So I know you're all awaiting breathlessly to see if the hippos got me ... so I'll end the suspense with a quick update of a different tone.

Camping was crazy. It wasn't camping in the true sense of the word since we don't have all the equipment. We drove up to Tuli park (5 hours north of here on the South African/Botswana border) and stayed in a traditional thatched hut on the Limpopo river w/all supplies provided, our side was Botswana and the other side was South Africa. The weather was beautiful, I ate my weight in s'mores (that's to make up for the Easter basket I’m missing this weekend), and discovered that apparently in Africa it's normal to drive around and find that - oh - there's a herd of elephants walking across the road. And some Zebra and a herd of Impala, water bucks and spring bucks ... It was such a privilege to spend a quiet Easter outside watching God's incredible creation bring Him glory.

We ran into some South African kids fishing (and wading in hippo/crocodile infested water) and they wanted to know why we didn't just walk around the park on foot or walk out into the river with them. When we told them it was because we were afraid of being trampled by elephants or eaten by hippos/crocodiles they looked at us like we had four heads. "Don't you have animals in the United States?" So, probably the first of many cultural differences where the respective sides just stayed at an impasse. It was also weird to be told that I have a cool accent and that being from Dallas is glamorous. They also wanted to know how many movie stars I’m friends with !

Also had an interesting run in with some other locals who were an abrupt reminder that Apartheid was not so long ago the norm in South Africa. It's not really worth reliving, but you should pray for the continued reconciliation of whites and blacks in South Africa. It is a battle far from won.

Our camping trip wraps up with a heinous drive home. Nine hours instead of five. Exciting parts included a prolonged search for gas which had us traveling to many interesting places I would never have thought to search for gas stations, salvation from a Rastafarian guy who gave us 2 liters of petrol (we weren't entirely sure it wasn't 1/2 water) and a run in with a corrupt police scam that was using Easter as an excuse to basically steal money from people. They told us we could pay them 1000 Pula ($130) or surrender the car, and since they carry really big guns we decided that initiating a chase was probably a poor plan and paid the money.

So that was my very unique Easter in Botswana. I hope that each of you had a blessed weekend. Thanks so much for continuing to follow with me by reading and responding to my emails.