Family Reunited .... And (Finally !) On Our Way Home Across Africa .....

My husband & I have only ever been apart for a maximum of around 3 weeks in the 14 years we've been together. (This photo of us was taken in Lake Naivasha, Kenya the year before last - it's an old one as it was the only one I could find of us without the child/ren in it too, as I don't publish pics of them on my blog)

My husband is on his way back to South Africa from Tanzania today, and on Monday we will begin our long journey home together as a family. I can't wait !

Aside from the obvious difficulties of living apart as a family for the past month, it has also been hard for my husband and I who in our 14 year relationship have never spent longer than around 3 weeks apart. Ever. Coupled with the fact that we spend a lot more time together than most other married couples as we live in such a remote place and always have, where at times we only had/have each other for company (aside from staff and now, our children) for up to 3 months at a time (when we lived in even more remote places.) We have always worked together, since we met I have been to work with him every single day - not counting life on the farm when I stopped working.

So, we are very very close. Although, like any healthy relationship, we have our ups and downs (I throw things at him when I'm REALLY mad at him. Oh, and give his dinner to the dogs) and have had our share of both laughter and tears over the years. But I love him, and I miss him, and although I've had the support of my wonderful parents this past month, it has been hard being without him.

I was not keen on flying back to Tanzania alone with 2 young children. Especially since it entails travelling through 3 different African countries, 4 different airports and 3 different African airlines/connections - and especially since things are never quite simple in Africa, and anything could go wrong along the way ! So, my husband is arriving this evening, will spend tomorrow here with us and then on Monday we all begin our long journey back home again (an incredibly long & tiring journey for him to do in just a weekend, I must say). As he pointed out 'it's going to be a helluva trip home !' and I'm sure that it will be ............

I'll publish a quick blog post again once I'm home. HOME ! Yes, after an 11 1/2 week absence (I'm calling it 3 months) that has a wonderful ring to it !