Livingstone

We arrived in Livingstone yesterday after a 5 1/2 hr. bus ride. The amazing thing about this trip is that it actually took a shorter amount of time to get here than they told us it would. That's definitely a first! A good first!

After arriving we checked in to our hostel....and it is definitely the nicest place we've stayed! It has a beautiful pool, comfortable beds, clean bathrooms and even a kitchen so we can do some cooking (something I actually miss doing).

Here's our great Banda! Complete with bugnet and fan!

Today we hit the whitewater! Although we still haven't really seen the falls, we travelled with a rafting group into Batoka Gorge for some fun in the rapids. The gorge was beautiful with huge cliffs and many trees lining the river. But, even better than that was the fun we had rafting. We've never been before and we weren't disappointed.

The Zambezi River is one of the only class 5 rivers in the world and one of the few that is commercially rafted. We are here during the high water season so the first 10 rapids are actually closed because they are too dangerous. We were in a group of 6 with our rafting guide who was a lot of fun. When we weren't bursting through the huge rapids, Brian was doing back flips off the raft into the water and breaking paddles by slapping them on the water. Ok, it was only one paddle. We ended up in the water quite a few times and tried to "tube the raft" a couple of times by all sitting in the back and trying to get it to stand straight in the air. Of course we landed in the water! We did have to be a bit careful about being in the water though as there are crocodiles in the area. We didn't see any...thankfully!

We didn't see any crocs but we did see some people fishing!

We had a really fun day. I've had a smile on my face all day because it was so good. After a good sleep tonight we're heading to see the Falls tomorrow and have a bit of a picnic. They really shouldn't have ruined Niagara Falls the way they did. It's so much more beautiful here!

Adventures off the Boat

Hello again! Since it's been so long since the last time we posted we've decided to get you up to date....Brian has posted on our boat adventures and I'll get bring you up to speed on what we're doing now. We haven't had computer access until now which is why we didn't post sooner.

After getting of the boat in Mpulungu, Zambia we did the normal customs procedures, money changing and then attempted to find a bus ride into Kasama (a town a bit bigger than Mpulungu). We were at once greeted by very helpful Zambians who really enjoyed having their pictures taken. Brian ended up giving them a mini photo shoot. It was hilarious! They were also very helpful and helped us arrange our bus ride quickly. The waiting however, wasn't so quick. We waited for 5 hours before our bus was full enough to leave (23 peolpe in a 15 seater, with smelly fish, a live chicken and a rooster)! After leaving, our "2 hour" bus ride turned into a 5 hour bus ride. Surprise, surprise! It was a fairly typical ride; slow, many stops, hot, smelly, and crammed. To make it even more interesting the lady sitting beside/on top of me spilled 1/2 a bottle of her water onto my lap halfway through the trip. The best part was that it didn't even phase her. She didn't say a thing, or even look at me.

After arriving in Kasama we booked our "luxury" bus tickets to Zambia's capital, Lusaka, and then proceeded to find a place to stay for the night. It turned out that the bar across the street was pumping music all night and continued to do so until 5 am when we got up to catch our bus. Needless to say we didn't get a lot of sleep. Especially because all the bar patrons turned up at our hotel in the middle of the night....they weren't very quiet.

Anyway, we boarded our big coach bus the next morning and proceeded on towards Lusaka. It was a much nicer ride than our minibus ride the day before. It was fairly uneventful until I was just about asleep and I felt the bus swerve. Brian said to me, "Oh no, I think someone just commited suicide". The busdriver had swerved to miss a lady and she had tried to jump back underneath the wheel of the bus. Immediately the bus stopped and 3 guys got off the bus, grabbed some sticks and ran to the side of the road where the lady was lying. To my shock/horror/disbelief they started to hit her with the sticks. I thought they were trying to "finish her off" to take her out of pain and I was really surprised to see her get up and run back to her house. It turns out she wasn't hit at all and the girls in front of us on the bus told us she was demon possessed. I still haven't been able to wrap my head around that one. I was stunned for about an hour after that.

However, we did arrive safely in Lusaka in the late afternoon. We're really thankful to be here and have a break from our 5 consecutive days of just travelling. It's nice to eat food other than fish and rice as well. We can even get icecream here!

My first impressions of Zambia are really great! From what we've seen so far the country seems to be doing fairly well. Things appear to be a bit more organized than some of the other places we've been. People take more pride in their houses and even in the poorest villages people have planted flowers to decorate their homes. Gardens are planted in organized fashion rather than just a mish-mash of everything all together. We've even seen some huge feilds of corn, like you'd see in Canada, with tractors, and irrigation systems. I've been pretty impressed. That doesn't mean there is not poverty though. There are many street kids here, more than we've seen in any other part of Africa. As long as we're here poverty will continue to confront us everyday. It's such a reality in this part of the world.

After spending a day in the big city today we're heading on to Livingstone to see Victoria Falls. We plan to hit the rapids there and do some white water rafting. From there we will head down to Namibia. Only one short month left!

Down Lake Tanganyika

how did this happen?

Well it's been sometime since our last post. We've been away from computers for a little while; and that's a good thing since it means we've been in some backwoods towns experiencing the "real africa" that we love.

We'll our bags came safe and sound the day after we arrived in Kigoma; so it didn't ruin our time in paradise at all. The week was awesome! We had great weather, and a great place to enjoy it! We spent our time swimming in the crystal clear water, baking in the sun, and eating the famous pineapple of the Kigoma region. It was such a good time.the "Motor Vessel Liemba"

On Wednesday we boarded the MV Liemba. This is a ferry that travels from Kigoma to the far southern end of Lake Tanganyika, and arrives at the tiny port of Mpulungu, Zambia. This is the trip we took, and it was quite the adventure getting there.

We were told to arrive at the port in Kigoma at 3pm. When we arrived we entered right back into the typical African mayhem that we've come to know. There were so many people and so much disorder. But that's ok. The ship was scheduled to leave at 4pm. We boarded at 5:30. The port then had to finish loading thousands of pineapples and hundreds as bags of dried fish onto the ship before we could depart. By the time we left it was 7:15pm.

the small fish

that's what I'm talkin' 'bout!

The ship moved along at a good pace. Although we knew that this wouldn't last long. During the course of the next 61 hrs the boat would stop 19 times at tiny villages on the shores of the lake. These villages are only accessable by the water and all have no port. So little wooden boats piloted by the villagers meet the ship far off shore, and the fun begins. Many people get on and off at these places. They climb between the boats, with no ladders or steps, while the waves roll and everyone is pushing to be first, even the the boat will be sitting still for a few hours. Women climb the side of the ship with babies on their backs, often in the middle of the night. Erin and I really enjoyed watching this. The stops took a very long time because many sacks of fish and casava flour were loaded onto the ship out of the smalls boats. Apparently this is the best season for the small fish in the lake, and the catch is plentiful this year. The western side of the lake (Congo) doesn't have these fish, so they are transported on the Liemba to Mpulungu, and then shipped by smaller boats to the villages of Congo. We were supposed to arrive in Mpulungu at 7am on Friday. But due to all the extra cargo loading time, we didn't arrive until Saturday morning. What a long time to be on an overcrowed ship.

everybody looks at the action

the wooden boats from the villages

The trip it self was really interesting. Apart from all the action we saw, the scenery was spectacular. I thought I would never see beaches as pristine as the ones in Kigoma, but I was wrong. The secluded beaches of the villages were breathtaking. They stretch on for miles along the sparesly inhabited shore, and are visted only by fishermen and thier row boats. At each to stop we'd see the beaches and give real consideration to getting off and spending a week in paridise. We may have if we had a tent and a stove with us. Next time I guess.

please can we stay?

We passed the rest of time playing cards, drinking the odd beer with a couple of Germans, (who were the only other Mzungus on the ship), eating the same meals of talapia and rice, and having great talks with the locals we shared the voyage with. I really enjoy meeting the people and hearing their stories, as well as sharing ours. The people here are great! They really make the trip special. Often when someone learns that Erin and I are married, they ask if we are believers. It's strange for them to see westerners as young as we are married. What a sad reality.

We were lucky to have a first class ticket. This meant that we had a room to ourselves with two beds. It was nice to be able to get a good sleep. Hundreds of others were just sleeping anywhere they could find room.

The trip was a wonderful experience. We're now into Zambia. A beautiful place. Erin is going to fill you all in on what's happened here so far.

Flexibility

As we were reminded, "Blessed are the flexible for they will not break". I guess you could say that we're not broken...at least not yet.

Surprisingly we find ourselves in an internet cafe again rather than the sandy shores of Lake Tanganyika. We did actually make it to Kigoma.....only our bags didn't! Which means no bathing suits, shorts, food.....basically we have nothing with us but the clothes on our bodies and our cameras which we had on the plane with us. The 'best' part is that they intentionally left them behind and didn't tell us until we got here. They didn't have enough fuel to get us to our destination so they offset that by getting rid of weight which included our luggage. Some of the locals found out about this before we took off and brought their bags with them on the plane (which kinda defeats the purpose). We have been promised they will come today, but I have little hope in promises. We've been praying that they'll come soon.

The whole situation just seems so ironic. We thought we were eliminating the risks of not getting here in time and traveling with a bit more "certainty". Whether God is just displaying his sense of humor, or whether this is just "the African way" we're not sure, but we're trying to stay positive about it all. We didn't know if we should laugh, cry or scream yesterday when we found out. And, for a person who doesn't like change, I've been stretched a lot. Change and unexpected circumstances are a very common occurance here.

Today we are trying to get some things straightened out in town and as long as our bags come we should have some good relaxing times ahead of us yet. We're doing our own cooking here so we stocked up on fruit and vegetables in the market yesterday. On our way to the beach house with all of our groceries, our taxi driver got a flat tire (not surprising considering the road conditions here, and the condition of his tires), so we quickly had a group of 20 kids around us watching as the flat tire was being fixed. They would all come up and touch my arms, and run away laughing. Then they would come and touch my hair. When I held out my hand to shake theirs they were really excited and I had about 20 kids hanging on my arm.

Well, we'll survive, bags or not, we just really hope they come today!

Correction

That's great Sharon! I also thought that Superior was the most superior as far as lakes go, but someone told me otherwise. I'm glad to hear that the biggest is in the native land!

In Mwanza

me and a guy that looks like Eddie Murphy


We'll,we took the ferry to Mwanza, and now we're here... although it was quite the adventure getting here.

When we left Kampala, we were on the most over crowded bus you can imagine. The whole bus was packed with people sitting everywhere. They also loaded up every possible place on the bus with everything from corn, to packages, to bunches of bananas. It was packed! We left about 2 hours late. Once we got about 45min down the road we ran out of fuel. Fun! They brought it from the nearest town on a boda-boda (mini bike) and then they had to prime the old beast of a bus before we could carry on. It took over 2 hours. We were on the way again. We got to the border at dark and had no more problems from there on.

We arrived at a very cool place in Bukoba, right in Lake Victoria. It's an amazing setting where we ate fried Talapia and rice on the sand of the biggest lake in the world. Bukoba is a very neat quite little town, in a beautiful location.
The next morning I went over to the port to buy our tickets. I was informed the the boat had a problem and may not sail that day. They told me they would not sell tickets until they new if they could fix the problem. "Come back at 2pm." So I did. And then again at 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8. At 9:00pm we had our ticket for the lowest class. Since all the others were sold out many days before. This ticket ment that instead of having a private sleeper berth, we'd be in the hull of the ship where it's 100F with 300 other people that either couldn't get a sleeper berth or wanted to save less than $1 per ticket. When we walked down there, we immediately went out, and tried to find another place up on top somewhere. It was so packed with people and really hot and smelly. We actually found a sweet place on the top of the ship with benches to sleep on and a beautiful view of the stars over lake victoria right at the equator. It was amazing. It was quiet, we slept well, and had it all to ourselves. I quess it was too cold for the Africans. Oh, we left at about 11pm. The ship was scheduled to sail at 9pm. Not too bad I think.

We're now in Mwanza. The second largest city in Tanzania. It's far from the tourist areas of Zanzibar, Kilimanjaro, or the Seringetti, and we quite like it. We we're planning to take the train from here back to Kigoma, but lo and behold, no one knows when the train will leave. So for an extra $50 more than the train, which is uncertain, and a whole lot faster and nicer than a 30 hr bus ride on washed out roads... we're flying. We got a cheap flight striaght to the best beach on earth. Erin's pretty excited about that!

We're not sure what our communications will be like for the next week, so don't worry. We'll just be soaking up the sun!

The Game Plan

Here's a quick update (sans pictures) for our plans in the upcoming days.

Right now we're killing some time waiting for our bus to fill up to take us to the Tanzanian border town in Uganda. We then need to find a ride into Bukoba where we'll catch a ferry across Lake Victoria, tomorrow into Mwanza. From here we spend a couple of days on a train (old and slow!) into Kigoma where we can recuperate for a few days in paradise.

From Kigoma we take a boat all the way down Lake Tanganyika into Zambia. We're really looking forward to our boat ride....it should take a couple of days.

So, these are the tentative plans....in Africa it kinda seems that nothing goes as planned so we'll see what happens!

Uganda has been a great country, I would say that overall it's been the best country so far. As far as lessons learned in Africa go I've (Erin) realized that I definitely like the country life better than the big city life, I really like washing machines (especially when things get really muddy because of the rain), even if I think I've gotten to be more flexible on this trip, there is still a lot more learning to do, staying in top biking form isn't really possible when your diet consists of Fanta (pop), french fries and other fried foods, and I really like living in Canada, although Africa has been pretty good too.

I know we've said it a million times but thanks for staying in contact with us. We love hearing from all of you through email or on our blog.

Murchison Falls

Well, we have a lot of catching up to do again! We have had a very eventful weekend!

We spent a good day in Kampala on Thursday, ate well (we found an amazing steak place!) and spent some time relaxing and reading our books in a park in the middle of the city.



Brian and I planned to head to Murchison Falls on Friday and last minute joined a tour group from our hostel. Our itinerary included a "game drive", a boat cruise, and chimp tracking. We had a great time!

The Game Drive

On Saturday morning we set out on our first "African Safari", with hopes that we might see at least a few animals. We weren't disappointed.

The first animals we saw (giraffes, and elephants) were quite a distance from us and hard to see....there were rumours of a lion as well but we can't claim that we actually saw it. After losing hope a little bit and seeing TONS of warthogs and bush bucks (antelope type animals) we actually saw a lion. We even have a picture to prove it (although it's a little far away).

We watched the lion creep up on some bushbucks and make an attempt at catching one. I thought it gave up pretty easily, but maybe that's because we were watching. Anyway, it was a good intro to the animal world in Africa.

The Boat Cruise

After our busy morning we sat down aboard an old boat with about 30 other mzungus and set off down the Nile River towards Murchison Falls.

It was a great boat ride. We cruised past hundreds of hippos and dozens of crocodiles all keeping cool in the water or basking in the sun along the shore. (Kaley I think you wanted to see some hippo pictures. We've got lots more to show when we get home!)

There was some great bird life as well! The climax of the trip was actually seeing the falls though. It is one of the most powerful surges of water in the world. The water of the Nile all spills down through a small 6 metre opening.

The force of the water traveling through here was incredible. When we reached the falls we got out of the boat and hiked along a trail to the top of the falls. It was great!

Chimp Tracking

We were up early this morning (at 5 am) to pack up our stuff and head to the jungle to find some chimpanzees. When Brian wasn't too busy swinging from branches like Tarzan,

we followed our guide who led us to find the chimps up in the trees. Although we couldn't get very close to them (as they were busying eating leaves way up in the tops of the trees) we caught some good looks at them swinging through tht branches, climbing the trees and running away from us on the ground. The noises they made were probably the best part! The were whooping and hollering like crazy!

All in all it was a really great time. We got to know 2 Australian couples that we spent the weekend with. They were very nice but I would definitely classify them in the interesting people category!

The plan now is to spend one more day in Kampala before beginning our trek down to Tanzania. It will be a long trip as we plan to take buses, trains and boats before we arrive in Zambia. But we are actually planning to head back to Kigoma (our beach paradise in Tanzania) on our way down to Zambia to catch some relaxing in between our busy travels.

We'll keep the adventures rolling!

Mt. Muhavura

We did it! Erin and I went up Mt. Muhavura; and made it back down too! We had a great time, although if you'd had asked us half way up how we were doing, we wouldn't have said that.

The climb started at 2000m and we climbed through virgin rainforest to a height of 4127m. That's the highest both of us have ever been! The hike was very challenging. We climbed that height in under 5km, so the grade was very steep. Since it was rainforest it was, you guessed it, wet. We had sopping wet feet and had plenty of mud on us as well, which wasn't so easy to wash out in a bucket. Natuarlly as we climbed we really felt the altitude. We both got headaches and were really sucking wind, but we still made it up in 4 hours. In spite of all of that, it was great. We had the mountain to ourselves, and the wildlife. Only 200m from where we started there was a pack of mountain gorrillas, which we were not allowed to go see without paying the 375USD. We also saw two chameleons, some birds with beautiful colours, buffalo dung, and fantastic views of Uganda and Rwanda. It was a really rewarding effort. I was really impressed with Erin. She was by no means any slower than I was, and we were informed that less than 25% of females that attempt the climb succeed. So my hats off to her. Unfortunately while we were on the summit we were in a cloud, so the pictures aren't fantastic. Sorry Brando.

This morning we left Kisoro at 6am and are now in Kampala, the busy capital. We'll spend a day here and then move on. It's always nice to be in a big city in Africa so that we can reap the western treats that are hard to come by elsewhere.

Ugandan Countryside

Time is passing quickly. We have just reached the half way mark of our trip!

We spent a couple good days in Lake Bunyonyi. Yesterday we decided to head away from our island retreat to the mainland to hike up some of the big hills surrounding us. It was a great morning. A young local boy took it upon himself to be our guide and led us up the hill past the houses and gardens.

It didn't take very long for us to get a following of about 10 kids calling out mzungu! and giggling. They followed us for a long time! It really gave us the opportunity to see rural Uganda and how people really live. The hike to the top of the hill took us about 45 min. It was crazy to think that people had to travel this distance many times a day just to get water.

We spent the afternoon hiding from the rain, swimming, and talking with other travellers. We were also able to watch movies here and watched both the Constant Gardener and Hotel Rwanda. There is something different about watching movies about Africa while being in Africa.

Today we took a minibus ride to Kisoro where we are now. This is the place where most people organize their trips for tracking gorrillas, but because it costs $375 per person we've opted for climbing one of the volcanoes here. It's 4200 metres high with a large crater lake at the top. If it's clear we should see some pretty great views. I'm sure I'll be huffing and puffing by the time I reach the top though!

It's been really great over the past couple of days to really get into places where we can see how the locals live. We love buying fruit in the markets (especially when you can by 2 pineapple and 10 bananas for less than $1).

Stay tuned and we'll keep you posted!

Content

Yes, I am very content! Today I just feel perfectly happy. This area of Africa seems to have that effect on me. We arrived in Uganda today. What a beautiful place. The people are beautiful, friendly, talkative and they speak English! The scenery is astounding and everything just feels right today. It's strange that I have such feelings of contentment today as we spent the morning in Rwanda in the genocide museum. Although we were aware of what happened, it was still shocking to see another account of what happened and as Brian was saying yesterday realize that the people we are seeing and meeting have all been profoundly affected by it. To me, Rwanda is really an example of hope to me. Things really seem to be getting better in my eyes. As we experience different parts of the world I think I've really been able to see both the best and the worst in humanity. People struggle to survive and this comes out in so many ways. We are such a fallen race.....and yet I'm happy today because I can see hope.

Anyway....we still have some updating to do on what we are up to and what we've been up to. Starting with the past......

I had my hair braided. It took about 7 hrs. to have done and while all 4 ladies were working on it I was fighting back the tears and the screams of pain vowing that I will never do this again. But, the end product was worth it!

Brian also had an opportunity to see a beekeeping opperation in Burundi. He was expecting to see a much more primitive operation and was surprised to see how advanced it actually was. They had everything from European style hives, to stainless steel bottling tanks.

We also visited the infamous Burundi Snake museum. I know that the Cornerstone team that went last year also had the priveldge of this experience as well. It was shocking to have a venomous viper on the floor only a few feet away from us while watching a python strangle his prey. I'm sure that any animal rights activist in Canada would go crazy if they saw the way these snakes are pushed, banged, and jarred just so that we could see their reactions. Chris (Loewen) this picture is for you.

And now for the present......

We had a great time traveling through Kigali, Rwanda on moto taxis (motorbikes) today before jumping into a minibus crammed with 24 people (in an 14 seater) and heading for Uganda. It continues to be such beautiful area. On arriving, we got some popcorn, pineapple and passion fruit for an amazing lunch and hopped into a real dug-out canoe and traveled to an island on Lake Bunyonyi where we plan to spend a few days. It's so beautiful here that I actually told Brian that I think I could live here. It looks kinda like The Shire. I almost expect to see hobbits running around here. Everything is green, the hills are terraced and there is water all around us. We continue to be excited about the things we are doing and seeing. This is such a beautiful part of the world! I think you should all come out here to experience it! It's well worth the trip....as long as you don't mind a bit of adventure.

Reflecting

Here we are in another country. We're in Rwanda. We've left the second most densely populated country in the world, and entered the one that tops the list. Since we really haven't writen much lately I'll do my best to convey my impressions of what we've been seeing in this part of the continent.

Everyone's heard of Rwanda. You remember it in the news almost 13 years ago. You've seen the movie, and you know about all the horrific events that took place here. Millions were masacured, millions became refugees, and more still were left as orphans. Things have now stabalized greatly. The goverment is doing a great job, it's peaceful, and tourism is doing very well. NGO's cover the country, because everyone has heard, and everyone wants to help. But who's heard of Burundi? If you're from Cornerstone, or know the Walls then you have. I hadn't either, before our friends moved there to work for MCC.

Burundi lies directly south of Rwanda, and is made up of the same culture and people groups as Rwanda. It's a country that has also seen similar conflicts with enourmous genocides of it's own. I won't pretend to know very much about the details of it all either, since my limited knowledge has only come from the short time that we spent there. But it's certainly a place that has slipped under the radars of all western media and escaped all tourism...

People everywhere. It's the first thing that I notice as we drive though the extremly hilly country. The matatu races through the twisting roads dodging countless locals walking. Mostly women. Mostly with bare feet, and most with a sleeping child slung on her back. She walks through her country looking beautiful. Beautiful, though she is unaware. She wears no makeup. She wears no namebrand clothing. Most don't even have anyhair. But she is beautiful as a woman. She struggles to make her wage, if shes getting paid at all. She stuggles to carry her tired legs up the long steep hills. She stuggles to survive. Yet she walks. She walks with a load. A baby on her back. An enourmous pile of wood or produce on her head. At the very least she carries her hoe with which she will toil all day in the garden.

I notice the bikes. Burundi seems to be a country supplied by bicycle. The young men ride hard carrying enourmous loads of everything you can imagine. They carry long poles of bamboo, or huge pieces of steel standing straight up as high as fifteen feet. They carry bag upon bag of casava or maize flour, or dead sows, with which the country is fed. If they can get it on a bike, they're moving it. They speed down the hills at breakneck speed, and walk as slow as ants going up the other side. Few are fournunate enough to grab onto the back of a slow truck. Yet they carry their loads. I look at them and I smile. They're working. They're working hard. More so than the countless men that sit and chat or smoke as the women walk by with their loads.

I notice the children, barefoot and clothed and in rags. They play. They laugh and cry. They hold their hands out when they see me. They see my white skin and know that I am rich. They yell, "Muzungu", and run after me. Desperate. Desparate for food, desparate for money. Desperate for a life that is better than their own.

I see the people, but I cannot see their hearts. I cannot know the unseen which they also carry. Their history, their horrors; these I have only heard of. Do the women who carry their hoes, also carry with them the visions of the blood that they have seen shed? Do the young men who ride the bikes think of their parents who were murdered before their eyes? I think so. Will the child who plays or begs be a new generation who grows up with parents, unlike the seven youth we played frisbee with who all are orphans? I hope so.

What do I see as we enter into Rwanda? I see trees larger than my legs, which line the roads and cover the hill tops. These have all been cut down in Burundi. I see kilometre after unboken kilometre of cultivated land. As in Burundi everything is grown everywhere. I see fields that are all cultivated by hand. These fields are so steep that it wouldn't be possible to work them with a tractor, not that any are available. (A doctor told Doug, that most of the injuries he treats, are caused from people falling out of their gardens). I also see roads that are smooth, unlike the pothole riddled streets of Burundi. I see a people hiding under anything they can as the rain pours from the sky and rushes through the ditches (when it rains here it really rains). I see the same people though, doing the same things. People with the same painful history stuggling to move on and survive.

In reality we've seen very little of these two countries and I do not pretend to be an expert. But what we have seen we love! A beautiful lanscape, beautiful culture and beautiful people.


Here's some pictures of everything we've been seeing. Most from our trip to paradise.

Happy New Year!

here's a shot by Mr. T. He's pretty much pro with the pics. So check out his link on the right. He sent us this photo, so that's why we can put it on now. more too come...


It's been a while since we last posted. I'll try to update you a bit on what we've been up to. Pictures would be the perfect way of describing everything but the computer I'm on won't allow me to do that. Again we promise a great slide show when we have the chance.

It's surprising that Christmas and New Years have passed already. It was different being away from home at Christmas but we managed to celebrate quite well here, complete with a turkey dinner! We even did a couple gift exchange games! It was very nice to be with Doug, Deanna and Maddy for this time as well.

We spent boxing day playing ultimate frisbee with some of the youth guys from Gitega (where Doug and Deanna used to live). While swimming in the water after the game to cool off we saw a hippo swimming past us just a little further out in the water. Pretty cool, and a little scary!

We then headed out to Tanzania to a beach house for a few days with the Hieberts and Brandon, and just got back yesterday. The place was incredible! We ate amazing fresh fish, tons of pineapple (beats any pineapple I've ever tasted), swam in incredibly warm beatiful water, jumped off of huge cliffs, watched beautiful sunsets, played Cities and Nights non stop, and at beans and wieners for our New Years dinner. It was a great way to bring in the New Year! We are so thankful for the time we had there. It could possibly be the most beautiful place I've ever been!

There's a bit of an update on what we've been doing....more to come soon. We plan to leave Burundi on Friday and we'll be back on the road again traveling first to Rwanda and then to Uganda. Thanks for your posts and emails. It's really great to hear from you all.