"So. Why are YOU so chatty all of a sudden?"

     It's possible that there could be a reader or two out there who did not know my mother, the late and formidable Marian LaRue Munninghoff.  Even though she's been gone for several years now, I can still her voice in my head plain as day.  And the above quote was notable among what Scott called "Marian-isms"
     She was a strong-minded woman who thought tact and sensitivity were for wimps; she was famous for "speaking her mind."  And she would call me on EVERYTHING, including the occasions I'd tell her some long-winded story.
     The question is a legitmate one, though.  It was on the many occasions she asked it, and it is now.  Why now, after having been home from Botswana for about nine months, do I suddenly get on a tear and write so much about Modisa?  What's up?
     It's been harder to write about Modisa because of my famously missing iPad.  It's been so kind of the many friends I met in Botswana to share their photos with me so that I can share them with you.  But it's not the same, and I have been considerably less inspired to record my impressions.  And it's considerably more difficult too.

     


     BUT, the more pressing reason is that in only one month's time, I'm off to Africa again!  And it seems an excellent idea to wind up the reporting on one trip before taking off for another!


     This time it's Zimbabwe and Kenya, and this time it's RHINOS!  


     These photos are from IMIRE, near Harare, Zimbabwe, and my friend Marcia and I are going there in January.  They have a newborn baby rhino there!

     One can swim with elephants there! 

     Check out their website!  http://www.imire.org/

     We can't WAIT!

      So, I better get crackin' (as Mom would say) and finish up writing about Botswana!