On the Road Again!

On Tuesday, 4 January 2011 President Probst came to the Mission Office and told us that he wanted us to travel to the Eastern Cape for his week of trainings there so that Elder Herbert could see the flats and the cars that are out there.  It was very exciting!  The plan was that we would fly to East London and then drive all the way back to Cape Town---about 650 miles!  When we checked the price of the one-way tickets, we realized they were too expensive because we were only 2 days away from traveling.  Then the President asked if we thought we could drive both ways.  We quickly agreed because we love a good road trip and haven't been on one since we got here!  The only problem was that we would have to leave by noon the next day----so much for careful packing!  We threw some clothes in the suitcase and grabbed some snacks from the cupboard and got ready to take off!  The biggest problem was that I had a few things to finsih and needed to get all my work done for a week ahead so that everyone would be able to travel and do what they needed to do.  I had to finish my monthly baptism report and a few other minor details, but by Wednesday at noon we were driving out of Cape Town toward the east.

These are a few pictures of what we saw as we drove.  The highway stretched out before us and seemed a lot like home.

There were miles and miles (I should say Ks and Ks) of open land with not much to see but the beautiful country. This looked a little like home, but it was much wetter and more colorful.

 

And of course, you wouldn't see a "watch for warthogs" sign in the US!  When we first saw it, we thought it was a picture of an elephant, but we knew that elephants do not run wild in South Africa.  So we stopped at the next one to take a picture and then we realized it was a warthog. Hah!

There was quite a long time of very dry area where it looked like they had already cut the wheat or something.  The fields looked ready to plant, but it was so dry.  It would be interesting to go back later and see if they planted anything.  I love those trees there---they seem like some of the Dr. Suess trees.  --I'll try to find out the real name.  There will be more about these because I am seeing them all around Cape Town now.

Thought you might like to know that ALL of South Africa's electrical energy is generated by nuclear power plants.  At least that is what people say.  We think that is what this is---haven't seen many things like this in US.  But Vic did say it might be graneries where they store grain, but I don't think so!

Actually we haven't seen anything like this in America either!  We were surprised to see these young men trying so hard to plow with these two cattle.    Two men were guiding the animals through the rows and one was trying to keep the plow down in the dirt.  They were weeding between rows of corn.  It looked like pretty hard work to me.

That first day (Wednesday) we drove from noon until 9:00 pm and reached Port Elizabeth. We have three couples living there that are really missionaries with area responsibilities---they do employment, the PEF loans, and seminary and institute coordination. We stayed with the LaPrays (they are from Texas)who have an extra bedroom and two bathrooms, so they don't mind having company too much. In fact all of the couples really wanted company because the worst thing about mission is not having lots of friends around that you can visit with. They can get pretty lonely out there because they don't have the office to go to every day and they have lots more free time.  It was so great to spend some time with them and just feel their spirit and get to know them better.  We took no pictures there---I guess we were too tired and too excited about the next few days to even think about it!  I feel terrible because I would love to have some pics of the LaPrays, the Robinsons and the Taylors who all came over at 9:00 pm to meet us and spend a few minutes together.  I do have some later on the way home, but you'll just have to wait to see them!

We stayed overnight and took off again early the next morning (Thursday)so that we could reach East London before noon (it was another 4 hours to East London) and attend the first zone training meeting. There were two zones in attendance and we checked all their cars while they were in training. It was so fun seeing some of the missionaries that we have worked with in the Cape North Zone----they seemed happy to see us too. We stayed that night in the Gonubie flat (Gonubie is the name of a little city in East London---like Sandy is in Salt Lake) Our Senior Couple in East London went home a week before Christmas, so we have no adult leadership there any more.  We are dying for couples out here. The flat is a few blocks from the beach and it also has a beautiful back yard view of a tree-filled valley with a little water hole at the bottom. Everyone said there were monkeys in the trees, but we never saw any. Maybe the locals have driven them away. We heard the cows mooing and the crickets chirping and it really reminded us of home (in Idaho!) We drove down to the beach and watched a fantastic sunset on the Indian Ocean, but it was dusk and the beach was rocky so I didn't get to wade in the water.

This is a picture of what you see from the back deck.  It really looks like a jungle out there.

The pictures don't begin to show how beautiful it was.

It was another fantastic evening sunset----with huge waves rolling in and hitting those rocks and spraying up.   The colors and sounds were just so relaxing and enjoyable.
The next day (Friday) we drove another 2 hours up to Queenstown for another zone training meeting and checking the cars and apartments in Queenstown. This area is where all the cars get rough treatment and the apartments are always having problems. It was good to go there and spend some time in the apartments. The Elders really hate to bother us with little repairs that are needed in their apartments---like the sink coming off the wall or lots of mold under the sink, but these things have to be taken care of. So Elder Herbert has a list a mile long of things that need to be done. We spent a little time with the Elder and Sister Farris couple who live in Queenstown and it was so good to see them again.  Everyone had told us the Queenstown is a difficult place and I pictured it as more primitive and not so modern as Cape Town.  But it was pretty and very nice in the areas we visited.  We didn't have time to visit any townships where the people live in shacks, so we only saw what I've shown you of them.

The drive to Queenstown was interesting because we saw some very African things.  As we got out of East London a few kilometers, we began to see groups of shacks everywhere---on almost every hill for just about as far as the eye could see.  The different thing about them was that they weren't built on top of each other.  There was land between them and they looked like nice little communities.  We did not expect this really.  I guess we should have known that life would be better and cleaner and roomier out in the country than in the city. 

Some of the areas were almost pretty--with goats eating in the front yard.  I tried to get some good pictures of the hexagon shaped "rondavels" that they seem to build next to their homes.  These are traditional shaped houses from long ago except that they were round before.  I think the hexagon shape came when they started using bricks to build them.  They are the ones with the pointed roofs. (rooves doesn't seem right!)

 We just kept wondering where these people work and how do they stay alive.  They must travel miles every day to the city to work.  Some of them might work on farms in the area, but all of them couldn't.  There were a few brick making factories around, so some probably worked there.  We never saw a store or a city center, but there probably were a few.

One surprise was this African milk truck!  It was a VERY HOT day (at least 95 degrees), and we saw this truck driving the two hour drive to Queenstown.  Maybe he was stopping sooner---we can only hope!  Many cartons of milk without a bit of insulation to keep them cool.  We have wondered why the milk sours so quickly in the fridge here!  Honestly this is very unusual, but I doubt you would ever see this in most states in the US.  They don't have health laws or quality control here.  I do need to mention that they have a drink here called masi (I think that is how they spell it) and it is made by leaving milk out of the fridge for a couple of days until it is spoiled.  They think it tastes so good!  It is used for special days like Christmas dinner.  No, I haven't tried it, but some of the Elders have and they say it is just sour milk.  Sometimes they put a little sugar in it.  Maybe he was working on some of that.

I love strange plants and I thought these little aloe vera type plants were so interesting.  We saw hill after hill of these---I don't really know, but I assume they are like cactus plants.  They look like little people standing on the hills. 


 We drove back to East London and went to dinner with one of our landlords who owns several of our flats in East London. His name is Billy Van Heerden and he is a white, Dutch-descendant South African. He is a member of the church and has been the Stake President in East London. He and Vic have become close friends and he has helped us a lot with cars and flats in East London. When a car breaks down in East London, we call Billy and he goes and tows it to the repair shop or helps the Elders get it running again.  He does the same with the flats when something is wrong.  He helps us get it fixed.  He doesn't seem to ever get paid for any of it, but maybe his towing bill is included in some of the repairs.  It seems only right. 
We went to a little restaurant owned by a couple from India and had a quiet dinner and laughed and talked until after 9:00 pm.   They told us their love story and we told them ours.  It really was so facinating to hear of their conversions and how their children are doing in the church and how they feel about life in South Africa.  They sort of assumed that everyone in America comes to church on time, pays their tithing every month and has every child active in the church.  Well, not exactly that, but they were surprised to hear that we have many of the same struggles as they do.

It is very amazing that the people of South Africa are so critical of their country---they always point out the negative things like the violence, but we have not really witnessed  much negative behavior.  We hear about it on the news, but that is really about the same as home.  The reporters are much more graphic in their descriptions of what has happened, and I'm sure many of the crimes are more violent than I have even heard about in Idaho.  But I can't help feeling that these things also happen in America in large cities---I just haven't lived in one.  As we were doing missionary work on Saturday, we visited a very rich man who asked us how we liked South Africa.  We told him we loved it here, and he said,"Doesn't the violence bother you?"  I was shocked that it would be his first question.  I had to answer, I haven't seen any violence---I have met mostly kind and gentle people filled with caring for one another and trying to help each other for the most part.  I thought about it later, and realized my feelings for these people are very deep.  Many of them are desperately poor, begging for even a loaf of bread, doing all kinds of silly jobs like backing you out of a parking place so you will give them a handful of change, and rummaging through trash cans for any small item they can use or sell.  They stand at the traffic lights and try to sell you sunglasses, little things they have made, or newpapers.  It is not surprising that many of them resort to stealing anything that they can just to get a little food.  My heart breaks every time we drive through town and I can see how easy it is to become blind to them as we try not to look at their suffering.  I can't begin to see a way to help them other than to give them the gospel of Jesus Christ to give them hope and a place to go when they reach the end of their rope. 

Here is part of what will be or already is the Hope of Africa.  These two Elders were the Assistants to the President a few months ago.  Elder Msimango on the left is from Durban and is a very intelligent and articulate young man.  Elder Dodoo on the right is from Accra, Ghana and he already has a degree in business and a young woman he went home to marry.  They will build up their communities and their wards and stakes and help Africa step out of the hopelessness it is facing at this time.  It may be one family at a time, but I think it will become much larger than that.  We send home four or five of these fine young men every six weeks.  They have learned how to live in the world and not become a part of it.  They have had money---most of them for the first time and they have learned how to budget and use it wisely.  They have helped people find jobs, solve family problems or realize their potential----they know how to serve people and yet help them keep their self-esteem.  It may come slowly at first, but I think it is beginning to explode, and Africa will come forward out of the darkness into the marvelous light.  I just know it! It has already started!

I'm going to stop here so I can start our trip home on the next blog.  What an exciting time we had seeing much more of South Africa than we had ever seen before.  There is so much more to see that we will never see while we are here---Johannesburg, the Kwa Zulu Natal area, the great Karoo, Victoria Falls, Lesotho, Swaziland, The Free State, Limpopo and Polokwane to the north.  I can't begin to tell you about it all.   Ah, maybe someday we will come back for a visit!

Food, cars, trinkets---it's all downtown

I know some of you have worried about what we are eating here in Cape Town.  I took a few pictures of this special place where we shop for food so that you can see where to shop when you go downtown Cape Town.

One of our favorite places to shop is Fruit and Veg City---they always have lots of things we love.  They even have bulk nuts and candies and dried fruits of all kinds.  Of course their specialty is fruit and veggies!  But they also have a great deli with Sweet Chili Chicken Pizza (actually lots of kinds of pizza, but thats our favorite) and roasted veggies and African Mac and Cheese.  Here are some pictures we took there.

They have these great little carts that they call trolleys that just have a basket on top and one on the bottom.  They are fun if you aren't buying too much. 

Here are some of the fruits---peaches and nectarines at 19,99 rand a kilogram!  That's about $2.50 a kg or $1.25 a pound.  They have so many kinds of fruit and lots of veggies too.

Watermelons are just coming into season and they are really good.  We were waiting for the price to go down a little.   49 rand is just a little more than $7 right now, but they are really big melons. 

This is the cheese area - I know---it looks like Costco with every kind of cheese imaginable. . . .except Swiss, for some reason they don't have Swiss cheese down here. We have eaten a lot more gouda and parmesan than we did at home.  We aren't much into the specialty cheese like brie etc. yet! 

Here are some of my fellow shoppers who were lining up to check out.  I forgot to get a pic of the deli and the bakery.  The bakery is so super---all kinds of fresh rolls made daily and of course lots of kinds of bread.  We especially like their seed bread which has all kinds of grains and seeds in it.  And they sell ciabattas 5 for 10 rand---that's about 5 for $1.25.  We use them for lunches and quick dinner sandwiches.

And of course they have someone to help you out to the car with your yummies.  They really like it if you give them 4 or 5 rand so they can buy some food too.

Elder Herbert really hates this cobblestone road that you drive on when you go out, so we usually go a different way.  But I did want to get a picture of it.  There are a few like this around town.

If we have time, we stop at the local car dealers and check out the new Ferraris.  They are just around the corner from Fruit and Veg.

On this day we had to do some Christmas shopping and we drove down around the city square where the generals are all memorialized and went to Green Market Square.

We thought there might be some new and interesting items, and it is not hard to find some things that we haven't seen.

I always like to check out the jewelry and this young girl was very anxious to sell me some beads or earrings.  I finally ended up buying an African CD that they were playing and I really like it.

There is lots of art work, but I am not too great an art critic and have a hard time choosing because they are all so unique and fun.  If you see anything you want, be sure and send me a message so I can bring you something home!  I love the little tapstries painted on canvas and their hand printed fabrics. 

I asked this man about this stick that looks like a cane, but it is a little bit short.  He said, no its not a cane, it is a stick to protect yourself.  I told him someone would probably grab it from me and thump me with it.  He got a good laugh out of that.  We don't really need sticks for protection in the areas where we go, so don't start getting worried!  You can see that they use everything for their creative artwork.  The little rectangular pictures on my right---there on the corner of the table---are pictures made from banana leaves carefully pasted into scenes of Africa.  I haven't bought any yet, but I plan too.  I am watching for just the right ones.

These masks are pretty popular, but somehow I just don't like them and can't bring myself to buy any.  You can see it is kind of like going to the fair with everyone very anxious to sell their wares.  There is always music playing and lots of dancers and entertainers all around to keep you there too.

I really hope to go back later and buy a couple of paintings from this man.  He is really very good and very enjoyable to talk to.   You can't see his best work in this picture, but he paints scenes of Africa.  We mostly bought items from next door, so he was pretty frustrated with us.  But we will go back and see him some day.

I wouldn't want you to think Green Market is the only place to shop in Cape Town, so I'll include this picture of a shop at the airport that we saw when we went to pick up some couples who came to town for a conference.  We had a fun chat with this little lady, but I didn't get any beads----expensive!  She doesn't really have a flag sticking out of her head---that is something behind her.  Just love the dress---they really love color down here---especially orange.

I just remembered this shopping experience that is worth sharing.  This is a little market in the township in Paarl.  We went in to see if they knew where someone lived in the neighborhood. Elder Leach is right in front of me---he is our future TV announcer from Utah.  Next to him is Elder Parry---he is our rugby player from Wales.  I'm not sure I would ever buy anything in this store.  This is the opposite of self-serve shopping.  You have to point at what you want and they will get it for you.  There was NOTHING out where you could touch it or pick it up.  Ah, the joy of owning your own business in South Africa.  These little shops are on almost every street we go down.  Usually they are built in an old railroad car or a shipping container and you don't walk in, you just buy from the end.   

I think I'll include a couple of pictures of eating out with the couples because I haven't shown any for a while.  We went to the Braza Grill and had the kabobs again and I got a great picture of Vic!

His food was all on that thing hanging in front of him and he had just removed it from that.   He looks ready to eat, huh!  You can tell we haven't missed any meals down here. 

The Mahlers shared this huge platter of different kinds of meat with a good helping of chips on the side.  I think they even had some prawns on there.

This is not a great picture, but it shows how many of us were there.  We were sitting right across from the Mahlers, so that's why you can't see us.  Elder Ladle is looking at the camera--he and his wife had just arrived in the mission and everyone in Cape Town came out to meet them. 

I think this was my meal---it was chicken strips in a spicy sauce with lots of roasted veggies. They definitely know how to serve up a nice meal here in Cape Town.  I am coming home with lots of new recipes---especially rice and curry and chakalaka (beans and tomatoes, onions and carrots--a Xhosa favorite), bread pudding, malva pudding, savory rice, baby potatoes wrapped in bacon, German potato pancakes, and the Dutch Baby oven pancakes and even South African Lasagne.

So when are you booking your flight?  They say that March is the most beautiful month of the year here.  It cools off and the wind dies down for beautiful sunny days.  Better check on those tickets today!  And let us know when you are coming!  I'm sure we can find something for you to do.

Until next time---stay happy and plan for a mission as soon as you can!  Even if you just go in your own town---what a great service experience.  It is the most important thing you can do as you come to the October or November of your life.  I would not have missed it for the world. 

Adventure on the Karoo

The Great Karoo of South Africa is a semi-arid land where the main economy is meat and wool from the sheep ranches that have grown up in the area. Many people visit South Africa and never see this vast, dry land, so I guess we should consider ourselves lucky.  We finally had the opportunity to go to the Aquila Game Reserve which is about two hours drive from Cape Town and located on the south-western edge of the Great Karoo.  It is north of us and only about an hour beyond Paarl and I expect this game reserve was started here because the land was cheap and they could get lots of it.  We are in the middle of a serious drought here in South Africa that has been going on for about 3 years.  (We really need to get these people to start paying their tithing! )  There are some periods of rain, but the high desert where this is located suffers very much when the rain doesn't come often.  Those of us from the southeastern Idaho area really understand this and I think you will be amazed at just how much the countryside in and near the park looks like Idaho.  We are always amazed as we drive along and think that we could be in Idaho judging from the terrain.  The word karoo is from the Khoi language and has "uncertain entymology" which means no one really knows what it means.  But I have read that it means "thirsty,dry land" or "place of great dryness".  

But enough about history and on to the show!  We left home a little after 9:00 am and picked up the Fosters in Stellenbosch on our way.  It is always fun to have some company on these expeditions and of course you have to keep in mind that it is nice to have others along in case the animals are hungry---maybe you can outrun your friends and not BE dinner!  This was not our plan however because even though the Fosters are older than we are by a couple of years (Elder Foster is over 80!) they are very active and healthy and would have left us in the dust!  They are fantastic company and always ready for weekend explorations.  They are newlyweds who have only been married for two years.  They both lost spouses and then found each other and were brave enough to join their lives together and come on a mission!  Aren't they amazing!

This picture of the Fosters was taken on the deck outside of the main building of the reserve.  There is a swimming pool there and the little huts you see behind them are the places where people stay if they come out for an over-night adventure.  That's when you are inside a large fenced area and the animals are all roaming out around you looking IN at YOU (I guess).

Of course, the first thing they want to do is fatten you up a little so you'll make a decent meal for whatever you happen to run into out on the game drive.  I should mention that this game reserve is only about 5 years old and they are really at the beginning stages of getting the business going.  It was a very quiet Saturday, but then it has been so dry and many people know that the animals may not be in the best shape during a drought.  Of course, that would not keep us away because we have a limited time here and the drought is not about to end in the next 8 months enough to make a huge difference in what we see.  Below is a picture of the buffet lunch we were served which was really delicious.  There was ox-tail soup, sauteed lamb neck (and these two things sound bad, but they were really very tasty) eggplant vegetable stir fry, roasted butternut squash, lots of salads and warm bread and then fruit and bread pudding with custard sauce and some kind of almond pie for dessert.  We were stuffed---as you can tell by my mouth in this picture.

Here's a picture of just the salad buffet---the main dishes were down on the end.  I was a beautiful meal as well as tasty.

We went outside for a look around while we were waiting for our land-rover to pick us for the game drive.  We saw this water buffalo on the other side of the fence and walked over by it.  It started moving toward us.  It wasn't long until a park ranger came out and told us to be very careful as this was one of the most dangerous animals in the entire park.  They are like the buffalo in Yellowstone---seem very quiet and docile but can be very dangerous.  Notice the fence between us and him---we thought if the animal was dangerous they might have a little stronger fence between us!  Actually you can see the posts for a taller fence, but they have been digging quite a bit and working to add some water holes using well water that will make the park have a little more foliage and plant life.  They will put up the fence when they get all the pipes put in.  Now I realize why people often walk up to the buffalo and elk in Yellowstone---I guess they think if it was that dangerous we would put up fences to separate them from the people!  I really never thought of it like that before now!

It wasn't long until they came to pick us up for our drive through the game reserve.  The land-rover was very tall and I was proud that I was able to climb up in it all by myself.  Dad's knee won't bend enough to let him climb up, so he sat in front with the driver.  We had four others with us and they were from Germany and spoke very little English, so we didn't get to talk much to them.  We just smiled and signed to them a little!
I feel bad we didn't get any pictures of them---they kept moving out of the picture so we couldn't.

We first drove by this stream of water that looked like a mud hole.  These are African Shell ducks---a mother and babies, but the babies are pretty big now.  We also saw a terrapin here, but I didn't get a picture of it. 

A little further down the river we could see something that looked like big rocks, but as we got closer, we realized that they were hippos.  They are laying on the bottom of the stream, but the one is a little one that is standing up and trying to bug his parents.

The adults kept a wary watch on us to be sure that we weren't coming any closer.  We learned about how tender their skin is and that they can't spend much time out of the water and in the sun.  They actually have sun screen that is secreted behind their ears and somehow gets rubbed all over their bodies.

They wait until the sun goes down and then they get out of the water and go eat all night.  Yes!  They are nocturnal animals and mostly sleep in the daytime.  We stayed and watched them and they moved around quite a bit.  When they started to open their mouths and show their teeth, our driver said they were getting nervous and we had to move on.  

They only have two giraffe in this game reserve and one of them hasn't been seen for a couple of weeks.  We felt fortunate to have a few minutes watching this female giraffe as she moved along and ate plants.  She was watching us as carefully as we were watching her.  Don't worry--they said the other one will show up one of these days---he always does. 

This is a Springbok---a type of antelope that is found all over South Africa where the people haven't driven it out.  The colouring is for camouflage, but the dark stripe helps it be warm when it lays down in the winter.  The lighter color keeps it cool in the summer when it is standing.  He looks like he has been trained to pose for the cameras! The South African Rugby team is called the Springboks and the people here really revere this animal. 

 You can really see the "Idaho" terrain here in the background.  I never imagined rhinos living in an area like Southern Idaho!  I don't think this is their natural habitat, but they do live on the plains.  I think this is a little drier than they are used to.  This is a mother and a young rhino.  We learned that their ears turn completely around so they can hear predators coming from any direction.  It is amazing to watch them move---you can see it a little in this picure. Mother has one ear forward and one back.
They say they can turn and charge you at any moment, but again these animals seemed so quiet and docile and safe to be around.  They are very big though and they watch you very carefully, so you know that they are aware of you. The black rhino are under attack in South Africa---maybe they've had a little on the news at home.  The Chinese and other Asian people value the rhino horn and grind it into a powder that they take for health and vitality etc.  It is very expensive on the black market because there are so few of them left in the world.  I'm not sure if these are black rhino---Elder Herbert says he thinks that our guide said they were. 
 After the rhino we came upon a small herd of Springbok that were very fun to watch. They are very agile and move very gracefully.

 This is another type of antelope called an Eland.  It is much larger and the horns are very long on this one.  It is a beautiful animal although this one looks a little thin.

The elephants were about 300 yards away and were eating quietly.  Our guide, Tammy Dennis, told us they were probably not dangerous right then.  You can tell when they are upset because they stick their ears out and try to look as large as possible.  About that time they stuck their ears out, but we decided they were fanning themselves in the heat.  She told us elephants seldom sleep---only a few minutes each night.  They have to eat continually to keep themselves healthy.  These are two young bulls and they have not bought any more elephants for the park  because they are going to wait until they are a little older so they won't fight so much over new females.  They can do a lot of damage---they killed many of trees we saw because they ate off the bark and sucked the moisture out of the center of the tree.  Hopefully we will get to go to an elephant park and see some more of these beautiful animals.

 The lions were probably the most exciting part of the trip.  Our friends, the Plehns had gone to this park a few weeks before us and seen only one lion who was up on the mountain.  We drove up on the road behind this little shelter and saw the one lion and our guide said we were lucky to get so close to a lion.  Then we turned around and came back in front of the shelter and got this great sight of a whole pride of lions.  Now our guide was really amazed and told us we were very lucky indeed.  It was a fairly warm day, so really they probably come down to this shelter often.  It was exciting to be so close to them and not have any kind of restraint between us.  You can see how close we were because you can see the frame of the car we were in right there.  The lions mostly could not have cared less what we were doing. 

Before we started to drive away Tammy said not to get upset if one of the females chases us for a while.  Sure enough the one on the outside of the shelter got up and started to come after us.  Tammy stopped the car and waited a minute and she turned back and we drove away quickly and she didn't chase us.

We were near the end of our "safari" and very excited to have seen so many of the animals in the park.  Tammy said we had seen almost everything.  We stopped for a cool drink and a few minutes out of the landrover.  Here is a picture of our vehicle and the fantastic day we had to enjoy this game reserve.

Here we are enjoying a lovely sparkling white grape juice in dainty stemmed glasses with our little red-headed guide, Tammy, who is a South African native with Dutch ancestry.  She has a degree in animal science with a minor in oceanography, so don't under-estimate her.

 To get back in the vehicle you had to climb up a tiny ladder and then walk along a little ledge and climb into your seat.  These pictures aren't very flattering, but I was so glad I was able to do this and I truly doubted that I could when I saw the land rover. I am stronger and more agile than I think!  Of course Sister Foster had to show off and pop up easily---that's okay, I love her anyway.

As we drove back toward the main buildings, we got this view of them.  Once again--it could be Idaho! The roofs are thatched roofs.

We didn't expect to see any more animals, but were pleased to come to these zebra as we turned a corner on the road.  It couldn't have been more perfect if it had been planned.  (And we wondered if these animals just stay in their usual places and the drivers just have to drive through, but that was not what our friends said because they did not see quite as many animals as we did.)
As we left the area, we each were praying in our hearts I am sure that this little area would have the rain they so desperately need to make these animals more comfortable and keep them for future generations to see.  We did our little part by buying our tickets and coming to see it, and we hope that our money will be used for the well and the other water items they need.  Now it is about a week and a half later and they are having some rain in the Karoo today!  I'm sure everyone there is so happy and hopeful for the future.  Hope you enjoyed your visit too!  Wish you could have been there!  We hope to have a few more opportunities like this in other places in South Africa that have a little more water than this one.