We left Chitengo on 16 April first for Beira, where Rich attended a meeting about the Zambezi River, and then headed south on our long journey to Kruger National Park. Rich attended and presented at the annual Kruger Science Networking meeting, and we all got to come along for the experience! It is more than 1000 kilometers to Kruger from Chitengo, which we traversed in 3 days.
Our first day took us from Beira to a small resort called Morongulo about halfway to Maputo. Our 5:00 AM departure from Beira meant that we arrived Morungulo in time to enjoy time on the beach, playing in the Indian Ocean's waves. Early the next morning we headed out to Maputo, ariving in time to enjoy ice cream and beer with friends (who used to live in Chitengo) on a terrace overlooking the sea while Ian played in the sand and on the playground with his buddies Hannah and Adi. Our colleague Raquel and her husband Rui made us a delicious dinner and put us up in their beautiful apartment that night - the city noises were strange to us after the silence of Chitengo.
The third day brought us to Kruger. The border crossing into South Africa was pleasantly uncomplicated, though crowded, and we arrived at Kruger in time to enjoy a lovely safari drive to Skukuza camp.
Three cheers to Rich for doing ALL of the driving - much of it on roads with horrible potholes (in places, it is generous to call the road a road, when in fact the asphalt that remained was more an impediment than anything.) It is hard to believe the road is Mozambique's longest national road, traversing the country from south to north. And it makes one appreciate the amenities we do have access to in Chitengo, considering all of those amenities must travel this road at one time or another! 
Three cheers to Barb who road shotgun and handled all of the food and drink provisions and read out loud the entirety of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory!And, most of all, three cheers to two little kids who really do a great job traveling.
