Neck & Deck

So I'm sure you were all intrigued when I mentioned the "Neck & Deck."  The deck part is an actual elevated deck.  The "Neck" part is from a certain animal that you may be familiar with...

First though, I wanted to share a picture of a highly exotic animal we saw from the deck:

Seriously, we came all the way to Africa to see an American buffalo?!?!?!? Or "American Bison" for you zoologists.   I felt a little let down.  I saw a ton of these in Yellowstone this year already.  Anyways, it was still a touch of home in the middle of Africa.  The real reason we came to the Neck & Deck though was this:

Please note that this giraffe is "small." The big ones were off flirting in the fields.

Ever wanted to feed a giraffe? Yes please! 

Matt has!

Have you ever tried to touch your tongue to your nose?

It's easy if you are a giraffe!

Something I had never thought about is the logistics of getting water if you are giraffe.  Note the process:

Hmm...

Ok, this is happening..

It works!

Success!

Have you ever peered at a giraffe and seen yourself?

We got there just an hour before closing so next time we will have to get there earlier and just enjoy being there for a little longer.  If we get any pictures of the "big" giraffes we will share those someday.  Please let us know how you are. We miss our friends and family.

Time To Remember

  I know that the next time you saw a new post here it was supposed it be featuring another adventure that I mentioned last time. However, when I woke up this morning and thought about it, it occurred to me that there was something else I wanted to put in its place, for now.

Today, even though it's another beautiful day in South Africa, my heart is at home, in Idaho.  The reason is that my friends and family will be together to remember a dear friend that is sleeping until Jehovah wakes her up. Let me just tell you a little bit about her, if you haven't met her yet.

I remember when my friend Leah moved to the town I grew up in, she was just tiny. I remember visiting her & her mom for the first time when they moved here. I'm 10 years older than her and I've know her for almost her whole life. Leah was born with some eye conditions that affected her all her life, making many tasks difficult or even out of reach in this system.  The wonderful thing about her though, is that she always smiled.  I never heard her complain about her eyes, or say "why me?" She carried on and did everything that she could to live "the best life ever." Leah was, along with her family, at our house all the time, or we at theirs. 

Leah & Me & (Part of Desi:) Erm, more than just a few years ago.

 We had frequent family dinners with her family, with BBQs, waffle nights, or my mom's spaghetti. I babysat her and her sister more times than I could count, we would have brown cinnamon pop tarts (her dad's favorite) for breakfast if it was a morning babysitting session. We are from a small town, and a small tight knit congregation, so we all grew up very close, and we were all like family.   Leah, along with many others in the congregation has been like a sister.  She loves Jehovah, his creation in the outdoors, and her family.  Leah is a pioneer, and a sterling example of love, patience, kindness and joy. In fact, as I read the scripture at Galations, I have to say that I think she showed all those qualities that are mentioned in verses 22&23.     

Some weeks ago Leah went to sleep, and she will rest until Jehovah God wakes her.  Because of this, her adventures are on hold for now. When she wakes up though, I imagine her joy, to know that the most outstanding adventure anyone could hope for is before her. Life on a paradise earth, the hope and future reality that all of Jehovah's people are so close to.  Until then, I will miss her.

What I normally write here is about the fun adventures we are having in our assignments. Serving Jehovah IS fun and he grants us many extra fun times along the way.  Whatever adventure we are on, we are always thinking of this person or that person that might like whatever we are currently seeing.  And it's the ones at home, that love us, that have supported us along the way, helping us sort out things, who are part of why we are able to be here right now. Along with adventures can come some challenges of course. One of which is being so far away from home when our loved ones are facing their own challenges.  Not being able to even give a hug to all of you that are together today to remember Leah is really hard.  Many of our dear friends have faced unimaginable heartache over the last months.  We want you all to know, that we do not forget you, we love you and we think of you daily.

I will be thinking of all of you when you are together today, my heart will be there. Give someone a hug for me. We send our love.

Desi & Me & Leah at Memorial just a few years back.

It's not all about the lions..

When we went to Ukutula, it wasn't ALL about the lions.  Okay, it was mostly about the lions.  In fact:

Lady White Lion

I gained a new appreciation for how big lions are.  And, they are the second biggest cat.  The biggest? Tigers. Remember when we went to see tigers? And those tigers weren't even fully grown! (The one in the cage standing on it's water dish was bigger than the one's we sat with.) Tigers are so massive and their bone structure is heavier than the lions.  Anyways, back to the lions.  Now, I think I didn't really appreciate how big they are because the only lions I've ever seen have been in Zoos.  And there aren't many I've seen in Zoos.  Zoo Boise had a lion once when I went, but it wasn't fully grown.  And the zoo lions I've seen have been in smaller cages.  True, these lions in Ukutula are in pens, but they are nice large pens.  You know how in a zoo sometimes the animals pace if the enclosure isn't big enough?  These lions were all about the relaxing.  They seem quite content in their huge enclosure.  A content lion isn't stressed, hence they are healthy. HENCE they get big.  It's hard to show it in a picture since we don't have anything to show the scale in comparison but I'm sure you get the idea.

As I said though, it wasn't ALL about the lions.  It was also about the food:

I'm just going to entitle this one #BESTSCONEEVER!!

We had tea and scones, and later a delicious lunch there.   We also ended up sitting near a table where a special pioneer couple was sitting.  They overheard our conversation about Watchtower and construction.  Small world.  

We also saw a beautiful bird, so naturally I took a picture for my dad:

Found out it is called a Paradise Flycatcher. See how long it's tail is?

On the way back to the road we saw a little more wildlife:

A zebra from almost every angle.

There was a sassy ostrich too:

We found our way home much easier than our way there, but on the way we stopped at the "Neck & Deck."  Stay tuned...