We spent an evening at a local farm house that some friends of ours were house sitting. We had a cook out (braai) and the kids played with the animals.
In mid November, just before the rats arrived, Jenny flew to Texas, along with several other management folks from here for a management conference at the Mercy Ships International Operations Center (IOC) near Tyler. Lots of good things happened during the conference and it was a great opportunity for staff at the IOC and crew on the ship to meet and foster relationships. She was there for a couple of weeks and had the opportunity to work in a two day layover in North Carolina on the way back. It was really great because she was able to spend most of Thanksgiving day with her family there before crossing the great pond again for Appelsbosch. In the midst of all of this, too, Jenny found out that she will be promoted to Operating Room Manager for our time in Sierra Leone. I'm confident she can do it, but we know it will be hard on her (and our family because most all of her energy will be poured into the O.R.).Just before Christmas, we took a road trip up north. We crossed the border and spent a night in beehive huts at Mlilwane Wildlife Sanctuary in Swaziland. 
We saw animals and had breakfast at the Hippo Haunt restaurant. The breakfast was incredible and the location fantastic. We watched a bright red male weaver bird wooing his mate,
saw a two foot long lizard, watched other birds and turtles and catfish all while we had breakfast there. No hippos, but that was okay; it was still a very memorable breakfast! We visited the Ngwenya Glass company and, contemplated how much we had enjoyed our 24 hours in Swaziland and continued on across the border to the north and back into South Africa. We spent three days in Kruger National Park and saw all of the big 5 except lions - elephants, water buffalo, hippos, and even a leopard. The leopard was particularly wonderful because they are more rare to see and I had been praying pretty hard that we would cross paths with one. 
One appeared in the road and we got to watch probably for a full minute as the leopard made its way up a river bed to the right of our car. We also saw a small creature that had quickly risen to the top of the kids' (and therefore our own) must see list - a dung beetle rolling a ball of dung across the road. 
We saw spotted hyenas with young which really pleased Bethany - the hyena is her favorite African animal. 
We stayed in rondavels (round houses with thatched rooves) at Kruger and ate dinner one night at the old rail station at Skukuza rest camp that is now a restaurant. We went on a sunset game drive and almost got charged by an enormous male elephant in musth! The driver knew what to do and after the elephant retreated I looked back at Bethany who had been thoroughly terrified by the event. All of the color had drained from her face. She wasn't the only one, though, that was nervous about the encounter. After that Bethany was adamant about staying a comfortable distance from the elephants. We encountered another huge male in musth walking down the middle of the road stopping all the traffic in both directions. We really wanted to pass, but simply were not interested in challenging the elephant for the right to use the road. No one else on the road was either. 
The elephant kept pushing us back until we came up with a plan. We backed up a quarter mile or so to the turn off to a watering hole beside the road figuring the elephant might be thirsty and stop off for a drink. We positioned our car for a quick escape in case he didn't turn in and waited. Soon he came lumbering (do-de-do) down the road and turned in to the watering hole. Success! Then we went down the road we wanted to and that was a good thing because it was further down that same road where the leopard had appeared. We had great adventures during our three days at Kruger. I never thought we would ever have the opportunity to go on a real African safari together as as a family. That was a great blessing!
We saw animals and had breakfast at the Hippo Haunt restaurant. The breakfast was incredible and the location fantastic. We watched a bright red male weaver bird wooing his mate, saw a two foot long lizard, watched other birds and turtles and catfish all while we had breakfast there. No hippos, but that was okay; it was still a very memorable breakfast! We visited the Ngwenya Glass company and, contemplated how much we had enjoyed our 24 hours in Swaziland and continued on across the border to the north and back into South Africa. We spent three days in Kruger National Park and saw all of the big 5 except lions - elephants, water buffalo, hippos, and even a leopard. The leopard was particularly wonderful because they are more rare to see and I had been praying pretty hard that we would cross paths with one. One appeared in the road and we got to watch probably for a full minute as the leopard made its way up a river bed to the right of our car. We also saw a small creature that had quickly risen to the top of the kids' (and therefore our own) must see list - a dung beetle rolling a ball of dung across the road. We saw spotted hyenas with young which really pleased Bethany - the hyena is her favorite African animal. We stayed in rondavels (round houses with thatched rooves) at Kruger and ate dinner one night at the old rail station at Skukuza rest camp that is now a restaurant. We went on a sunset game drive and almost got charged by an enormous male elephant in musth! The driver knew what to do and after the elephant retreated I looked back at Bethany who had been thoroughly terrified by the event. All of the color had drained from her face. She wasn't the only one, though, that was nervous about the encounter. After that Bethany was adamant about staying a comfortable distance from the elephants. We encountered another huge male in musth walking down the middle of the road stopping all the traffic in both directions. We really wanted to pass, but simply were not interested in challenging the elephant for the right to use the road. No one else on the road was either. The elephant kept pushing us back until we came up with a plan. We backed up a quarter mile or so to the turn off to a watering hole beside the road figuring the elephant might be thirsty and stop off for a drink. We positioned our car for a quick escape in case he didn't turn in and waited. Soon he came lumbering (do-de-do) down the road and turned in to the watering hole. Success! Then we went down the road we wanted to and that was a good thing because it was further down that same road where the leopard had appeared. We had great adventures during our three days at Kruger. I never thought we would ever have the opportunity to go on a real African safari together as as a family. That was a great blessing! After Kruger we traveled a little ways to the west and stayed at a self-catering cottage near MacMac falls. We loved that because all five of us could stay in one cottage. We went grocery shopping and had a fantastic braai (we grilled out). We had steak with mushrooms and grilled zucchini. It rained and we had trouble getting the fire going, but Joey and I kept blowing the coals (in the rain) and soon we had a wonderful fire! Jenny and I don't remember when we've had a better steak! We lit the oil lamps that evening and listened to Christmas music on Jenny's laptop and watched old Christmas television specials that we had on DVD. It was really nice family time and it felt a lot like Christmas even though we were a long way from home, it was the middle of summer, and the kids had playing in the camp pool on their minds. There were mosquitoes in the air, and giraffes on the curtains. A bit different from the usual for us, but Christmas time nonetheless. We even fixed our own English breakfasts two mornings in a row (eggs, sausage, toast, grilled tomato half, baked beans, and mushrooms - only we forgot the mushrooms)! Even though the cabin was rustic, our time there was a definite highlight. 
We spent a day traveling up to the Blyde River Canyon area. We visited the Pinnacle (a cool rock formation) where David found a toad in the bushes.
We visited God's Window (a lovely view from the escarpment), Wonderview (another nice overlook), Burke's Luck Potholes (interesting rock cavities made by the river and waterfalls), The Three Rondavels (a beautiful view of the Canyon area with three rock formations that look like the typical round houses of the area), 
and Lisbon Falls. Nearly every spot had its own government toll and its own craft market stalls so everyone was taking the opportunity to make some money from the tourists. It was a long day, but we took in some amazing scenery! We were sad to leave the area less than 48 hours after we arrived, but we had to. We traveled to the Royal Country Inn in Dundee and slept in the nicest bed we had since we left our home in North Carolina. The following day we visited the historic battlefields of Isandlwana 
and Rorke's Drift 
and learned about those fateful days in January 1879 when the Zulu warriors wiped out a regiment (some 1,300 plus British soldiers) at Isandlwana. The following night, a small contingency of of 100 or so British soldiers held off the Zulu advance (about 4,000 strong) at the small outpost of Rorke's Drift a few kilometers away. Amazing history! The 1964 film "Zulu" with Michael Caine hardly does it justice in my opinion. Joey really enjoyed the battlefields. He's been really into military stuff these days. We had traveled for a week dodging hundreds of potholes over 2200 miles of South African and Swazi roadways and counting our blessings every step of the way. We had a great time getting away and being a family.
We spent a day traveling up to the Blyde River Canyon area. We visited the Pinnacle (a cool rock formation) where David found a toad in the bushes. We visited God's Window (a lovely view from the escarpment), Wonderview (another nice overlook), Burke's Luck Potholes (interesting rock cavities made by the river and waterfalls), The Three Rondavels (a beautiful view of the Canyon area with three rock formations that look like the typical round houses of the area), and Lisbon Falls. Nearly every spot had its own government toll and its own craft market stalls so everyone was taking the opportunity to make some money from the tourists. It was a long day, but we took in some amazing scenery! We were sad to leave the area less than 48 hours after we arrived, but we had to. We traveled to the Royal Country Inn in Dundee and slept in the nicest bed we had since we left our home in North Carolina. The following day we visited the historic battlefields of Isandlwana and Rorke's Drift and learned about those fateful days in January 1879 when the Zulu warriors wiped out a regiment (some 1,300 plus British soldiers) at Isandlwana. The following night, a small contingency of of 100 or so British soldiers held off the Zulu advance (about 4,000 strong) at the small outpost of Rorke's Drift a few kilometers away. Amazing history! The 1964 film "Zulu" with Michael Caine hardly does it justice in my opinion. Joey really enjoyed the battlefields. He's been really into military stuff these days. We had traveled for a week dodging hundreds of potholes over 2200 miles of South African and Swazi roadways and counting our blessings every step of the way. We had a great time getting away and being a family. We arrived back at Appelsbosch on the evening of the 23rd of December and the next two days were a blur. The 24th was a frantic mix of preparation for Christmas, distributing small gifts to fellow crew members, doing laundry, unpacking, etc. I spent time backing up photos from our time away and Jenny wrapped until late. Christmas day I would have liked to rest, but everyone was going to the ship in Durban for Christmas dinner, so we all boarded the shuttle vans for the ship. The boys and I went later in our rental car so we could take some stuff back to the ship in anticipation of moving back in January. At the ship we had a nice dinner and opened Christmas crackers (cardboard things that pop when you open them that have a prize and a plastic or paper crown inside). 
On the 26th we went to Lion Park near Pietermaritzburg. We got really close to a rhino and a couple of small elephants! The car windows got slimed and we got to smell elephant breath!
We also got close to some lions in the lion enclosure that you drive into, but thankfully not close enough to lose a car bumper, which had happened to someone when our friends had gone to Lion Park. 
After visiting the lions we dipped candles at a candle shop in a nice town called Nottingham Road north of Pietermaritzburg. 
Then we headed out for 6 days in the northern Drakensberg mountains. We stayed at a place called the Tower of Pizza that originally was a tower, I think a silo, converted into a pizzeria and is now a much bigger restaurant and B&B. Our friend Miriam joined us for those six days. It was fun having her along. The three girls stayed in one rondavel and the boys and I stayed in another. We ate pizza almost every day, much to the boys' delight!! Imagine, a little slice of Italy in the South Africa mountains! Joey, Miriam, and I went on some really nice hikes. The best one was the Sentinel Peak hike, a hike up to the top of the escarpment, around Sentinel peak, 
up some really scary chain ladders, 
across the plateau and to the edge of the sheer drop at the top of the "Amphitheater" where Thukela Falls (the second or forth highest falls in the world depending on which criteria you use) plunges into the gorge below. 
Good grief what an incredible view - one of the best I have ever seen!! The three of us really enjoyed that hike despite the fact that we were past the point of exhaustion by the time we got home. It was a long hike and we had driven more than three hours round trip to the trail head. It began to storm violently up there as we were driving home, so we were really thankful that we were down and had had such nice weather for our hike. We felt bad for the guys we had seen preparing to overnight up there earlier in the day. The following day we all went on a short hike (which was all Joey, Miriam, and I could muster) to some San Bushman paintings and to the cascades in the Royal Natal National Park. The paintings were worn but interesting. The cascades were really nice; nice and cold too! 
We had a blast there swimming and splashing and exploring. The next day we all hiked up the gorge to see Thukela Falls and the Amphitheater from below - not as impressive as from above, but still pretty cool. At the end of the day, despite my fatigue, I took David and Bethany fishing at the pond a few hundred yards above our lodging and we were able to catch a bass and almost caught a second one. The kids loved that and Bethany talked to and petted the fish most of the way down the hill. As the kids were to sad to eat the fish themselves, we gave it to one of the Zulu guys who worked in the kitchen and he was absolutely thrilled. He cooked and ate it almost immediately and thanked us over and over! Fishing was a definite highlight for Bethany and David. None of us wanted to leave when it was time to come back to Appelsbosch on New Years Day! Before the drive home on New Years Day we went to Falcon Ridge so Miriam could see the first class bird of prey show they have there. We really enjoyed seeing it a second time. 
Then we went to the Didima Rock Art Center and learned more about the Bushman painting in the Drakensberg. David and Bethany were most impressed by the life size statues of Eland antelope that they have there. They loved pretending they were real and clowning around on them. 
We were really sad when our time away was over, but we had had such a grand opportunity to spend time exploring northeastern South Africa that we couldn't be too sad.
We also got close to some lions in the lion enclosure that you drive into, but thankfully not close enough to lose a car bumper, which had happened to someone when our friends had gone to Lion Park. After visiting the lions we dipped candles at a candle shop in a nice town called Nottingham Road north of Pietermaritzburg. Then we headed out for 6 days in the northern Drakensberg mountains. We stayed at a place called the Tower of Pizza that originally was a tower, I think a silo, converted into a pizzeria and is now a much bigger restaurant and B&B. Our friend Miriam joined us for those six days. It was fun having her along. The three girls stayed in one rondavel and the boys and I stayed in another. We ate pizza almost every day, much to the boys' delight!! Imagine, a little slice of Italy in the South Africa mountains! Joey, Miriam, and I went on some really nice hikes. The best one was the Sentinel Peak hike, a hike up to the top of the escarpment, around Sentinel peak, up some really scary chain ladders, across the plateau and to the edge of the sheer drop at the top of the "Amphitheater" where Thukela Falls (the second or forth highest falls in the world depending on which criteria you use) plunges into the gorge below. Good grief what an incredible view - one of the best I have ever seen!! The three of us really enjoyed that hike despite the fact that we were past the point of exhaustion by the time we got home. It was a long hike and we had driven more than three hours round trip to the trail head. It began to storm violently up there as we were driving home, so we were really thankful that we were down and had had such nice weather for our hike. We felt bad for the guys we had seen preparing to overnight up there earlier in the day. The following day we all went on a short hike (which was all Joey, Miriam, and I could muster) to some San Bushman paintings and to the cascades in the Royal Natal National Park. The paintings were worn but interesting. The cascades were really nice; nice and cold too! We had a blast there swimming and splashing and exploring. The next day we all hiked up the gorge to see Thukela Falls and the Amphitheater from below - not as impressive as from above, but still pretty cool. At the end of the day, despite my fatigue, I took David and Bethany fishing at the pond a few hundred yards above our lodging and we were able to catch a bass and almost caught a second one. The kids loved that and Bethany talked to and petted the fish most of the way down the hill. As the kids were to sad to eat the fish themselves, we gave it to one of the Zulu guys who worked in the kitchen and he was absolutely thrilled. He cooked and ate it almost immediately and thanked us over and over! Fishing was a definite highlight for Bethany and David. None of us wanted to leave when it was time to come back to Appelsbosch on New Years Day! Before the drive home on New Years Day we went to Falcon Ridge so Miriam could see the first class bird of prey show they have there. We really enjoyed seeing it a second time. Then we went to the Didima Rock Art Center and learned more about the Bushman painting in the Drakensberg. David and Bethany were most impressed by the life size statues of Eland antelope that they have there. They loved pretending they were real and clowning around on them. We were really sad when our time away was over, but we had had such a grand opportunity to spend time exploring northeastern South Africa that we couldn't be too sad.To be honest, I was a little nervous about taking a big road trip in South Africa and through Swaziland with my family. I was also a little anxious about the fact that here in Southern Africa you have to prepay for lodging or at least pay a hefty non-refundable deposit. So I prayed hard that no one would get sick and that we would be able to use the lodging we had payed for on the days we had booked it. You know, God is good all the time and all the time God is good. Even when things don't work out the way you plan, He is still good. But it just so happens that he blessed us with good health and safely brought us through our whole time away with no hiccups. We even had great weather when we wanted it for our hikes. We saw a leopard and they don't have leopards at Lion Park. And I'm thankful too for the dung beetles we saw! It would not have been the end of the world if none of this stuff had worked out, but I would have been sad to have lost the opportunity and the money. The longer I follow Christ the more I am totally convinced that God is interested in the little things that concern us as well as the big stuff. I think He just wants us to look to Him - to look to Him in everything, little stuff included. He is waiting to bless us if we just look to Him and acknowlege that He is the source of all that is good.
We've had some trials and tough times in South Africa in the last 5 months, but we've had some pretty amazing times too. If you level it all out the balance is pretty positive.
John
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Wonderfull fotos landspapes, wild animals, greeting from Belgium
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