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.
 
 


Wednesday, November 5, 2014

The Grading of Commercial Road

Today we heard the rumbling of big equipment on the road in front of our apartment.  Sure enough the road grader and roller were smoothing out our road.  Last week we had a road block as several cars were stuck in the rain and could not get around a huge pothole at the corner.  We had another big storm last night and the road needed attention.  Hopefully this will help for a while.  Our four wheel drive pickups get us home but it isn't always easy.






South Africa Public Affairs Conference and Game Drive

Susan and I traveled to South Africa last week to attend a Public Affairs Conference in Johannesburg. This was 2 and 1/2 days of intense training and sharing of ideas.  We presented a section on Reporting and Follow-up, were both pleased with our efforts, and learned from the other couples as well.  We ate great food, attended the Temple and had a great time. Saturday, all of us loaded into 2 vans and a Land Rover and went to Pilanesberg National Park, about 3 hours out of Johannesburg to do a game drive.  I never get tired of these and we still have two more later this year.  What a great experience!
 Susan doing a skit to present our topic prior to our presentation
 
 Grey Go Away Bird in a Thorne Tree
 
 We came across this herd of Elephants at one end of this creek and could see they were moving toward the opposite end of the valley so we back tracked and waited for them to walk in front of us.  It was the right move and an amazing sight to see as they passed in front of the car.  We counted 25...all moms, babies, and young juveniles. 
 
 This picture was taken through the window so it has a different tint but it came out clear.  I didn't want to miss this baby.
 
 Zebras and Blue Wildebeest stay together as much as possible.  The  Zebra eat the top of the grass and the Wildebeest eat the lower part of the grass so they don't get in each others way.  They also protect each other from predators.
 
 
 Klipspringer, a very small antelope often seen on rocky outcrops
 
 Lone Zebra
 

 We are shooting from a blind in the lake and saw these Wildebeests across the water. 
 
 If you look close, you will see the Lioness stalking the Wildebeest.  She could not get close enough to chase them but it was fun to watch.
 
 Warthog
 
 Impala grazing along the lake
 
 Springbok
 
 This Rhino was staying cool under a tree.  They do not move around in the middle of the day.
 
 Three different Giraffe breeds than we had seen before.  There were about 10 of them in this herd.
 
 Again, a Wildebeest... this was taken in the middle of the day and it was hot
 
 We had a great bush lunch...tons of bacon with fried mushrooms and scrambled egg on a bun.
Wow, it was really good and I cooked a lot of it.

 This lizard is about 4 inches long but he was posing for me and I got this shot.
 
And we end with a Pied Kingfisher.