One person I never lost contact with from my walk through South Africa seven years ago was Msinghati (MC) Nkonso of the Department of Water Affair and Forestry (DWAF). MC was assigned to look after me when I came through Eastern Cape Province. He did a great job and a lot of trees were planted along the way.

Thanks to MC and DWAF I planted a tree and left a stone on the grave of Steve Biko with his wife Ntsiki at the Steve Biko Memorial garden in the edge of King Williams Town. I'll never forget this and the over magical things that happened. Anyway, now I'm back in South Africa with Konomi, so we made a special journey to see MC in King Williams Town. MC's welcome was large and warm and he was very happy to meet Konomi. We had a lot to chat about and one evening we went with him to his homeland, a village in the nearby foothills. On the way the sun set and lit a full moon red moon rose through the huge African sky. This is where he grew up and now nearing retirement he's building a new home away from the suburbs of his present life. We had a great dinner. MC's wife cooked hake and potatoes and squash which was all very delicious. Everyone loved Konomi especially Granny who was overjoyed, and more than a little bit surprised, to find a Japanese lady in the house. Granny was a laugh a minute and joked about us finding her a rich man from Japan who would court and marry her in style. I liked her. She reminded me of my mum. In fact the whole family scene reminded of a typical family back in Manchester. Again was hit on the head just how alike we can be, even when we are continents and cultures apart. What a great family. The support of DWAF Minister Ronnie Kasrils and his department led to over twenty thousand trees planted before I left South Africa and their support and that of the national government continued as I made way through Zimbabwe and Zambia.