Well we said goodbye to our babies. Were both were surprised we were'nt a mess on the day we left. I think we were emotionally drained from the days before though. As we left Suubi some of the nannies sang songs to us and prayed over us. Those ladies are just so amazing. They've been such a blessing. Made it to one last Watoto church service, then had to zip over to the bus station.
Made it to Kenya alright. Neither of us slept very well on the bus, so we were quite tired. Took a taxi out to Monica and Davids. Spent four days with them. In that time we did a little touring around Kenya checking out some of their unique little shops, but mostly just relaxing. Met up with our fellow volunteer Andy one of the days. Hung out for awhile before we had to say goodbye again. Most evenings we were in the sitting room where they had a piano. I hadn't played a piano since leaving home. Felt so good to be playing again. Our last night we made dinner for Monica and David. One of our greatest specialties, stir fry. :)
Left Kenya at 3 in the morning on the 24th. Flew to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, then from there went to Johannesburg to meet up with Luke. Had a bit of a mix up with baggage, but praise the Lord we got it all sorted out. Luke and his friend, Jonathan, picked us up at the airport and we spent the night at a couples house in Johannesburg. Got stopped by a cop on the way. He was being absolutley rediculous and just looking for a bribe. Which Luke gave hime. It was either that or spend the night in jail. South Africa is so different from Uganda. Many times people just lump Africa together as the same. While Kampala was the crowded dirty city, Johannesburg is quite more westernized. Slightly shocked to see so many white people. Still corruption though.
Next day we went to the church camp. Was actually a group of churches from quite a few different countries. Was absolutley amazing. I, personally, have been way more challenged in the week I've been here, than the whole time I've been in Uganda. The people here are so real. I don't think I've ever come upon a church so in tune with God. There is no age segregation and the pastors truely have a heart for their people. All the churches, despite the distance between them, are very closely connected. Just being with and talking with these brothers and sisters has reenergized me and inspired me. I'm sad that our time here has to be so short.
After camp we crossed the border over to Botswana and spent the night in Gaberonne. Got up bright and early next morning and drove the 10 hours to Kasane. Saw many elephants on the road, not like Canada where the biggest thing you'd see on the road is a bear. There was one bull elephant who mock charged us, just a bit frightening. Had an unfortunate break down about 2hours from Kasane. We were in the middle of a forest reserve, with no cell service, and wild animals in the area. Sat in the shade and waited for help. Decided to get back in the car when we had some elephants sneak up on us, and then have them get scared back into the bush by a lions roar. Was quite an adventure. God blessed us and brought some good help along. The first guy to come was going to charge Luke something like $300 just to get us into the next town, and then we'd have to figure out what to do from there. Thankfully God sent along this other guy who saw the problem, quickly made a phone call, and had some belts brought down for us. We were able to fix the problem right then and there and make it to Kasane that night. Had to drive in the dark and keep an eye out for elephants. Came across many of them and other animals. Arrived at Kasane and booked into the Chobe campsite. Were so tired. Set up camp and plopped into bed, drifting off to the sound of hippos. Next morning just had a chillax day. Decided not to go to Victoria Falls due to issues of time, stess, money and it probably not going to be a good view at this time. That evening we went on our boat safari. Was quite a lot of fun. Sat up near the front of the boat. Luke said it was the best boat safari out of all the times he'd been on it. Saw a cocky young elephant go chasing after some girraffes. Quite the spectacle. Lastly we saw this huge croc. The thing was just massive. Sailed back to the camp with a glorious sun set. Woke up bright and early the next morning, we've had so many early mornings now. Took off to the game park to do a self drive safari. Self drive is just so much better than doing it with an organization. You can stay as long as you want looking at an animal and you can choose not to stop at every impalla you see (which we saw a lot of.) Went through herds of hundreds of buffallo. Saw so many animals: elephants, giraffes, hippos, impalla, water buck, kudu, lechwe, baboons, wart hogs, mongooses, and so many different birds. The variety of birds is just fascinating. It's crazy to try and think how God created so many different sizes, colors and shapes. Had an awsome display of some hippos play fighting. They opened their mouthes so big. Made for some awsome photos. Also saw this very tired bull elephant. He was just standing around with his herd, leaning back and forth, eyes nearly closed. Almost thought he'd fall over. Was histarical when he lifted his trunk up to rest it on his tusk. He looked so rediculous. Had to leave the game park at six. Christina spent the last hour making elephant cries trying to call out a lion. Unfortunatly we didn't come across any cats. Went back to the campsite and sat around the fire talking. Have had so many great discussions in this last week. Partially packed up the camp site before going to bed. Had to get up early again the next morning to head back to Gabs. Apparently there'd been a hippo near our camp site early that morning. Luke woke up to see the gaurds throwing rocks at it to scare it away. Wish we'd been awake to see that. Anyways, we loaded everything back into Luke's vehicle and drove off. Thankfully no break downs this time. Stopped by the salt pans on the way. They are so big. Right now there filled up with water and there like a great lake. Saw some wattled crane out there. Luke said they are highly endangered. Made it back to Gabs and unloaded our bags at our host couples house. Had a fantastic fish dinner then went to a meeting at the church. Spent some time afterwards talking to different people about all our exciting adventures. I was surprised I wasn't tired out from all our travelling. I just wanted to stick around and talk with people forever. Was the last to leave, but that was just due to our host couple being the ones to lock up. Unfortunatley Christina didn't make it to the meeting. She had a bad headache and decided to rest at the house. She was feeling a bit better when I got back.
Now it's next morning. Spent it re packing our bags for the hundredth time. Flying out saterday night. Still have a couple more exciting things planned for later today, but we'll be sure to tell you about them later. (Come on, I can't tell you everything and you got to have something to look forward to.)
Don't feel ready to go home yet, but I know I have to. Please pray that all our flights go well as we make our way back home. Thanks for all the prayer for Kenny. He had his surgery and everything went well. He still needs some prayer though because now he has malaria. We're still praying for him and agnus and all the babies we left behind. Thanks for putting aside your time to keep up with us and support us. Greatly appreciated. God bless!
~Amie K
