On Safari with 12

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On Sunday of this past week (4th of Nov) 11 of us left for Rhino Camp off Lake Kariba.  We drove to Kariba and took a boat for 1 hour to reach there.  Of course on the way one vehicle broke down and we waited an hour for another vehicle to come and change with us!

We enjoyed 3 nights at Rhino camp and yes some of the group saw a Rhino.  That is always exciting since it is an extremely endangered animal.  We spent time riding and in the boat to see animals.  Rick, Major, Sylvia and Jordan spent time fishing and getting some bream for us to eat for breakfast!

On Monday morning Denise Bloomqvist joined us.  Denise is a student nurse from Finland and flew in Sunday and our driver brought her from Harare on Monday morning to join us on the safari.  She found us by doing an internet search and we are happy to have her with us for the next 6 weeks.  She was so excited to see a lot of elephants up close!  Our last breakfast there one of the elephants decided to join us and came up right behind us while we were eating!  Everyone got a bit nervous and Major a lot nervous!

On the boat ride to Kariba going home—our boat broke down and the other one ran out of fuel.  We gave the other boat fuel and they continued on with 9 of the people while John, Jim and I stayed with the floating boat until they returned.  We got so hot we jumped into the lake and swam for awhile!  We felt safe from Crocs since we were out in the middle where it was deep!  The other boat returned and got us to shore and we travelled home.  It was 110 degrees that day in Kariba!

We got back on Wednesday evening in time to cook dinner and get to Bible Study.  Our electricity had come back on Sunday evening and was staying on almost 24 hours a day.  After hot Kariba with no fans and no ice it was great to be home and enjoy those things again!

We had a busy rest of the week and on Thursday night we had a powerful thunder and lightning storm with 12 mls of rain.  Of course our electricity kept going on and off and when the storm ended our electricity was at ½ power for about 8 hours until they got it going again.  We are thankful for a good week of power.  We caught up on the washing and our freezers are frozen—yeah--ice cubes!

I am now cooking for 12 for the next couple of weeks which keeps me busy planning and cooking with the help of my cook.  We are very dry and praying for more rain soon!  People are busy plowing but no one has planted yet as it is very dry.  Keep praying for good rains!
On Saturday afternoon we gave clothing to our ministers and their wives and children.  They make very little money and we try and help them  with clothing.  We are thankful for people who donate clothes to be sent in the container.  Sylvia Brown and Sue Hahn spent hours sorting through all the clothes and organizing and getting clothes ready for all of them.  We are thankful for their hard work.
 Elephants from our rooms
 Nothing better than a Kariba sunset
Sylvia and a Bream she caught!
 African lawnmower--a hippo!
 Mom and baby elephant
Our group with our guides

Ministers and families picking out their clothes
 


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