There and Back Again

We're home!  Of course, we have mixed emotions... we really loved it there.  Loved the people, loved the branch, love working at Bethel every day... totally miss it.  But we really missed our family and friends here too.  We've been trying to get back in the swing of things at home, getting some work, etc.

They had Family Day at Bethel a couple weeks before we left.  We had the best day!  It was a total blast! Nathan played rugby all afternoon and then they had a big tug-of-war after a braii... so much fun!  And our last project before we left, we were able to put in some new outdoor light posts in the Japanese gardens, they turned out really nice.

Also, we finally have good internet connection, so we can post some of the videos that we couldn't post while we were there.

<3 to all!

Kruger

First of all, we are done with our job here!!  Now we are just helping out the electrical team here to finish some of their projects, since they are a bit behind.  So, we have 3 more weeks here to help out.  It will be sad to leave all the friends we've made, but nice to get home to family and friends there.  Always mixed feelings.  We hope we'll end up back here one day, you never know.

We used up our last vacation day for a quick 3 day weekend trip to Kruger National Park.  It's really beautiful there!  The feel was similar to Yellowstone National Park, but of course the animals and countryside were much different.  The drive there is gorgeous, mountains and trees, much like Montana in parts, but the scenery quickly changes in the park to African savannah.  We saw quite a few animals just on the side of the road while driving through.  But the lion we saw (in the picture below) was on a night safari drive.  You are not allowed to drive on the roads in the park after 5:30 p.m. for safety, so you have to go on one of the guided safaris.  The lion was just laying there on the road, and we drove right up to it... a little scary.  We also stayed in one of the safari tents one night.  It was really cool, wished we had stayed there both nights.  We had a lovely time!

Hope everyone is well!  Thanks for all the emails and comments! <3

So many animals just crossing the road.

Lion laying on the road.

Zebra...

Our safari tent.

Wonder of Wonders: Victoria Falls

Well, we used almost all of our vacation days to head up to Victoria Falls.  It was absolutely spectacular!  The falls were gorgeous and we really had a safari experience just driving up there.  The drive took us 15 hours, we left at 2 a.m. Tuesday, because we had heard the roads could be bad and we needed to make it to the border crossing by 8 p.m. We made it there by 5 p.m.  We drove through Botswana on the way up and expected to see tons of wildlife, but it wasn't really until we crossed the border into Zimbabwe that we saw it all.  First thing, we saw a small family of elephants, with a baby, then we saw giraffe with a baby, followed by sable (which are magnificent and very rare to see), then another baby and momma elephant.  Then we pulled into Vic Falls, Zim where we were meeting a friend, Jayd.  Her parents and another couple had rented these 2 bedroom condos for a week and were only using 5 nights, so we got to stay there for 2 nights.  Awesome place, warthogs everywhere, a great pool and great views.  So our first day we went to see the falls on the Zim side, which is actually the better side this time of year, since it is their dry season.  We were really blown away by how huge it is.  The next day we ventured over to the Zambian side, went on an ultra-light flight, which was so fun.  We saw so much just on that flight, hippos with a baby, buffalo, more elephants.  Then we had a wonderful little breakfast right on Livingstone Island, which you can only get to by boat and only during the dry season.  The breakfast was awesome and we ate under a beautiful colonial style tent.  Then later we had high tea at the Vic Falls Hotel, back on the Zim side.  The Vic Falls Hotel was built in 1904, just gorgeous with a wonderful view of the Victoria Falls Bridge.

Our time at Victoria Falls was over, and we started our journey home, with a stop in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, where Jayd is from.  We stayed with a lovely family there who have been through a lot, with all the economic turmoil.  Their stories were amazing.  One cool story that Jayd told us:  When the economy really crashed there was no food, so there were worldly relief trucks coming in with food.  The government took it over to distribute, but they required a political party card, so when the brothers got to the front of the line they refused them, saying maybe they should ask their God for food.  Well, soon thereafter, the Witnesses brought in food for the brothers and it was white maize, which the Zim people prefer over yellow maize, which was what the worldly relief trucks had brought in .  So people started asking how did you get the white maize, and they said we asked our God for food and he always gives the best.

In Bulawayo, we went on a Rhino Walk Safari in the Matopas National Park.  We did see 5 rhino and got very close to one.  All but one had had their horns removed because there has been so many poachings lately.  This area is supposed to have the largest population of leopard in the world, but unfortunately we didn't see one. :(  Hopefully when we go to Kruger we will.  Until then.....

Our group overlooking Victoria Falls Bridge (Warrick and Kirsten, Jayd, and Us)

Baby Warthog... so cute!

Elephants alongside the road.

Walking with Rhinos

The girls, overlooking Victoria Falls

I would walk five hundred....

Hallo, welcome, there are pictures at the bottom of this if your A.D.D. :)

So maybe you are thinking, man they have a great room and get to hold baby lions they are living the life. The thing that the pictures may not accurately portray is the fact that we feel much like Rapunzel, well I guess there are stairs but many times a day we have to climb a billy goat trail to get to our tower.  The first few times there was definite concern over our cardiac health.  But our room is nice  :)

Walking and more walking during the week, so we thought we would take a hike on the weekend just for a change of pace.  We ended up going down to the Drakkensberg (click to see map) means dragon mountains or range, nice and foreboding.  We had a nice drive down there and the mountain really just come up out the plains not really much in the way of foothills.  We did and amazing hike, some canyoneering like what can be found in AZ, and then there was some chain ladders and root ladders which were new to us, but very cool.  We did a hike called the Amphitheater on Saturday and Sunday we tried to do the Sentinel one of the largest chain ladders around.  The winds were gusting way too hard so we had to just take some pictures in the strongest wind any of us have ever been in.  Videos give you a better idea but some pics are below of both.

Work is going well almost 5/8's done and we are going to be finished we hope in about 2 or 3 weeks.  Food is good (most asked question by far).

We had our C.O.'s visit this week, he was Afrikaans (old dutch) and was maybe a little more straight forward than what we are used to.  In service you have the whole group go to 1 territory, I asked a few brothers why they did that way, no one knew heh.  But it is pretty fun, and no one seems to care in the territory so I guess why not.

Well hope all our well, look forward to hearing what is happening with you on the other side of the pond.
Cheers--Speers

Amphitheater of the Drakkensberg

70 mile an hour winds can make you do weird things...

Or get some sweet hair rocking!

That is vertical and a fall and finger hazard

We all made it up that, water was frigid and I fell in...after I put my boots on.

Tunnel with people you know

Sentinel in backgroud

All Work and No Play

Our job is coming along quite nicely.  We've been able to spend some time outdoors lately, documenting the electrical panels there.  This branch is really gorgeous, it's almost a nature reserve.  One Bethelite has recorded 85 species of birds here.  We also saw a mongoose the other day, hopefully busy keeping the snake population down.  They have many spots here for a braii (pronounced bry), which is just a BBQ.  They love to braii here.  One spot is up on a cliffside, they built a nice little platform and some seating and a picnic table, and it has an awesome view.  The braii area we've been working at is a beautiful little pond, which is frequented by geese, heron, and the local deer.   The whole branch is built on a hillside, so everyone has a great view, and our room even has a little porch.

The field ministry here is quite refreshing for us.  The Afrikaans and African people here have enormous respect for the Bible, quite different from what we're used to in Sedona.  And most speak English, even though for many it is not their first language.  You can easily place literature with the Africans, but the Afrikaans have been told we're the anti-Christ so it's a little more difficult to get them to converse.  We did have a nice conversation with a young Afrikaans man who knew his Bible well, so that was fun.  We don't get to use our Bible so much in Sedona, so it was a nice change.

We had Bro. Morris of the Governing Body here recently.  He had some wonderful Morning Worship programs and a special talk after the Monday night Watchtower Study.  It was very nice and he even stayed in the room next to us, so it really cramped our partying plans. :)  We did get to meet him though and talk with him a bit, he is a really funny and fun loving person. One cool experience he told us was from Liberia, a sister named Shushonna.  She was an invalid, but she wanted to auxiliary pioneer.  The congregation worked up a schedule for one publisher to come to her home each morning and dial phone numbers and hold the phone up to her ear so she could work telephone territory.  It encouraged everyone so much that they pioneers doubled, from 15 to 30.  One man that she reached on the telephone was blind and he was so depressed.  He told her that he didn't want to live anymore, so she said "Let's talk about what you do have... do you have children?" "Yes" he said.  "Do you have grandchildren?" "Yes" "Can you walk?" "Yes"  After a bit more, he said he was so encouraged by her call, and he wanted her to come and teach him about the Bible.  She said that she couldn't, and he asked why.  She said "I am an invalid, lying in my bed right now, with someone holding the phone to my ear."  Well, she did arrange for someone to visit him and he's studying.

Bethelite deer, so cute!.. and very spiritual.

Our room.

View from our room.

Construction Projects in Africa

South Africa: Lion Whispering

Yes, we are alive and well.  No we have not been mugged...yet, though it seems like this might be our best chance at it out of everywhere we've been.  So far everything except for walking along the side of the road seems reasonably safe.  So we will just give you a few quick update bullets because there is a lot to cover.

* We recently have overcome the bane of nine hours of jet lag. It took us almost a week to start feeling somewhat good as far as sleep goes, waking up at 2 a.m. is not conducive to the Bethel Schedule (pronounced Schedge-wool)

* Our assignment is tracing and documenting the Printery...yes the whole Printery, its a huge job.  There is an expansion planned as well as upgrades of nearly all the panel boards, but there are zero prints to even know how it is hooked up currently and what is needed in the future.

* The S.A. Bethel family is very friendly and it was very easy to fall into the flow of it. The thing you would notice about the family and the people in general is how tough and resilient they are, and how easily they laugh, crack a smile or wave.

* We've already had a few adventures including driving and getting a flat tire, diving with Great Whites, holding and petting lions.

We hope all are doing well and can't wait to see you again.  We also would like to please ask that you do not forward this blog, text or photos, this is just for our close friends.  Please keep us updated with what is going on with you, Africa is a long ways away.

Your Friends,

African Speer's

P.S.  Some photos of our lion adventure, more photos later, takes forever for them to upload atm.

Overlooking Cape Town from on top of Table Mountain

They would always fall asleep on Nathan.

These ones were about 3 months old.

The biggest ones we could hold... about 8 months.