Southern Africa Blog Photos

August 21st, 2010

Another beautiful day in Siteki, Swaziland. The temperature, smell, and overall ambiance is very reminiscent of a typical fall afternoon in the states. As this is still in the middle of winter in the southern hemisphere, the sun sets around 5:30pm. As I write this, I recognize my need for haste as we still must walk 20minutes back to our accommodations once we leave.

On the whole, this trip has been an awe inspiring and eye opening experience. The surrounding countryside is speckled with small homes that resemble broken down mud and brick huts. Juxtaposed to this life are homes of a bygone era that look fit to be Tuscan villas with its many stories and levels cascading down the hillside. The hard part is determining which kind of lifestyle we should live while here in Swaziland. Currently we stay in a beautiful rondavel which is perched atop a mountain with vast swaths of fields, valleys and hills for as far as the eye can see. This lifestyle is no doubt very comfortable and enjoyable, but if we stayed in this lifestyle for the duration of our stay, would we feel as if we missed out on grasping a greater truth about African poverty? Seeing disparity at a distance is not what we came here to do! For this reason, we have decided to stay for a week or so in the rural community with people that do not speak our language and live in homes that we would not even allow our animals to inhabit. I hate to put this so bluntly, but I must be this direct to portray the divide that we have encountered. I'll fill you in on our adventure as soon as I have more information about it.
As for our current lifestyle, on this Saturday afternoon Brad and Eric had the great delight of taking a tour around the rural areas of Swaziland via Dr. Pons private Piper fixed wing airplane, taking off from the estates own airstrip. While they were flying, I had the pleasure of taking a walk around the farm with some of the dogs (which have quickly become family).
Grace and I have been in discussion with the central government of Swaziland of which the Director of Social Welfare has asked that we assist two communities (one large, one small) in creating a psychological and social needs assessment which will be used in providing greater psychological and emotional care in the community. In addition to this, Grace and I have been asked to work with the police station and local communities counseling clinic as on-site counselors. We are so looking forward to this experience and I'll keep you informed on its progress. As for Brad, he is still teaching math and science at the local mission school and Eric is beginning to see patients and will be preparing to take over for Dr. Pons for a two week stint in October.

So much more to tell, but not enough light left to get home before the sun sets so I'm off!
Be sure to check out the pictures in the next few days as we will finally be getting some pictures and videos posted for all of our family and friends back home!

Much Love,
Ben

We're getting settled....

August 16, 2010
Since my last blog, a lot has occurred. We spent two days in Uvongo on the beach and, though it was quite cold, we did brave the Indian Ocean and swam two days. The waves were enormous and Eric likened the experience to being in a washing machine. We were tossed topsy, turvy in the waves. As soon as you could stand, another wave would topple you over. Though fun, it was very tiring and more than once I got a face full of salt water, yuck.
After Uvongo, we traveling a few hours to the Drakensberg...moutainous area. We did a lot of hiking and had a grand old time! We woke early in the morning to hike up a mountain and see the sunset. When we reached the top, we saw a few more peaks behind it, so we summitted those, too. The interesting thing about this area is that the tops of the mountains were quite flat. We were able to play frisbee on the top of some of them. The views were amazing. We were tired enough to take a nap on one of the peaks before venturing down.
We also saw cave paintings and spent a lot of time enjoying the cool air. Our rondavels had fireplaces, so we enjoyed fires each night. We also enjoyed cooking and eating with Vicki, Francois, and Francois's family. We have learned many South African customs.
On Saturday, we drove from South Africa to Swaziland. The border crossing was socially interesting, but thankfully, uneventful. We arrived at Mabuda Farm in Siteki (where we are living) after dark on Saturday. Therefore, we awoke to beautiful vistas of mountains, trees, farm land, and greenery. Since them and have been able to locate an internet hub, albeit slow connection! Without a vehicle, we have been walking a lot and getting used to the town. While getting groceries, it has taken us a while to convert to the metric system (is this a good price for 500 ml? apparently 1 kg of spaghetti noodles is much more than 1 lb. etc.). We spent several minutes figuring out what type of butter to buy....medium fat spread, low fat spread, full fat spread, margarine, butter...soft, block, etc. It has been kind of crazy. What size is 750 ml trash bag and will it fit in our can? The grocery store has many of the basics that we need and we will fine with food. However, it is still small by Swazi standards and some things are missing like seasonings, parmesan cheese, and jelly. We will have to get used to eating what is available.
Our rondavel is fabulous and the farm is beautiful. I am hoping to post pictures soon. We have more than adequate accommodations. Along with a small fridge/freezer, our kitchen only has a microwave and two burner hot plate. So we are trying to be creative with food. Last night, though, we fixed burgers in a skillet and fries in a pot. It has been fun. We eat a lot of peanut butter and honey and crackers.
Today we found out that we are going to be working with the Gospel Revival Mission School. Brad will be teaching Math and Science ("Maths" in Swaziland). For now, Ben and I going to be working on painting some things at the school and perhaps some construction until we are given approval to work with the social services worker here. We may have to make a trip to the capital city Mbabane to meet with directors...but we're not sure. We have met up with Ina and Wietz (pronounced Vitz) who are missionaries here and started the school about 5 years ago. We also have met Dr. Jonathan Pons and his wife Helen who own Mabuda Farm. Eric is working with Dr. Pons at the hospital. We were given a good tour of the grounds yesterday. We will have fun exploring and hiking around. We have also tasted the delicious, fresh milk from the farm. We have decided to drink the water at the farm because it is spring-fed. So far, there have been no issues, which is great because the water is actually very good.
We find that we do not blend in at all here in the town. We are some of the very few white people in the area. We are also adjusting to the culture and language...even though many people speak English, sometimes we cannot understand each other very well. Also, many people speak tribal languages of Zulu, SiSwati, or a host of other dialects. Since, vowels are pronounced softly rather than A, E, I, O, U, it is ah, eh, ih, oh, oo, I am tempted to start speaking with a South African or Swazi accent so that people can understand me better. I'll let you know how that goes.
Anyway...I'll go for now, internet is not cheap in Africa. :)
--Grace

August 7, 2010

So far we have seen much of the South African wild. Kruger is a very large national park that focuses on conserving plant and wildlife and then making it accessible to visitors. There are many trails and roads where people can drive to experience the animals up close and personally. In order to make sure that we don’t run into danger in the dark or unintentionally run over a leopard, campers must return to the camp by sundown. Since the African sunset begins at 5:15 and all is dark by 6:00 pm, we have to return to the camp pretty early in the evening. It’s interesting because after we braai (grill) for dinner and sit around the fire, it’s dark and we get rather tired. Right about when we feel ready for bed, I’ll look at my watch and it’s only 8:30 pm. The sun rises around 5:30 am, so we have been adjusting to a different daylight schedule.

We have been staying in three different camps in Kruger and working our way north. Each camp has a unique flare to it; some are more luxurious and others are in the “bush.” Our first camp, Mopani, was the largest and sported many rondavels, a restaurant, little grocery and gift store, and a pool. On our last full day in the camp we discovered the pool and were craving some exercise and activity. It was a mildly warm day and we thought it would be wonderful to take a dip. The swim was exceptionally “refreshing” as South Africa is just coming out of winter. However, even though it was very cold, we withstood the temperature to enjoy the water.

Our second camp, Bataleur, was smaller with only 8 rondavels. It was more private with an outdoor kitchen, view of the bush, and many beautiful birds in the surrounding trees. Since our kitchen was outdoors, we had to watch out for the squirrels and birds stealing our food!

Our third and final camp was Sirheni. It had 15 rondavels and ours had a living room, outdoor dining room, and full kitchen. We were excited to have an oven instead of just a hot plate as in Bateleur. We had a beautiful view of the river and the fence was very close giving us a great view of the animals. I saw a buffalo very closely and my first South African snake.

It is has been exciting to see animals that I have only seen on television or in a zoo. We have seen a ton of elephants…literally. Yesterday, we saw a large herd running up a hill—I don’t know how a 2 ton mammal can run that fast! We have seen plenty of buffalo, giraffes, warthogs, kudu, impala, and we have also seen some rare things such as the endangered saddle-billed stork. This morning we saw our first male lions. Their faces are gentle and ferocious at the same time.

We have been spoiled by our stay in Kruger. As an example of the slower pace that we have adopted I will describe my day. Yesterday, we woke early, ate breakfast, and went for a morning drive at 8:00 am. We saw some lions and other animals. After that, we went back to the rondavel, ate lunch, and then I took a nap. Though my nap was interrupted by a trumpeting herd of elephant outside our rondavel, I felt very rested. As the others went for an afternoon drive, I read in the sun, walked around the camp, read on the porch overlooking the river with some tea, and then read in the bathtub. After my bath, the others returned and we made dinner, sat around the fire with chocolate and tea, then I read in bed, and went to sleep. It was a very harrowing and exhausting day.

Anyway, we have had a long day of driving today as we exited the park and are on our way to the east coast. We will visit the Indian Ocean, which I have heard is too cold to swim, but I think I’d still like to brave it.

Saturday, 7th of August

To those friends and family following along back home, the four of us (Eric, Brad, Grace, and Ben) as well as Vicki and Francois are doing well and are looking forward to the ocean. As Brad has already informed you in the last post, we have seen a great deal in our 8 days on safari in the north of South Africa and are looking forward to experiencing a bit of the culture of SA as we have just finished (at least for now) seeing the country’s great wildlife. As I write this entry, I realize that there is so much that is different here as compared to the states. Obviously, the scenery is much different and the people have changed; what is curious is how we have adapted to our new environment. For example, I have noticed that Grace and I have been sleeping much deeper in the last many days as compared to the states. You don’t find precariously placed streetlights or traffic noise from a distant thoroughfare while living in the bush. Really, the only things that have rustled us from our sleep are the grunting hippos, the trumpeting elephants, and a smorgasbord of ridiculously loud birds, all of which I’ve finally learned to tune out. Perhaps the stress that is always present in our daily lives living in America has begun to dissipate now that we can call ourselves resident Africans.

To be frank, still on a daily basis, I find myself whispering under my breath, “Ben, what are you doing?!?!” Though I’m excited to move on from being a vacationer into the role of humanitarian worker, I still recognize that this is a huge leap of faith and a great expense for someone who never gave much thought to overseas work. I went into these five months thinking only about the help that we could provide to the Swazi people, either with the use of my hands or my mind. Along with these hopes of action came a good deal of anxiety over how we could complete all these grand wishes for our stay. In the last few weeks, however, I have tried to temper my expectations for our stay and have begun realizing that it is me who I have come to change (Selfish, I know J). With this change of perspective, I have seen my anxiety lessen and my heart encouraged. In any case, I look forward to the next step in our journey and hope that this entry finds you all happy and well.

-Ben

The Journey So Far...

We have now been in South Africa for 8 days (with an exciting, yet unexpected, day spent in central London along the way) and have been overwhelmed with the beauty of the weather, the difference of the landscape, the size of the wildlife, and the cultural importance placed on the “braai”. Eric made it to SA on time and met up with some new friends (many thanks, Elani and Chantelle) at the airport while the rest of us were making the most of our 8-hour layover in London by seeing the major sights. Ben, Grace, Vicki, Francois and I arrived the next morning at Eric’s hotel with the “Kombi” (VW minibus) to begin our trek around SA prior to beginning the next 4.5 months in Swaziland.

The first leg of our trip was spent in Kruger National Park. For those of you who do not know much about SA and its national parks, Kruger is a wildlife mecca made up of gently rolling “Mopani veld” hills with the occasional “koppie” (really big rock mounds) jutting out of the landscape. I can easily say that I have never found a place more centered on nature (in fact, the animals have free reign here while we are the ones behind fences or relegated to our cars). To give you an idea of what I am saying, I am currently staring at a herd of elephants about 100 feet away as I sit here writing this on the back porch of our rondavel. The first thing we saw when we got into the park was an impala. Actually, it wasn’t an impala—it was an IMPALA!!!!! (said with all the excitement of a child after receiving a pony for her 7^th birthday). Things have changed since that first day—after our thousandth IMPALA sighting, they are now just impala (said with a draw and a yawn). We have also seen enough elephants to outweigh the QE2, enough buffalo to make Ted Turner’s herd look diminutive, and enough zebra, giraffes, hippos, crocs, kudu, francolins (African pheasants that make a skull-splitting sound right around 5:00 am), baboons, bush buck and water buck to rival Genghis Khan’s raging hordes. On the short list have been seven lions, three grysbok (imagine a two foot tall antelope), a genet (like a house cat-sized leopard), a few steenbok, a hyena, and some really cool eagles and storks. We haven’t quite finished off our list of the “Big 5” (we’ve seen buffalo, elephant and lion but we are still missing rhino and leopard) but we have seen enough of everything else to make up for it!

We have had quite an adventure already but have also had the opportunity to slow down from our typical American pace. We drink tea at least three times a day (we even take it with us when we will be away from the rondavel at 11:00 and/or 4:00 tea times) and watch the sunset every night. I can confidently say that each of us is relishing our newfound life tempo. As nice as a slower pace is, though, getting stuck behind an elephant walking down the road is cute for 5 minutes…not 45….

Well, next up is the beach! We’re heading to Uvongo for a few days on the Indian Ocean. As much as I will miss the peace and quiet of Kruger, I am ready for a new place and a new culture. Hopefully we’ll be able to post a little more often coming up (we haven’t had phones, internet, or electricity for a while now).

Thanks again for following along with us on our journey so far,

-Brad