Tuesday, December 23, 2014

Couples' Conference at Queen Elizabeth Game Reserve

In the past 17 months Susan and I have traveled this vast mission from Axum in North Ethiopia to a refugee camp in South Rwanda.  We have crossed Uganda from the north to the south and east to west.  We have visited the four National Game Reserves and have seen all the "Big Nine" animals including the Leopard, Elephant, Lion, Cape Buffalo, Giraffe, Rhino, Hippopotamus, Gorilla and the
Zebra.  We have seen Warthogs, most antelope types: Kob, Water Buck, Topi, Wildebeest, Impala, Eland and more...We have seen African wild dogs, Hyena and Mongoose.  The list keeps going and we have been blessed to see so much of  the beauty and wonder of Africa. This past week was our Mission Couples' Conference and we traveled back to Western Uganda to the Rwenzori Mountains and Queen Elizabeth Game Reserve. One hotel chain has lodges in all four of the national parks and they are all high end hotels so it is a treat to have visited them all. The food is generally up to American standards and we feel relatively safe eating.  Of course, the water is not safe so we are very careful to make sure we drink only bottled water. This reserve had some beautiful scenery as it is surrounded by Lake Edward and Lake George with a canal between the two.  We saw some wonderful animals and birds.  Sue and I both have pictures in this blog so we hope you enjoy them.
 
 

Susan and I at the entrance to Queen Elizabeth National Park
 
President and Sister Chatfield have become very good friends of ours.  We love them and appreciate the great leadership they provide for this mission.
  Mweya Safari Lodge 
 
 Looking down from the safari lodge...
 
Swamp fly catcher



We have many varieties of very colorful birds. This is a village weaver



 The National Bird -the Crested Crane 
 
 The Crested Crane in flight
 

The canopy of Acacia  trees in the valley below is the home of the tree climbing lions in this end of the park. 
 

These tree climbing lions have easy access to the lower branches of the fig tree so they climb up the limbs to get away from the tsetse fly and it is cooler in the tree.  All lions can climb trees, it is getting down that is the problem.  The tree makes all the difference.
 
 
 
 

The Kob, like the Crested Crane, is on the center of the Ugandan crest or shield 


The Topi is an antelope we have not seen before.  They are bigger than most other antelope but not quite as large as an elk.  They are always running and can cover 80 km in an hour. Their hide is a darker brown than most of the deer-like-animals.
 
 We stopped for a potty break and to take pictures by this stream.  The white tree in the background  is actually in the DR Congo as this river divides Uganda and the DR Congo.
 
 We chartered a double decker open sight-seeing boat that took us down the canal between Lake Edward and Lake George.  It is on this canal that the Hippos, Elephants and Cape Buffalo gather.  As you will see, the Crocodiles and birds are plentiful as well. 
 
 These are African Long Boats used for fishing.  The fishermen go out at night and return at dawn.  Inside each one you can see the nets they use.  


 
A couple of baby Elephants


 We interrupted a town meeting 
 
This Crock was looking for lunch but was laying right in the middle of several Hippos and Cape Buffalo
 
This Hippo seemed comfortable socializing with the Cape Buffalo


The boat interrupted this pod of Hippos, but they moved out of the way.




This Fish Eagle was over looking the water looking for lunch 
 
 

This Crock was sunning on the bank but headed for the water as we neared the bank.  I got him just before he entered the water 

This was a large beetle...about 3 inches long with pinchers at his mouth.
 
 

This Bull  Elephant was eating by the road as we exited the park 
 

Near the park entrance
 

 This trucker lost his brakes and took out 3 other vehicles.  The bodies were lined up on the road after we passed.  This is a common site.  There is poor maintenance on all vehicles here so lots of accidents.  We also passed a dead body on the side of the road as we got  closer to Kampala...not related to this accident but probably a pedestrian. Pedestrians here do not have the right-of-way.  It is very difficult to see them when driving at night.  There are no sidewalks so they walk on the edge of the road. 
 

 

 

 

Sunday, November 16, 2014

Paige and Dan Visit Africa

 
 
 

We have had a delightful 8 days with our oldest daughter Paige and her husband Dan. After our daughter Megan's visit earlier this year, Paige and Dan have been planning a vacation for mid November.  But with the Ebola outbreak, it was questionable whether they would come or not.  When it looked like Uganda could have a potential case, we told them to look long and hard at coming. When authorities told the public that what Uganda thought a possible case turned out to be a false alarm, the kids decided to come.  Many of their friends and co-workers told them that if they came they better stay away for the 21 day incubation period after their return.  But they came and we had a blast.

The first couple of days we helped the mission with Zone Conferences for a few hours and shopped at a couple of souvenir shops while they recouped from jet lag. On Friday we took them to the source of the Nile for a ride on an African long boat and saw some beautiful birds, monitor lizards and monkeys. Saturday was busy with the four of us helping the humanitarian couple and Susan Apondi Mwanga's NGO remove jiggers(a parasite) from village children's feet.  Dan helped carry water from a distant water source.  Susan and Paige washed the feet and hands of many affected children and I escorted the kids one by one to the nurses doing the surgery.  You would not believe how bad most of these kids were.  This little worm, the size of a grain of rice, embeds and creates a very sore area that itches and hurts. The eggs and larva come from the dirt floors in the huts the kids live in.  They have no shoes, some no underpants, and they have these jiggers everywhere but mostly in their feet.  I could not see Paige and Sue washing their dirty little feet and not think of the Savior.  It was a great experience.  This is Sue's and my third time working in the villages doing jiggers.

Monday, we drove up to the Murchison Falls National Game Reserve to the Paraa Resort where we went on two game drives and spent Tuesday on a boat traveling up river to see the falls, which was spectacular.  Wednesday we drove through the top of the park on a road from Paraa on the West of the Park to Chobe Resort on the East side.  Believe me when I say this was not a road but a trail.  There were some areas in the lowlands where the grass was 10 feet tall and there was no road visible.  We were traveling with another couple also in a 4WD who led the way.  It was a frightening 75 miles but we made it with no problems.  Both resorts were spectacular.

In all, we had a great time and Paige and Dan had an adventure of a lifetime.  We did get some wonderful pictures...here is a sample:
The Marabou Stork is an ugly scavenger that is everywhere along the Nile and Lake Victoria
 

The White Ibis
 


Cormorant at the source of the Nile at Lake Victoria
 

Paige washing the feet of a village child
 

Paige was so good with these kids.  They knew what was coming and she calmed them down.

Saturday afternoon Sue and Paige sponsored a Young Women activity where the girls were given headbands and necklaces  from Paige's Young Women in Boise, Idaho.  They also were taught how to make clip in flowers for their hair or clothes. 
 
 

 
After the girls completed the project, we ate Sloppy Joes and had drinks.  These girls very seldom get to do these kind of activities.

 

 
 
This Lioness is out of focus but she was so secluded that the camera focused on the grass and not her.

 I love sunset shots and this was a good one
 
Poachers are always trying to capture game in the park for meat or tusks.  Giraffes are not good for either but this one has been crippled on its back right leg by a trap. We told the ranger that this animal was in big trouble and very crippled with the wire around its leg.
 

 You would not want to meet this Cape Buffalo in a dark alley
 

 The Kob is the National Animal and they are everywhere in the park
 
 Giraffe playing in the early morning sun

The Crested Crane is the National Bird
 

 This magnificent female posed right at the side of the road

 Mom and baby hippopotamus play in the water while the dad lays around like a slug
 
 
 
 Murchison Falls brings the Nile into a 20/30 foot gorge and spews it out the bottom


 The crew line up for mug shots
 
 


 More Kob on the road from Paraa to Chobe
 
 A mother and several babies



 These two are fun to be with and we had a real adventure
 
Hippopotamus playing at Chobe
 

Elephants in the Nile at Chobe
 
This is my favorite shot as it is the only time we have seen a leopard while in Africa
 
 

These kids were great and we will talk about this trip for a lot of years to come. Thanks for coming and sharing this time with us.