Gone With the Wave

Last year, Matt's parents came to visit us and we set out on an expedition to view turtle hatchlings.  Sadly, nature was against us the night we went out and we came back with our cameras empty of turtle baby pictures.  Somewhat completely bummed out, we wondered if we would ever have the chance again.  Well not too long ago, we headed directly to the best turtle beach we knew of to see ourselves some turtles!  We booked a campsite right next to the beach.  We could not see it from our tent because of the vegetation but we were seconds from the beach.  When we arrived,after a crazy ride through the sandy tracks with GPS coordinates leading us through what felt like uncharted territory, the campsite was deserted.  A little warily we began setting up our things.  I got a tad discouraged, I had expected a random person to approach us at any moment and tell us they would make sure a turtle guide came that night. Oh, and to also show us we weren't totally along in the wilderness.  Soon though, that is exactly what happened.  This Is Africa.  T.I.A.  We hurriedly made our dinner and waited for the guide.  About an hour late, he came and rushed us to the beach in time to see 2 baby turtles.

  We followed their progress down to the waters edge.  It was amazing!  Then, a few moments later, several more were spotted making their way down the beach.  We didn't see any babies pouring out of the nests but we saw lots of them on the sand.  

I was so excited and caught up in the moment that a freak wave (that is my story people) splashed me, and my camera.  Sadly, it is dead now.  Gone with the Waves.  The last picture it ever took was of a baby loggerhead turtle.  We left it to dry out 2 weeks, cleaned it well but alas! To no avail.  Africa is hard on cameras!  The next night we set out again to see turtles.  We walked for kilometers, and saw 1 baby turtle.  He seemed a bit confused, and we decided according to the tracks he had been caught by a ghost crab (one of the many elements these babies contend with) and our prescence had caused the crab to let go.  Hence, we saved him.  On the way back down the beach we saw something great.  A female loggerhead turtle mom!  We waited for a very long time before approaching her to see what she was up to.  The guide said maybe it was her first time to go up the beach, she hadn't layed yet, and didn't seem to know what she was doing so we left her in peace as she tried to sort  herself out.  Then a little way on, we got to see a female leatherback turtle mom. She was HUGE!  Again, no pictures because of the dumb wave.  But just seeing her was amazing.  As it was time for the guide to go home, we had to leave her there, it could have been quite awhile before she layed her eggs so we didn't get to see that, but just to see her..so cool.  Very successful outings!  After the 2 nights of turtle viewing we made out way out of the sandy, grassy dunes to civilization.  I didn't mind too much, there were bugs, like everywhere. Giant ones. Tiny ones who penetrated our tent. Jumpy ones. Loud ones.  Yucky.  

However, the turtles are something we will never forget.

Unassigned, April 2015 (not a typo)

Well.  It's been a long, long, long, long, long, long time.  Anyways, I've been off sick for a couple days, but was going through our pictures, we are so behind on editing and deleting them, I'm working on last year still. Ahem.  So I thought I would take you back to last year, April.  That's right, April 2015.  We went and stayed the weekend with some in our congregation out in a rural area.  We stayed in a little game farm. That means they have animals, no predators.  Although, cheetahs, leopards and other small cats can exist all over, they are actually pesky to farmers, like wolves, coyotes and bobcats can be to farmers & ranchers back home. So there could have potentially been a leopard, but probably not.  Our main reason to go there however, was to go preaching in a seldom worked area.  Most congregations here in Jo'Berg go out for "unassigned" during one weekend during a few months each year. We arrived on a Friday night.  It's all about the Braai:

It's taken seriously folks!

Here are some pictures of our little territory we went to:

Most homes are kept neat and tidy, no matter how simple.  The dirt yard is swept and clean.

Just like at home, you meet cows in the rurals. Bethuel was making sure they steered clear. :)

And we meet dogs.

And sometimes it's only the children you find at home.

And one must stop for lunch!

After he's got his energy back, Matt has to tease the kids!

Meanwhile back at the ranch:

These are bushpigs!  We have only seen these 2 in our whole time here in SA.

It's also all about the fire.  Uncle Keith kept a careful watch, and we all tried a potjiekos stew.  (Thats what is in the little pot there.)  The pot will stay warm in the coals, and you can have a hot meal the next day too!

And in the evening, after dark, some of us piled into an old Land Rover for a night safari drive:

We only broke down 3 times. Serious.  Some didn't think we would make it out, but the faithful Rover always got started again. I was totally confident and not worried at all.

But really, it is all about the people:

Watchtower study at our Bush Camp

And of course, the people we came out to meet.

I actually have a bunch  more pictures of the weekend. (Gasp, shock.) But tried to pick just a "few" highlights.  That is rural, seldom worked territory an hour and half from Bethel.

Til next time!

Love, Us

Jacarandas

One outing I had really wanted to embark on since we came here was to visit Pretoria when the Jacarandas bloom.  We came during the 2014 season, but as we were brand new here, and had no car, we planned that we would go next season. After waiting a year, the time arrived.  Spring!  After some research as to the spots to check out we enlisted some friends to go with us and off we went.  Our first stop was to see the white Jacarandas.

I had been a little worried that we would not find them, but we rounded another corner and there they were. A whole street lined with them.  We got out and walked up and down the street. Matt found himself fascinated looking at the properties.  As evidenced by the pictures he took.

 Apparently this is quite interesting.  Well.  I took the camera back and we proceeded on our way.

We drove down to the government buildings areas in Pretoria next and I was quite happy to find the streets lined with Jacarandas, just like the internet promised!

It's a really gorgeous area.  We came across a sidewalk library.

Someone had dropped off a box of books along the street and then others had spread them along.  Just another one of those random things.  

We went down to the gardens in front of the parliament buildings. 

  

Lovely gardens, and amazing views of the city.

Just us.

Can you see Mandela in tbe background?  He was a popular photo spot with wedding parties.   

Back towards the cars is this famous view.  You would not believe how hard it was to get a good picture without tourists.

The view I dreamed of.

Mainly, we just had to wait for them to leave.  Worth it though!  In the meantime, we kept ourselves busy looking for "Jac Pods."

Matt didn't mind putting in a little extra effort. 

By the time we left, I was jumping for joy! :)

3 Rondavels

After the best potholes in the world we went on to the Blyde River Canyon 3 Rondavels view.  It's called that because the mountain is shaped like 3 Rondavels, or traditional round houses.  Absolutely stunning views:

Close up of the Rondavels

When you come up to the view point, the rondavels are in front of you. If you look to the right you could see this:

If you were Matt, then you would have seen this anyways.

Then if you look left, you see the dam.

If you are on the dam and come around this large ship looking rock, you look up and see the Rondavels.  I don't know if that gives some perspective or not.  The next day we did go to the dam.  That is where we saw the exciting creatures that we posted about earlier.  But just a few more pictures from our boat ride:

We saw a living waterfall:

A little like aliens.  From around the waterfall you look up and see the rondavels like I mentioned:

Even though it was approaching winter, it was still gorgeous colors of autumn and green still in many places. I imagine if you do go in summer it would be brilliant green.

The dam boat ride was Matt's favorite part of the trip.  I think because he just got to sit back and relax and not drive me anywhere!

Ok. Enough pictures.  We did hike from a visitors point down to the  water.  (Like 5 or 10 mintues.) As we did approached the waters edge, it did occur to me maybe we shouldn't be going to where crocs hang out. So we didn't' stay long. And then..we heard noises rustling in the bushes around us, definite animal sounds. Matt saw the baboons and suddenly I had WAY more energy and climbed up that hill like nobody's business.  Seriously, I think I set a new record or something! I do not like baboons.

Well, that is  pretty much our Blyde River trip.  

Although, we did take some pictures of our little Naya buddies at a pretty waterfall on our way home:

Do you see them?  They travel with us everywhere in South Africa in our camera bag.  They are from a little sweetheart we miss so much and hope to show these places to soon. 

We will try to share more adventures as we can.

The One Where You Get to See the Most Beautiful Potholes. Like Ever.

Sorry it's been so long.  My excuse is that there has been a lot going on in our construction world here and the time has flown by since I last posted. We haven't forgotten you though.  Matt has reminded me on a semi-daily basis to write a blog.  Tonight I spent a lot of time going through pictures to be able to keep some nice ones to share with you of the places we were really excited to see in real life.  So without further ado, I give you, the rest of Blyde River Canyon. Well, some of it anyways.

Next stop, Berlin Falls:

We would like to be able to see  it someday again with more water. Winter is dry season here.  But we thought it was so pretty.  Yes, I said winter.  Then we proceeded to the truly exciting part.  Bourke's Luck Potholes.  Had a cold picnic whilst keeping a look out for big Baboons who like to steal food from unprepared tourists.  You think I'm joking about the cold part.  June in South Africa should be lovely right?

Ha! It is lovely.  But can also be cold.  I wasn't just playing around for the camera either. Well, maybe we played a little.

It's just that we were so happy to be visiting new and exotic locales!  Back to the Potholes. Are you ready? It's seriously cool.

 Hands down, best potholes ever.  This picture shows the scale.

The potholes have formed where 2 rivers come together, if I have my facts straight.  The canyon officially starts around this area.  Here is part of the canyon just before the potholes:

And lets take another look at those potholes:

So so so pretty. 3 times for emphasis.  We then walked over to the top of the falls and hiked around a little.  There is a sign of prohibited things to do above the falls.

So you noticed the hiking sign....well we weren't exactly hiking. More like exploring.  But not in the forbidden area..well, we didn't think so anyways. :D Other people were doing it! Hmm...

It was gorgeous though. We had some encounters with other tourists above the falls.  They wanted their picture with us!  We are like, such celebrities. Or maybe they were just really enjoying the day. They were giggling alot..

Us with random stranger.  Hey!  I totally didn't even see that warning sign behind Matt until just now.

That's enough for this post!  

Love, Lazuli

It keeps on growing

Time is flying, and the project is progressing quickly. The Residence building is complete and Bethel has moved in, the Printery project is well under way and the Warehouse, well lets just say it keeps on growing...

I took this picture the other morning before the fog lifted

Now the structure is complete, the roof is almost 3/4's on, the brick infill is almost complete, they are pouring the massive concrete slab around the outside. Its been very busy, the contractors are working 6 to 7 days a week which means we have an increased workload, and with close to 300 workers on site things change quickly. Overall things are going well and we are still having lots of fun.

Hopefully this will help you appreciate just how big the warehouse is, if you look carefully you will see some decent size trucks, a crane, and some tiny little people. This panorama was taken from the viewing deck where tours will come once its completed. 

It has been Pecan season here and there are many Pecan trees here at Bethel. They make good snacks during the workday

I tried to help the brother out that I share an office with with, not sure if he really appreciated it, but we do our best to support to one another.

This little guy visited us in the copy room the other day, the quirks of the printer bugged him too.

Lazuli is still working away in the tool crib, its a busy job as people need the tools to get the work done so keeping everything organized, clean, and ready to go keeps here hopping. Fortunately she has had a little time to relax here and there.

Testing chairs at the mall, with her Finnish friend, not sure this is the right one, have to check a few more....and testing chairs does make one hungry.

Good thing a Mugg and Bean wasn't too far away

We really wish we were better at keeping in contact with all our friends and family, we love hearing from you and what you are up to, sorry if we take forever or completely forget to reply to your emails. We really look forward to when everyone can enjoy life with one another without all the rush, until then we love you all, blog to you sometime in future....-Matt