Gosh, we realized it has been a couple of weeks since we updated our blog. Two weeks ago we went on a week long vacation with Chris and Richard (South Africa Methodist Volunteers in Mission coordinator). Chris and Richard both were much in need of some vacation time as neither one of them take time off to just relax. We were glad we could give them a reason to kick back and enjoy the beauty of Africa. We headed over to the coast on the Indian Ocean and it was just beautiful. White sand beaches, three great game parks, a log cabin to stay in at two different places and a luxurious tent to stay in at one of the parks. We had a great time, walking, talking, reading, sleeping and just relaxing.
The first day of the trip we met up with some of Richards’ friends who work with an organization called Zululand Mission Air Transport, an organization that flies doctors and medical supplies into the bush (rural areas) of this part of South Africa and Mozambique. They had so many intriguing stories of going into the bush to bring out critically ill patients and taking them to the hospital. Several involved pregnant women and one actually gave birth on the seat next to the pilot! Another one was about a man who was very ill with malaria. Earlier in his life he had lost both legs so had 2 wooden legs. The plane that went to pick him up was very small and didn’t really have room for him, along with the other patient and nurse. So, they remedied that situation by just removing his wooden legs and he fit!
ZUMAT is not doing as many flights now that more roads have been tarred (paved) and the governments have put so many regulations in place. They now cannot just fly into another country to pick up a critically ill patient. They have to land at the closest major airport in the country and get customs clearance before they can fly on to the remote area to pick up the patient, then fly to the closest airport to the city where the hospital is for customs clearance in that country, and then on to the hospital. We suppose this is the result of so much contraband of drugs and guns being flown about in small planes. As a consequence they have started to do tourist trips flying over the South African landscape. We wish that we would have had time for a short flying trip.
We stayed in 3 different parks for two nights each. This was just enough time to explore the area a bit and then relax and enjoy the quiet. The first park was a game park so we spent one whole day driving around and looking for the animals. We loved it again and have included some pictures of it here on the blog. We never seem to tire of seeing these beautiful animals in their natural habitat. The second and third places we stayed were on the beach in an area called St Lucia which is on the Indian Ocean but also has a large estuary which has crocs (not the shoes!) and hippos and a huge array of bird life. We loved the variety of the places and thoroughly enjoyed our stay. On the last day after we had parted from Richard, we and Chris had made reservations for an afternoon drive in Tembe Elephant Park, which is known to have the largest and oldest elephants in Africa. The elephants are the original ones from that area on the border of Mozambique, not having been transported there like in so many of the parks. In fact the Tembe tribe was moved to adjacent land so the elephants could live there without harming the people. We loved this place! It was just beautiful, with a sand forest, large savanna, and many watering holes. We actually were the only ones on the sunset drive so it was a great opportunity to ask many questions. We drove for quite a while and only saw one huge elephant, so were feeling somewhat disappointed but the guide was fantastic and very knowledgeable and full of facts about the area and the animals. We found out in talking with him that he was born and raised in the area and had such a love for the land and the animals. Near dusk as we were making our way back to camp the guide saw a pride of lions eating their dinner way off in the distance. We could only see them through binoculars but they were so much fun to watch—like huge kittens. The male lion had already had his fill of the meat so he was sacked out on the ground, huge paws in the air—snoozing. The momma lion was doing the same. The cubs ,about 7 in all kept coming over and batting them and trying to get them to get up and play. Just like a family scene and we just loved watching them be the wild animals they are without knowing we were there. We soon had to head back because it was getting dark. As we came over a small hill there was a herd of elephants about 17 in all at a watering hole! Same thing—huge family doing their “thing”—slurping, throwing water, and then dirt on themselves, splashing in the water—having a grand ol' time. We watched until it was completely dark. I have included one picture of them—it is very grainy but you can see how many there are. What an incredible way to end our restful time away.
When we got back to camp we decided that we should have some coffee before we started the long drive home (2 hours to border crossing, then another 2 hours home). We were standing around the campfire talking with some of the staff when they asked us where we were from and if we were staying the night. We told them that we were driving back to Swaziland. They couldn’t believe that we were going to drive the horrible road with all the potholes and goats and cattle at night (especially in a VW Golf-Chris’ bigger car was in the shop). They were afraid that we wouldn’t make it back to the border before it closed at 2200 hrs.(10:00pm) One of the women went to get the manager who asked us if we would like to stay the night. We told him that we were ‘poor missionaries’ and didn’t think we could afford their rates. He said we could have a “tent” for R500 each (around $70 each including breakfast). He then asked if we would like dinner and assuming that we could not afford it and we would be eating snack bars and water for dinner, we asked him how much that would be and he said it would be included. Wow, what a dinner we had-out under the stars with candle light. Our “tent” had a beautiful front porch with wicker furniture, a queen and a twin bed, beautiful bath and shower with a view out into the bush, and coffee and tea service. We slept like babies with the sounds of the bush outside our “tent” and woke up refreshed the next morning for the horrible drive dodging potholes. We couldn’t imagine what it would have been like in the dark! If we had even made it to the border we would have been sleeping in our little car waiting for them to open in the morning.
This is our last week in Swaziland. We are painting the clinic at St.Paul’s Methodist Church with some of the youth of the church. It brings up feelings of both sadness and anticipation to be going home. We are very, very sad to be leaving all of the people we have fallen in love with here in this beautiful country. We are also really missing our loved ones back home. We are anxious to see friends and family and hope to be able to share in some way with all of you what this four months is Swaziland has meant to us. We thank all of you for your prayers and good thoughts, your emails, cards, and for some of you, your conversations on Skype. Even though we have been busy over here doing work, meeting people, having life changing experiences, we have never lost touch with the love and support of all of you at home in the good old USA. We have had essentially no television over here and the only news we get is occasionally on Yahoo so we will be coming home somewhat oblivious to what changes have or have not taken place at home.
We leave Swaziland on September first to begin our travel to Cape Town, SA to turn in our car. We will be spending time on the coast again, then up into the mountains and into Lesotho to check on where our friend JP will be heading his work team next year, then along the “Garden Route” to Cape Town, fly back to JoBurg to have dinner with Chris and Richard and pick up our luggage that Chris will be storing for us and then off to SFO with a stop in Paris arriving in San Francisco on the 16th. We will try and publish another one while we are on our trip to Cape Town.
Much love,
Gary & Jeri
The medical mission air plane
This is a close up of their name on the plane
These were so cute--don't they make a nice couple--I wonder what their children will look like?
What a huge animal this white rhino is!
On the shore of the Indian Ocean on the Elephant Coast
For those of you have seen our cabin at Bear--doesn't this look like it? We stayed here 2 nights
just over the dunes from the Indian Ocean.
The Samango monkey--they are so different looking than the Vervet monkey that we have seen so many of in other parks. They came around and tried to get into the trashcan. We had to keep our doors and windows closed or they would come in and steal our food. They got into Richards' truck and he had to chase them out!
A hot game of dominoes!
The view from the top of a huge sand dune we climbed--that is the Indian Ocean
WHAT??!!! The dung beetles eat the elephant dung and are important to the ecological balance of the parks (I just made that up)
Isn't he/she magnificant?
Sunset in Africa.....
The beautiful herd of elephants at dusk at the watering hole
The inside of the 'tent' at Tembe Elephant Park
The front porch of the the beautiful tent
