2010 slipped through our watch! Plans to send our annual Christmas and New Year greetings before year-end got lost along the way. We take comfort in that the late delivery relieves you from handling the large influx of e-mail greetings that are characteristic of December. Anyway, we feel that it's better late than never!

We closed the year by going to Botswana where we met with friends and relatives; visited the splendid Tsodilo Hills (World Cultural Heritage site); and cruised to our favourite wildlife camping destination, Khutse Game Reserve. There was not much game to see, but the desert sands, stars, full moon and sun were simply soothing!

We celebrated Christmas with our son, Moleko, and family, Julia's mother and other relatives and friends, and also caught up with our fitness clubs, the Gaborone Runners Club and Kalahari Hash House Harriers. It was great to re-live the dedication to fitness, this time walking!! When we returned to Sweden, the contrast was unbearable! We were welcomed back by a mountain of snow outside our house and -15°C! Luckily, the depressing darkness was being lit by the beautiful white snow..

Moleko and family came with us for a two-week visit. This provided us the opportunity to celebrate New Year with all our children and grandchildren. Petter, our son, and family--who live in Stockholm--and our daughter Anna and family, living 5-minutes' walk from our house, all converged under our roof, filling every corner with family laughter and warmth. We had also visited Petter and family in Skåne, southern Sweden, earlier on in the year.

A new bundle of joy, Amani, Anna and Eric's second child, was born on July 14. She celebrated her first New Year with the rest of the family and is now taking her first steps toward crawling. Apart from occasionally babysitting Amani, we also spent time with our other grandchildren. We visited Vimmerby, the home of Astrid Lindgren and Örebro with Asali; and took Josefin, Julia and David to an amusement park and museums.

2010 turned out to be a very active year for Botswana's cultural visits to Sweden. We visited the Gothenburg annual book fair, whose theme for 2010 was Africa. A most enjoyable experience where we met Unity Dow our friend, former High Court Judge in Botswana and author of several fiction books based on her home country, Botswana. Alexander McCall Smith, author of the famous No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series was, of course, a central feature at the fair. Botswana was on the map of the world! We had been engaged through our relations with the Embassy of Botswana and Botswana Sweden Friendship Association (BOTSFA) in preparing for a visit by McCall Smith to Stockholm and Sedibeng Choral Society from Botswana. The visits turned out to be a memorable event of an exquisite dinner prepared by Botswana's Chef Joseph Seeletso (who lives and works in Poland)!

We, as usual, scouted for wild mushrooms during the autumn and picked and learned names of new mushrooms. We remained cautious, though, as a taste of a poisonous mushroom could easily lead to the end of our annual greetings! Julia got two IMF assignments, to Malawi and Sierra Leone, and continued with her speaking hobby through attending Toastmaster meetings, while Per kept his traditional dancing and photographic interests alive. Per, together with some BOTSFA members, started a monthly informal gathering of Botswana-Sweden friends at a pub in Stockholm. This provides us the opportunity to meet friends that we have not seen for years.

We took a trip to Prague, end-August, to be with friends celebrating Pavla Jezkova's 60th birthday. There was lots of catching up with people who had worked and lived in Botswana from the 70ies. Prague is a beautiful cultural-filled city!

Like has been the case in previous years, we also had a number of visits from friends, from within Sweden and a number who travelled from as far as Australia, Botswana and the USA.

Wishing You a Happy and Peaceful 2011