, was that he did most of the over night stays at Jack's Camp. With the Kowalski family expecting the new baby, Colin wanted Keith close to home in case Cheryl went into labor early. Keith drove the family down to Gaborone the 2nd of May, so that he could cover all the flying while Colin was in Durban. There were only four days through the whole month that there were no scheduled flights. Once Cheryl was in Gaborone, we could all relax knowing she would be where there are better medical services and Keith was able to join the family on the 13th to wait for the arrival of their new "Special K" member. Still no baby as of this posting though....Though the nights Colin was away were long and lonely for Julie, she has stayed busy with structuring the Sunday school program and Bible Club outreaches that started back up for the term in the middle of the month. Colin does enjoy the relationships he has established with camp staff. Below is a picture of Linda, a camp manager and Charba, one of the guides driving from the landing strip.
Colin also enjoys seeing birds and wildlife in his comings and goings.
Above is a Yellow Billed Hornbill
Above is a Double Banded Courser
Just after his camera broke, Colin was in the truck going to the airstrip when a female lioness was spotted on a fresh wildebeest kill. Unfortunately, there are no pictures to show of that...And as always, there are incredible sunrises and sunset daily...
On the 12th of May, we both traveled by car to Gaborone for the Annual General Meeting of FM held on the 14th of May. On the 13th, we spent most of the day dealing with the renewal paperwork concerning our permits that expire the end of July. While there, Colin was also able to visit a friend he made in one of the local stores. We drove the ten hour trip back up to Maun on the 15th.
The flats on our property continue to be a place of rest for visitors connected with Flying Mission. In addition to a couple of visits from our chief pilot from Gaborone, we also had a Jack's Camp management couple that stayed with us twice during the month. We have enjoyed getting to know John and Astrid much better while they have been in and out of Maun to do business.
Dr. Roy Bryan also stayed a few days with his son, and a friend with his son.
Just for fun, we thought we would include a picture of some of the American products that showed up on our local grocery store shelf. The German store manager made a point of taking Julie to a small shelf with the new "American foods" they were stocking. The pork and beans were double the local brand price and not really of any interest anyway. But, Julie was pleased to see the dried onions until noticing the price...The Pula 65 is equal to $10 USD. 
Oh well...so much for "American food". Guess we can wait a bit longer. We have just a little over one more year here before returning to Alaska, and it will go by fast. Many people are inquiring as to our plans when we return and it will most likely depend on what teaching jobs are open to Julie when the time comes. One thing is for sure, "In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps." Proverbs 16:9
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