Life is a journey.

We see but we do not see.

When I was 67 years old, journeyed to South Africa, with an Exchange Program in pursuit of my Master of Divinity Degree.  There were fifteen other members of the Divinity Program of Drew University on this journey

This was the first time that I had ever been on the continent of Africa.  When I disembarked from the plane and walking on the tarmac, I felt that I had gone full circle and had completed a part of my journey.

We arrived in Johannesburg and visited Soweto. There was a great contrast between the modern builds of Johannesburg and the shanty town of Soweto.

We then went to Pretoria and saw the 9-meter-tall statue of
Nelson Mandella, just down from the Union Building. (“Like an ancient temple adorning over the city it governs, the Union Buildings are a modern-day acropolis, built at the highest point of South Africa’s capital city, Pretoria, it forms the official seat of South Africa’s government and houses The Presidency.”)

In Pietermaritzburg, we had joint meetings with students and faculty from the Ujamaa Centre UKZN at UKZN Pietermaritzburg.  With Pietermaritzburg as our anchor, we journeyed to Nelson Mandela Capture Site, Howick.  Here in the mountains the stillness of nature surrounded me.  The beauty of the countryside at sunset was inspirational.

Next, we took a trip to Durban, another beautiful city, were the same contrast in the life of the people is evident as in all South Africa. After leaving our beautiful ocean front resort city, we embarked on a safari just outside of Durban.

I captured this image while on safari.

We saw many of the animals in their natural habitat.  The wonder and beauty of Creation was all around us.

At this river, we turned off the engine of the vehicle and stayed there for five minutes.

African Watering Hole is the one of the images I captured that day.

Now that our paths have crossed let us travel together on this collective journey of wonder and beauty.