We're now in Nelspruit, about to head to Swaziland for a week or so. We've had the most exciting week; I don't think that we've had time to really process all of the happenings. First of all we headed to Hoedspruit to do our hot air balloon ride. We finally found the place we were staying at, One Stop Akkommodaskie, and we settled in. It was an awesome place and the owners were great. We got up for the 6am flight, drove to the launch site, saw them inflate the balloon, only for them to decide that there was too much wind. We were pretty disappointed, but thank goodness we had booked two nights in Nelspruit, just in case of cancellation! The people who run the balloon rides also own a lodge, a beautiful place called Otter's Den, so they invited us back for a wonderful breakfast. Their lodge is on an island you cross a rope bridge to get there and the river below is filled with crocodiles and hippos! Anyhow, they had two guests (Anne and Bil) who weren't sure how they would fill their day. We decided to head to Blyde River Canyon and convinced Anne and Bil to come along. Then the owners of Otter's Den offered us their car for the day. Of course we took them up on it. We had a lovely day. Anne and Bil are from California and are an interesting couple. They have been traveling through South Africa and were telling us about their time in Kruger. We all decided to try for the balloon ride again the next morning. And we got to go! What an experience. The wind was perfect, our pilot was funny, and the sunrise was spectacular. We saw some giraffes and small animals from the balloon. No lions (too bad), but the ride alone was worth it. We highly recommend it. We came back to Nelspruit for one night and then off to Kruger the next day. It really deserves its own postcard.... --m