sea level

Hogsback mountain stands tall and lush over the valleys of the Eastern Cape. In her shadow lie small villages, mud huts and gravel roads, cattle, goats and children. From here, overlooking it all, I hear the wild waters of mountain rivers crashing over rock cliffs into pools below, babbling over rough boulders into the valley.
This Africa is full up with beauty and peace—bumblebees on mountain lilies, Samango monkeys in the trees and the soft hum of cicadas in tall pines. There is no bush war in this Africa, no child soldiers missioning through the brush, no famine, no disease. This Africa is full of lush green and sunlight.
We walk barefoot along mountain cliffs, admiring the view. Out over the wide landscape, villages spotting the countryside, unable to see inside their doors. We don’t see hunger from 1200 metres above sea level.