Happenings of the week 15-21 June

A week or so ago, the couples here in Durban decided that since our respective assignments were in a slow down, that we would take advantage and see a little more of the country. So, this week we headed out of town a little over an hours drive to the Natal Lions Park and Midlands Meander, in two cars. Johnson's and Mickelsen's in one and Griesemer's and Markum's in the other. It was nice to get to know the Johnson's a little better by having visiting time as we traveled. At the Lion Park, which is brown since it is winter, we soon came upon some elephants plus a rhino and stopped. We had to quickly roll up our windows to keep the elephants from exploring the inside of our car. But they did manage to leave lots of elephant trunk stuff all over our windows. The lions were sleepy as it was daytime, so not much action from them. Then on to Pietermaritzburg and the Midlands Meander. Lunch at Piggly Wiggly Centre (not a typo, how the word is spelled here) was open faced sandwiches made with homemade breads. Our first planned stop, took us along many dirt and gravel roads and thought we would never get there, but when we did it was a real treasure. At Culamoya Chimes (pictures), Lola, the owner, told Sandy that we reminded her of some Mormon friends. Sandy told her that was who we were, since we weren't in proselyting clothes and didn't have a missionary badges on. Another great find was The Chocolate Shop, where we all indulged in fantastic varieties of chocolate. Our bed and breakfast, the Woodridge Country Estates (a four star hotel) was another wonderful experience. Our Indian host and a smiling African waitress were there to see to our every need. He was so personable and when one of us asked which of the eight or so pieces of silverware do we eat with, he replied that if we wanted we could use our fingers like they do. The food was the best we have eaten since coming to South Africa and a favorite was the butternut squash soup.
Tuesday, traveling on more gravel and dirt roads, we saw Heavenly Hammocks, leather work shops, rod iron works and several more. When we returned for dinner, we found that we were the only residents in the hotel. This is off season (winter) and so had the place to ourselves. When we went back to our rooms for the night, we found that while we had been having dinner, our beds were turned down, pillows fluffed up and the electric blankets turned on.
Wednesday, we visited Howick Falls(picture) and helped the Johnson's get their car back from young missionaries who had been borrowing it while their car was being repaired.
Thursday, we needed to have our car serviced (15,000 k) and asked if our local elders could help us get back to the dealership to retrieve it. They picked us up in a sparkling clean car--something that is being drilled into them. We figure that they wouldn't drive a senior couple around in anything less. There was much computer work to be done, in trying to figure out the old PEF loans and how we can help them to understand the importance of repayment. Saturday morning, we hit the road to head to Newcastle to attend their Institute class. When we arrived (2 pm), the teacher was standing outside the building watching for her class members to come. At 2:30, with two kids there she decided to start and within 30 minutes four more trickled in. We enjoyed part of her lesson from Acts 13 and then she allowed us to talk with the students and determine if any were interested in the PEF program. Two young women and the husband of a current PEF student need help. Headed over to the Klingler's boarding to wait for them, as they were returning from a Primary activity in the Madadeni Branch. Two doors down live Elder and Sister Knudsen who have just arrived in Durban Mission from the Seattle, Washington area. That evening, we had an early dinner at The Cannon and a short visit because the Knudsen's are still feeling the effects of jet lag. It was interesting to hear how the senior missionaries were separated from the young elders and sisters during this swine flu concern at the MTC. Sharing meals in the huge cafeteria with our young counterparts was a fun time for us, and we feel badly that they didn't have the opportunity.
Father's Day in South Africa. Both of the Madadeni Branches we attended honored fathers in talks or by pinning a white ribbon on their lapels. We have another delightful deaf student, Sithabiso Nsele, that we were able to meet with - Sandy was helping Sithabiso, while Arlo was meeting with the Young Adults to talk about the PEF program. A young African elder has been trying to help Sithabiso with his application since we are four hours away, and today we were recipients of his skills. We had brought the computer so that Sandy could use it to communicate, just like we do with Xolisa in Durban, but it wasn't necessary as Elder Maxongo is very proficient in signing. There came a point, where there were so many questions that our student couldn't answer and luck was with us (no luck-a blessing) that his non member mother had decided to attend church with him today. It was becoming frustrating trying to communicate even with the help from Elder Maxongo and Sandy thought, yea, the mother will come in and all will be well. Wrong-she didn't speak English! The mother didn't totally understand the PEF program, thought it was a gift instead of a loan. So with our sweet elder translating in Zulu and sign language, we think pretty much everything was finally resolved. A stop was needed to be made in Pietermaritzburg as we returned home, to retrieve an application from one of our students. We drove through the downtown area and met him on a corner, where he jumped in the backseat of our car to pass off the paperwork and then we said our good-byes, or so we thought. About two kilometers down the road we hear this strange sound in the car and started to panic a little about what is happening, when Sandy saw Isaac's cell phone on the backseat. It was Isaac calling, and so we turned around and he was running up the street to try to meet us halfway. Even with the little delay, we still were back home before it was too dark. Enjoyed SKYPE calls wishing Dad a Happy Father's Day from all of our family!

During our tour of the Midlands Meander we stayed at Woodridge Country Estates. The first morning of our stay we pulled back the drapes, opened the french doors to our patio and this is the view from our bed just before the sun came up.

Our group at breakfast – In the back are the Griesemers (employment mission, from Indiana), on the right are the Markums (CES mission, from Wyoming), and in front are the Johnsons (proselyting mission, from Idaho).

A typical view along the Midlands Meander route from one of the venues. This is winter – the scene will be a lush green in the summer.

One of our favorite stops (one of 350 possibilities) Culamoya Chimes. All chimes are made on the premises in their workshop.

Lola, the lady in the center, is the owner of Culamoya (means singing wind) Chimes and also the chimes artisan. Without seeing our name tags, she guessed we were LDS as we reminded her of a good Mormon friend. She presented each of the ladies in our group with a protea – the South Africa country flower and also the name of the national cricket team (Proteas). Their home and business is located several kilometers off the main highway up a dirt road with a beautiful view of the valley. This is the setting for many of the Midands Meander venues.

We came across this rhino on our drive through Natal Lion Park. He was more of a pet than a wild animal who followed his keepers around and they would bring him right up to your car.

The Lion Park also includes several elephants. They are not bashful about checking out your car and this guy left lots of elephant trunk “stuff” all over our window.

The lion portion of Lion Park is an enclosed area of several acres containing more than a dozen lions. You drive into the enclosure through two interlocking gates and hope your car doesn't stall. This is probably a young male – mature males don't mix well with the group. Note the window reflection – we obviously did not roll down our windows to take pictures.

The last stop on our trip was Howick Falls. This is the falls during the winter dry season. The stain on the rocks gives you an idea what the falls are like in the summer when the weather is much wetter.

A street musician at the viewing area for Howick Falls. We placed R5 in his guitar case and he had no problem having his picture taken.

South Africa has an abundance of beautiful flowers. We have no idea what this is, but it caught our eye while visiting the Heavenly Hammocks Arts & Crafts venue.