Friday, December 28, 2007

What's that?


It is a buffalo. Not a water buffalo as we all kept saying. They are highly aggressive and very dangerous. We got close to this one because it must have been old or sick as they are always in a herd.
A great South African tradition is the "brie". Basically, they cook a bunch of meet out on a grill and enjoy the beautiful weather. Here Marianne is making us eggs, bacon, toast, tomatoes and mushrooms. We kept getting encroached upon by these gorgeous little lustrous green and sapphire blue birds. By the end they were worse than pigeons.
White rhinoceros. Suddenly a huge boulder would move and it would be a rhino, too cool.

Kruger Continued




We saw many other things. This giant owl was so big it was hard to believe that it was real and we weren't in the rainforest cafe back in Vegas. The 4 legged creature is a Nyala. I like its orange socks.
When we first saw zebras we freaked out and took pictures of every single one. We then realized they are a dime a dozen and didn't scream, "STOP!" every two feet. These had different coloring than the ones in Kenya.

Up Close and Personal




Here are some shots from Kruger National Park in South Africa. We had an amazing time and the animals are even bigger than they appear on your screen. We really did get to see them very up close. We rode in an open SUV, that had tiered seating and just a top to help with the heat, once the sun rose. The drivers were constantly checking the walkie talkies so we would turn around and go to wherever the animals were sited. We saw a pride of 5 lions cross a road and go down a gully for a while. We then got to see them hunt a herd of African antelope. The prey were lucky that day as they all escaped unharmed. The elephants would just appear out of no where, if you can believe that. Pete rated it as his all time best day. He then had to revise that and say his all time best day in nature.

Thursday, December 27, 2007

Aerial Shots




Here are a few more to give you an idea of what we did. We climbed up a narrow ladder, that led to a small platform. On the platform we would clip on to a metal wire. The clip was attached to the not so comfortable harnesses. You then had to clip your line on to the wire that led to the next platform. Away you go! Zipping through the air was an amazing rush. To stop you could use your hand in the heavy leather gloves that were provided. If not, almost all had a rubber-bobber type thing that you would hit while on the line, but I banged into the platform when I did that. So mostly I used the glove to slow me down at the very end. That caused me to bang my forehead and got some skin from my forehead rubbed clean off. OUCH! It's not all glamour and glitz people.

Summer Revisited






I never got to finish blogging about the amazing trip we took to South Africa this summer, with Stephanie. Our colleague Marianne and her sister Renee were our tour guides and showed us an excellent time. These photos are of the aerial trail way we flew through the tree tops on.


OK, I admit it, I screamed every time I sped down that wire, but the last few were shrieks for joy, not necessarily pee-your-pants fear. It took us a couple of hours to go through. We were able to see farther because it was winter there so the folliage didn't block our view.

Monday, December 10, 2007

Outside Shots


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Meredith is supervising the bubble blowing on our first Saturday trip. On the wall you can see the kids' clothes drying. They are lying over broken glass bottles that are used to keep people from climbing over the walls. The shorter, orange building is the place where they all cram in to sleep and keep their few possessions. They grey building on the left is the one that has been started, but they lack the funds to complete it. The wood is the scaffolding that is used to help during construction. It is often built right into the wall and then when it is done the building have pock-marks that have to be filled in. They have no yard to play in other than this area that turns to mud every time it rains--the only seasons here are wet and dry--you get the idea.

Sunday, December 09, 2007

Fishy Photos




More photos of the kids when we went to make fish with them. We had also brought bubbles, which were a huge hit. The Swaneys brought an old, plastic bowling set and all the kids wanted a chance to throw a strike. Kristie and I tried to teach some older ones how to do cat's cradle. Oh my, it was so difficult. I was miming the moves, never have I worked harder at getting someone to understand a game. She was able to get two girls to understand because she speaks French.

More Info. On Orphanage




Here is some more information on the orphanage that I have been working with. We went recently and did a great art activity. We used water bottles, material, and permanent markers to make fish that the kids were able to hang up by their bunk beds. We are doing a lot of fundraising and trying our best how to help them out. It is not good to just hand over money as there is a lot of corruption. So I am working with several other grade levels at school to combine our efforts to try and get at least one level of the new building completed. As you can see the walls are unfinished and it is pretty dismal. In the shot of the beds--they have to sleep two to a single, so four kids sleep on one bunk bed. The orphans are wearing orange because that is the uniform color at the school they attend.

Designer Picnic Plates


I finally got to use my designer paper plates that Heather and Cecily sent to me. I am in the shelter that we ate in. Dirt floor and thatched roof were a great respite from the hot sun.

Cutie Pies




I am often jealous of the many different hair styles people have here. It is amazing how the length, pattern, and color of braids can change a person's look totally. This little cutie pie just has her hair rubber-banded--so adorable. The kids were just fascinated with the digital camera screens. They do not have pictures of themselves and just laugh their heads off when they see themselves on the little screen. I am printing off the few I took to take back with me when we go the next time.

Surroundings




You can see how lush the rainforest is behind Pete and Tom. The pile of what appears to be weeds is really peanuts. The women gather them in huge tufts as they grow just underneath the surface of the soil, hence the name ground nuts. Our director, Nanci loves babies and got to hold this little cutie for a bit.

Picnic




On Saturday we went on a great picnic. Tom found a spot about 25 minutes away, on the far side of Mount Febe. We went down a hard dirt track-Pete did a great job driving. It would have been impossible to pass had it been the middle of the rainy season. We had no idea how he found it. When asked, he said he was out exploring and saw a sign that said fresh orange juice 100 cfa (30 cents or so) so he stopped. The area we are in is actually a bar, but they did not mind us bbqing there as we bought our beer from them.

The high-light of the day was when Tom pulled out the bocce bowling game, the kids loved it! That's what these shots are of. Behind the players the trees are covered in cocoa pods, they were all shades of ripeness, green to yellow to red.