Swaziland

After our two days at Kruger, we headed to Swaziland, a little country within the country of South Africa, to just relax and unwind.  We went the most direct route which is a very little used entrance into Swazi.  The drive up the mountains in SA was beautiful.  We had great visits with the border guards and they all wanted to know more about the Church so we left materials with them.  As we entered Swazi the guard told us to be careful on the road because it had some large potholes.  We went aways and soon came to potholes,  but they only lasted for a few miles and then it changed to a crumbled asphalt road.  Then it changed to a dirt road, and finally to a mud logging road for many, many miles.  We only saw a couple four wheel drive trucks, but we pressed on with faith.  At Pigg's Peak, we finally got back to paved roads.  It was all quite exciting.

We got to the Summerfield Resort and checked into our rooms.  They were very nice and spacious and have the traditional thatched roofs.  The Summerfield Resort and Botanical gardens is like a little tropical paradise.  It is the most peaceful, relaxing and beautiful place I have experienced.  They also have delicious food, and I have never had more relaxing meals in my life.  The people were all super friendly and accommodating.  The paths wind around through all the vegetation so you do not see all of the other buildings.  There are beautiful rocks and pools and running water by the restaurant that is so soothing and relaxing.  There are beautiful peacocks everywhere.

The next day we went to visit a Batik factory run by women.  Then we went to the candle factory and the House of Fire,  and some shopping.  We also enjoyed playing games with the group the one afternoon.  We ended our trip by attending the Ezulwini Branch.  It was the spiritual highlight of the trip.  The people were wonderful and had such strong spiritual feelings that you could feel in their talks and as you got visit with them one on one.

Sister Whyte, Sister Deamer, Sister Winn, and Sister Jackson at one of the pull-offs in SA.

The SA border guard was happy to see some people come through their gate to Swaziland.  He was very curious about the Church. They love Jesus Christ.

Our room with the thatched roof. 

Very spacious rooms with two large beds.

Catching up on some work in the room. 

The high ceilings with the beautifully thatched roof. 

 One of the peacocks strutting his feathers.

 Peacocks on the walls.

Peacocks on the rocks. 

Even peacocks in the Exercise room checking to see if they are still buff.

 Beautiful pools and fountains.

Flowing water is so soothing to the soul. 

Looking out at the lights on the water while enjoying dinner.

Two ladies from the village carrying their shopping home.

The Batik factory. 

One of the ladies applying the wax to the fabric for dyeing. 

Some of the handmade prints hanging out to dry.

My favorite batik print.

The two reverence children before the church meeting started. 

The Ezulwini Branch in Swaziland where we attended Church.

Tender Mercies & Miracles

There is seldom a day that goes by that we do not see some tender mercy or special little miracle.  When you look for it, you begin to see the Lord's hand in so many things.  We made a trip to Kruger and Swaziland in January.  We got to Hazeyview okay and then the car overheated and made a terrible sound.  It was obvious it would not make it for the game drive.  We located a rental car that was 45 minutes away and they closed in 45 minutes.  It was a miracle given the incredible speed bumps, traffic, and other challenges that we had along the way, but we got there before they closed and got the car.  If the car problem had happened half way to Kruger we probably never would have been able to complete the trip.  We were so blessed we had reached our destination before we had the problem.

The Fleet department located a Chevy dealership about 30 miles away in the small town of White River who had parts in stock (which was another miracle since even the big dealerships in Joburg and Nelspruit do not have parts in stock) and they thought they could fix it.  We tried to limp the car down to them the next day, but we did not get far when it overheated again and we had to park it and go into the town in the rental car.  Fortunately we found someone who could tow it in for us. The dealer could not tow it because it had an automatic transmission.  We went on and enjoyed Kruger for two days while they worked on it.

We picked it up and turned in the rental car.  We filled up with gas and while doing so,  I had the attendant check the air pressure.  He  just  happened to notice in the six inches of tread  that were exposed that we  had  a large screw in the tire.  They plugged it for us.  (Another tender mercy so that we did not have a severe flat or blowout on that front tire while traveling in the middle of nowhere on some very bad roads.)  With the tire fixed and gassed up we headed on to Swaziland.  We took the most direct route which was up winding mountain roads that were beautiful.  We got to the border and things went very smoothly, both on leaving South Africa and entering Swaziland.  Once into Swaziland the paved road soon developed many severe pot holes, then it became a crumbled asphalt road, which soon changed to a dirt road, then to a mud road, and finally to a logging road until we finally got to Pigg's Peak.  It was a miracle that we made it through, since we did not have four-wheel drive like the few other vehicles we saw on that road.  We pressed on to our destination in Swaziland and had several great days just relaxing and seeing the area. 

We headed home after Church on the 4 1/2 hour drive back to Joburg.  About 45 minutes into the drive, the car overheated again.  We were in the middle of nowhere.  We waited for it to cool down and then added some more water to the radiator.  We turned the AC off, turned the heater on, and tried to keep the rpms down to 2,000 or less even when going up hills.  It was a miracle, but we finally made it out of the back rural country to the main N4 hiway back to Joburg.  About an hour and a half out of Joburg we stopped at the first service station we found and got gas.  It was 2:30 and we had not had lunch, so we got some food at the rest stop/plaza.  I let the car cool down and then I added a lot of water to the radiator.  While adding it, I could see a steady stream pouring out of the car on the other side of the engine area.  I truly did not think we would make it five miles before it would probably run out of water and overheat again.  We drove for 1 1/2 hours praying all the way that we could get back close enough to Joburg that someone could come and get us before it got dark and dangerous to be out.  Don't let anyone ever tell you that the Lord does not bless missionaries.  He heard our prayers and got us all the way back home to Duke's Court.  When we pulled in and parked the first thing we did was have a prayer of Thanks for getting us home safely. 

The next morning I added water.  There was a big puddle of antifreeze under the car,  We drove it about 4 kilometers to the Office and I gave the keys to the fleet department along with all the problems I knew of.  They got ready to take it to the dealer to have it checked out and they could not get it to start.  They had to have it towed.  Another sign that we had truly experienced the Lord's tender mercies and miracles in getting it all the way home and to the office before it quit working.  It was simply one small miracle and tender mercy after another on that trip.   

Kruger National Park

While the country is basically shutdown for their summer holidays December 15th to January 15th, we decided it would be a great time for the OGC group to do a quick trip to Kruger National Park and Swaziland.  We made reservations for the group at Villa Rostrada on the Lake (B&B) in Hazeyview just outside Kruger, and at the Summerfield Resort in Swaziland.  We drove and Bryan Jackson drove.  We had car problems when we reached Hazeyview and had to get a rental car, but that is another story.

Kruger was the first game reserve in South Africa and was similar to Yellowstone National Park in the US. We had a great time in Kruger and saw all of the big 5 the first day, including the elusive leopard.

Our first Cape Buffalo of the day.

A group of Cape Vultures in a dead tree.  (They like dead things.)

A female Impala. 

A male Impala.

Zebras, Impalas, and Blue Wildebeests with calves.

A Warthog (Pumba).

A large white rhino with Oxpecker birds that eat the ticks.  Mom and Jr are just behind.

A Spotted Hyena.

Some elephants blocking the road.

A Cape Buffalo blocking the road in front of us.  They are the second most dangerous animal in Africa in terms of human deaths.

A seven foot high termite mound.

A leopard laying on a limb.

A leopard sitting on a limb. (Must be a teenager.)

A leopard walking on a limb.

Geoffrey the Giraffe having a light lunch.

A beautiful Burchell's Zebra.

A Stork.

A blue-tailed striped skink.

Do Not Disturb -Rhino resting!

An African motto to live by - Let sleeping lions lie!

Momma lion is thinking - what should I fix for dinner tonight?

The white Rhino family - nobody messes with that family!

Part of a troop of Baboons.

A magnificent male Kudu.

A baby Zebra.

A Giraffe flagrantly disobeying the Do Not Enter sign.

Two elephants tussling.

Two Impalas tussling. 

Two Hyenas tussling.  Hyenas have the strongest jaw pressure of any animal and can chew bones.

                     The End!