Back to Joburg

After just two days in Pietermaritzburg, Nimai Ananda Prabhu drives Goswami Maharaj and me back to eGoli (the City of Gold), Josie, Jozie, Joeys, Joburg, the Joostes — the familiar nicknames for South Africa's largest city: Johannesburg.

We climb steadily for about 100 miles up the escarpment towards the Drakensburg Mountains, and at Van Reenen's Pass, more than a mile above sea level (1,697 meters, to be exact!) we stop for a picnic lunch. The view is magnificent, and so is the lunch: orange juice, cheese sandwiches, salad, yogurt, samosas, sandesh...

It is good to get back to the Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Seva Ashram in Lenasia. We are met and garlanded by Premasindhu Prabhu and his family, Mathurabasani Devi Dasi, Lokanath Prabhu, Mukunda Prabhu, Yogendra Prabhu, Kanchana Devi Dasi and Bhakta Shaun.