Enjoy your patch of grass!

I don't make New Year resolutions, because a) I don't like to put pressure on myself, given that I change my mind frequently and then suffer with the guilt of not following things through; and b) it's not necessarily at this time of the year that I decide something's got to change.

Having said that, there is one thing I would like to change this year, and maybe I'm just pondering it for longer because I'm on holiday and have more time to do so. I'm the kind of person who tends to think the grass is always greener over there - and "there" is any place but where I am now - and I really mean a physical place. So I'll try to make 2012 the year when I start appreciating more the patch of grass I landed in, in this corner of Africa.

• I live in a city whose streets are littered with trash and the plastic bags swirl at your feet when it's windy.
• Where the palm trees and the acacia trees which bloom a beautiful crimson red in the rainy season, preceded by the purple jacarandas, also line all the streets - there are so many of them!
• A place where bureaucracy and disorganization is so bad that if you have to take care of the same document ten times, each time the procedure is different and the documents required change at the clerk's will;
• Where you can afford help at home and therefore don't even know where the broom and the ironing board are!
• Where the police stop you randomly and fine you for imaginary infractions - and there's nothing you can do about it...
• Where women dressed in colorful capulanas (traditional cloth) come to your house to sell you prawns fresh from the sea, yummm!
• Where you're so distant from your parents, grandparents, uncles, aunts and everyone else that sometimes it feels you're not part of the family anymore.
• Where you're never farther than 5 minutes from the sea and the fine sand.
• Where you avoid going out at night because of the crime rate, and you drive with your windows up and the doors closed, and constantly look at your car mirrors when you stop at a traffic light.
• Where there's no long commute to work.
• Where the mail simply does not work and import taxes are so high that it's so hard to get the supplies you need to pursue your passion - jewelry...
• Where animals roam free - as they should.

So do you see? How can I love it? And indeed how can I not love it...

My wish for all is that you appreciate your patch of grass. Happy 2012!

View of Maputo and the bay

Fresh seafood everywhere

A pack of rare wild dogs on the last visit to the Kruger Park

Walking on the beach with faithful Max