Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

This is the first time that Erin and I have not been at home for Christmas, and it's quite different here. Currently I'm sweating bullets while typing this.

We've arrived safely in Burundi and are very much enjoying our time with the Hieberts. We're at friends of theirs this evening for a get together for Christmas Eve. We are also having a turkey dinner tomorrow! That'll be awesome!

We're going on vacation with them on the 28th to Tanzania for 5 days, and that'll be really great.

We wish you all God's Blessing this Christmas, and are thinking of you all!

Good Idea Dingus!

Well, Well, he comes through with good advice! Thanks Buddy!

Today we took the suggestion of our friend Mark Wall, and went to an elephant orphanage. Mark told us that it was "perhaps his favorite place in Nairobi." He didn't let us down! We had an amazing time! This place is in Nairobi National Park, which is just outside of the city. It a centre in the park where the raise young elephants that have become orphans. These come from all over Kenya. They raise them till they are between 2-5 years old depending on the elephant, and then they release them back into the wild.

They had 4 there that were only 2 months old or so. They were so little and so cute. I never thought I'd call an elephant cute, but these were really cute. I was great to watch them pick up everything with their little trunks. It really was special to see these and to be so close. They also had some that were a little older, which they fed milk while we were there. Then after the feeding, the elephants gave themselves a mud bath. It was great to watch them roll in the mud and splash it all over themselves. We had an amazing time, and still have the smiles on our faces! A great plan Wall!

We also had our first experience in a Matatu today! This is what they call mini buses in east Africa. They're 14 passenger vans that tear around the city and the country side. They're notorious for crashes and speeding. It was really crazy, but it's always a lot of fun to travel the way that the locals do.

We also had some fish and chips today. This is the first time we've had the chance to eat this since home, and it was excellent!

Here's some pictures of what we've been seeing in Nairobi so far. Tomorrow morning we're off to Burundi.



This is our hut!

we're in malaria land now

Erin, reading lonely planet at the Java House. I'm proud to say that Erin is now a coffee drinker! (I have a tear in my eye)

It's really nice to be somewhere with greenery again!

The rest are all of the little baby elephants. awwww!

Some Random Thoughts

Unfortunately the computer we are using won't allow pictures, so we'll have to ask you to wait a few more days. Today we've spent our time looking around the city centre, past the parlaiment buildings, checking out places to eat, as well as their big "Nakumatt", Walmart type store in search of some things to bring to Burundi. Dad, you'll be happy to hear that we found the Nairobi Java House and plan to eat lunch there today.

The past two months have really been times of learning for both Brian and I. Looking back over our time in North Africa I feel that I've grown quite a bit, in a way that I wouldn't have had we not come travelling. After experiencing some of the things that we have, a few questions have come to mind that are hard to answer. We've already experienced so much poverty and it always has an affect on me. How are we to deal with the poverty all around us? Do we give to beggars? Does it help? It's easy to feel like there is nothing we can do to help with the problems that we see all around us. Brian and I have been just thinking and talking about how some countries are so rich, while others are so poor. How does this happen? Why is it that the whole continent of Africa is so poor and they can't seem to break out of this cycle? We've guessed at answers for this question but I don't know if there is a simple answer.

The places that we've been so far we've seen many different results of poverty. Some places people seem to be idle and don't do much other than try to survive. In Mauritania what we saw was idle men, labouring women and frolicking children. This seems to be the case in much of rural Africa. There seems to be more of a focus on self...parents taking food from their children, expecting others to provide for them. While in other places we have seen people really trying to make a living but there just isn't enough oppotunity. For example, in Dahab and Luxor, everyone was doing the same things. They all either had a shop, a restaurant, a taxi or a hotel. But, there aren't enough tourists to fill all the hotels, restaurants, shops and taxis.

We've been reading a book, 'Dark Star Safari', and the author travels from Cairo to Cape Town and wonders if the best thing to solve poverty is for aid to be withdrawn from Africa all together. Maybe a harsh thing, but is aid actually helping or just making the problem worse? In the past 50 years billions, perhaps trillions, of western aid money and food has come "to Africa's rescue". Has anything changed? All of that money just seems to end up in the hands of corrupt polititians. Cities have become bigger, slums have grown, and crime rates have increased. We saw a sign on the street here that rapes happen every 30 min in Nairobi.

There perhaps is no answer to these questions....I think many people before us have wondered at these questions. I think it comes down to how we answer these questions for our selves, and then we can determine how we'll respond. Not an easy thing to figure out though. God has called us to help the widows, the poor and the sick.....how do we really do this?

These are just some of the things we've been thinking about lately and being struck with as we're here.

Anyway, it's hard to believe Christmas is only a few days away. Hope you all have great times celebrating!

And hey, how about them Habs! And hey Craig, how about them Flyers?!

Nairobi........green, beer, and santa clause

We have left Egypt behind, and with that we have left Arabic music, sand, mosques, and shawarma. We are in Nairobi and very excited to be here. We finally feel like we're in Africa!

We had the worst flight of our trip last night. I think I got maybe an hour of sleep on the plane (and that's being generous). Our flight was delayed about an hour and then we had a stop in Sudan for about 45 min. It was pretty strange to be in Sudan with the war that is going on there. It just brought the war a little closer to home. In Sudan, most of the flight left and a whole new group of passengers got on, mostly Muslim Sudanese men. They weren't your typical group of passengers. Although we've been in Arabic countries for the past two months we haven't met people who were as devout as these men. As soon as the sun started to come up (at 5 am) they climbed into the aisles of the plane with their prayer mats and proceeded to do their prayer rituals (loud enough that no one else could sleep) and refused to let the stewardesses up and down the aisles.

But, we did make it. Kenya is beautiful. Everything here is green....there are flowers and trees....simple things we haven't really seen for the past couple months. The people here all seem so friendly too! We're staying in a pretty great place too. We have our own little hut, with clean bedding, and there are a lot of travellers here which makes it fun. If you want to check it out online we're at Upper Hill Campsite. Just google it.

We're here for another couple of days. Today we got some sleep and are just checking out the city a bit. We plan to do more of the same tomorrow. We also plan to travel in the footsteps of our good friend Mark Wall while we're here too. We unfortunately missed him by about 2 weeks (he was here for 8 months.) Bad planning on our part!

We'll try to get a few pictures up tomorrow, but for now we'll leave you with this. Now we're going for a beer (strange because you can't get alcohol in Muslim countries).......and we have Christmas here. Santa clause is everywhere!

Back to the Big City

Well, here we are back in the biggest city in Africa, Cairo. We left the Red Sea and Dahab behind us, and took a bus here today. It was only a ten hour trip, so that was a nice relief. The bus ride had an interesting element to it when we passed under the Suez canal. All the passengers were asked to get off the bus and pull our luggage out of the storage as well. The army then did a "thorough" bomb search, which turned up nothing. Also, now that we are out of Dahab, we can inform you of some info that would have perhaps frightend our beloved family had they known it while we were there. Last April, if you recal, there was a bombing at a resort town in Egypt and 10 tourists were killed along with dozens of locals. That took place in Dahab. We found that out when we arrived. You could see where it happened, since the concrete is ruined in that place.

But, Dahab was so great, and Egypt as a whole hasn't been to shabby either. However, we've been in North Africa for almost 2 months now, and are more than ready to move on.

Tomorrow night we fly out of Cairo for Nairobi. We plan to spend three days there, and then we fly to Burundi to visit Doug and Deanna. For those of you who don't know them, they are friends of ours from our home church who are with MCC in Burundi. Erin actually has known Doug her entire life! So we are quite excited to visit them and spend the Christmas season with friends. For some of you, you'll find it interesting that Brandon Thiessen will be there as well. He's also with MCC in Burundi now.

Not much else to say. We fly out at 4:30 pm Ontario time in case you want to know.

Next report from south of the equator!

Oh, check out the Nairobi forcast! We haven't seen much of the wet stuff thus far.

Sunrise on Sinai

First off, if any of this doesn't make sense, it's because we're going on only about 3 hrs of sleep.....

Anyway, today was Sinai day. Last night we left our hotel at 11 pm and travelled 1 1/2 hrs. to Mt. Sinai to join the throngs of people who had all gathered to climb the 7 km to the top. Brian and I were incredulous about the number of people that were wearing sandles, shorts, slip on shoes, skirts, and even high heels. Definitely not suitable atire for a 2 1/2 hr. trek up a mountain.

We arrived at 2 am and started our climb up the mountain. It was one of my favourite things from this trip so far. It was almost magical walking up the mountain in the dark, with the moon and the stars shining so brightly. It was beautiful! The climb took us about 2 1/2 hrs. total. There are a few different ways to get up; either the 3000 steps of repentance which were carved out by a monk, the camel trail, or your own route I guess. We chose the camel trail which was the gentlest incline. It was neat to see many people traveling up with their flashlights lighting the way.

The temperature got much colder the higher we climbed and it was between 0-5 degrees at the top and the wind picked up. Despite my 10 layers of clothes and our sleeping bags I wasn't warm enough to get any sleep before the sun came up. But, it was just such a neat experience to climb up, knowing the history and background of the mountain. Moses recieved the ten commandments here, and it was a place that God revealed his glory. I read through Exodus today, and it just makes the story so much more alive for me! The thing I could hardly believe was the number of times Moses actually walked up and down the mountain. It's quite the hike! The height of the mountain is 2245 m.

Here's Brian recieving his own "commandments."


What an amazing opportunity to be able to do this!

It's hard to believe but our time in Egypt is coming to a close. We are here in Dahab for another day and a half before we head back to Cairo for our flight to Nairobi on Tuesday. Tomorrow we'll spend some more time lazing around the Red Sea catching up on our sleep again.

What a Wonderful Maker!

Wow, today was one of those days for me, when God just opened my eyes to see something new about him! Today I was struck in a new way at the wonder of who God is, and how he has displayed himself in creation. I won't be able to convey this very well, but I hope you get it.

Just while I was snorkeling around the reef, staring at all the amazing fish and colours of the coral, it just hit me in a new way. God just sort of said to me, "hey, I made this for me...and you!" I was marvelled by the fact that God had spoken this unfamiliar world into existence for his pleasure. Wow! Not only was I moved by who God was, but he also allowed me to see the beauty in a crystal clear way. I can't explain it. Perhaps it's easiest to just say that today, it was exponentially more beautiful than it was yesterday to me. What a wonderful maker!

Me contrasting the gracefulness of the fish!

On a lesser note, I have to reprimand those of you who are showing some serious signs of doubting that we are at the beach. One particularily bold retirie, suggested that we may even be in our nations capital. Imagine that... Erin and I drive 6 hrs to the coldest capital on the planet, only to paint cardboard so that it looks like something from paradise, and then proceed to find some fresh fish market and tell you all about the wonderful snorkeling. I'm disgusted! That's it, we're considering reading all comments before they are published. All the puns from some mystery guy, and everyone coveting our trip has pushed us over the edge.

Come on man, could I really have painted such a good looking tropical dessert, and such a studly guy in the back drop?!

On an ever lesser note, we had the "priviledge" of attending an Egyptian birthday party last night, for the guy who runs our hotel. Uncle Jimmy, as I'm sure he's named himself, turned 31 and had a party with all his friends and some travellers. It was basically a bunch of 20ish men dancing around one guy dancing on a table to Arab pop; much like the music videos we've seen at Mc Donalds. It was quite humorous, but it seemed as though they were having fun.

Much of the same is planned for tomorrow, and we also planned to hike up Mt. Sinai to watch the sun rise on Saturday morning. Should be good!

Sun, Snorkels and Shakes! (Milkshakes that is)

Not enough of you said that you were on your way over here for a holiday this week, so I figure that we should show you how great it is here!

First off - The Food!



The poor starving Africa travelers are putting on weight here! As Brian said yesterday, the water is lined with restaurant after restaurant, all doing what they can to tempt the traveller in. They have just about everything to offer from pasta, fresh seafood, meat, chicken, desserts and milkshakes galore! We both had steak dinners last night with appetizers and dessert. It was great and we were stuffed! Breakfasts have been equally as good, with any type of pancake you can imagine, with all the toppings!

Although the promised bacon and sausage isn't what you'd find at home, it sure makes a great meal (especially in contrast to the bread and jam/nutella we've been eating up until now). Our fresh fish and shrimp meal was great tonight too!

(They even lit a candle and put it inside an onion shell!)

The Atmosphere

Dahab is a diving ghetto. Because the diving here is so good, many great divers come, and many other people learn to dive here. You see them everywhere!

We've also heard Dahab described as "a state of mind" and not simply a place. Everything here is so laid back and completely different from the rest of Egypt. Although I still consider it a place(as you can take a bus here), it has really helped my state of mind become much more positive (compared to what it was on our bus ride here)!

All of the restaurants here cater to the tourist crowd. A popular way to eat or relax is in many of the cushioned areas, and at many restaurants you can recline on the floor with pillows and mats beside burning fires. It's so hard to describe, but it's so great.

The Sea!

We had our first taste of snorkeling today. Unfortunately we can't take pictures to capture what we saw underwater. It was amazing! God is a magnificent creator! I'm sure most of you have seen underwater footage of schools of fish, and fish with amazing colours and unusual appearances; this is what we saw today. Not to mention the blue rocks and colourful coral. It's a different world with your head under the water. We can't wait to jump back in again tomorrow! The water here is really warm too! One of the divers told us it's 23 C. At times it's warmer than the air temp.

Fun in the Sun!

You couldn't get bored here! Spending time sitting in the sun and reading is great when you need a break from snorkeling. But even when this wears thin there is always the milkshakes and fresh fruit juices. When the mango gets boring.....

...try the coconut! (Or orange, melon, strawberry, lemon....)

More to come tomorrow!

Dahab Forever!

Well, we found a place that we might never want to leave. Dahab!

After arriving in Egypt from Kuwait we took a bus from Luxor to Dahab. We went up the west side of the Red Sea and then crossed the Suez canal via tunnel, and came down the Sinai Peninsula to Dahab, which is also on the red sea. What a fantastic place! We just got here today and are very excited.






This place is as nice as any resort town we've seen before. It has very nice hotels, very cool places to eat on the beach while fires blaze, not to mention snorkeling in the coral of the Red Sea. The diving and snorkeling here is said to be second in the world, only to The Great Barrier Reef. We plan to get our snorkeling routine started tomorrow.

The setting here is also very cool. As you may have guessed Sinai is home to Mt. Sinai, also known as Mt. Horeb. We are going to climb that while we're here, and perhaps we'll have some new commandments for you! We can see mountain everywhere. They're not huge, but very cool. When we look out over the Red Sea we can AL"REDY SEA" the mountains of Saudi Arabia, which is neat.

So if you want a nice little retreat from winter to a really cool spot, with hotels on the beach for $5 a night and 3 course steak or seafood dinners for less than $10 you should come to Dahab; we'll be here for a week! We'll be the people chasing fish and laying beside the blue waters discussing which shop makes the best milkshakes and banana pancakes.



See you here!

Our Last Day in Kuwait

Our days of living in luxury are almost over....it's back to the African path again tonight. We've had a great past few days; eating Canadian food, sleeping in clean and comfortable beds, touring Kuwait, eating candy canes and Christmas cookies, drinking hot chocolate out of mugs, and even indulging in a little Starbucks. (Just for interest sake, our bill at Starbucks was almost $15! You might say that it's a bit more expensive here than the other places we've been so far). It's been another interesting "middle east experience". The longer we're in Arabic countries, the more we've been learning of their culture. It's very different than I thought.

Here are a few pictures of our time here in Kuwait.

Here's a picture of Hillary with the infamous cat, Nacho!

Here's us infront of the Sheane's beautiful house.

The Kuwait towers.

Amanda (holding her little mouse, Lilac), Petra and Hillary.

Erin and Naomi.

A view of Kuwait City from the tower.

Thanks to the Sheane's for a really great time!

Our First Day in Kuwait

We spent our first day in Kuwait today. On arriving at the airport we saw Starbucks, Cinnabon, and many other North American chains. It was a bit of a shock to the system coming from Africa where the only North American chains we've seen are McDonalds, KFC, and Pizza Hut. Brian is still craving his real "American coffee". I'm sure we'll hit up a Starbucks yet!

Our flight was good. We actually had the first row on the plane which meant lots of leg room. It made for a comfy ride, despite the fact it was 3 am.

We spent a good day today with the Sheane's. We drove out to the desert, which is quite different from all the other desert we've seen in other countries. We then spent an enjoyable afternoon at "Entertainment City". It's an amusement park with roller coasters and other similar rides.

Already, this trip has been a welcome break from our African adventures. What a treat to wash our clothes in a washing machine (instead of in a sink with shampoo), to eat salad, to see a Christmas tree, and to have comfortable and good conversation with familiar people. We're looking forward to a great 4 days here.

Favourite Phrases

Luxor is said to be the hassel capital of Egypt. Here are a few of our "favourite" and commonly heard phrases:

"You are lucky man" (referring to anyone walking with a "western" woman)

"You want falucca ride....you know how much?"

"Have a nice ice cream"

"You want careche (carriage)?"

"Where you from?" "Canada" "Canada Dry never die"

"Byramids, Beeble (people), barfume (purfume), babyrus (papyrus) - there is no "p" in arabic

"I love you"

"why not?"

"I don't know what you want, but I have it"

"have a look"

"I make you special brice because you are nice berson"

These are some of our fond memories from Luxor. We had a lazy day today, walking around, reading and of course being hasseled by the many guys with horses, faluccas, shops and travel agents.

Touring Some Tombs

Today, we had another day of the same old tourist stuff. These types of days do not always translate into really exciting blogs. So I'll just give you the basic details.

We went over to the other bank of the Nile to see a bunch of tombs. They were pretty good, but we were no allowed to take pictures inside of them. The colours of these tombs were extremly well preserved, since they have not been exposed to sunlight, and flashes will ruin the colour. That was what made these tombs so nice to see. The colours were incredible! These were the first things we have seen that have not faded. Today we took a guided tour, which was nice for a change. We had the oportunity to learn about all the history of the kings and queens. What I found to be so interesting was the way that they carved the tombs and huge tunnels out of solid rock. They used bronze chisels and wooden hammers. It must have taken so long! They would start working on the tomb of a King as soon as he got into power, and they rarely had them completed by the time the ruler died. Some ruled over 30 years and still these were not finished.

When we returned from our tour Erin and I napped the rest of the day away. We woke up some time after 6pm. That was sweet!

Tomorrow night we head out to Kuwait!


The funeral temple of Queen Hapshepsuts

Erin and some falcon god

Two impressively large statues that used to guard a temple

our favourite insect, they carved this for us (we also learned that they used beeswax to preserve the colour and make them shiny)

enjoying the fruits of the Nile!

Biking to Karnak

We had a really great morning today and went to see the amazing Karnak Temple. We're not up on all the history of the place, but it was incredible none the less. The biggest attraction there, by far, is the great hypostyle hall. We couldn't even capture how amazing it was with pictures. There are 134 pillars in a small area - we're guessing they're about 40 feet tall. They all have been carved with intricate details. Walking through them made us feel very small! It would have been amazing to have seen this place in it's original condition. Many of the statues and pillars have lost their design and colour over time, and others are crumbling. It's not surprising since they were built in 1292 BC. Check out these pictures. Brian thought this rivalled the pyramids for his favourite attraction.

Brian turned into a pharoah today!

We also spent some time training for the Squeezer today. We rented some bikes and spent a lot of the day riding through Luxor on our trusty clunkers, actually they weren't really that trusty. You should have seen these things. Despite the huge courdoroy seats they had, our bottoms are complaining. Brian's tire actually blew and he had to switch bikes half way through the day. But what else is new - we're getting used to old modes of transportation. Check out these action shots!

Other than that we spent some time relaxing along the Nile and saw another beautiful sunset. We're off for some more adventures tomorrow but we're getting ready for some new scenery soon.