Sept 18-24
We went to church in Osizweni because Elder Hind had some
interviews to do. It was a very cold and rainy day. Osizweni does not have heat
and I thought I was going to freeze to death. Sister Khumalo gave me a large
towel to wrap around myself. It helped a lot.
 |
| A cold a rainy Sunday |
 |
Osizweni Branch - that is the Baptismal Font in the middle
Cold and rainy day |
Then we went to church in Madadeni. After church we went to
see President Nkosi’s family. We met at the Nkosi home along with other members
of the branch. We sang songs and read scriptures and talked about President
Nkosi. Afterwards the family served us Rooibos and scones. That was nice
because of the cold weather.
We decided to have one last Bingo night for Family Home
Evening. We are really going to miss these good times with the YSAs and the
missionaries.
 |
| Bingo night |
 |
| Elder Trapnell |
 |
| Elder Rasmussen found my camera |
On Tuesday night we had our final interview with President
Thompson. He gave us our release letter and also a beautiful South African
cookbook. Then he took us to dinner at the Cannon Restaurant.
 |
| President Thompson and us at the Cannon Restaurant |
On Wednesday we finished packing for our trip and prepared
dinner for President and Sister Mashego and President and Sister Nkosi. We had
a good visit with them. We have grown to love them and we are really going to
miss them.
 |
| With our friends the Nkosis and the Mashegos |
We got up early Thursday morning and drove to Durban. It was
hard to believe that before the day was over we would be with Cyd and Eric and
their kids. We thought we would have time to visit with the office couples and
maybe do a little shopping. But just outside Durban the freeway traffic came to
a complete stop. We spent the next hour and a half stuck in a massive traffic
jam. We think it was an accident on the freeway.
When we got to the office we had only a few minutes to say
hi and good-bye before we had to leave to catch our plane. Elder Sorensen drove
us to the airport and our check in went smoothly. Before long we were on our
way to Johannesburg.
After we landed we had a couple of hours to wait for the
plane from the US so we looked around a little and then found a comfortable
spot to sit and wait. We could watch the “arrival board" and we got excited
when we saw that the plane from Atlanta had landed.
Still, it took another 40
minutes before we saw Cyd and her family coming through the door. It was so
good to see them. We couldn’t believe they were finally in South Africa. The
kids don’t seem to have changed much. Lyndsee is more talkative and grown up
but for the most part they are the same. Cyd and Eric haven’t changed at all.
After the first hugs and hellos it was just like we had never been separated.
We got our rental van. It was brand new and huge. It will be
great to travel in. We went straight to Journey’s Inn, our B&B. It was
pretty nice. We tried to find a place to eat nearby but everything was closed.
Family style restaurants often close early. So we found some things to eat at a
gas station convenience store and took them back to our lodgings.
In the morning they served us a great English style
breakfast and then we were on our way to our South African adventures.
The trip to Kruger went well and we arrived at the Mjejane
Lodge where they had a good lunch waiting for us. The rooms are very nice. We
had a little time to look around and relax before it was time for our first
game drive.
 |
| Fearless explorers |
 |
| Giraffe |
 |
| Kudu - such a beautiful animal |
 |
| Monkey |
The next morning, we went to the main part of the park and
did some more big game hunting. The highlight of the day was spotting a leopard
in a tree. He was pretty far off but considering how difficult and rare it is
to see a leopard we were happy. We have been on three other game drives but
this is our first and only leopard.
 |
There are actually two leopards in this tree. They have killed an animal and dragged it into the crotch of this tree.
There is one leopard by the kill and one further up stretched out on a branch. |
After a couple of hours, we had a little restroom break and
the lodge provided “breakfast” which was actually a ham and cheese sandwich and
fruit. Zazu came by to see if we would share our food with him.
 |
| Zazu |
Then we were off to see more animals. Kruger is just like Yellowstone in
the states. If you see a bunch of cars pulled over there is probably an animal
to see.
 |
| Some not so scary wildlife |
 |
| An Eagle Owl with her owlet. |
When we got back to our lodge we had lunch and then the kids
went swimming while the warthogs grazed nearby. Elder Hind and I just took naps
on the lounge chairs. The weather was nice and the view was beautiful.
In the late afternoon we did another game drive.
 |
| Taylor |
 |
| Rhino, Cape Buffalo and Giraffe all in one shot |
At one
point we stopped at a small man-made water hole. In the middle of it was a huge
hippo. The big fellow took up most of the room in the water hole. The guide
told us that he had come up out of the river one night and took up residence in
this spot. They don’t know why he never went back to the river and his pod. Now he
is just a lonely bachelor living all alone in his tiny flat.
 |
| The big gray lump on the left is our lonely hippo |
Just before sunset we stopped by a lake. There was a pod of
hippos enjoying the water. There were water birds flying around
and a single elephant walking along a ridge on the other side of the lake. The
setting sun was shining on the water. It was peaceful and beautiful. The guide
set up a table with snacks and drinks. And we just enjoyed a few minutes of a lovely African evening.
 |
| It is time to kiss Kruger good-bye |
